The following words of warning by the Editor of a Masonic magazine two centuries old , show how transcendent the danger for our Order is. Freemasonry membership is a privilege that should be bestowed on an aspiring man who is not only of good character but who can demonstrate to be a resourceful individual , able to apply himself to the the study and understanding of our symbology . It should not be enough for the candidate to be a “buddy”. If Freemasonry continues to open its doors and disclose its secrets to the vain, casual, trivial, curiousity seeker , then the eternal teaching will be wasted on the unworthy and lost.
The Test of Time
The privileges of Freemasonry have been made too common ! They have been bestowed upon the worthless and the wicked and the reputation of the Society has been injured.
Only true and good men of good report ought to be honored with them.
Every Freemason should be particularly careful to recommend none as Candidates for our mysteries but such whose characters will answer the description.
The following is a combination of theories as to the design of the Apron used in English Craft Freemasonry, and therefore does not take into account the many variants found in other countries and side orders. It is also important to note that the shapes and symbols are used in many esoteric arenas, and not just confined to Freemasonry, save that their significance are often similar.
In 1814, the Board of Works of the new United Grand Lodge of England, brought in the regulations for the uniformity of Masonic regalia, and particularly in relation to material, design, and decoration of aprons. It is interesting to note that in all three degrees, it is conferred by the Senior Warden and not by the Master. This is because symbolically, the Master represents the spirit of man, and the Senior Warden the soul. It is the soul which registers the spiritual advance of man, and is the link between body and spirit; therefore the outward sign of the spiritual progress made by the Initiate, is conferred by that Officer who represents the soul. Continue reading The Apron – its symbolism and mysticism
The use of allegory and symbolism is a method of teaching that is still applied in Freemasonry today.
The allegory is a figure of speech that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically of a moral nature and symbolism, in the words of Albert Pyke [1] is: “(…) the soul of Masonry. Every symbol of a lodge is a religious teacher, the mute teacher also of morals and philosophy. It is in its ancient symbols and in the knowledge of their true meanings that reposes the pre-eminence of Freemasonry over all other Orders”.
Even our name – Freemason – is symbolical and it literally means “builder in stone”. Of course,that is not what we do. We are engaged in building work only in a figurative sense of the word and so we describe ourselves “speculative” Freemasons. We allegorise the development of human character to the erection of a structure and we equal the virtues which constitute the finished character of man, to the strengths of a stone which contributes to erect the perfect finished structure.
In biblical times the earth was thought to be square. Isaiah (xi, 12) speaks of gathering “the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth” and in the Apocalypse (xx, 9) there is a vision of four angels, “standing on the four corners of the earth”. Of course the meaning that the cube had in ancient times can never be shared by our modern minds but so grounded was that belief that it made the square a Masonic symbol to represent the Lodge. Continue reading The pointed cubic stone in Freemasonry
Simón Bolívar fue el héroe de más de 200 batallas que liberaron a América del Sur de España, liberando a Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru y Bolivia. Obtuvo sus 3 primeros grados en la Logia San Alejandro de Escocia en Paris; y fundó y se desempeñó como Maestro de la Logia Protectora de las Vertudes No. 1 en Venezuela; fundó la Logia Orden y la Libertad No.2 en Perú. Recibió sus titulos de Rito escocés en París en 1807 y también se convirtió en Caballero de los Caballeros Templarios en Francia en 1807.
Las mentes de las almas conscientes de libertad de América del Norte y del Sur volteó a la hermosa ciudad pequeña, Bolivar, Missouri, el 5 de iulio, 1948. Allí la imponente figura de bronce de 7 pies de Simón Bolívar , El Libertador de América del Sur y un masón, de pie sobre una base de mármol 11 pies altos, el regalo de Venezuela, se dio a conocer. Ahí la vida, el carácter y logros del George Washington de seis países de America del Sur se conmemoraron adecuadamente en los discursos del presidente Harry S. Truman, el presidente Romulo Gallegos de Venezuela, y el gobernador de Missouri, Philip M. Donnelly, y por la presencia del Sr. Gonzalo Carnevali, Embaiador de Venezuela, otros notables y miles de ciudadanos estadounidenses.
” La vida de Bolívar presenta uno de los personajes más coloridos de la historia lienzos de aventura y tragedia, gloria y derrota ” , dijo Wallace Thompson.
Aquí presentamos un breve esbozo de la imagen de su vida, y expresamos la esperanza de que nuestros lectores no solo busquen aprender 200 batallas que luchó mientras movía a sus tropas sobre un no rastreado desierto bajo un sol ecuatorial, y en el clima severo en la cima los Andes, de las naciones que liberó del yugo del español opresión, pero que estudiarán el trabaio de su vida y su escritos para conocer sus motivos, sus ideales de libertad en todo su fases, sus logros y sus conceptos de arte de gobernar. Para el seis repúblicas: Venezuela, Colombia, Panamá, Ecuadon Perú y Bolivia – y la base establecida para las relaciones panamericanas para el Hemisferio Occidental son monumentos a su habilidad militar y visión de estadista.
Nacido de la nobleza y la riqueza en Caracas, 24 de julio de 1783, Simón Bolívar abandonó la lujosa vida de las cosas materiales y el posición social para la nobleza del espíritu, y murió en la pobreza extrema. El padre del Libertador fue Juan Vicente Bolívar y Ponte, y su madre fue María de la Concepción Palacios y Blanco. Ambos de él los padres eran de familias nobles y ambos murieron antes de los quince años de edad.
Después de adquirir una educación liberal en el hogar, en gran parte de privado tutores, Simón fue enviado a Europa a la edad de diecisiete años bajo el orientación de su tutor favorito, Simón Rodriguez, un conocido filósofo que fue recibido entre los estudiosos de Europa como tal y que era sospechoso de ‘inclinaciones radicales’ ya que simpatizaba con las enseñanzas de los grandes filósofos franceses del siglo XVIII , siglo que se celebraron en aborrecimiento por la gente demasiado agradable de España, Francia, Italia y la clase dominante de su lengua nativa.
Con un ingreso de $ 20,000 al año, un gran ingreso para ese período, y el esposo, a la edad de dieciocho años, de un rico gastado que tenía alcanzado su decimosexto año, las atenciones sociales fueron derramadas en joven Bolívar por las cortes de Europa, el grande y el cercano grande, mucho de lo que él consideró con arrogancia. Su esposa murió de fiebre amarilla en menos de un año después de ella matrimonio, y Bolívar unos años más tarde regresó a Europa para estudiar condiciones allí. Mientras estaba en Madrid, fue presentado a Su Majestad el Rey y Su Majestad la Reina, con una condescendencia que su agudo sentido de tales relaciones percibidas como etiqueta social vacía extendido a una rica y joven Colonia de sangre noble. Como era debido uno de su posición social, Bolívar fue recibido en audiencia por el Papa. Pero una costumbre ancestral en la Santa Sede, siempre expuesta de los visitantes en tales audiencias, es besar el pie del Papa. Este Bolivar se negó a hacerlo, ‘mirando para otro lado’. Preguntado por el Embajador español, que lo había llevado al Vaticano, por qué tenía no se ajustaba a la costumbre, respondió secamerrte que su respeto por el alto cargo del Pontífice no debe medirse por un acto de servilismo.
Al igual que Thomas Iefferson, que había visitado Europa, Bolívar vio mucho y refleja mucho sobre las causas de la desesperación, la miseria y degradación de las masas en Roma y las ciudades más grandes de Francia, Italia y España, donde el romanismo prevaleció en gran medida. Teniendo observó las mismas condiciones en su propio país, él, algunas mañanas después de su audiencia con el Papa, subió a la cima del Monte Aventin con su fiel Rodriguez. Allí , mientras meditaba en medio las ruinas causadas por el desafio del poder de la aristocracia por el personas, Bolívar de repente vio una gran luz y, arrojando sus manos hacia el cielo, se dice que hizo un voto para dedicar su vida a liberando su propia tierra del poder opresivo de España.
Bolívar había pasado mucho tiempo en París y allí se convirtió en un Masón en el rito de York y recibió los títulos de rito escocés en cuanto a la 30 ° Grado. Volviendo a Venezuela por el camino de los Estados Unidos de América, donde visitó a muchas celebridades en las ciudades del este, él regresó a Caracas a fines de 1809, a la edad de veintiséis años. Pronto ofreció sus servicios a la junta de la que era miembro y que, el 19 de abril de 1810, se habia rebelado contra la corona de José Bonaparte, rey de España, a favor de Fernando VII, hijo de Carlos IV, que había sido depuesto por el gobierno francés, y ellos obligó al virrey a abdicar. Por lo tanto, Venezuela fue el primero Colonia de España para declarar su independencia, un evento que tomó coloque el 5 de julio de 1811.
El espíritu de rebelión fue participado temprano por el General Miranda, un Mason, què habia servido bajo George Washington en la Guerra para la Independencia, Bolívar fue enviado por la junta a Inglaterra para llamar él regresó del exilio a los colores de los Revolucionarios. Él regresó y encabezó las fuerzas revolucionarias con Bolívar como uno de sus generales. Derrotado por las fuerzas españolas, Bolívar se convirtió en un refugiado en la isla de Curacao. Pero, en septiembre de 1812, él era en Cartagena, donde obtuvo una victoria contra los españoles en Nueva Granada (ahora Colombia). Luego, a la cabeza de unos 500 hombres, él marchó sobre los Andes a Venezuela y, junto con muchos reclutas en ruta allí, derrotó a una gran fuerza española y, aunque él entró en Caracas triunfalmente el 4 de agosto de 1813, fue derrotado año después. Al regresar a Nueva Granada, ganó una victoria en Bogotá. Pero, fallando en Santa Marta, renunció a su comisión y fue a Jamaica y luego a Haití.
A partir de ahí, con la ayuda del presidente Peton, organizó una pequeña fuerza y navegó hacia Venezuela en Marzo de 1816, donde durante tres años varió su suerte de guerra entre la derrota y la victoria. Ofrenda para renunciar al final de tres años, fue convencido de continuar la guerra. Esto fue en 1819. Habiendo reorganizado el ejército, Bolívar cruzó por tercera vez el Cordilleras de los Andes a Nueva Granada. Allí se unió a las fuerzas del general Santander, un masón y un líder republicano y en Agosto, ganó la batalla fundamental de Boyaca. Cuatro meses después Venezuela se unió con Nueva Granada y formó la nueva República de Colombia y, después de la victoria en Bambona, Ecuador fue incluido como parte de la nueva república.
Con la victoria sobre el los Españoles en Carabobo, el 25 de junio de 1821, España perdieron el control de este zona. El poder español aún no había desaparecido de esa vasta región de Perú superior e inferior (ahora Perú y Bolivia) que se extendió desde el fronteras de Chile y Argentina a Ecuador. General José de San Martin, un masón, y el general Bemardo O`Higgins, también un masón, tenían liberó a Argentina y Chile del poder español, y el primero, ahora “Protector” de Perú, llegó a Guayaquil el 26 de julio de 1822, donde él consultó con Bolívar. Qué procedimientos se decidieron, con respecto a Perú, en esa conferencia entre los dos grandes Los Líberators españoles, que eran masones, probablemente nunca ser conocida. San Martín renunció a su ‘Protectorado” de Perú y regresó a Argentina. En cualquier caso, Bolívar se hizo cargo y, llegando en Callao, el 1 de septiembre de 1823, fue investido con el título de “Libertador” de Perú. Entrenó a unos 4,000 peruanos y, con el ejército que había venido a Perú con él, tenía unos 9,000 hombres. Con estos contrató a un número igual de españoles en Junin en una sangrienta batalla de caballería con sables, donde no se disparó un solo tiro, y ganó un victoria que, con la de Ayacucho el 9 de diciembre dc 1824, bajo El general Antonio José de Sucre, terminó para siempre con el poder colonial de España en el Nuevo Mundo.Habiendo planeado estas batallas con el general Sucre, un masón, Bolívar fue a Lima para organizar un gobiemo cívico y llamar a un Convención Constitucional. Cuando, el 8 de febrero de 1825, tuvo efectuado el nuevo gobierno, renunció al poder supremo en Colombia y Perú. Rechazo de un regalo de 1,000,000 de pesos (aproximadamente $200,000) de Perú y por haber asistido a algunos asuntos cívicos en Perú superior (Bolivia), Bolívar dejó al general Sucre a cargo y se dirigió a Bogotá, Colombia, para calmar los conflictos civiles que habían surgido entre sus antiguos camaradas. Al llegar allí en noviembre de 1826, él pronto pasó a Venezuela, convocando una convención constitucional en ruta para reunirse en Valencia, el 15 de enero de 1827. Aunque él no tuvo sido capaz de ajustar la desafección, ingresó a Caracas en triunfo. Finalmente, después de catorce años en el mando supremo. La renuncia de Bolívar fue aceptada por el Congreso a petición suya, frente a la intriga y el abuso de sus enemigos que fueron hambriento de poder.
Volviendo a Bogotá en septiembre de 1828, llamó una convención general, pero, a pesar de sus apelaciones, la mayoria de sus viejos amigos se retiraron, sin dejar quórum. En septiembre, escapó asesinato en Bogotá. El problema estalló en Perú, que, con el ayuda de Sucre, se aquietó en 1829. Se reanudó el problema en Venezuela y Colombia y, a pesar de que se estaba recuperando de una enfermedad crítica en Guayaquil, regresó a Bogotá. Su convención ha fallado de organización, la desafección entre sus viejos seguidores no habiendo sido asentado, y estando en mal estado de salud, finalmente volvió a diseñó el poder supremo, el 27 de abril de 1830, que había tomado temporalmente, y salió de Bogotá, festejó y honró a medida que avanzaba lugar para colocar en su camino a Cartagena. Allí se enteró de la asesinato de su general Sucre más confiable y eficiente, en junio 4°, cuyo efecto, junto con su estado avanzado de tuberculosis, causó su muerte el 17 de diciembre de 1830, a la edad de cuarenta y siete, en un lugar mral a pocos kilómetros de Santa Marta,Colombia, donde emitió su última proclama.
lntrepido, esperanzado, clarividente, indomable y profundo en su pensando para el bienestar de la humanidad, proclamó Bolívar, para aquellos quien tuvo la visión de ver, los siguientes principios masónicos como su la vida descendió a las costas más allá:
“ Todos ustedes deben trabajar por el bien inestimable de la Unión; personas que obedecen al gobiemo para evitar la anarquía; el ministros rezando al cielo por guía; y el uso militar su espada en defensa de las garantías sociales. . . . Si mi muerte contribuye al final del partidismo y la consolidación de la unión, seré bajado en paz a mi tumba “.
Among the interesting characters that populated Georgian England and spiced it with many anecdotes is the Rev. Dr. William Dodd [1] ; a clergyman with a very unmistakable nickname whose weakness in money matters sent him to the gallows for the crime of forgery on 27th June 1777.
His life history resembles a middle-class melodrama and is a fascinating reading.
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William Dodd was born in Bourne, Lincolnshire, in 1729, the son of the local vicar. He attended the University of Cambridge from 1745 to 1750 and achieved academic success by graduating with first class honours. He then moved to London where he impulsively married Mary Perkins, the daughter of a penniless domestic servant, on 15th April 1751. To secure his family a steady income, William took the holy orders in 1771. Two years later he was ordained priest and thereafter his career in the Church took him to serve as a Curate and a preacher of some success.
by John Russell, oil on canvas, 1769
He devoted a lot of his time to charitable work and is accredited to have written over fifty books. However he also mixed with friends of dubious reputation and infamous public fame such as the Freemason John Wilkes, a member of the Parliament who had been arrested for his radical political ideas and for his opposition to George III.
In 1763 Dodd became the vicar of Chalgrave and three years later he gained a doctorate in law from Cambridge University.
The other offices that he filled in life were: Honorary Canon of Brecon, Rector of Hocliffe, King’s Chaplain in Ordinary and tutor to Philip Stanhope who later became the 5th Earl of Chesterfield. All these various church and academic appointments rewarded him with a good income, but Dodd lived well beyond his means and money was always in short supply.
In 1774 Dodd, in an attempt to bolster his earnings, endeavoured to bribe Lady Apsley, the wife of none other than the Lord Chancellor! He had incautiously offered her £ 3,000 if she would secure him the appointment as Rector of St George’s, Hanover Square, London. In those days Vicars could be in control of more than one Church and so tot up their salary.
The dishonourable proposition to Lady Apsley proved fatal for the fortunes of the Reverend Dodd as it led to the dismissal from all his academic and religious positions and compelled him to flee abroad.
His exile lasted two years and was made the more unbearable by the fact that whilst he was spending time in foreign lands – Switzerland and France – he was regularly being made an object of public ridicule in London by the dramatist and actor Samuel Foote who taunted him as the character Dr Simony in a play he staged at the Haymarket Theatre.
WILLIAM DODD THE FREEMASON
It is bizarre to notice that in Georgian England whenever an individual of some reputation became the target of defamation, the recipient of life threats or had his freedom restricted by accusation of unlawful behaviour, Freemasonry would step in to offer protection, support and sometime even rehabilitation.
As a matter of fact, nothing strange was taking place because, as far as the Craft was concerned, it was applying its principle that “he who is on the lowest spoke of fortune’s wheel, is equally entitled to our regard”.
Therefore what William Dodd decided to do at that point of his life and on his return to England in 1755, was no more unusual than what many of his contemporaries in similar situations were doing: he joined Freemasonry.
Dodd was initiated into the St. Albans Lodge No. 29 where, after briefly occupying the office of Junior Deacon, he rose to the rank of Grand Chaplain of the Order and in May 1755, on the occasion of the laying of the cornerstone for the Grand Lodge of England in Queen Street, London, the Rev. Dr. William Dodd even delivered an oration which was widely pubblicised.
The St Alban’s Lodge [2]had been founded in 1728 and was meeting at the Castle and Leg Tavern in Holborn, London. Today it is one of nineteen Lodges that have received the privilege by Grand Lodge of nominating one of its members – every year – to the office of “Grand Steward”. It has therefore become known as a “Red Apron Lodge”.
THE NICKNAME OF THE MACARONE PARSON
Dodd’s constant presence at the race horse tracks had made him a well known public figure and the extravagant style of his clothes, led him to become known as “The Macarone Parson”!
Some sources describe the Macarone as “a fashionable fellow in the mid-18th-century England who dressed and even spoke in an outlandishly affected and epicene manner” and also as a person “who exceeded the ordinary bounds of fashion in terms of clothes, fastidious eating and gambling”.
But the Macarone was also the caricature of an upper-class effeminate practitioner of sodomy, recogneasable by an extravagant hairstyle, effeminate mannerism and the small tricorn hat that he wore on top of a big wig. The early 1770s saw a series of scandals in the fashionable circles of London society that further linked the term of Macarone to a queer inclination and the homosexual man. A certain Captain Robert Jones, a “Macarone” , was convicted in July 1772 at the Old Bailey for sodomizing a thirteen-year-old boy and was sentenced to hang in October. A letter published in The Public Ledger on August 5th 1772, warned those men like the Captain : “(…) therefore, ye Beaux, ye sweet-scented, simpering He-She things, deign to learn wisdom from the death of a Brother”.[3]
But Jones obtained a royal pardon on the condition that he left the country after new evidence suggested that the boy’s testimony may have been unreliable. The pardon was of course greeted with accusations of an establishment cover-up.
Which of the above two mentioned categories of men – the fashionable fellow or the effeminate molly – our Reverend Doctor belonged to, however, can only be speculated on.
THE REVEREND DODD’S CRIME
By 1776 Dodd was living in Argyle Street, London and was regularly in need of money.
Years earlier he had been the tutor of the current 5th Earl of Chesterfield who had just come of legal age ; this gave Dodd the idea of defrauding a large sum of money by borrowing it in the name of his former pupil.
He went to a money broker and told him that the Lord urgently needed funds whilst he was in waiting for his inheritance to come through. However the Lord – explained Dodd – desired to keep the transaction private and had authorised him to conduct the negotiations.
The means of financing the loan was by a Bond issued in the Earl’s name. Being a man of the Church and a former tutor of the aristocrat, Dodd thought nobody would suspect the arrangement to be a fraud. He also no doubt flattered himself to believe in his heart that the Lord, warm of his feeling towards him, would have generously paid the money rather than see Dodd suffer the dreadful consequences of violating the law.
But finding Banks or individuals prepared to lend against a Bond that was not going to bear the actual borrower’s signature and was not going to be witnessed either, was proving difficult.
Even though forgery and fraud carried a sentence of death by hanging in those days, many fortunes were lost and many gained through such games of tricks.
Eventually the Broker Lewis Robertson came forward and persuaded the firm of solicitors Messrs Fletcher & Pitch to advance the sum of money. A bond was drafted in the name of the Earl of Chesterfield and released to Lewis Robertson who passed it on to Dodd.
The Reverend affixed his signature where that of the Lord should have been , the broker endorsed it further by placing his own signature under that of Dodd and the money changed hands.
Except that when the note fell due and was presented to the Lord for redemption, it was disowned. The law representatives immediately called at Dodd’s house to inform him of the accusation of forgery and advise him that if he wanted to save himself from prosecution and incarceration he was to return all of the money forthwith. The Rev. Dodd explained that he had been obliged to commit the fraud by a debt which had fallen due at a time when he was short of money and he could not meet his obligation. In any case, said Dodd he always intended to return the sum he had borrowed. And indeed, true to his word, he immediately handed a great part of the sum in cash to them , signed a few promissory notes and allowed a charge to be raised on his house belongings for the remaining balance.
He then pleaded forgiveness with the Earl of Chesterfield
but to his mortification he found that his noble pupil showed no clemency and later he will even appear in Court to testify against him.
The matter became of public knowledge; the Rev. Dodd was remanded in custody and soon found himself at the centre of a scandal with fatal consequences for him.
THE TRIAL
On February 19th 1777, Dodd appeared at the Old Bailey.
With no lawyer to defend him, he pleaded for mercy with the Court and delivered a speech from which we have extracted the following:
“My Lords and Gentlemen of the Jury, (…) there is no man in the world who has a deeper sense of the heinous nature of the crime for which I stand indicted, than myself.
(…) I humbly apprehend, though (I am) no lawyer, that the (…) malignancy of a crime – always both in the eyes of the Law and of Religion – consists in the intention.
(But) such intention (to defraud), my Lords and Gentlemen of the jury, has not been sufficiently proven on me (…), for ample restitution has been made.
I leave it to you, my Lords and Gentlemen of the Jury, to consider that if an unhappy man ever deviates from the Law and yet in (a) moment of recollection does all that he can to make full and perfect amends, what (…) can God and man desire further ?”
Dodd then went on to cry out that he had been “perused with excessive cruelty” and “persecuted with a scarcely parallel cruelty” even though reassurances had been given to him after he had made restitution. His death, he said, did not matter to him but it was the loss caused to those he would have left behind that concerned him.
“I have, my Lord, ties which render me desirous even to continue this miserable existence.
I have a wife who for 27 years has lived as an unparalleled example of conjugal attachment and fidelity (…) I have creditors, honest men, who will lose much by my death. (And so) I hope for the sake of justice towards them, that some mercy will be shown to me”.
It was a preposterous defence. The jury returned a guilty verdict and the judge pronounced his sentenced in these words:
“Dr William Dodd, you have been convicted of the offence of publishing a forged and counterfeit bond (…) and you have had an impartial and attentive trial. The jury to whose justice you have appealed have found you guilty and (…) the judges have found no grounds to impeach the justice of that verdict.
(…) your application for mercy therefore must be made elsewhere.
(…) I am now obliged to pronounce the sentence of the law, which is that you, Dr William Dodd, be carried from hence to the place from whence you came, that from thence you are to be carried to the place of execution where you are to be hanged by the neck until you are dead”.
DR SAMUEL JOHNSON INTERCEDES
The XVIII century diarist James Boswell wrote in his diary that on Monday September 15th 1777 he went with his lifetime friend Dr Samuel Johnson to visit the garden of the school of Ashbourne; a very pretty place on a bank of the river. It was a hot day and they sat on a bench for a little rest, whereupon Johnson – Boswell reports in his diaries – told him of his “humane interference” on behalf of the Rev. Dr Dodd whom he barely knew. Knowing Johnson’s persuasive power of writing Dodd had asked him, through the interception of the late Countess of Harrington, to employ his pen in his favour by writing a letter of supplication to the King so that “(the King) may spare me the ignominy of public death which the public itself is solicitous to waive, and grant me in some distant part of the globe to pass the remainder of my days in penitence an prayer (…)”.
Dr Johnson, who had only been once in the company of the Rev. Dodd many years earlier and never visited him at Newgate prison, wrote these lines for Dodd to use in his letter to the King:
“May I not offend your Majesty that the most miserable of men applies himself to your clemency (…) a clergyman whom your laws and judges have condemned to the horror and ignominy of public execution.
I confess the crime …but humbly hope that sparing the spectacle of a clergyman dragged through the streets to a death of infamy, justice may be satisfied with irrevocable exile, perpetual disgrace and hopeless penury.
My life, Sir, has not been useless to mankind. I have benefited many. (…)Preserve me, Sir, by your prerogative of mercy (…) permit my to hide my guilt in some obscure corner of a foreign country (…) I am, Sir, your Majesty’s, &c. “
In a post scriptum Johnson recommended Dodd never to disclose who the real author of such words was: “Tell nobody” stressed the Doctor and with it he also advised Dodd not to indulge in hope.
Samuel Johnson also wrote many petitions and letters on the Rev. Dodd’s behalf and was the author of the errant Mason’s sermon called “The Convict’s address to his unhappy Brethren” [4] whose lines Dodd read in the Chapel of Newgate Prison as perhaps a last attempt to sway matters in his favour! The sermon suggested in so many words that if one sincerely repents of a crime he has committed , God (and therefore by association, the King ) should pardon him and set him free to go and repent for the rest of his life, rather than be sent to death.
Although Johnson never admitted that such sermon was the product of his mind, when challenged by a friend he answered: “Depend on it, Sir, that when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, he concentrates his mind wonderfully”.
Having lost any hope of a royal pardon, Dodd wrote a final letter to Johnson to thank him for all that he had done for him: (…) as I shall be admitted to the realm of bliss before you, I shall hail your arrival there with transports, and rejoice to the knowledge that you were my comforter, my advocate and my friend! God be ever with you!”
Dr Johnson was moved by such words and wrote back: “may God (…) accept your repentance” and “in requital of those well-intended offices which you so emphatically acknowledge, let me beg you that you make (in your devotions) one petition for my eternal welfare.”
These lines, so full of irony and wit, bring a smile on my face whenever I read them.
At the time, Dr Johnson’s health was deteriorating and he had become particularly scared at the thought of dying. One night Boswell was struck by the expression of horror on Johnson’s face at the mention of the word “death” and of the Rev. Dodd during conversation. Boswell was expressing his full of admiration for the determination with which Dodd had met his creator a few days earlier. “Dr Dodd seemed to be willing to die and was full of hopes and happiness”, said Boswell. But Johnson retorted that hardly any man dies in public with apparent resolution: “Sir” –said Johnson – “Dr Dodd would have given both his hands and both his legs to have lived because the better a man is, the more afraid is he of death, having a clear view of infinite purity”.
THE EXECUTION
The Rev. Dr. Dodd was allowed to be driven to his place of execution by a private coach and his father is said to have accompanied him on the journey. Every face in the crowd expressed sadness for the fate of that popular preacher who was also a respectful author of books, poems, theological works and newspaper articles and for whom a twenty three pages long petition full of signatures had been presented to the Authorities in the hope that it would spared him from the gallows.
The death-by-hanging technique improved only in the 20th century when mathematical formulas begun to be applied to determine the length of the rope and the height of the drop required to break the person’s neck, quickly. But in the days when such factors – height, weight and neck size of the condemned – where never taken into consideration , the condemned’ s death would have occurred only by a long and inhumane process of strangulation.
Often the family members of the executed person would run under the gibbet and pull his or her legs so as to hasten asphyxiation.
However, it is also the case that the shorter the drop was, the highest the chance of the condemned surviving and being revived if freedom from the noose could be secured within a few minutes.
The latter is just what was attempted on Rev. Dodd’s body as it is recorded that no sooner the cart driver had run forward to cause him to hang, that the same driver returned to steady Dodd’s legs, stop his convulsions and cut the rope.
The Rev. Dodd’s family had pre-arranged and paid for the body of Dodd to be transported from the place of execution in Tyburn to a barber-surgeon’s shop near Oxford Street where an attempt would have been made to resurrect Dodd with hot and cold water baths.
But the mobbing crowd which lined and blocked parts of the journey caused such a delay that the short transit of about eight minutes took over two hours.
By the time the coach reached the barber’s shop, any sign of life in Dodd’s body had of course extinguished.
However the myth of this unfortunate Freemason and man of the Church lived on for many more years because the Northampton Mercury edition for Saturday 18 October 1794 , reported that the Reverend Dodd ‘s body had been successfully revived and that he had escaped to France.
CONCLUSION
All Master Masons are sworn to form, metaphorically speaking, a “column of mutual support and defence” when it is necessary to defend a Brother’s honour. But in the case of this reckless clergyman it is clear that Freemasonry wanted to have no part.
The Reverend Dr. Dodd had insulted the integrity of the wife of the King’s Chancellor, had been keeping a lifestyle little akin to that of a man of the cloth and had been gambling and losing money he did not have. Furthermore as a “Macarone” he might, for all we know, have belonged to that crowd of dandified men who were no strange to the rumours of vice and sodomy which was a serious crime at the time.
The Rev. Dodd had claimed to have been the author of many books – almost 50! – of translations and newspaper articles and yet we know for almost certain that he could not himself write a supplication letter to the King but had to ask Samuel Johnson to do so for him.
He had also fully confessed his crime and naively undertaken to defend himself in a Court of Justice. In short, his weaknesses had disgraced him sufficiently to have pushed the boundary of intervention by his Brethren in his “support and defence” well out of reach. The Right Rev. Thomas Newton, Bishop of Bristol in 1777, on hearing of the execution of the Rev. Dodd for the crime of forgery, was reported to have exclaimed: “He has hanged for the least of his crimes”.
As for Philip Stanhope, the 5th Earl of Chesterfield [5], he was no common Brother but a nobleman who descended from a family of Freemasons and was destined , within a few years, to become an important Peer of the Kingdom.
He recognised that the only right thing for him to do was to uphold the Masonic principle that “murder, treason, felony and all other offence against the laws of God and the ordinances of the realm” – perpetrated by a Freemason and confessed to another – “must at all time be most especially excepted” from being kept a secret. And so the Lord chose neither to excuse nor to pardon the Rev. Dodd but by even testifying in Court for the Prosecution, he sealed Dodd’s fate.
In closing, we must not think that the outcome of this story is indicative of a society and of a Masonic Order which were upholders of rule and justice. They were not, particularly in that epoch.
In society – and by reflection in the Craft – then like now, all are equal but some are and will always be “more equal than others”!
ByW.Bro. Leonardo Monno Anglisani – NHL 6557 ,Middlesex, England
The author forbids any reproduction or publication of this article, in full or in part, without his explicit authorization.
SOURCES
The Masonic Square (UK)
“Dr William Dodd Grand Chaplain” by Bernard Williamson
“Reverend William Dodd” - article published in the Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon’s website
“The sad case of Dr. Dodd” – from “Everybody’s Boswell”
[2] The Lodge was named St Alban’s Lodge in the year 1771
[3] From “Oscar Wilde prefigured: Queer Fashioning and British Caricature, 1750-1900” by Dominic Janes
[4] A twenty four pages long text that is remarkable for the amount of lexicon used. The Rev. Dodd dedicated it to the Reverend Mr Villette, Ordinary of Newgate Prison
[5] Philip Stanhope (10.11.1755-29.08.1815) became the British Ambassador to Spain (1784-1787) and Master of the Mint (1789-1790), Joint Postmaster General (1790-1791) and Master of the Horse (1798-1804).
Masonic research can be divided into two main groups: the mainstream one that prefers a strict academic approach that considers 1717 as the official beginning of Freemasonry; and that which is mystical and prefers a spiritual approach, connecting Freemasonry with the Ancient Mysteries, Egypt, the Templars, Gnosticism, Alchemy and other spiritual and initiatic traditions.
Two examples of the former are the Quatour Coronatorum Lodge of Research, probably the most famous Lodge of Research at present, and the Bristol Masonic Society. Two examples of the latter are the Cornerstone Society and the Dormer Masonic Study Circle. Their esoteric approach is maybe not to everyone’s taste; however it is without doubt that their papers are hugely interesting and thought-provoking to say the least.
Perhaps for fear of being perceived as a religious Organisation – which we absolutely are not – Freemasonry publicly tends to underline the charitable, social and moral sides but never the spiritual one which should really be its fulcrum.
As Bro Darren Lorente states in his paper called “The spiritual dimension of Freemasonry” : We cannot deny the fact that our ritual is full of spiritual references and compels us to reach out to God and to acquire self-knowledge and self-improvement. These are spiritual quests. Unless we really absorb the meaning of the ritual, we will just be a club like any other with the sole difference of having some particular eccentricities, i.e. wearing aprons and sashes. Will we not be doing ourselves and the candidates that follow us a disservice by ignoring the spiritual dimension of Freemasonry? I somehow think this will be the case”.
There are wealth of documents in existence and coincidences which are far too consistent not to be considered seriously. Although we do not have definitive proof about how much older than 1717 we really are, research is quite strongly indicating that our history is very ancient indeed and most likely connected to spiritual traditions as far back as the Ancient Mysteries.
The Ancient Mysteries promoted self-improvement and self-knowledge. They required initiation. They had degrees to be obtained progressively. It was a journey of the spirit, a “journey towards light, as the Masonic writer Julian Rees calls it.
Or, as the influential Masonic writer Walter Leslie Wilmshurst described it:
These mysteries were formerly taught (…) in circumstances of the greatest seclusion and secrecy (. . .) All the great teachers of humanity, Socrates, Plato, Pythagoras, Moses, Aristotle, Virgil, the author of the Homeric poems and the great Greek tragedians, along with St John (…) were initiates of the Sacred Mysteries.
The Greek historian Plutarch, a Mystery initiate himself, describes how the candidate was left in complete and utter darkness. At the end of this darkness period, the initiate would receive a heavy blow to the forehead to open up his skull and set the spirit free.
The oldest known Masonic text in existence is The Halliwell Manuscript, or Regius Poem, written between 1390 and 1425.The Regius Poem ‘s introduction stated that the ‘craft of masonry, began with Euclid in Egypt, and came to England in the reign of King Athelstan (927-939). Around the year 1450, the second oldest Masonic text – the Cooke Manuscript – traces Masonry back to Jabal, son of Lamech (from Genesis) and tells how this knowledge came to Euclid, from him to the Children of Israel (while they were in Egypt), and so on through an elaborate path to Athelstan. This myth formed the basis for subsequent manuscript constitutions, all tracing Masonry back to biblical times, and fixing its institutional establishment in England during the reign of Athelstan.
In France, the 1737 lecture of Chevalier Ramsay maintained that Crusader Masons had revived the Craft with secrets recovered in the Holy Land, under the patronage of both the Knights Templars and the Knights Hospitaller – also known as Knights of St John.
Much more recently, several authors have linked the Templars to the timeline of Freemasonry through the imagery of the carvings in Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland, where the Templars have sought refuge after the violent dissolution of the order started on the 13 October 1307 and completed by 1314 with the execution of their last Grand Master Jacques De Molay. In the very successful and controversial book The Hiram Key, Robert Lomas and Christopher Knight describe a timeline starting in ancient Egypt and taking in Jesus, the Templars, and Rosslyn before arriving at modern Freemasonry.
Rosslyn Chapel was built by the later William St Clair, who brought Europe’s finest masons to Scotland for the purpose, building the nearby village of Roslyn to house them. Even a quick tour of this amazing chapel is enough to show its strong connections to Freemasonry when in the 1400s, Freemasonry was not supposed to be anywhere to be seen, if we believe the historical “orthodox” version. Rosslyn Chapel is not at all Christian, as it is usually described: the symbolism is profusely Egyptian, Celtic, Jewish, Templar and Masonic. The only Christian symbols are Victorian modifications.
In the eastern side of Rosslyn we can see two splendid pillars called the Mason’s pillar and the Apprentice pillar. The official story tells that a Rosslyn master mason went to Rome in order to gather inspiration for the design of the pillars.
But in the meantime, an apprentice in Rosslyn built one on his own. When the master came back and found that his pupil’s pillar was much better than anything he could have ever conceived, he killed the apprentice. .. with a mallet hit to his forehead. There is clear evidence that this story is false. William St Clair masterminded and personally supervised any detail of the work. Any carving was to be created in wood first, in order for him to approve it. So it is utterly unthinkable that an apprentice was able to build one of the most important pillars of the chapel out of his own initiative.
Continuing to walk in the chapel, we find the Indian maize arch. There wouldn’t be anything special with this, if it were not that the Indian maize plant was only known in North America and unknown in Europe until the 1600s; but unbelievably there it is, clearly sculpted in Rosslyn in the year 1440. This does make sense though, considering there seems to be evidence that the first St Clair Earl of Orkneys had, with Templar money, commissioned a fleet of twelve ships to a voyage to the “new world’ prior to 1400. And a medieval knights image has been found in Westford, Massachusetts; although medieval knights were not around at the time of Christopher Columbus’ discovery, let alone the fact that Christopher Columbus did not even reach the USA. How do we explain that image?
Talking about the American continent, it is impressive what can be found while researching the concept of America: it is actually a very old concept among the Mandaeans.
The Mandaeans are an ethno-religious group of Southern Mesopotamia also known, among Iraqi and Iranian Muslims, as Sabians. The Mandaeans are the last surviving baptising sect; they follow the Gnostic belief called Mandaeism. Their belief regularly mentions the star called “Merika` which they placed west, across the ocean, marking a land. The amazing point here is that Mandaeism said so a good 2000 years ago! These are the same Mandaeans who believed St John the Baptist, a Mystery initiate, to be their great prophet, the last prophet in fact; they called him “Son of Man”.
It is certainly only a coincidence that the Templars, during their time in the Middle- East, met the Mandaeans; and that the Knights Hospitaller were also called Knights of St John.
It is a coincidence that St John the Baptist’s life is celebrated on 24 June, which is when the first Grand Lodge met in 1717, the “official” beginning of Freemasonry. It certainly is another coincidence that Freemasons were known, until a short time ago, as “St John’s Men’; and that the Antients installed their Masters during St John’s Day.
So, let’s see what we have so far;
The Gnostic Mandaeans worship St John the Baptist, a Mystery initiate, and were known by the Templars.
The Templars have visited America much earlier than its official discovery, which makes sense if we consider their knowledge of Mandaeism and its “Merika” concept.
The Templars’ American expedition has been organised by St Clair who created Rosslyn, a safe haven for Templars escaping persecution.
Rosslyn features a Wealth of Gnostic and Masonic symbolism, to include the Hiram Abif legend.
St Clair and Rosslyn are historically connected to Freemasonry (the St Clair family has been ‘hereditary Scottish Grand Masters’ for three centuries, having given up this right only in 1736).
Freemasonry officially, started on 24 June, St John’s Day, 1717; which is the same day of the year the Antients installed their Grand Masters.
Now: it is starting to become quite difficult to believe that a bunch of gentlemen met in a pub on whatever random 1717 date, drank beer and created our Fraternity’s first Grand Lodge just out of few random lodges, adapting whatever ritual from cathedral builders they knew and without any spiritual or esoteric connection.
How comes it is that the mythology, the symbolism, the very name and legend of the Master Builder are borrowed from every imaginable source – Kabbalistic, Gnostic, Neo-Platonic, Buddhist, and Egyptian?
I personally believe (and many others like me) that Freemasonry is part of an esoteric line of thought, a stream of spiritual truth passed in a straight line through time immemorial using symbols which are eternal human archetypes.
Borrowing again W.L. Wilmshurst’s words from his enlightening book Meaning of Masonry:
Masonry is a modern perpetuation of great systems of initiation that have existed for the spiritual instruction of men in all parts of the world since the beginning of time. Whether in ancient India, Egypt, Greece, Italy or Mexico, or among the Druids of Europe, temples of initiation have ever existed (…). Our rituals and doctrines are an authentic embodiment of a secret doctrine and a secret process that have always existed (…)
Can we trace this exact line with 100% irrefutable proof? We will probably never be able to. But the evidence we already have is pointing quite clearly to the fact that Freemasonry is very ancient and is a path of the spirit, a way of spiritual and personal betterment. Experiencing our rituals more deeply and progressing in Freemasonry with open hearts and minds, makes us sense the depth of the message, makes us feel it. The Masonic experience becomes so much more alive! It should make us think that retention is a negligible problem for Masonic lodges and organisations oriented towards the spiritual and the esoteric. I think this happens because Freemasonry experienced with such a deeper and all-encompassing approach is far more interesting and fulfilling to the Brethren.
Lord Northampton, former Pro Grand Master and charismatic leader of English Freemasonry for 14 years before his retirement in 2010, said the following at the inauguration of the esoteric study circle called Cornerstone Society:
It is important that at the centre of Freemasonry there is a core of brethren who do understand the spiritual message that our rituals contain. I am sure that like me there are many who joined Freemasonry as earnest seekers after light and wisdom, only to find that much of the masonry as practiced today in many parts of the world, has forgotten [its] destiny. Nevertheless, it has survived for nearly 400 years and possibly more – and as far as I am concerned, carries the torch for what could loosely be described as the hermetic tradition. It is my fervent hope that through this Society and other similar initiatives it will rediscover its spiritual heritage and become an active catalyst for the transformation of Man’s consciousness.
Published by courtesy of the author WB Corrado Canonici
The Cable-Tow is purely Masonic in its meaning and use, or so we are told.
(…) In an early pamphlet by Pritard, issued in 1730 the cable-tow is a called a “Cable-Rope” and in another edition : a “Tow-Line.” However in neither pamphlet is the word ever used in exactly the same form and sense in which it is used today. (…) The whole Masonic Lodge is a symbol and every object and every act performed within it , is symbolical. The whole fits together into a system of symbolism by which Masonry veils the truth that it seeks to teach.
As far back as we can go in the history of any initiation, we find the cable-tow, or something similar , used very much as it is used in a Masonic Lodge today. Whether it is called “Khabel” from the Hebrew or “Cabel” from the Dutch (both meaning a rope) the fact is the same. In India, in Egypt and in most of the ancient world , a cord or cable was being used in the same way and for the same purpose.
So far as we can make out, the cable-tow seems to represent some kind of pledge, a vow in which a man pledges his life. We even find the cable-tow being employed outside the initiatory rites. For example, in a striking scene recorded in the Bible (I Kings 20:31,32), the description of which is almost Masonic, “Ben-Hadad” – the King of Syria – had been defeated in battle by the King of Israel and his servants are making a plea for his life. They approach the King of Israel “with ropes upon their heads,” and speak of his “Brother, Ben-Hadad.”
Why did they wear ropes, or nooses, on their heads?
Possibly to symbolize a pledge of some sort, given in a Lodge or otherwise, between the two Kings, of which they wished to remind the King of Israel. The King of Israel asked: “Is he yet alive? He is my brother.” Then we read that the servants of the Syrian King watched to see if the King of Israel made any sign, and, catching his sign, they brought the captive King of Syria before him. Not only was the life of the King of Syria spared, but a new pledge was made between the two men.
The cable-tow, then, is also the visible symbol of a vow by which a man has pledged his life, or has pledged himself to save another man’s life at the risk of his own. Its length and strength are measured by the ability of that man to fullfil his obligation ; a test of both his capacity and his character.
If a lodge is a symbol of the world and the initiation is our birth into the world (of Masonry) , the cable-tow is not dissimilar from the cord which unites a child to his/her mother at birth. Just as the physical cord, when cut, is replaced by a tie of love between mother and child, so, in one of the most impressive moments of initiation, the cable-tow is removed, because the Brother, by his oath at the Altar of Obligation, is bound by a tie stronger than any physical cable.
The cable-tow is the sign of the pledge of the life of a man. As in his oath he agrees to forfeit his life if his vow is violated, so he pledges his life to the service of the Craft. He agrees to go to the aid of a Brother, using all his power in his behalf, “if within the length of his cable-tow,” which means, if within the reach of his power.
But, let us remember that a cable-tow has two ends. If it binds a Mason to the Fraternity, by the same token it binds the Fraternity to each man in it. Happily, in our days we are beginning to see the other side of the obligation – that the Fraternity is under vows to its members to guide, instruct and train them for the effective service of the Craft and of Humanity.
Control, obedience, guidance – these are the three meanings of the cable-tow. Of course, by Control we do not mean that Masonry commands us in the same sense that it uses force. Not at all ! Masonry rules men as beauty rules an artist, as love rules a lover. It controls us, shapes us through its moral teaching and so it wins obedience and gives guidance and direction to our lives.
What is the length of a cable-tow ?
Some say it is seven hundred and twenty feet, or twice the measure of a circle. Others say that the length of the cable-tow is three miles. But such figures are merely symbolical, since to one man it may mean three miles and to another three thousand miles – or to the end of the earth.
For each Mason the cable-tow reaches as far as his moral principles go and his material conditions will allow. Of that distance each person must be his own judge!
So mote it be.
by Anon
extract from the "short Talk Bulletin" - vol IV March, 1926 N.3
En 1730, Samuel Pritchard, miembro de una logia constituida en Inglaterra, publicó un tratado titulado Masonería Discreta; e hizo un juramento ante el Lord Mayor de Londres que era una copia verdadera. « Samuel Pritchard hace el juramento de que la obra anexa era un ejemplar verdadero y genuino en cada detalle ». En su trabajo, ha dado el catecismo o examen, en pregunta y respuesta, de los Aprendices, el Compañero de Artesania y el Maestro Masón. No hubo dificultad para hacer esto, ya que es una mera forma.
« En su introducción », dice, « la institución original de la Masonería consistió en la fundación de las artes liberales y las ciencias, pero más especialmente en geometría, ya que en la construcción de la torre de Babel,
el arte y el misterio de la Masonería se introdujeron por primera vez, y de allí, transmitido por Euclides, un matemático digno y excelente de los egipcios; y se lo comunicó a Hiram, el Maestro Masón involucrado en la construcción del Templo de Salomón en Jerusalén ». Además del absurdo de derivar la masonería de la construcción de Babel, donde, según la historia, la confusión de las lenguas impidió que los constructores se entendìeran entre si y, por consiguiente, comunicaran cualquier conocimiento que tuvieran, existe una evidente contradicción en el punto de la cronología en el cuenta que él da.
El Templo de Salomón fue construido y dedicado 1004 años antes de la era cristiana; y Euclides, como se puede ver en las tablas de cronología, vivieron 277 antes de la misma época. Por lo tanto, era imposible que Euclides pudiera comunicarle algo a Hiram, ya que Euclid no vivió hasta 700 años después de la época de Hiram.
En 1783, el Capitán George Smith, inspector de la Real Academia de Artillería en Woolwich, en Inglaterra, y Gran Maestro Provincial de Albañilería para el condado de Kent, publicó un tratado titulado « El Uso y Abuso de la Masonería Libre ».
En su capítulo de la antigüedad de la Masonería, hace que sea coetáneo con la creación, « cuando », dice él, « el arquitecto soberano elevó en los principios masónicos el bello mundo, y ordenó a la ciencia maestra, la Geometría, establecer el mundo planetario , y para regular por sus leyes todo el estupendo sistema en una proporcion justa e infalible, girando alrededor del sol central ».
« Pero », continúa él, « no tengo libertad para descorrer públicamente la cortina, y abiertamente para disentir sobre esta cabeza; es sagrada, y siempre lo será; aquellos que son honrados con la confianza no la revelarán, y aquellos que no lo conocen no pueden traicionarlo ». En esta última parte de la frase, Smith se refiere a las dos clases inferiores, el compañero artesano y el aprendiz inscrito, porque dice en la siguiente página de su obra: “No todos los que apenas se inician en la Masonería libre son a quienes se les confiaron todos los misterios que les pertenecen, no se pueden obtener como cosas por supuesto, ni por cualquier capacidad.
El docto, pero desafortunado Doctor Dodd, Gran Capellán de la Masonería, en
su discurso en la dedicación de Free-Masons Hall, Londres, rastrea la Masonería a través de una variedad de etapas. Los masones, dice él, están bien informados por sus propios registros privados e
interiores de que la construcción del Templo de Salomón esuna era importante, de donde derivan muchos misterios de su arte. «Ahora » ,dice él, « recordemos que este gran evento tuvo lugar más de 1000 años antes de la era cristiana, y en consecuencia más de un siglo antes de que Homero, el primero de los poetas griegos, escribiera, y más de cinco siglos antes de que Pitágoras trajera al este, su sublime sistema de instrucción verdaderamente masónica para iluminar nuestro mundo occidental. Pero, por remoto que sea este período, no nos damos cuenta desde allí del comienzo de nuestro arte. Aunque podría deberse al sabio y glorioso Rey de Israel, algunos de sus muchas formas místicas y ceremonias jeroglíficás, sin embargo, ciertamente el arte mismo es coetáneo con el hombre, el gran tema de la misma ».
« Trazamos », continúa él, « sus pasos en las edades y naciones más distantes, más remotas del mundo. Lo encontramos entre los primeros y más famosos civilizadores del este. Lo dedujimos regularmente de los primeros astrónomos de las planicies de Caldea, de los sabios y místicos reyes y sacerdotes de Egipto, de los sabios de Grecia y de los filósofos de Roma ».
A partir de estos informes y declaraciones de los masones de primer orden en la institución, vemos que la Masonería, sin declarar públicamente eso, reclama una comunicación divina del creador, de una manera diferente y desconectada del libro que los cristianos llama a la biblia; y el resultado natural de esto es que la Masonería se deriva de una religión muy antigua, totalmente independiente y desconectada de ese libro.
Para llegar enseguida al grano, se deriva la Masonería (las costumbres, ceremonias, jeroglíficos y cronología y son los restos de la religión de los antiguos Druidas; quienes, como los Reyes Magos de Persia y los Sacerdotes de Heliópolis en Egipto, fueron Sacerdotes del Sol. Le rindieron culto a esta gran luminaria, como el gran agente visible de una gran primera causa invisible a quien denominaron «Tiempo sin límites ».
La religión cristiana y la masonería tienen un mismo origen común: ambos se derivan de la adoración del sol. La diferencia entre su origen es que la religión cristiana es una parodia del culto al sol, en la que ponen a un hombre al que llaman Cristo, en el lugar del sol, y le pagan la misma adoración que se pagó originalmente a el Sol, como lo he mostrado en el capítulo sobre el origen de la religión cristiana.»
En la Masonería, muchas de las ceremonias de los Druidas se conservan en su estado original, al menos sin ninguna parodia. Con ellos, el Sol sigue siendo el Sol; y su imagen, en forma de sol, es el gran ornamento emblemático de las logias masónicas y los vestidos masónicos. Es la figura central en sus delantales, y lo usan también colgante en el pecho en sus logias, y en sus procesiones. Tiene la figura de un hombre, como a la cabeza del sol, como Cristo siempre está representado.
En qué período de la antigüedad, o en qué nación, esta religión se estableció por primera vez, se pierde en el laberinto del tiempo no registrado. Generalmente se atribuye a los antiguos egipcios, los babilonios y los caldeos, y luego se redujo a un sistema regulado por el aparente progreso del sol a través de los doce signos del zodiaco por Zoroastro, el legislador de Persia, desde donde Pitágoras lo trajo a Grecia. Es a estos asuntos que el Dr. Dodd se refiere en el pasaje ya citado de su oración.
La adoración del Sol como el gran agente visible de una gran primera causa invisible, « Tiempo sin límites », se extendió por una parte considerable de Asia y África, de allí a Grecia y Roma, através de toda la antigua Galia y en Gran Bretaña y Irlanda.
Smith, en su capítulo sobre la antigüedad de la Masonería en Gran Bretaña, dice que «a pesar de la oscuridad que envuelve la historia masónica en ese país, varias circunstancias contribuyen a probar que la Masonería Libre fue introducida en Gran Bretaña alrededor de 1030 años antes de Cristo ». No puede ser Masonería en su estado actual al que Smith alude aquí. Los Druidas florecieron en Gran Bretaña en el período del que él habla, y es de ellos de donde desciende la Masonería. Smith ha puesto al niño en el lugar del padre.
A veces sucede, tanto en la escritura como en la conversación, que una persona deja escapar una expresión que sirve para desentrañar lo que intenta ocultar, y este es el caso de Smith, porque en el mismo capítulo dice: « Los druidas, cuando se dedicaron a escribir, utilizaron el alfabeto griego y me atrevo a afirmar que los restos más perfectos de los ritos y ceremonias de los druidas se conservan en las costumbres y ceremonias de los masones que se encuentran entre la humanidad ». «Mis hermanos », dice él, «pueden ser capaces de rastrearlos con mayor exactitudde lo que estoy en libertad de explicarle al público ».
Como el estudio y la contemplación del Creador, está en las obras de la creación, el Sol, como el gran agente visible de ese Ser, era el objeto visible de la adoración de los druidas; todos sus ritos religiosos y ceremonias tenían referencia al aparente progreso del Sol a través de los doce signos del Zodiaco y su influencia sobre la tierra. Los masones adoptan las mismas prácticas. El techo de sus Templos o Logias está adornado con un Sol, y el piso esuna representación de la cara abigarrada de la tierra, ya sea mediante alfombras o mosaicos.
Freemasons Hall, en Great Queen Street, Lincolns Inn Fields, Londres, es un magnífico edificio que cuesta más de 12,000 libras esterlinas. Smith, al hablar de este edificio, dice: ‘El techo de este magnifico salón es con toda probabilidad la pieza más alta de arquitectura terminada en Europa. En el centro de este techo, un Sol resplandeciente está representado en oro bruñido, rodeado de los doce signos del zodiaco, con sus respectivos personajes. El caso es que el día llamado el día de San Juan, es el 24 de Junio, y es lo que se llama el día de San Juan. El sol llega al solsticio de verano; y, con respecto a su altitud meridional, o la altura a mediodía, durante algunos días parece ser de la misma altura. El día astronómico más largo, como el día más corto, no es todos los años, a causa del año bisiesto, en el mismo día numérico, y por lo tanto, el 24 de Junio siempre se toma para el día de verano; y es en honor al sol, que ha llegado a su mayor altura en nuestro hemisferio, y no a San Juan, que este festival anual de los masones, tomado de los druidas, se celebra en pleno verano dia.
Las costumbres a menudo sobrevivirán a la remembranza de su origen, y este es el caso con respecto a una costumbre que todavía se practica en Irlanda, donde los druidas florecieron en el momento en que florecieron en Gran Bretaña. En vísperas del día de San Iuan, es decir, en la víspera del solsticio de verano, la luz irlandesa enciende en lo alto de las colinas. Esto no puede tener ninguna referencia a San Iuan; pero tiene una referencia emblemática del sol, que ese día está en su elevación más alta del verano, y podría decirse que en un lenguaje común llegó a la cima de la colina.
Aunque los masones han tomado muchas de sus ceremonias y jeroglíficos de los antiguos egipcios, es seguro que no han tomado su cronología desde allí. Si lo hubieran hecho, la iglesia los habría enviado pronto a la hoguera; como la cronología de los egipcios, como la de los chinos, va muchos miles de años más allá de la cronología de la Biblia.
La religión de los druidas, como se dijo antes, era la misma que la religión de los antiguos egipcios. Los sacerdotes de Egipto eran los profesores y maestros de la ciencia, y fueron nombrados sacerdotes de Heliópolis, es decir, de la Ciudad del Sol. Los druidas en Europa, que eran del mismo orden que los hombres, tienen su nombre del teutón o antiguo idioma alemán; el alemán que antiguamente se llamaba Teutones. La palabra Druid significa un hombre sabio.
« Egipto », dice Smith, «de donde derivamos muchos de nuestros misterios, siempre ha tenido un rango distinguido en la historia, y una vez fue celebrado sobre todos los demás por sus antigüedades, su aprendizaje, su opulencia y su fertilidad. En su sistema, sus principales héroes-dioses, Osiris e Isis, representan teológicamente al Ser Supremo y la Naturaleza universal; y fisicamente las dos grandes luminarias celestiales, el Sol y la Luna, por cuya influencia toda la naturaleza actuó. Los hermanos con experiencia de la sociedad, » dice Smith en una nota a este pasaie « estan bien informados sobre la afinidad que estos símbolos tienen con La Masonería, y por que se usan en todas las Logias Masónicas. » Al hablar de la vestimenta de los masones en sus Logias, parte de la cual, como vemos en sus procesiones públicas, es un delantal de cuero blanco, dice, « los Druidas eran vestidos de blanco en el momento de sus sacrificios y solemnes oficios. Los sacerdotes egipcios de Osiris usaban algodón blanco como la nieve. El griego y la mayoría de los otros sacerdotes vestían prendas blancas. Como masones, consideramos los principios de aquellos «que fueron los primeros adoradores del Dios verdadero », imitar su vestimenta y asumir la insignia de la inocencia ».
« Los egipcios », continúa Smith, « en las edades mas tempranas constituyeron un gran número de Logias, pero con cuidado asiduo mantuvieron sus secretos de la Masonería de todos los extraños. Estos secretos han sido transmitidos imperfectamente a nosotros por la tradición oral solamente, y deberían mantenerse sin descubrir a los trabajadores, artesanos y aprendices, hasta que con un buen comportamiento y un largo estudio se familiaricen mejor con la geometría y las artes liberales, y así calificados para Maestros y Guardianes, que rara vez o nunca es el caso de los masones ingleses ».
(This is an extract from “Historical Consideration of the Origin and Development of Freemasonry” by Arthur Edwards Waite published in its entirety in 1923)
Less than forty years after the foundation of Grand Lodge , Knightly Orders begun to develop with titles , in some cases , being borrowed from the old institutions of Christian Chivalry.
The invention was so successful that those Orders multiplied from 1754 to the threshold of the French Revolution. New denominations were being devised when the old titles were exhausted and many rituals established.
Twenty years after the date of the London Grand Lodge and when that of Scotland may not have been twelve months old, the memorable Scottish Freemason Andrew Michael Ramsay, delivered an historical address in a French Lodge in Paris, in the course of which he explained that the Masonic Brotherhood arose in Palestine during the period of the Crusades, under the protection of Christian Knights, with the object of restoring Christian Churches which had been destroyed by Saracens in the Holy Land.
The foster-mother of Masonry, was the Chivalry of St. John.
Ramsay left the Masonic arena after that speech and died in the early part of 1743, but his discourse produced a profound impression on French Freemasonry. He offered no evidence, but France undertook to produce the creation of Rites and Degrees of Masonic Knighthood, no trace of which is to be found prior of Ramsay. Their prototypes were the Knights of Malta, the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, the Knights of St.Lazarus – all under the Papal seal – and the Order of Christ under the patronage of the Portuguese Crown. There is no need to say that those Religious and Military Orders have nothing in common with the Operative Masonry of the past. When the story of a secret perpetuation of the old Knights Templar rose up within Freemasonry, it came about that the Templar element overshadowed the dreams and pretensions of other Masonic Chivalries, or, more correctly, outshone them all. The Chevalier Ramsay never spoke of the Templar ; the points of his statements were that :
the hypothetical building confraternity of Palestine united with the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem;
that such fraternity became established in various countries of Europe as the Crusaders drifted back;
that its chief centre , in the thirteenth century , was Kilwinning in Scotland.
But the French and German Masonic minds went on to work upon this thesis, and in presenting the Craft with the credentials of Knightly connections, it substituted the Order of the Temple for the Chivalry chosen by Ramsay. The Battle of Lepanto in October 1571 and the Siege of Vienna had invested the annals of the St. John Knighthood with a great light of valour. But this was little in comparison with the attraction which, for some reason, attached to the Templar name and was magnified when the proposition arose that the great chivalry had continued to exist in secret from the days of Philippe le Bel even to the second half of the eighteenth century. But of course there is no evidence of any Rite or Degree of Masonic Chivalry prior to 1737, the date of the discourse of Ramsay.
According to the Rite of the Strict Observance the proscribed Order was carried by its Marshal, Pierre d’Aumont, who escaped with a few other Knights to the Isles of Scotland, disguised as Operative Masons. They remained there and under the same veil the Templar Order continued to exist in secret from generation to generation under the shadow of the mythical Mount Heredom of Kilwinning.
The first Masonic Chivalry Order which put forward the story of the Templar origin was The Strict Observance , founded by Baron von Hund in Germany between about 1751 and 1754.
The Story of the origin
The story goes that the Templar Order began in poverty, but Baldwin II, King of Jerusalem, gave them a house in the vicinity of the site where Solomon’s Temple had been built. When it was put in repair by Hugh de Payens and the rest of the first Brethren, their digging operations unearthed an iron casket which contained priceless treasures. Chief among them was the process of the Great Work in Alchemy, in other words the secret of transmuting metals, as it had been communicated to Solomon by the Master Hiram Abiff.
Only in this way it is possible to account for the wealth which adorned and characterised the First Temple. The discovery also explains the wealth acquired by the Templar Order and which it later led to their destruction. Traitors who knew of the secret, although they had not themselves attained it, revealed the fact to Clement V and Philip the Fair of France, and the real purpose of the persecution which followed was to wrest the transmuting process from the hands of its custodians. Jacques de Molay and his co-heirs died to preserve such secret but three of the initiated Knights made their escape and after long wandering from Country to Country, they found refuge in the caves of Mount Heredom. They were helped by Knights of St. Andrew of the Thistle, with whom they made an alliance and on whom they conferred their knowledge. To conceal it from others and yet transmit it through the ages , they created the Masonic Order in 1340; but the alchemical secret, which is the physical term of the Mystery, has only ever been reserved to those who can emerge from the veils of allegory , that is to say, for the chiefs of St. Andrew of the Thistle, who are Princes of the Rosy Cross and the Grand Council of the Chapter.
There is nothing in this story that can be taken seriously but this is not to say that there is no vestige of possibilities behind it. In which case the old material would then have been worked over and adapted to Masonic purposes, inspired by the oration of Ramsay.
The life of Thomas Dunckerley was one of a major importance to the Craft. No other 18th century English Freemason occupied so many distinguished offices as he did. His story is an engaging reading that will also fill your mind with questions. Thomas ’s motto was “Fato non Merito” [1] and nothing summarises his life better than those words.
Thomas Dunckerley was born in London on 23 October 1724, the child of Mary Bolness, wife of Adam Dunckerley who became a porter at Somerset House. Although Mary’s husband deserted her when he found out she was carrying an illegitimate child, Mary was able to support – for reasons that will be disclosed to you later – Thomas’s private education at boarding school. That experience, however, proved an unhappy one for the child who, at the age of ten, decided to run away from the institution and never return. His grandmother took him under her mantle and cared for him until, still a child, he joined the Royal Navy’s “Boy Service“ as a “Powder monkey or “Nipper‟.
In the 18th century there were very many adolescent boys serving aboard British ships. Some of them were orphans or foundlings, others were just delinquent and troublesome juveniles. Although the Navy did not provide an apprenticeship leading up to an independent trade, it gave long-term employment to those who were fit and healthy. The Navy recruited from a wide spectrum of the society and even practiced impressment, a custom of forcing any men of age 18 and upwards to serve the Nation for a specific time and in situations of war, even against their will. Many such individuals and children stayed on and progressed through the ranks , reaching captaincy and receiving commissions . A few even ended their service as Admirals.
Geometry was a science that all ship gunners had to learn as it was used to calculate the correct inclination of a cannon in relation to the target and the speed of the ships in combat. By distinguishing himself in that task, Thomas became “Master Gunner” at only 24 years of age. However, he remained in that rank until he retired twenty-six years later. During his time in the Navy Thomas travelled extensively, taught Maths to his ship’s crew, engaged in many sea skirmishes and took part to the siege of Quebec[2] during the Seven Years’ war.
Throughout those years at sea, Thomas received much commendation and tokens of friendship from all the Officers under whom he served. However, merit and seniority were not the only elements required to secure a career; the influence of friends in prominent places was also a crucial factor and sadly Thomas had none.
THE ROYAL SEDUCTION STORY
In 1760, Mary Dunckerley had passed away and Thomas, on his return to London from Quebec, was to discover a story that put him in a new and extraordinary light. On her deathbed, Mary had confided to her neighbour that she became pregnant with Thomas as the result of a brief relationship with the Prince of Wales, the future King George II of England (in the portrait below).
Mary Dunckerley was the daughter of a physician and she lived and worked in the household of the Right Hon. Robert Walpole – a subsequent Prime Minister of England – at Houghton Hall in Norfolk. Mary had gained a solid education, and it is realistic to assume that she was Lady Walpole’s personal assistant rather than one of her servants. The philandering German speaking Prince of Wales, had become fond of the Walpoles [3] and being a recurrent visitor to Houghton Hall, on one such visit he seduced Mary. Lady Walpole did not fail to notice what was taking place under her roof and swiftly moved to bring the embarrassing situation to an end. She schemed an expedient whereby she would find a husband for Mary and then despatched the married couple to live and work hundreds of miles away from Houghton Hall.
Lady Mary Walpole confided in her friend the Duke of Devonshire [4] whom recommended that the future consort of Mary should be an anonymous Adam Dunckerley. He summoned the young man at his Chatsworth House and kept him there until the terms of the arranged marriage were accepted. Clearly either Adam or Mary, if not both, must have had a few reservations. Perhaps their different social status and education played a part in the dithering. After the wedding the couple moved to London where Adam, in exchange for free accommodation, took up the post of porter at Somerset House. The trade of a porter in the early 18th century London entailed carrying wealthy and important individuals in sedan chairs – which provided protection from mud, snow, rain or sun – back and forth through the unpaved streets of London. Porters also loaded and offloaded luggage from horse carriages, cargo from river boats and so on. Theirs was a demanding job, but one that greatly contributed to the growth of the economy in the Capital.
Somerset House (in the picture above) is a beautiful palace just off the Strand, famous worldwide for being immortalised in a painting by Canaletto. The architect Christopher Wren, whom some believe was a Freemason, refurbished it magnificently in 1685. A few decades later , however, the structure fell into disrepair and ceased offering adequate accommodation to foreign Royals, Aristocrats and diplomats. Instead, it provided simple lodgings in exchange for grace and favours.
When in November 1723 Adam Dunckerley left Somerset House to do some errands for the Duke of Derbyshire – he was absent for five months, until May 1724! – he left Mary with much idle time to occupy herself. With Christmas approaching, she set on visiting some of her friends and acquaintances. One of those cronies was Lady Margaret Ranelagh (1672-1728) who lived at 83-84 Pall Mall, London.
On her deathbed Mary confided to Ann Pinkney – the wife of another porter at Somerset House –that one day she went into the parlour of her host’s house and found the Prince of Wales whom she “had too well known” before her unhappy marriage. “At his request and for I could deny him nothing” – said Mary – “I stayed at the house for several more days during which time the Prince made five visits to me” and in one encounter made her pregnant! For the cuckold Adam Dunckerley, this proved too much to bear. He opted out of Mary’s life and disappeared from the records.
The events that followed seem to endorse the argument that Thomas truthfully had a royal “connection”. Proof of it is that the expecting Mary, whom under different circumstances would have been left to her destiny, was instead surrounded and tended for by people of status. The Royal Midwife Mrs Sydney Kennion, for example, assisted the child’s birth with the doctor to the Prince of Wales and to the Walpoles – Dr Richard Meade (1673-1754) [5] – in attendance.
Indeed after Thomas’s birth, the Prince of Wales gifted Mary with fifty pounds; enough money to buy a house in those times. Dunckerley recounts: “This information” – the affair with the Prince of Wales – “gave me great surprise and much uneasiness; and as I was obliged to return immediately to my duty on board the Vanguard, I made it known to no person at that time other than Captain Swanton. We were then bound a second time to Quebec, and Captain Swanton promised that on our return he would try to have me introduced to the King, and that he would give me a character reference; but when we came back to England the King (George II) was dead.”
Thomas’ grandmother had been a nurse to Sir Edward Walpole – son of Sir Robert Walpole, a Freemason – and Dunckerley had been hoping in vain that such a connection would have helped him rise in the Navy‘s ranks. But now – it was the year 1760 – Thomas realised that in the light of his mother’s revelations, he could play the ace card of claiming to be a royal bastard and obtain “employment in any department that is adequate to my (…) abilities and which would not depress me beneath the character of a Gentleman”.
By the end of 1763, the year he had retired from the Navy, Thomas had accumulated debts of £150, a sizeable amount of money that he had no hope on earth of repaying in his life. He was drawing a very good pension from the Navy but he was spending it all on medical bills for his sick daughter and his son [8] who needed to be repeatedly bailed out from his gambling liabilities. With the certainty of ending his days in the debtors’ prison, Thomas made a runner.
In 1764 he signed on as a crew member of the HMS Guadeloupe and sailed away to avoid arrest and imprisonment. On board with him was Lord William Gordon, a fellow Freemason who kept good guard on him. Having become ill with the scurvy, Thomas disembarked at Marseilles and underwent treatment at the home of none other than England’s ambassador in town. When he was restored to a good health, Thomas travelled to Paris to rejoin Lord Gordon who gave him £200.00 and dispatched him back to England to clear all his liabilities.
But money never changes hands without good reason!
Only after the death of Thomas’s alleged royal parent in 1766, Thomas’s claim was brought to the attention of the King. The newly crowned [6] George III (in the portrait above) was said to have been very impressed at the number of intimate information in Mary’s deathbed confession. He made enquires into Thomas Dunckerley’s character and being satisfied, he assigned him an annuity of £100 [7] and gave him the use of private apartments at Hampton Court Palace. He also allowed Dunckerley to bear a Coat of Arms that showed the motto “Fato non Merito” and to sign himself as “FitzGeorge” (son of George).
At the age of forty-six Thomas had at last achieved the prestige and economic security he had longed for.
MASONIC CAREER AND WORK
In contrast to his experience in the Navy, Dunckerley’s Masonic career proved glistening. Thomas was initiated into Freemasonry in 1757 and believed to have gone through the three degrees at the “Lodge of the Three Tuns N.31”, one of the Navy Lodges of Portsmouth which met at the pub with the same name. To substantiate that assumption is the fact that he ended his speech – called “The Light and Truth of Freemasonry Explained “ and delivered before the Lodges of Plymouth in 1757 – with words of apology for having boldly written about the subject whilst still very new to Freemasonry. Two years later he reaped his strong enthusiasm for the Craft by becoming the Grand Master of two Plymouth Lodges.
Thomas Dunckerley
In 1767, Dunckerley received the appointment to Prov. Grand Master of Hampshire and founded several naval Lodges in the County. That first Provincial rank appointment in Freemasonry was a token of true esteem by the Grand Lodge of England – particularly by its Royal Patrons the Prince of Wales (Grand Master of the Order),the Duke of Clarence (Patron of the Holy Royal Arch) and the Prince Edward (Patron of the Masonic Knights Templar Order).
Dunckerley also became the Pro Grand Master for the Masonic Provinces of Bristol, Dorset, Essex, Gloucester, Hereford, Somerset, Southampton & the Isle of Wight. He was also the Grand Superintendent for Kent, Nottingham, Surrey, Suffolk, Sussex and Warwick and the most eminent Grand Master of The Knights of Rose Crucis, Templar, Kadosh and he received the appointment to Past Senior Grand Warden.
However, of far more importance in the Craft was the office that Dunckerley occupied as an instructor of Masonic Lodges and a reformer of Freemasonry. The Grand Lodge of England had in fact authorised him to revise the existing ritual which resulted in Thomas’s removal of part of the third degree ritual and assigning it to the Royal Arch instead. In September 1769, Dunckerley introduced the Mark Mason Degree. Nobody is certain of where he got the idea, but we know that he conferred it for the first time to the Brethren of the Portsmouth Royal Arch Chapter of Friendship No 257. It is also interesting to note that initially there was a “Mark Man” Degree given to Fellow Crafts and a “Mark Master” Degree conferred on Master Masons.
About a hundred years later, the Grand Lodge of England backed off from its initial recognition of Mark Masonry and the Mark could no longer be worked in a Craft Lodge. The Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons was hence constituted, turning Mark Masonry into a separate and independent Masonic body.
Dunckerley also introduced new Masonic symbols such as the ‘Parallel Lines’ – which represent the two Saint John – and ‘Jacob’s Ladder’. He wrote Masonic songs and hymns, many well-written letters and presented many Lectures.
HIS LATE LIFE
Thomas married young in life and to a much older woman; but the couple lived happily together and even had four children. When Thomas laid the foundation stone of a new Church at Southampton in 1792, he said that “if the structured had been finished by the time he had completed fifty years in wedlock, he should think himself justified in following the practice of some Nations he had travelled in, viz., that of keeping a jubilee year” and being remarried in that Church!
Thomas Dunckerley was a very generous Brother and he continued to give frequent Masonic and social events even when he lived at Hampton Court. He attended public meetings and festivals of the Craft and helped the poor fellows whenever he could. But such benevolence and the regular expenses he incurred for attending all the events of his many Provinces, were costly and caused Dunckerley to effectively lead a poor life.
Dunckerley died in Portsmouth at 71 years of age, in 1795. He had expressed a wish of being buried in the Templars’s Church, London, but was instead laid to rest in St Mary’s Parish Church (shown in the photo above) , Portsea, Portsmouth, in an unmarked grave. An arrangement that speaks volumes!
CONCLUSIONS
Thomas did not show any desire for a classical education and run away from college when he was 10 years old. The excellent proficiency in Maths that he showed later in life, does not compensate for an intellectual education that was never installed onto him. He served in the Navy for twenty-six years – a third of his lifetime! – yet he rose no higher than Master Gunner. He also fell into debt and dishonorably fled the Country. He regained his integrity and avoided imprisonment only thanks to a substantial financial donation – but I suspect we should call it a “lifetime loan” or a bounty – from a Brother Freemason if not from the Grand Lodge of England itself!
How do we otherwise explain that a person with such a background and limited education progressed so significantly in the Craft’s hierarchy, composed Masonic songs, delivered eminent lectures, inspected [9] revised and reformed Freemasonry and even introduced the new Order of Mark Masonry. And he did all that just on his own merit? Why was his body not laid to rest with the reverence and respect that royal blood require?
Susan Sommers is a historian and a recent biographer of Dunckerley, in her article published in the Masonic magazine “The Square” [10] inspirationally states that the 18th century, with its Enlightenment, military wars and civil unrest, was a time of rapid changes which provided the perfect conditions for some men to leave their inglorious, murky or boring past behind and reinvent themselves.
I feel this might be just what Dunckerley did.
Back home and into a civilian life after twenty-six years spent at sea, Thomas stared at financial ruin. What saved him were his human qualities. He was an intelligent, articulate, affable, caring, generous and gregarious individual who got on with everybody. But above all he was a Freemason with a canny physical resemblance to King George II, and with a captivating story that took him out of an anonymous life and gave him the status of a gentleman.
Having escaped incarceration, Thomas very determinedly dedicated the later part of his existence, to the service and glory of Freemasonry. He took on endless work and responsibilities, he entertained, revised, developed and changed all things Masonic.
As the illegitimate child of an English Monarch and a person gifted with noble looks and deportment, Thomas Dunckerley fitted perfectly the profile of a faithful agent for the mysterious and political designs of the 18th century English Freemasonry.And no matter what status he attained later in life, I believe his true worthiness remains shrouded by a thick veil of fabrication.
The author forbids any reproduction or publication of this article, in full or in part, without his explicit authorisation.
[2] It saw the British snatching the Province of Quebec in Canada from the French in 1759
[3] In his role of King , George II relied more and more on the political dexterity of Lord Walpole to govern his realm
[4] William Cavendish, the IV Duke of Devonshire (1720-1764). Duke of Devonshire was just the name of the Title. The Cavendishes were not the Duke of the County of Devon.
[5] Member of the Royal Society of Physician and a Freemason
[8] He was reported to have died in a cellar in St Giles’s prison
[9] In 1760 he received a commission “to inspect the Craft wheresoever he might go”
[10] Thomas Dunckerley – A Masonic hero and/or imposter ? “The Square” – Sept 2013
SOURCES
"History of the Mark Degree" by the E. Lancashire Prov. Grand Lodge
“Thomas Dunckerley and English Freemasonry” by Susan Mitchell Sommers
“The late Brother Thomas Dunckerley” – The Freemasons’ Quarterly Review, March 1842
“Who was Thomas Dunckerley” by WBro. Bro Ken White, Lodge Gosforth, August 1999
“WBro. Dunckerley” – by Edgar W Fentum
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hijo de Carlos IV, que había sido depuesto por el gobierno francés, y ellos obligó al virrey a abdicar. Por lo tanto, Venezuela fue el primero Colonia de España para declarar su independencia, un evento que tomó coloque el 5 de julio de 1811.
General José de San Martin, un masón, y el general Bemardo O`Higgins, también un masón, tenían liberó a Argentina y Chile del poder español, y el primero, ahora “Protector” de Perú, llegó a Guayaquil el 26 de julio de 1822, donde él consultó con Bolívar. Qué procedimientos se decidieron, con respecto a Perú, en esa conferencia entre los dos grandes Los Líberators españoles, que eran masones, probablemente nunca ser conocida. San Martín renunció a su ‘Protectorado” de Perú y regresó a Argentina. En cualquier caso, Bolívar se hizo cargo y, llegando en Callao, el 1 de septiembre de 1823, fue investido con el título de “Libertador” de Perú. Entrenó a unos 4,000 peruanos y, con el ejército que había venido a Perú con él, tenía unos 9,000 hombres. Con estos contrató a un número igual de españoles en Junin en una sangrienta batalla de caballería con sables, donde no se disparó un solo tiro, y ganó un victoria que, con la de Ayacucho el 9 de diciembre dc 1824, bajo El general Antonio José de Sucre, terminó para siempre con el poder colonial de España en el Nuevo Mundo
.Habiendo planeado estas batallas con el general Sucre, un masón, Bolívar fue a Lima para organizar un gobiemo cívico y llamar a un Convención Constitucional. Cuando, el 8 de febrero de 1825, tuvo efectuado el nuevo gobierno, renunció al poder supremo en Colombia y Perú. Rechazo de un regalo de 1,000,000 de pesos (aproximadamente $200,000) de Perú y por haber asistido a algunos asuntos cívicos en Perú superior (Bolivia), Bolívar dejó al general Sucre a cargo y se dirigió a Bogotá, Colombia, para calmar los conflictos civiles que habían surgido entre sus antiguos camaradas. Al llegar allí en noviembre de 1826, él pronto pasó a Venezuela, convocando una convención constitucional en ruta para reunirse en Valencia, el 15 de enero de 1827. Aunque él no tuvo sido capaz de ajustar la desafección, ingresó a Caracas en triunfo. Finalmente, después de catorce años en el mando supremo. La renuncia de Bolívar fue aceptada por el Congreso a petición suya, frente a la intriga y el abuso de sus enemigos que fueron hambriento de poder.
as “a fashionable fellow in the mid-18th-century England who dressed and even spoke in an outlandishly affected and epicene manner” and also as a person “who exceeded the ordinary bounds of fashion in terms of clothes, fastidious eating and gambling”.
Earl of Chesterfield
With no lawyer to defend him, he pleaded for mercy with the Court and delivered a speech from which we have extracted the following:
to visit the garden of the school of Ashbourne; a very pretty place on a bank of the river. It was a hot day and they sat on a bench for a little rest, whereupon Johnson – Boswell reports in his diaries – told him of his “humane interference” on behalf of the Rev. Dr Dodd whom he barely knew. Knowing Johnson’s persuasive power of writing Dodd had asked him, through the interception of the late Countess of Harrington, to employ his pen in his favour by writing a letter of supplication to the King so that “(the King) may spare me the ignominy of public death which the public itself is solicitous to waive, and grant me in some distant part of the globe to pass the remainder of my days in penitence an prayer (…)”.
Boswell was expressing his full of admiration for the determination with which Dodd had met his creator a few days earlier. “Dr Dodd seemed to be willing to die and was full of hopes and happiness”, said Boswell. But Johnson retorted that hardly any man dies in public with apparent resolution: “Sir” –said Johnson – “Dr Dodd would have given both his hands and both his legs to have lived because the better a man is, the more afraid is he of death, having a clear view of infinite purity”.
The death-by-hanging technique improved only in the 20th century when mathematical formulas begun to be applied to determine the length of the rope and the height of the drop required to break the person’s neck, quickly. But in the days when such factors – height, weight and neck size of the condemned – where never taken into consideration , the condemned’ s death would have occurred only by a long and inhumane process of strangulation.
Dormer Masonic Study Circle. Their esoteric approach is maybe not to everyone’s taste; however it is without doubt that their papers are hugely interesting and thought-provoking to say the least.
King Athelstan (927-939). Around the year 1450, the second oldest Masonic text – the Cooke Manuscript – traces Masonry back to Jabal, son of Lamech (from Genesis) and tells how this knowledge came to Euclid, from him to the Children of Israel (while they were in Egypt), and so on through an elaborate path to Athelstan. This myth formed the basis for subsequent manuscript constitutions, all tracing Masonry back to biblical times, and fixing its institutional establishment in England during the reign of Athelstan.
. In the very successful and controversial book The Hiram Key, Robert Lomas and Christopher Knight describe a timeline starting in ancient Egypt and taking in Jesus, the Templars, and Rosslyn before arriving at modern Freemasonry.
aster came back and found that his pupil’s pillar was much better than anything he could have ever conceived, he killed the apprentice. .. with a mallet hit to his forehead. There is clear evidence that this story is false. William St Clair masterminded and personally supervised any detail of the work. Any carving was to be created in wood first, in order for him to approve it. So it is utterly unthinkable that an apprentice was able to build one of the most important pillars of the chapel out of his own initiative.
The Mandaeans are an ethno-religious group of Southern Mesopotamia also known, among Iraqi and Iranian Muslims, as Sabians. The Mandaeans are the last surviving baptising sect; they follow the Gnostic belief called Mandaeism. Their belief regularly mentions the star called “Merika` which they placed west, across the ocean, marking a land. The amazing point here is that Mandaeism said so a good 2000 years ago! These are the same Mandaeans who believed St John the Baptist, a Mystery initiate, to be their great prophet, the last prophet in fact; they called him “Son of Man”.
Lord Northampton, former Pro Grand Master and charismatic leader of English Freemasonry for 14 years before his retirement in 2010, said the following at the inauguration of the esoteric study circle called Cornerstone Society:
his/her mother at birth. Just as the physical cord, when cut, is replaced by a tie of love between mother and child, so, in one of the most impressive moments of initiation, the cable-tow is removed, because the Brother, by his oath at the Altar of Obligation, is bound by a tie stronger than any physical cable.
Los sacerdotes de Egipto eran los profesores y maestros de la ciencia, y fueron nombrados sacerdotes de Heliópolis, es decir, de la Ciudad del Sol. Los druidas en Europa, que eran del mismo orden que los hombres, tienen su nombre del teutón o antiguo idioma alemán; el alemán que antiguamente se llamaba Teutones. La palabra Druid significa un hombre sabio.
delivered an historical address in a French Lodge in Paris, in the course of which he explained that the Masonic Brotherhood arose in Palestine during the period of the Crusades, under the protection of Christian Knights, with the object of restoring Christian Churches which had been destroyed by Saracens in the Holy Land.
and the Siege of Vienna had invested the annals of the St. John Knighthood with a great light of valour. But this was little in comparison with the attraction which, for some reason, attached to the Templar name and was magnified when the proposition arose that the great chivalry had continued to exist in secret from the days of Philippe le Bel even to the second half of the eighteenth century. But of course there is no evidence of any Rite or Degree of Masonic Chivalry prior to 1737, the date of the discourse of Ramsay.
Although the Navy did not provide an apprenticeship leading up to an independent trade, it gave long-term employment to those who were fit and healthy. The Navy recruited from a wide spectrum of the society and even practiced impressment, a custom of forcing any men of age 18 and upwards to serve the Nation for a specific time and in situations of war, even against their will. Many such individuals and children stayed on and progressed through the ranks , reaching captaincy and receiving commissions . A few even ended their service as Admirals.
