The Foundations of Modern Freemasonry: The Grand Architects: Political Change and the Scientific Enlightenment, 1714–1740 by Richard Berman

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Foundations of Modern Freemasonry: The Grand Architects: Political Change and the Scientific Enlightenment, 1714–1740 by Richard Berman Susan Mitchell Sommers Richard Berman. The Foundations of Modern Freemasonry: The Grand Architects: Political Change and the Scientific Enlightenment, 1714–1740. Brighton, UK: Sussex Academic, 2012. Pp. vii + 344. $39.95 (paper). The “authentic” school of Masonic scholarship is closely tied to the late nineteenth-century reinvention of history as an academic discipline. The earlier authentic school attempted to distance Masonic research from the dominant antiquarian method, because early on, the main obstacle was inaccessibility. Many archives were closed to non-Masons, and were unusable by all but the most determined. But Masonic libraries and museums in many countries have acquired professional staff and opened their doors to non-Masonic scholars, and interest in Masonic research has surged. Other obstacles remain seemingly intractable, the main culprit being antiquarianism, the manifestations of which include insufficiently critical evaluation and confusing data with analysis. Mr. Berman’s study straddles the divide between three schools of research—academic, authentic, and antiquarian, with mixed results. He argues “Freemasonry was both a product of its environment and that it exercised a reciprocal influence upon it, particularly in connection with the dissemination of the scientific and philosophical ideas associated with the scientific Enlightenment,” and further, that it was a key component in the growth of the Hanoverian and Whig ascendancy. His thesis is articulately stated amid the appropriate academic scaffolding. However, his methodology depends on demonstrating the social, scientific, political, and most important, Masonic connections between a few dozen individuals he identifies as the primary shapers of both Freemasonry and Whig political authority in London between 1714 and 1740. Unfortunately, Mr. Berman admits that scarcity of early Masonic records and correspondence forces him to rely on “the balance of probability and the accretion of evidence rather than on hard primary proof.” Thus, when Mr. Berman discusses how John Desaguliers met George Payne and became a Freemason, the relevant paragraph consists of six sentences, containing eight expressions of “possible” connections. Rather than modifying his thesis or the length of the study, Mr. Berman unsatisfactorily stretches too little evidence over too great a span. His book is developed through seven chapters containing six tables, and four appendices. Much of the text consists of partially contextualized lists of biographical sketches, members of learned societies, Grand Lodge officers. Little of the information is exclusive, and none rises to the acclaim the book has received in Masonic outlets. However, The Grand Architects also contains the kernel of a potentially important article on the London magistracy in the early decades of Hanoverian rule. In chapter three, which is the most interesting and fully developed part of the text, Mr. Berman considers personal, political, and social connections between members of the combined magistracies of London, [End Page 140] Westminster, and Middlesex. By the early eighteenth century, these civil officers had sweeping administrative and legal responsibilities, and played a key role in the operation of local government. Building on previous studies of the magistracy by Anthony Babington, John Stevenson, Norma Landau, Ruth Paley, Simon Devereaux, and others, Mr. Berman’s argument about the personal and explicitly Masonic nature of the connections between justices of the peace has the potential to add significantly to our understanding of these mid-level political elites in London and environs. Mr. Berman makes the troublesome claim that he uses “new and previously unexplored primary” evidence when referencing archives and newspapers long used by academic researchers, but which have in the past several years become available electronically. Discovering how to use sources more easily is not the same as discovering them, and identifying them as new and unexplored is misleading. A related issue is Mr. Berman’s careless use of sources. He sometimes relies on the unreliable, or makes claims the evidence cannot support. A minor example: Mr. Berman repeatedly refers to English lodges “co-funding” the establishment of the colony in Georgia, citing Nathaniel Blackerby’s contribution to the Georgia Trustees as evidence. He notes, “contributions to co-finance Georgia represented the first occasion on which Freemasons as a group supported a non-Masonic charity.” It makes...