American Geographical Society

"Hands across the Sea": The Masonic Network, British Imperialism, and the North Atlantic World Author(s): Jessica Harland-Jacobs Source: Geographical Review, Vol. 89, No. 2, Oceans Connect (Apr., 1999), pp. 237-253 Published by: American Geographical Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/216089 Accessed: 26/01/2009 09:57
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"HANDS ACROSS THE SEA": THE MASONIC NETWORK,BRITISH IMPERIALISM, AND THE NORTH ATLANTICWORLD
JESSICAHARLAND-JACOBS
ABSTRACT.

From Montrealto Madras,from Barbadosto Burma,the lodges of Freemasons dotted the landscapeof the BritishEmpirefrom the eighteenthcenturyto the twentieth.Together with the British grand lodges under whose authoritythey met, these lodges constituted a vast network that extended across the oceans and linked Freemasonsin Britain's colonies to the metropole and to eachother.In this articleI use the fraternityto demonstrate how the age of empire can serve as a laboratoryfor studyingtransoceanicnetworks,institutions, and identities. Looking first at the broad imperial context, I demonstrate how the global Masonic network developed and describe its functions during the long nineteenth century.I then focus on the BritishNorth Atlanticas a casestudyof the brotherhood'srole in connecting people on various sides of a particularocean basin by offeringpracticalservices and encouraging an "imperialist" identity that helped consolidate the BritishEmpire.Keyintraculturalconnections,network,supranationalist words:Atlantic studies, Freemasonry, identity.

The AtlanticOcean and its littoralsconsistentlyplayeda centralrole in the history of the British Empire.From its first colonial ventures in Irelandand the original American colonies, Britainused the Atlanticas a primaryarteryfor extending its influenceoverseas.The developmentof the Caribbean plantationeconomy,the pursuit of the slavetrade,the growthof settlementcolonies in North America,the establishment of an informal empire in South America,and the migration of the Scots, Irish,Welsh,and Englishcombinedto makethe Atlantica linchpin of the empirefor three centuries. Takingthe AtlanticOcean as a unit of analysis,scholarshavebegun to examine the movements of people, the networks,and the culturalexchangesthat characterized this vast, transnationalbasin system.To use Donald Meinig'sphrase,they have startedto chartthe "newhuman geographies" emergedin the Atlanticworld as that a result of Europe'simperialventuresin the region (1986,4). Innovativestudies of the Atlanticworld have focused on the sugarnexus between plantersand slavesin the colonies and bankers,entrepreneurs, and consumersin the metropole (Mintz
1985), the contours of the Atlantic economy (Sacks 1991;Hancock 1995), cultural

flows and the transformationof the earlyAmericanlandscape(Bailynand Morgan

stridesin the field of Atlanticstudieshavecome fromthose studyingthe historyand

graphicalframeworkto focus on the ocean, these studies emphasizethe networks, exchanges,andwebsthatwereso crucialin the developmentof the modernworld.
Vo Ms. HARLAND-JACOBS is a doctoral candidate in history at Duke University,Durham, North
Carolina 27708-0404.
Copyright ? 2000 by the American GeographicalSociety of New York
The Geographical Review 89 (2): 237-253, April 1999

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Thisburgeoningfieldof Atlanticstudiesmaybe placedwithin the broaderhistocontext of "worldnetworkshistory:'world'to suggestits trans-oceanic riographical to and reach,'networks' highlightits emphasison patternedinteractions, 'history'to underline a concern with the formation and transformationof these socio-spatial interactionsover time"(Wigen 1995,6). Those concernedwith the historicaldevelfor opment of globalnetworkshavedemonstrated, example,the fundamentalinterconnectedness of the Indian Ocean region in the early modern period and the crucialrole of exchangenetworkspriorto 1750. historiansof the twentieth Similarly, those studying global history since 1945,have taken into accentury,particularly count the networksand linkagesresultingfrom the "factorsof globalization," such as an increasinglyinterconnectedworld economy,migration,and advancementsin technology and communication (Mazlish1998). Although this work on the Atlanticand globalnetworksrepresentsa significant theoreticaland methodologicalachievement(one to which I am highlyindebted),I would argue that scholarsin these fields are guilty of chronologicalas well as geographicalneglect. Investigatorsin both groupshave focused their effortson either the earlymodern period or the twentiethcentury,leaving"thelong nineteenthcentury"-the period between the 177osand WorldWarI-relatively unexploredas a global networkor from an Atlanticistperspective.In additionto this chronological almostexclusively what one on oversight,studentsof the Atlantichaveconcentrated Atlantic"-Britain,France,the United States,and the Caribmight call the "central bean. The southernAtlanticand the North Atlanticareconsistentlyexcludedfrom
view.

Scholars'neglect of the global networks,institutions,and identities of the long nineteenth centurystems,I suggest,from the factthat their spatialand chronological frameworkshave been straightjacketedby the primaryorganizingunit of the modern political world, the nation-state.The discipline of history itself is organized on the basis of nation-states.Identifyingthe roots and expressionsof nationalism increasinglypreoccupies historians and their scholarship.These imperatives makeit difficultto imagineaworld in which nationalidentitieswerein their formative stagesand often only tentativelyheld (duringthe eighteenthcentury)and hard to account for the existence of global institutions and what I call "supranational identities"once nation-states became the norm (during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries). The result has been an incomplete, fragmentedcontext that posits nationalbordersand naturalfeatures,such as oceans,asbarriersto exchange of and therebyobscuresthe fundamentalinterconnectedness the world in theseperiods. Such a state of affairsis perplexing,given that the long nineteenth centurysaw the unparalleledgrowth and culmination of the most extensiveempires in world The empiresof history,empires that were both internationaland interconnective. this period were simultaneously national and global, as Britain,France,and the Netherlands(and later Germany,Belgium,the United States,and Japan)extended their polities, economies, and culturesacrossthe world'soceans.As such, these em-

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pires arguablybecame the most importantconnectiveforcein modern history,the primarymechanism through which peoples interactedand affectedone another's development-within, of course, the context of unequal power relations. Eighteenth- and nineteenth-centuryimperialismfosteredthe developmentof two types of connections. First, it facilitatedinterculturalexchangesthrough which (sometimes for the betterbut often for the worse) imperialpowerscame into contactwith the non-Westernsocieties they sought to dominate. Second, imperialismcontributed to the development of intraculturalor internalconnections, which served to link those who were investedin an empire'swell-being.Such connections made an empire cohere. Their strength and elasticitydeterminedan empire'sgeographical extent and longevity.The "ageof empire," therefore,can readilyserveas a laboratory for studying the global processes,including the developmentof transoceanicconnections and networks,that usheredin the modern world and the current"ageof globalization." Freemasonrywas one institution that contributedto the developmentof these intraculturalconnections in the BritishEmpire.By creatinga global network that had both practical functions and ideological dimensions, Freemasonryplayed a criticalrole in building, consolidating,and perpetuatingthe empire.A look at Freemasonry in the context of the empireas a whole revealsthe mechanismsof Freemasonry's spreadabroad,the global scope of its network,and the range of servicesit offered to help its members handle the rigors of life overseas.Within this broader imperial context, the BritishNorth Atlantic-defined here as Britain,Ireland,and role in Canada-serves as an illustrativecase study for examining Freemasonry's connecting people on various sides of a particularocean basin. Betweenthe 186os and WorldWarI, Freemasonry became,in the words of the MasonicwriterJ.Obed on Smith,"theessentiallink"betweenFreemasons the Britishand Canadiansides of the Atlantic (Smith 1916).Belongingto the fraternity only gavemembersaccess not to an actualnetworkof individualsandlodges thathelpedthose who crossedthe Atlantic in both directions;it also carriedwith it membershipin an ideological network, a set of emotional and mental connections that fosteredwhat I describeas an "imperialistidentity"among its members.'
"A VAST CHAIN EXTENDING ROUND THE WHOLE GLOBE"

The firstof the Mason lodges thatwould become "avast chain" emergedin the British Isles during the seventeenthcentury (Freemason's QuarterlyReview1841,357). The founding of the GrandLodgeof Englandin Londonin 1717 markedthe brotherhood's formal institutionalization.The Grand Lodge of Irelandemerged around 1725(Figure 1); and the Grand Lodge of Scotland came into being in 1736.These functions, such as devising and grand lodges performedimportantadministrative basicstatementsof Masonicideologyandregulations, circulating collectingfeesand and warrantingand keepingtrackof lodges. Althoughdifferencesin English, dues, Irish, and Scottish Freemasonrydid exist, the institutions were similar enough to warrantbeing subsumed under the label "BritishFreemasonry."

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_i~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.
n.Fr

_E

:1

FIG. 1-The Grand Lodge of Ireland,Dublin, July1995.(Photographby the author)

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drewon both theirwell-rootedtraIn creatingtheir fraternity, earlyFreemasons ditions and the contemporary Enlightenmentmilieu of which they were a part. Fromearlierperiods they borrowedthe organizational structure,practices,and legof the craft of stonemasonry.These influenceswere evident in the endary history complex system of rituals,based on the story of the building of the Templeof Solomon and using stonemasons'tools as symbolicprops,that Freemasons developedto Fromtheir own era they approlessons of self-improvementand fraternity. convey priatedthe basictenets of Enlightenmentcosmopolitanism:universalbrotherhood, tolerance,and benevolence.Motivatedby a desireto heal the wounds that had ruptured their society during nearlya centuryof political and religiousstrife,Freemasonry's founders opened the fraternity to men of any religion, as long as they proclaimedbelief in the existenceof a supremebeing, describedgenericallyas the "Great This Architectof the Universe." spiritof toleranceextendedto men of various political positions as well. Topreserveharmonyand createa safespacefor all members, the rules forbadethe discussion of politics and religionwithin the lodge. The result was a fraternitythat claimed:"Weare ... of all Nations, Tongues,Kindreds, and Languages,and are resolv'dagainstall Politicks"(Anderson1981,283). As the formalorganizationof Freemasonry proceededin the BritishIslesduring the earlydecadesof the eighteenthcentury,Masoniclodges began to appearin the British Empire.In 1728English Freemasonsfounded the first Englishlodge in the empire: Star of the East Lodge at Fort William in Bengal.From that point on, the brotherhoodspreadthroughthe empireby meansof threeprocesses.Firstand foremost, Masonic lodges in regimentsof the BritishArmytook the brotherhoodto all partsof the empire,from the garrisonsin its well-establishedcolonies of Americato warrant" the outposts on its Asian frontiers.The developmentof the "traveling by GrandLodgeof Irelandmade Freemasonry's spreadthroughmilitarylodges possible. (A warrant was a document issued by a grand lodge to indicate that it had granted members permission to form a lodge.) As their name suggests,traveling warrantsaccompanied their peripateticregimentsand gave them the authorityto hold lodge meetings anywherein the world.Up to this point lodges throughoutthe BritishIsles had been identifiedwith a particular locality-a town or even a specific tavern.Especiallyinnovativewhen it came to suiting Freemasonry the imperial to context,the GrandLodgeof Irelandin effectaddeda new dimension to BritishFreemasonry: geographicalflexibility.2 A typical example of how a militarylodge operatedin the eighteenthand nineteenth centuriesis Minden Lodge,No. 63,which officersin His Majesty's 20th Regiment of Foot establishedwith a warrantfrom the GrandLodgeof Irelandin 1748. Aftertravelingwith its regimentthroughoutthe BritishIsles and then to Germany, the lodge crossedthe Atlanticfor the firsttime in 1775, when it went to Quebec.It returned to the BritishIsles in 1783but went backto BritishNorth Americain 1789.It remained in Halifax,Nova Scotia,for threeyearsand then traveledsouth to Santo wherethe regimenthelped to quell an insurrection"among Domingo and Jamaica, the disaffectednegroes and brigands"in 1796.During the earlyyears of the nine-

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teenth centurythe regimentwas stationedin Europe,Egypt,andMalta,and it ended Almost twenty yearslater the 20th returnedto the BritishIsles up in India in 1821. and once again journeyed across the Atlanticto Bermuda,where the lodge prospered.Throughoutits historythe activitiesof the lodge waned duringwartimeand flourished when military duties were least demanding.While in India, the lodge raisedfunds for the constructionof a Masonictemple to providea "rendezvous for In their transitoryBrethrenin that distantregion of our mightyEmpire." Bermuda Whereverthe regimenthappenedto be stationed, it constructeda Masoniclibrary. members of the lodge helped each other when in need. The Minden Lodge alone, therefore,exposedmore than a dozen host communitiesto Freemasonry's practices, and even buildings (Clarke1849, 10, 21-22). charity, a Militarylodges did more than give Freemasonry fleetingpresencein the emcolonies; they were also responsiblefor the permanentestablishmentof the pire's brotherhood in many colonies. Often when a regiment left an area civilians who had been affiliatedwith its lodge would petition a Britishgrandlodge for a warrant to constitute a new lodge.AnotherIrishmilitarylodge, Lodgeof Socialand Military
Virtues, No. 227, was constituted in the 46th Regiment of Foot in 1752.Like the 20th

Regiment, the 46th crisscrossedthe globe, serving in America,Ireland,the Caribwhile the regimentwas stationedin Sydney, New South bean, and Australia.In 1813, Social and MilitaryVirtueslaid the groundworkfor the estabWales,the Lodge of lishment of the first permanentlodge in that colony,AustralianSocial Lodge,No. 260, warrantedby the Grand Lodge of Irelandin 1820 (Coil 1961, 81; Smyth 1991,
227). Much later, in 1846, the regiment was serving in British North America when

the few remaining members of the lodge agreed to transfer their warrant to Sergeant-MajorWilliam Shepherd,an English Mason living in Montreal.There, Shepherdsought to establisha permanentmilitarylodge to which both Irish and
English Masons would belong (Parkinson 1957,294-295). Thus the Lodge of Social

and MilitaryVirtueshad contributedto the permanentestablishmentof Freemasonry on two continents. spread Although militarylodges were primarilyresponsiblefor Freemasonry's throughout the empire, two other mechanismsservedthe same function. On one hand, the brotherhoodpermeatedthe empire,especiallythe colonies of settlement, by through emigration.Colonistswho had been exposed to Freemasonry regimental lodges or who sought to transplantan institution that had been a part of their lives in the British Isles took it upon themselvesto establishofficiallysanctioned lodges in theirnew homes. The most directwayto securethe authorityto form a new lodge was to petition one of the Britishgrandlodges, explainthe circumstancesin the colony,and respectfullyrequesta warrant.In most casesthe grandlodge did not hesitateto send the warrantfor a new lodge to be establishedunder its jurisdiction. On the other hand, startingin the mid-eighteenth century,the Britishgrandlodges appointedprovincialgrandmastersin the colonieswherevera strongMasonicpreswould find fertile ence had emergedor whereverthey anticipatedthat Freemasonry in A provincialgrandmasterservedas the grandlodge'srepresentative a loground.

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cality,much as a colonial governorrepresentedthe Crown abroad,and he had the power to constitute new lodges in his jurisdiction.In Upper Canada,for example, the provincial grand master of the Grand Lodge of England warranted twenty lodges between 1792and 1799(McLeod1980,24). The activityof militarylodges, colonists, and provincialgrandmastersensured the fraternity'sdiffusion through the British Empire.The initiation of each new member and the formationof each new lodge markedthe addition of anothernode to the Masonic network. With this weblike proliferation,it did not take long for Freemasonryto become a salient, identifiableaspect of British imperialism.The was that "freemasonry coterminouswith the emhistorianRonaldHyamremarked But the chronologyof Freemasonry's (1993,300). spreadoverseasdempireby 1815" from the moment it left Britain's shores. onstratesthat it coincided with the empire Between the 173osand the 176os the brotherhood emerged throughout Britain's well-establishedAtlantic empire. Lodgesappearedboth in the American colonies (Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Georgia, South Carolina, New Hampshire, New York,Maryland,Rhode Island,Connecticut,North Carolina,and New Jersey)and and in the Caribbean(notablyJamaica Barbados).Freemasonry's spreadin this peincreasedinterestin farNorth America:Lodgeswereesriod also reflectedBritain's tablishedin Nova Scotia,CapeBreton,Quebec,and Newfoundland.A few scattered tradingpreslodges in Bengal,Bombay,Madras,and,later,ChinabespokeBritain's ence in Asia. Afterthe AmericanRevolutionand the subsequentestablishmentof independent American grand lodges, the most concentratedareaof BritishFreemasonryin the Atlanticworld shiftedto BritishNorth America.During the 179osthe fraternity solidified its presencein LowerCanadaand the MaritimeProvincesand established itself in Upper Canada.Freemasonry's global advancein this period also reflected the empire'sso-called swing to the east. In 1803,less than fifteenyearsafterthe first white settlersarrivedin Australia, Freemasonry appearedin New SouthWales;subdecadeswitnessed the brotherhood'sestablishmentin Tasmania, New Zeasequent WesternAustralia, SouthAustralia. and the GrandLodge land, Victoria, Meanwhile, of Englandappointed a provincialgrand masterfor South Africain 1801.Thus the foundationin the increasearlynineteenthcenturywas the period of Freemasonry's settlement colonies of BritishNorth America,Australia, New Zeaingly important and the Cape. land, During the mid- and late nineteenth century Britishlodges took root in the nonsettlement colonies of the ever-expanding empire.Theirpresenceboth revealed and contributedto growingBritishhegemonythroughoutthe world.Metropolitan in MasonicauthoritiessolidifiedBritishFreemasonry Asiaby appointingprovincial grand masters for Sumatra,Ceylon, and China. Lodgesappearedin the Punjabin Betweenthe late 184osandthe 186osMasoniclodgesbegin to emergein the the 183os. Middle East:in Turkey, Aden,and Egypt.Finally, startingin the 187os, metropolitan officialsrespondedto Freemasonry's increasingpresencein Africaby setting up district grandlodges in Natal,Transvaal, Egypt,the Sudan,and,eventually, Nigeriaand

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EastAfrica.By the 188osthe grandmasterof the GrandLodgeof Scotlandproudly boasted that BritishFreemasonshad "beenable to carryour Orderinto all partsof the world.""Wherever flaghas gone,"he claimed,"weareable to say there Maour has gone, and we havebeen able to found lodges for those who have left our sonry shores to found fresh empires"(GrandLodgeof Scotland1888,157). What accounts for Freemasonry'simpressivegeographicaldistribution?The vastness and unfamiliarityof the imperiallandscapenecessitatedthe development of assistancenetworks among soldiers,traders,emigrants,and imperial servants. With more than 1,200 lodges in operationworldwideby the 188os,BritishFreemasonry readilyfilled this need for its members.Brethrenin good standingcould call on the Masonic networkwhereverthey happenedto be in the empire.In the words of the ReverendJohn Halford,membershipin the brotherhoodgave men "aclaim in In on the help and sympathyof Freemasons allpartsof the world." lodges,he continued, "wehave a right not only to a friendlygreeting,but to a brotherlywelcome and such assistanceas our circumstancesrequireand justify"(1872). the Specifically, Masonic networkfunctioned to fulfillthe emotional, spiritual, intellectual,social, and materialneeds of members.The brotherhoodtook careof a member'semotional well-being by comforting men who found themselvesin totally unfamiliarsurroundings.The repetitionof ritualsis a comfortingpracticein and of itself;and the factthatthese ritualswereimportedfromthe BritishIsles(even though they were at times adaptedto local circumstances)gaveBritonswho moved in the empire a sense of connection to home and helped them keep their memories of Old England,Ireland,or Scotlandalive.As one Masonicoratorput it: "Whenthe few Englishmenin a distant colony get their warrantfor a new lodge, do they ever meet without some thought of the old Englishlodge?The sound of the Master's gaveland the old familiarritualtakesthem backmanythousandsof miles, and they rejoiceto do something which strengthensthe tie which binds them to the land of the their fathers"(Brownrigg1885,579). Arguably, comfort of Masonic and other of ritualwas especiallyimportantto men whose occupationswere inherently types imperial-soldiers, merchants,and colonial servants,who regularlymoved from colonists-who movedless often but exone side of the world to the other.Likewise, dislocation-would alsohavebeen comfortedby the familiarperiencedpermanent ity of Masonic rituals. Freemasonryaffordedmen opportunitiesto nurturetheir spirituality,as well. was Eighteenth-and nineteenth-centuryFreemasonry not a religionin and of itself, but it was a fundamentallyreligious institution-it depended on religion and enconsistentlydescribedtheir incouragedreligion.Nineteenth-centuryFreemasons stitution as "thehandmaidof Religion," whichthey meantthatthe brotherhood's by essential function was to serve and assist religion. Like a religion, Freemasonry also The behavior. fraternity ethicalsystemto guideits members' offereda particular offeredthe accoutrementsof religion:symbolism,rituals,vestments,rites,sermons, contributionto the spiritualneeds and the celebrationof feastdays.Freemasonry's critical on the empire'sfrontiers,where evangelical of its members was especially

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missionarieshad yet to plant churchesand where a Masonic lodge was sometimes the only religious space available. Among the most salient characteristicsof Masonic ideology was its goal of bringing together men of various religions, a function that helped lodges draw members from sects and denominations. One nineteenth-centurycommentator observed that Freemasonry's"portalsare thrown open to the followers of every creed and sect, so long as they... professtheirbelief in One GreatGod, a Common Father,and a faith in the immortalityof the soul" (Ramsay1878,152). Having acArchitectof the Universe" it God, Allah, (be knowledgedthe existenceof the "Great or Yahweh),the brethrencame togetherto learn how to pattern their lives on the not principlesespoused by Freemasonry, to worshipa particularsupremebeing. In this way,Freemasonry offered,in theory if not alwaysin practice,an ecumenicalrethat found widespreadcurrencyin the multiculturalcontext of ligious experience the BritishEmpire. the Finally, brotherhoodgavea memberthe opportunityto satehis curiosityand hone his intellect.With its claims of descent from glorious civilizationsof the past, Freemasonryexposed brethren-many of whom had only the rudimentsof an education-to ancient languages,texts, and mysteries.The lodge provided the setting for the exploration of the obscure and for the teachingof lessons through allegory and symbolism. Not insignificantly, participatingin Masonic rituals and learning the various signs, passwords,and handgripsdemandedthat a brotherlearnto exercise and develop his skills of memorization.Accordingto the historian of Minden Lodge,writing in the mid-nineteenth century,"Nonebut thosewho havesojourned in the isolated scenes amid which it is the soldier'slot to be stationedin that distant land, where there is nought to redeem the monotony of an every day existence, nought to satisfythe yearningsof the mind afterthe knowledgewhich befitsman as an intellectual being, [n]one but they can tell how grateful is the freshness and (Clarke1849,29). beauty of Freemasonry" The fraternityspoketo the emotional,spiritual,and intellectuallivesof its members,but its successwas most likelyensuredby its attentionto theirsocial needs.The Masonic lodge provided its memberswith a convivial atmosphere,a place where men could relax,establishfriendships,and sharefood and drink.Accordingto the Masonic historian John Hamill, "Asa fellowshipor brotherhoodthe social side of Freemasonryis almost as importantas the principlesand tenetswhich aretaughtin the formalizedsettingof the meeting"(1986,80-81).A reportin the BengalHerald in demonstrates this function of the network. In that year English Masonic 1840 authoritiessummoned a meetingof the ProvincialGrandLodgeof Bengalto receive the provincialgrand masterof WesternIndia,Dr. Burnes.Once the lodge meeting concluded, between fifty and sixty brethrenadjournedto the "refreshment table," where they partook of "a splendid dinner of Spence'sbest"and enjoyed speeches, toasts,and singing.Accordingto the newspaperreport,"theflowof wine and flow of soul did not cease to enliven the convivialpartytill a late hour"(quoted in Freemason's QuarterlyReview1840,536).

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offeredits membersfamiliarity, and Freemasonry spirituality, fellowship-albeit within the contextof an explicitlyandexclusively masculinespace.At no point in the institution'shistorywerewomen includedin lodge meetings,althoughoccasionally they joined their husbands at annual social events during the nineteenth century. The Masonic lodge thereforeservedas a place for men to nurturetheir bonds with other men. Meeting on a regularbasis,brothersgrewto be close companions.This benefit was especially important for bachelorswho circulatedin the empire and consequentlyhad few opportunitiesto experienceemotional attachmentsin other aspectsof their lives. Forthe Freemasonwho did have a family,membershipin the brotherhood offered a sense of security.Knowingthat a group of brotherswould willingly help him out if he fell on hardtimes and would look afterhis family if he were to die, the Freemasoncould maintainhis respectability all times.3 at Beyondfulfillingsuch abstractneeds,the brotherhoodalso providedvery practical services.Prefermentand patronageareinherentlydifficultto prove,but membership in the brotherhooddid help Masonsmake contactsand find employment. comWatchingout for a brotherwaspartof a Mason'sduty,andthe rulesspecifically manded members to assist and employ brethrenin need. In directinga Mason on how to behavetowardfellowmembers,the chargescommandedthat"ifhe is in want you must relievehim if you can,or else directhim how he maybe relieved.Youmust employ him some days or else recommend him to be employed"(Anderson1981,
283).

In additionto helpingbrethrenfindwork,Freemasons gavematerialaid to those in need. Mutual assistanceinvolvedboth one-time grantsto individualswho were havingtroublemakingends meet and the constructionand operationof impressive charitable institutions,suchasthe RoyalMasonicInstitutionforGirls,established by the GrandLodgeof Englandin 1788to look afterand educatedaughtersof indigent brethren.Although Masonic benevolence during the nineteenth century was didid rectedprimarilytowardthe needs of members,the fraternity make substantial and contributionsto externalcharitiesaswell.Between1825 1900,the GrandLodgeof us$ioo,ooo to assist non-Masons Englandmade donations totaling approximately andwars(MasonicYearbook fromnaturaldisasters, who suffered famines,fires, 1935). In sum, Freemasonryfound fertile ground in the British Empirebecause belonging to the fraternityconferredprivilegedaccessto a globalnetworkthat helped men adjustto strangesurroundings,find fellowshipin new environments,and secure employment and assistancewhen in need. By makinglife easierfor those who lubricatedthe wheels of directed,defended,and lived in the empire,Freemasonry Both the network'spracticalfunctions and its ideologicaldimension imperialism. contributed to the development of intraculturalconnections throughout the empire,but especiallyin the North AtlanticBasinbetweenthe i86os andWorldWarI.
CONSOLIDATING THE ATLANTIC EMPIRE

One of the most well-establishedand importantaspectsof the global Masonicnetworkduringthe long nineteenthcenturywasitsNorthAtlanticsegment.This circuit

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had originallydevelopedduringthe firstpart of the eighteenthcentury,as military the lodges and colonists introducedFreemasonrythroughout colonies alongAmerica'sAtlantic Seaboard.Although Masonic independencefollowed the achievement in of political independencein the 177os for Freemasons the thirteenrebelliouscoloand futuresettlersin BritishNorthAmerica(laterCanada)found their nies,loyalists transatlanticconnections strengthenedduring the nineteenth century by institutions like Freemasonry. In the case of Canada,most historianshave ignoredor dismissed Freemasonry afterthe 186os.Accordingto and other forcesthat spannedthe Atlantic,particularly Buckner,"Canadianhistorians have locked themselves into a teleological Philip frameworkwhich is obsessed with the evolution of Canadianautonomy and the constructionof Canadiannationalidentityand thus downplayedthe significanceof the imperialexperiencein shapingthe identityof nineteenth-centuryBritishCanademonstratesthatthe BritishEmdians"(1983, 3-4). Yetthe historyof Freemasonry world"maintained continued to haverelevanceand thatthe ideaof an "Atlantic pire in the lives and identities of BritishNorth Americanswell beyond the its meaning 186os.Freemasonryservedas a connectiveforcethat bridgedthe Atlanticby assisting emigration to Canada,providinga networkof metropolitanlodges established specifically for Canadians visiting Britain, and fostering imperialist sentiment helpedensureCanadians' among its members.In so doing, Freemasonry loyaltyand commitment-ideological, economic, and military-to the BritishEmpire. During the second half of the nineteenth centuryFreemasonson both sides of the Atlantic cooperatedin facilitatingemigrationfrom the BritishIsles to Canada. This projectinvolvedalllevelsof the Masonicnetwork,from individualmembersto grandlodges. Masoniceffortsrangedfromassistanceofferedon the basisof individual cases to the adoption of broad emigrationschemes.In most cases they focused the on two groups in particular: widows and childrenof deceasedMasons. The Palmerfamilyservesas an exampleof how the Masonicnetworkfacilitated the transatlanticemigration of individuals.On 27 July1878EdmundThomas Palmer, a resident medical officerin Dublin, Ireland,died suddenly,leaving behind a penniless wife and three children.Palmerhad been a member of lodges in Dublin and in SaintJohn,New Brunswick,and upon his deathhis brethrenon both sides of the Atlantic rallied to help his widow and "three orphan children"(Wilkinson 1878b).Freemasonsin Irelandand Canadaraisedmoney for the family'spassageto "nativeplace"and the site of her marriage Palmer's Bermuda,which was Fredericka to Edmund (Wilkinson1878a). Palmers' The voyagetook them fromDublin to Haliwhere local Freemasonslooked afterthem during a short stopover,and then fax, south to Bermuda.Concludingthat the Freemasons savedthe Palmersfromthe had "It poorhouse, the principalsponsor of the driveremarked: is trulya happything to find that Freemasonryis not only universal,but that it is a practicalsystem-a great reality-and not a matterof mere sentiment and words"(Wilkinson1878b). In addition to assistingindividualfamilieson a case-by-casebasis,BritishFreemasons were by this point thinking about more grandioseemigrationschemes. In

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the late 186os Masonicofficialsin EnglandandHowardHolbrook,a prominentMason and member of the provinciallegislaturein BritishColumbia,opened discussions on a new emigration program.The Grand Lodge of England proposed to organizeand financethe emigrationof femalechildrenfrom the RoyalMasonicInstitution for Girlsto BritishColumbia.Masonicofficialsin Londonweremotivated by both the need to createadditionalspacein the institutionand the thinkingof the day,which viewed female migrationto the colonies as a good solution to the perceivedproblem of surpluswomen in Britain.On the other side of the Atlantic,Holbrook enthusiasticallyapproved of the idea, informing the grand lodge that he would discuss the matterwith the highest-rankingMasonic authoritiesin British Columbia and assuringmetropolitan officialsthat together they could overcome anydifficulties.He describedthe settlementschemeas a "meansof renderinga boon to the colony of having introducedgood religiousgirls well brought up and educated" (Holbrook 1869).

The efforts of the EnglishGrandLodge to send girls to Canadawere part of a wider movement to encouragemigration to the colonies, and they resembledthe like emigrationprogramsof organizations the ColonialLandandEmigrationCommissionersand of individualslike MariaRye,a leadingfigurein juvenileemigration
projects (Parr 1980; Constantine 1991; Chaudhuri 1998). As colonial migration

gained momentum with the proliferationof philanthropicemigrationsocieties in the 188os,Masonic initiatives also picked up steam. At this point Freemasonson both sidesof the Atlanticbroadenedtheireffortsto encouragethe migrationof men. BritishColumbia,set up an Immigration In 1886,Freemasonsin New Westminster, Committee, headed by the ReverendCanon Cooper,bishop of New Westminster and grandchaplainof the GrandLodgeof BritishColumbia.Cooper and his fellow committee members communicatedwith lodges and emigrationsocieties in England and distributedto interestedbrethreninformationaboutemigrationto British Columbia.They went a step fartherand offered"to receiveand welcome, and assist to the best of our abilityall brethren,properlyvouched for,on their arrivalin New and Westminster, to passthem on to the careof otherlodgesif not intendingto settle
in our neighbourhood" (1886, 537).

The Masonic networkalso servicedBritonswho crossedthe ocean in the other direction. Businessmen,tourists,soldiers,politicians,and civil servantsfrom Canadafrequentlymadethejourneyto the BritishIslesduringthisperiod.While in Britain,Canadianshad accessto speciallodgescreatedforthe purposeof offeringthem a Masonic "home awayfrom home."Theoreticallythey could visit any lodge in the BritishIsles,but they were more likelyto find men with similarinterestsand backas lodges," I callthem.And entranceto suchlodgeswas groundsin these "imperialist not limited to colonists coming from Canada.The imperialistlodges welcomed who had spent their brethrenhailingfrom anycolony,aswell as BritishFreemasons in careerstravelingaround the empire and were now repatriated Britain. Its One of the firstsuch lodgeswas EmpireLodge,establishedin Londonin 1885. for Masonsinterestedin or affilifoundersintendedthe lodge to be a gathering place

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ated with the colonies. The idea to set up this lodge had emergedout of the Empire which sought to facilitateinteractionbetween colonists Club, established in 1881, and Britonswhose careershad takenthem into the empire.Although the club itself Withinone yearthe folded becauseof managementdifficulties,the lodge prospered. men, representingtwenty colonies and the membership had grown from 22 to 131 the Dominion of Canada(EmpireLodge1977). Apparently, foundingpremiseof the "thebonds that unite the Dominions with the MotherCounlodge-to strengthen try,by bringingthe BrethrenfromOverseasinto close relationshipwith Freemasons in the Metropolis of the Empire"-had widespreadappeal (Brownrigg1885,579). One highlight of the lodge's activitieswas its commemorationof Queen Victoria's when it hosted 300 brethrenfrom throughoutthe empire, Diamond Jubileein 1897, the premiersof five colonial governments(The Freemason1886).4 including Empire Lodge set a precedent for the founding of severalother metropolitan lodges devoted to similaraims. In 1885EmpressLodgecame into being for Freemasons from the colonies and India who were visiting Britain (The Freemason's
Chronicle 1895). In 1906 Anglo-Colonial Lodge was founded with the motto of "Hands across the Sea" (The Freemason's Chronicle 1930, 264). The most important

of the imperialistlodges for brethrenfrom Canadawas the appropriatelynamed CanadaLodgewas partof a subsetof empirelodges CanadaLodge,founded in 1911. (likeAnglo-AmericanLodgeandAnglo-ArgentineLodge)thatdrewtheirmemberships from men connected with a particularcountry, dominion, or colony. Its foundersenvisioned the lodge as "abond of union betweenthe Brethrenof the Dominion and the Brethrenof the UnitedKingdom,in the stronghope and confidence that Freemasonry might... assistin the greatworkof formingthose bonds of'indissoluble attachment'which shall foreverunite the component parts of the British
Empire" (Canada Lodge 1917).

The full significanceand roleof the imperialistlodges,and the transatlantic Masonic network as a whole, became apparentwith the outbreakof WorldWarI. In Canadathe grandlodges went to greatlengthsto fan the imperialspiritof Canadian Freemasons.They encouragedand honoredthe thousandsof brethrenwho enlisted in the CanadianExpeditionary Force; they supportedthe wareffortby urgingmembers to invest in warbonds; and they sounded the trumpetsof imperialloyaltyduring their gatheringsand in their publications.As the grand master of the Grand "Wearetakingour part in the struggleas citizens Lodgeof Quebec declaredin 1915: of the Empireand as membersof the loyal Fraternity which impressesupon all its Initiatesthe duty of neverlosing sight of the allegiancedue to the sovereignof their
native land, or of that in which they have made their home" (Evans 1915,21).

Meanwhile,in Britain,the imperialistlodges opened their doors to Freemasons Force.They regularly enteramong the officercorps of the CanadianExpeditionary tained and assistedCanadianFreemasons demonstratetheirappreciationfor Cato nadians'service to the empire, to make Canadiansfeel welcome in Britain,and to offer a distraction from the realitiesof war.One of many examples of such lodge when CanadaLodgehosted a banquet for hospitalitytook place in December1914,

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Canadian officers;one officer present commented that CanadaLodge was doing work equalto the CanadianExpeditionary Force"inbinding togetherthis wonderful Empire of ours through the bonds of Masonry"(Ponton 1914).The following yearEmpireLodgehosted a banquetfor 160Canadianbrethrenon duty in England. The speeches and toasts by the Englishhosts reflectedtheir feelingsof respectand of profound gratitudefor what one Masonpresentcalledthe "cubs" the Britishlion (The Freemason1915, 348). Fortheirpart,the CanadianMasonsassuredtheir hosts of their heightened sense of duty to and identity with the BritishEmpire.As one Freemason from New Brunswickput it: "AllMasons were proud of having descended directly from the Mother Grand Lodgesof Britain.These were no mean heritages, for they created and maintained a unity of Brotherhood and Empire which no internationalupheavalscould sever"(The Freemason1915, 347). Brethrenwho belonged to imperialistlodges enjoyedall the typicalbenefits of Freemasonry:conviviality,mutual assistance,networking,and brotherhood. But they did so among a group of men who by definitionhad similarinterestsand experiences.The more limited natureof the membershipundoubtedlyfacilitatedtheir abilityto form long-lasting,valuablerelationshipsthat spannedthe oceans leading all to Britain's colonies.Moreover, the imperialistlodges sharedthe goal of strengththe bonds betweenthe colonies and the metropole.They offereda site for imening perialists to congregate. They fostered imperialist sentiment. In so doing, they helped consolidate the British Empire.Accordingto the ReverendJ. Studholme Brownrigg,who spoke at the consecrationof EmpireLodge:"Wecomplete tonight another link in that greatMasonic chain of affection,which passes round the unilove Englandand the verse and binds togetherwith the strongestbonds of fraternal colonies of the EnglishEmpire"(1885,579). the As these examplesdemonstrate, theme of bindingwasprominentin Freemaand statementsabouttheirinstitution'srolein the empire.Masons sons'expressions and "ceon both side of the Atlantic consistentlyused words like "bond,""link," was ment"to indicatethat one of the primarypurposesof Freemasonry to connect use men to each other and to the wider empirethat embracedthem all.Freemasons' of this language reflects, I think, their strong sense of identity with the empire. Theirs was a supranationalistidentity,one with a global component that, in my just opinion, the term "British" does not convey.They enjoyed,as one officerof the District GrandLodgeof Newfoundlanddescribedin a farewelladdressto Freemasons who had volunteeredfor activeservicewith the FirstNewfoundlandRegiment, "agreatercitizenship[,] ... that of an Empiremore great,more glorious,more rich, more righteous, more far-reachingin its beneficent influence than any that the
world has known" (The Freemason 1914, 243).

was In encouragingan imperialistidentityamong its members,Freemasonry a discreteinstitutionalforcethatconsolidatedBritishimperialism.Bothpracticaland ideological, its vast network fostered the intraculturalconnections that held the BritishEmpiretogether.The Masonicnetworknot only servedto connect imperialists on both sides of the Atlantic;it also extended throughout the empire-from

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"Ko'at to Singapore," as Rudyard Kipling put it.5With its tolerant, cosmopolitan ideology, Freemasonry was a seemingly logical site for intercultural contact and the formation of networks that included men from various cultures. To a very limited extent, it did so. But even as it claimed to be a cosmopolitan institution, Freemasonry ended up reinforcing British hegemony. The Masonic network, it seems, could be global, but not universal.
NOTES in 1. I use the term "imperialist" the specificway in which LordMilner used it: "Whenwe, who call ourselves Imperialists,talk of the BritishEmpire,we think of a group of states, independent of one another in their local affairs,but bound together for the defence of their common interestsand the development of a common civilisation,and so bound... in a permanentorganicunion"(quoted
in Gollin 1964,123). 2. All three British grand lodges issued warrantsfor lodges to meet in regiments;the Grand

a Lodgeof Irelandwas the most activein this regard.By1813 total of 352travelingwarrantshad circulated around the empire (Parkinson 1957, 291).

3. On Freemasonryand masculinity,see Carnes(1989)and Clawson (1989). 4. The premiers present at the jubilee celebrationwere HarryEscombe of Natal, G. H. Reid of New South Wales,GeorgeTurnerof Victoria,EdwardBraddonof Tasmania,and RichardSeddon of New Zealand. 5. The quotation is from Kipling'spoem "TheMotherLodge." Kiplingwas an activeFreemason;
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