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Mark Coleman Wallace PhD Thesis - University of St Andrews

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public and national demand for increased openness in masonic activities.<br />

Chapter 5 explores the first <strong>of</strong> these important yet poorly-understood cases, the<br />

Maybole Trial <strong>of</strong> Sedition in 1800, which involved two West Coast lodges, wild<br />

accusations <strong>of</strong> Illuminati infiltration, and charges that radical Irish societies were<br />

using masonic lodges as covers for seditious activities.<br />

The second legal battle occurred in Edinburgh itself, pitting two lodges<br />

against one another and eventually ending in what modern masonic historians<br />

have labelled the Masonic Secession <strong>of</strong> 1808. Chapter 6 examines masonic<br />

protocol in relation to political issues and the observance <strong>of</strong> proscribed laws.<br />

Sparked by a political debate, the Masonic Secession <strong>of</strong> 1808, or the Great<br />

Masonic Rebellion, was the culmination <strong>of</strong> a century <strong>of</strong> change among<br />

freemasons in Scotland. As we shall see, the Rebellion manifested the extreme<br />

resentment <strong>of</strong> some Scottish lodges towards one another and triggered an intense<br />

questioning <strong>of</strong> the political and personal motivations <strong>of</strong> the Grand Lodge <strong>of</strong><br />

Scotland, all <strong>of</strong> which nearly caused the complete collapse <strong>of</strong> Scottish<br />

freemasonry.<br />

11

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