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Masonic Theatre Pieces in London 1730–1780

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 September 2009

Extract

The Age of Reason brought with it a new faith in the future of humanity which evolved from abstract ideas into a tremendous social power. Nowhere is this more evident than in the increasing influence of Freemasonry in England throughout the eighteenth century. Almost fifty years ago Bernard Fäy gave an eloquent tribute to this phenomenon: “… It [the new faith] became a social force and a concrete fact through the agency of Freemasonry which at once accepted it and advocated it; the great historical importance of modern Freemasonry results from this attitude that it took then and to which it has since consistently adhered.…”

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © American Society for Theatre Research 1984

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References

NOTES

1 Revolution and Freemasonry (Boston, 1935), p. viii.Google Scholar

2 “The Two Degrees Theory,” Quatuor Coronati Antigraphia, No. 11 (London, 1898), p. 48.Google Scholar

3 Ibid., p. 52.

4 Some writers state that Sir Thomas Gresham, a merchant and founder of the Royal Exchange, became Grand Master of England in 1567, that Inigo Jones was installed in 1635, Wren in 1698, and that the Fraternity was in a moribund state in later years when Wren's health failed. (See ‘England’ in Albert G. Mackey, Encyclopedia of Freemasonry and its Kindred Sciences [Kingsport, Tenn., 1923], p. 29.Google Scholar) This is sheer phantasy.

5 Haywood, H. L., Symbolical Masonry (Kingsport, Tenn., 1923), p. 29.Google Scholar

6 Ibid. Many members of Irish and Scottish lodges moved eventually to London and transferred memberships accordingly.

7 Pedicord, Harry William, “White Gloves at Five: Fraternal Patronage of London Theatres in the Eighteenth Century,” PQ, 45, No. 1 (01, 1966), 270288.Google Scholar

8 See Morley, Henry, Memoirs of Bartholomew Fair (London, 1859), pp. 382, 408–9, 422Google Scholar; and Rosenfeld, Sybil, Theatre of the London Fairs (London, 1960), pp. 78, 88, 91, 92, 93, 99, 101Google Scholar. No one has established exactly how many performances were given each day. Fair booths were opened sometimes as early as 9:00-10:00 A.M., some as late as 1:00-2:00 P.M. — and some remained open until 10:00 P.M. Ms. Rosenfeld describes the drolls with which audiences were entertained until time for the main performance. But how many performances? Judging from the elaborate staging and music required by the text of The Generous Freemason, I have settled for an average of two performances a day.

9 The London Stage, Part 3, 1729–1747, ed. Scouten, Arthur H. (Carbondale, Ill., 1961), 1, 75.Google Scholar

10 Ibid., I, 73–74.

11 Ibid., I, 104.

12 Ibid., I, 135.

13 Rylands, Harry W., “A Forgotten Rival of Masonry, The Noble Order of the Bucks,” Quatuor Coronati Antigraphia, No. 3 (London, 1890), pp. 140–41.Google Scholar

14 The London Stage, Part 3, I, 135.Google Scholar

15 Op. cit., p. 89.

16 The London Stage, Part 3, I, 152.Google Scholar

17 Ibid., I, 591.

18 A History of English Drama 1660–1900. Vol. II, Early Eighteenth Century Drama, 3rd ed. (Cambridge, 1952), p. 242.Google Scholar

19 The London Stage, Part 3, I, 152–53.Google Scholar

20 The Lives of the Poets of Great Britain and Ireland (London, 1753), V, 339.Google Scholar

21 The London Stage, Part 3, I, 148.Google Scholar

22 Pedicord, Harry William, “George Lillo and ‘Speculative Masonry’,” PQ 53, No. 3 (Summer, 1974), 401402.Google Scholar

23 Quatuor Coronati Antigraphia, Vol. 10 (London, 1897), 178.Google Scholar

24 Pp. 212–218.

25 Supplement for 1780, pp. 698702.Google Scholar

26 Journals and Letters of Samuel Curwen, 1775–1784, ed. Ward, G. A. (New York, 1842), p. 299.Google Scholar

27 Ibid., pp. 299–301.