-
Articles/Ads
Article FREEMASONRY IN FRANCE. ← Page 2 of 6 Article FREEMASONRY IN FRANCE. Page 2 of 6 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Freemasonry In France.
lations of these apparently conflicting and concurrent jurisdictions , each of which is naturally tenacious of its hitherto acknowledged privileges ; but in any case the summary of the history of Freemasonry in France will be interesting , and its attentive perusal will perhaps enable us the better to comprehend the situation .
FREEMASONRY IN FRANCE . PART . 1 . —PERIOD OP FORMATION . Section I . The history of Freemasonry in France
may be divided into two great periods . The first , which may be termed the period of formation , takes its starting point in 1725 , the date of the first Lodge established in Paris , and extends to the treaty of alliance , signed in 1799 , which confided
to the Grand Orient of France the sole power of regulating and governing the Masonic order . The second may be termed the period of activity , ( fonctionnement ) extends from the treaty of alliance down to the present time . It is not intended here to write a history of Freemasonry in France , but at the present moment , when the Congress of
Lausanne has just decided that the Confederated Supreme Councils will not acknowled ge to the Grand Orient the right of conferring the first three degrees , and that all those which they have conferred in the past or will confer in the future will
he declared void and irregular , it will be interesting to examine , historically at kast , this singular pretention . We shall therefore endeavour to discover by what means the Grand Orient of France , during the first period , had been enabled to reestablish
in this great body , divided by so many sects , that unity which alone could give it the importance to which it was entitled , and which could enable it to attain its avowed end—the physical and moral amelioration of mankind . We shall see how and b y what means this unity was
Freemasonry In France.
destroyed , what dissensions arose , which continued , and which wasted in sterile debates , and in useless expenditure the forces and resources of the divers Masonic bodies , which , otherwise should have united for the love of well doing and the
grand p rincip les which form the foundation of the Institution . The date of the introduction into France of symbolic Masonry is well known . In 1725 , Lord Derventwaters ( sic ) , the Chevalier Maskelyne and Bro . Hoguerty founded
the first Lodge , which met at the house of Hure ( an English hotel keeper ) , in the rue des Boucheries-Saint-Germain . * This institution prospered ; other Lodges were established , and in 1735 a deputation was nominated to go to England to ask of the Grand Lodge of England for authority to form themselves into a Provincial Grand
Lodge . In 1743 , the authorisation having been granted , the administrative body of French Masonry legally constituted itself under the title of the " Grande Loge Anglaise de France . " It was only in 1756 that it declared itself independent , and assumed the name of the " Grand Loge de
France . " It revised its constitutions , and was composed of the Masters of the regular Lodges established in Paris . During the Grand Mastership of the Oomte de Clermont and under the
direction of his deputies , Laure , banker , Lacome , dancing master , and Bro . Chaillou de Jonville , the disorder became so great as to cause numerous protestations , and by a decree of May 15 , 1766 , a portion of the brethren composing the Grand Lodge were excluded by the dominant party . The struggle continued , and only ceased at the death of the Grand Master .
The Comte de Clermont having died in 1771 , the excluded brethren conceived the idea of offering the succession to the Duke de Chartres , afterwards Due d'Orleans . It does not into enter the plan of our work to recount the history of these dissensions , of which Brother Jouaust has g iven a very precise and reliable account . Suffice it to state that the Grand Orient of France was formed on the 24 th Decem-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Freemasonry In France.
lations of these apparently conflicting and concurrent jurisdictions , each of which is naturally tenacious of its hitherto acknowledged privileges ; but in any case the summary of the history of Freemasonry in France will be interesting , and its attentive perusal will perhaps enable us the better to comprehend the situation .
FREEMASONRY IN FRANCE . PART . 1 . —PERIOD OP FORMATION . Section I . The history of Freemasonry in France
may be divided into two great periods . The first , which may be termed the period of formation , takes its starting point in 1725 , the date of the first Lodge established in Paris , and extends to the treaty of alliance , signed in 1799 , which confided
to the Grand Orient of France the sole power of regulating and governing the Masonic order . The second may be termed the period of activity , ( fonctionnement ) extends from the treaty of alliance down to the present time . It is not intended here to write a history of Freemasonry in France , but at the present moment , when the Congress of
Lausanne has just decided that the Confederated Supreme Councils will not acknowled ge to the Grand Orient the right of conferring the first three degrees , and that all those which they have conferred in the past or will confer in the future will
he declared void and irregular , it will be interesting to examine , historically at kast , this singular pretention . We shall therefore endeavour to discover by what means the Grand Orient of France , during the first period , had been enabled to reestablish
in this great body , divided by so many sects , that unity which alone could give it the importance to which it was entitled , and which could enable it to attain its avowed end—the physical and moral amelioration of mankind . We shall see how and b y what means this unity was
Freemasonry In France.
destroyed , what dissensions arose , which continued , and which wasted in sterile debates , and in useless expenditure the forces and resources of the divers Masonic bodies , which , otherwise should have united for the love of well doing and the
grand p rincip les which form the foundation of the Institution . The date of the introduction into France of symbolic Masonry is well known . In 1725 , Lord Derventwaters ( sic ) , the Chevalier Maskelyne and Bro . Hoguerty founded
the first Lodge , which met at the house of Hure ( an English hotel keeper ) , in the rue des Boucheries-Saint-Germain . * This institution prospered ; other Lodges were established , and in 1735 a deputation was nominated to go to England to ask of the Grand Lodge of England for authority to form themselves into a Provincial Grand
Lodge . In 1743 , the authorisation having been granted , the administrative body of French Masonry legally constituted itself under the title of the " Grande Loge Anglaise de France . " It was only in 1756 that it declared itself independent , and assumed the name of the " Grand Loge de
France . " It revised its constitutions , and was composed of the Masters of the regular Lodges established in Paris . During the Grand Mastership of the Oomte de Clermont and under the
direction of his deputies , Laure , banker , Lacome , dancing master , and Bro . Chaillou de Jonville , the disorder became so great as to cause numerous protestations , and by a decree of May 15 , 1766 , a portion of the brethren composing the Grand Lodge were excluded by the dominant party . The struggle continued , and only ceased at the death of the Grand Master .
The Comte de Clermont having died in 1771 , the excluded brethren conceived the idea of offering the succession to the Duke de Chartres , afterwards Due d'Orleans . It does not into enter the plan of our work to recount the history of these dissensions , of which Brother Jouaust has g iven a very precise and reliable account . Suffice it to state that the Grand Orient of France was formed on the 24 th Decem-