Mark Coleman Wallace PhD Thesis - University of St Andrews

was sick of the sight of them, and ordered that they should be sent straight to
Dundas without bothering him.” 27
This outpouring of respect, however, was a new departure in the period
after 1789. After all, Anderson’s Constitutions of 1723 stated that freemasons
should be “resolv’d against all Politicks, as what never yet conduc’d to the
Welfare of the Lodge, nor ever will.” 28 The Grand Lodge of Scotland
recognized that “it was at all times unbecoming of them as a Body to interfere
with Politics,” but at the same it considered “Loyalty to the King and
Submissions to the Laws to be duties incumbent On all.” 29 Though such
expressions of devotion strengthened public perceptions of the fraternity, the
timing of their appearance suggests that the masons were attempting to bolster
their image while simultaneously safeguarding themselves against government
suspicion of secret societies. 30
Revolutionary Attitudes and Suspicion
In addition to toasts, speeches, and letters, surviving lodge minutes also
attest to the increase of political discussions and ideas, even though they were
effectively banned by the Constitutions. For example, on St John the Baptist’s
Day in June 1806, No. 6 Old Inverness recorded that upon the conclusion of the
27 Fry, Despotism, 168.
28 James Anderson, Constitutions, 54. The section on politics also stipulates that “…no private
Piques or Quarrels must be brought within the Door of the Lodge, far less Quarrels about
Religion, or Nations, or State Policy.”
29 Grand Lodge of Scotland Minutes, 30 November 1795.
30 Michael Fry notes that Dundas heard that “a network of Scottish societies already had 300
members, including ordinary workers, whom they [Friends of the People] could attract because
they set much lower subscriptions than their English counterparts. Dundas thought he would
make himself useful to the Government by dealing in person with this,” Despotism, 168.
146