Antient Grand Lodge of England - History

History

From about 1721, the new Grand Lodge of Lodge of London and Westminster (soon to become the Grand Lodge of England) pursued a policy of self-publicity and expansion that did not always sit well with other Freemasons. They abandoned the old methods of "drawing" lodges with chalk, (erased with a mop,) in favour of tape and portable metal letters. In 1735 they refused admission to the Master and Wardens of an Irish lodge who claimed a deputation from Lord Kingston, then Grand Master of Ireland and past Grand Master of the English Grand Lodge. They were offered admission if they would accept the English constitution, which they refused. In the 1730s they had changed their ritual to stay ahead of public exposures. During this period, London absorbed many economic migrants from Ireland. Those who were already masons were often repelled by the changes introduced by the English Grand Lodge, and either formed their own lodges, or joined one of the many unaffiliated lodges in the capital. In 1751, five of these, and a sixth that had just been formed, united to form a rival Grand Lodge, which quickly became an umbrella organisation for the other unaffiliated lodges in England.

This success must be seen as a triumph of the energy, wit, and sheer belligerence of their second Grand Secretary, Laurence Dermott. Most of what we know of him comes from the minutes of Grand Lodge and from his book of constitutions. The Grand Committee met on the first Wednesday of every month, and on 5th February 1752, Dermott replaced John Morgan as Grand Secretary. The next month he dealt with the "Leg of Mutton" masons, two men who had initiated masons into the Royal Arch for the price of a leg of mutton, but on examination by Dermott, knew nothing of the degree. They also claimed to teach a masonic method of achieving invisibility. In April he persuaded his brethren to replace Morgan's bye-laws with those of his own lodge in Dublin. June saw Dermott installing the Grand Officers. The lodge met as usual on Wednesday 2nd September, and were treated to a lecture on their ritual by Dermott. Due to the change that year from the Julian to the Gregorian Calendar, the next day was Thursday 14th September, losing 11 days. The actual business of the lodge was conducted at an "emergency" meeting on the 14th, ensuring both dates appeared in the minutes.

Dermott gave them a book of constitutions, inexplicably entitled "Ahiman Rezon, or a Help to a Brother". It was modeled on Spratt's Irish Constitutions, which in turn were modeled on Anderson's constitutions. The introductory history was replaced by a satirical account of Dermott's attempt to write a better one (which would trace Freemasonry to before the Creation). The publication of the first edition, in 1756, may have been delayed until the society had found a noble sponsor to act as Grand Master. He arrived in the form of the Earl of Blessington, who had already served as Grand Master in Ireland. The second edition, in 1764, compared the ancient practices of the new Grand Lodge with the works of the "Moderns". The older Grand Lodge had been castigated as the "Moderns" since the 1720s, and the term is still used today. Dermott's characterisation of the Moderns is scathing and satirical, and with each succeeding edition during his lifetime, more scorn is heaped on the society that deviated from the established landmarks of the order, and whose greatest masonic symbols were the knife and fork. After his death, in 1791, successive editors of Ahiman Rezon progressively excised the insults.

The Ahiman Rezon, although divisive, proved popular, and the Ancients flourished. They were recognised by the Grand Lodges of Ireland and Scotland, who continued to view the innovations of the Moderns with suspicion. A low point in relations between the two Grand Lodges was reached in the 1770s, when William Preston, then assistant Grand Secretary of the Moderns, attempted to poison the relationship between the Ancients and the Grand Lodge of Scotland.

After Dermott's death, the two Grand Lodges moved slowly towards union. The need for unity was underlined during the Napoleonic wars, when the leaders of the Ancients, Moderns, and the Grand Lodge of Scotland acted together to prevent their lodges becoming proscribed oganisations. However, the actual process of unification did not start until 1811, when the Moderns started the administrative process of returning their ritual to a form acceptable to the other British Grand Lodges. The final union was in the hands of two sons of the King, the Duke of Sussex, the Grand Master of the Moderns, and the Duke of Kent. Kent had already effected a union in Canada by simply abolishing the Moderns, and merging their lodges with those of the Ancients. The new Grand Lodge, the United Grand Lodge of England, retained the infrastructure of the Moderns, and the ritual of the Ancients.