Mark Coleman Wallace PhD Thesis - University of St Andrews

traces of treason among clubs and societies in Britain, however, freemasons
were forced to make politics a central issue.
Constitutionalism, Loyalism and Politics
The rise of politics coincided with an upsurge of loyalism as an
expression of opposition to reformist organizations and, especially in the 1790s,
“its more aggressive manifestations united around the war-cry ‘Church and
King!’”. 19 In effect, British freemasons intensely emphasized their extreme
patriotism and reverence for the “craft’s sense of its own past, real and
invented,” and the “King as its symbol, head, and chief protector.” 20
This ideological belief and trust in both the King and constitution played
a vital role in establishing a political basis for lodges and contributed to a
general standardization of laws and regulations. Lodge constitutions, texts, and
rituals were all heavily influenced by “proto-parliamentary themes” such as
electing officers by vote, discussing lodge business and issues in debates,
imposing fines and penalties on members who violated rules, and keeping
detailed minutes of all lodge transactions. 21 James Van Horn Melton assesses
the political and ideological shift in British freemasonry:
143
By the 1790s English freemasonry had become thoroughly domesticated.
The rhetoric of liberty and brotherhood that had hitherto dominated the
language of the movement gave way to a conspicuously patriotic
discourse, one that stressed respect for national tradition and loyalty to
church and king. Here the loyalist tone of British freemasonry mirrored
19 Clive Emsley, Britain and the French Revolution (London, 2000), 40. See also Harry
Dickinson, “Popular Loyalism in Britain in the 1790s,” Transformation, 503-534.
20 Melton, Rise of the Public, 265-266.
21 Ibid, 258.