My study is involved with Speculative Freemasonry during the eighteenth century. Speculative Masons significantly differed from their Operative counterparts. Operative Masons traced their origins to the ancient world, were known as skilled artisans and builders, and in European history designed and erected important cathedrals and state buildings. Speculative Masons, on the other hand, operated secretly in bodies known as lodges and staged ceremonies or rituals to dramatize important cultural and moral concepts. Speculative Freemasonry emerged in 1717 in England and between approximately 1725 and 1750 spread to Europe. Masonic lodges appeared in Paris in 1725, in Prague in 1726, and in Vienna in 1742.1
My work focuses on Masonry in four European cities and attempts to demonstrate major affinities between the Craft and eighteenth-century European culture and society. This study investigates Enlightenment patterns appearing in England, France, and the Habsburg Empire and examines the rites and organization of Masonry in these three states.2 It also examines the cultural activities of London, Parisian, Prague, and Viennese Masons and assesses them in relation to the Enlightenment. Appendices provide further information about the American city of Philadelphia.
This cultural and institutional study of Masonry and the Enlightenment emphasizes four facets of the Craft. The first facet pertains to how lodges functioned in London, Paris, Prague, and Vienna. By electing their officers and members, by recognizing the natural liberties of their members, and by enacting laws by majority rule, lodges in these four cities functioned according to important Enlightenment political doctrines. These lodges consequently helped their members in many instances to acquire leadership skills.3 The lodges also performed social functions. These bodies operated as voluntary associations and as clubs and in many respects helped to meet the needs of urban life. Masonic lodges became known as communicative centers and as amiable meeting places. Lodges also provided financial assistance to their members and engaged in philanthropic enterprises.4
The second facet of my study pertains to the cultural importance of Masonic degrees. Masonic rites were associated with two important cultural functions. English, French, and Habsburg degrees embodied and offered vivid visual explanations of significant ancient and modern cultural tenets; their degrees thus served as a valuable vehicle for the diffusion of Enlightenment ideologies. It will be argued, as well, that important symbols and teachings conveyed in Masonic rites constituted the basis of a civil religion. The rites of the order helped to imbue Masons with ethical and secular principles, thus influencing their attitudes towards and their behavior in the state.5 The study will suggest how some Masons viewed ideas connected with the civil religion and with the Enlightenment.
The third aspect of this monograph concerns the activities of London, Parisian, Prague, and Viennese Masons. As will be seen, most Masons from these cities performed valuable cultural functions; they exhibited a compelling interest in and acted to promote Enlightenment ideologies. Numerous Masons participated in learned societies, published works about Enlightenment concepts, and viewed the Craft as a vehicle for the diffusion of eighteenth-century culture. Most members of the Craft were minor aristocratic and bourgeois gentlemen who perceived Masonry as an important Enlightenment institution, but a few Masons were eminent Enlightenment thinkers.6
The fourth facet of my study relates to important ramifications of belonging to the Masonic order. Masons in Paris and Vienna differed from their counterparts in London who had many cultural institutions with which they could affiliate. As will be seen, Parisian and Viennese Masons thus felt a need to establish Masonic learned societies and utilized these bodies to promote the arts and sciences and to sponsor special cultural activities. Some English, French, and Habsburg lodges and Masons became involved with special projects. They funded schools, libraries, museums, and hospitals. Masonry in several cases became identified with political movements and with other causes.
Two schools of historiography dominate the study of Freemasonry during the eighteenth century. The proponents of the conspiracy theory constitute the first school and, as exemplified in the writings of Barruel and Cochin, argue that the rites of Masonry were associated with and stimulated revolutionary activities. These two writers maintain that the philosophes and Masons used Masonic lodges and reading circles as agencies to diffuse the subversive doctrines of the Enlightenment, to undermine conservative institutions in European states, and to wage revolution.7 The views of the puppet theory of history make entertaining reading and suggest some important insights. Advocates of the conspiracy theory correctly suggest that the study of the social composition of Masonic lodges is required to ascertain the motivations and operations of personnel involved with the order. By arguing that Masonry served as the major vehicle for the launching of the 1789 French Revolution, writers of the conspiracy school indirectly exhibit their respect for the order and tend to distort its importance.
Ritualists, who for the most part are Masons, constitute the second major school of historiography. Symbolical Masonry by H. L. Haywood, The Three Degrees and the Great Symbols of Masonry by Joseph Newton, and Morals and Dogma by Albert Pike are considered classics of Masonic literature. The studies of these three authors are quite reliable, offering detailed explications of the doctrines and symbols of the Craft. These and similar works revolve around the premise that Masonic lodges function explicitly for the purpose of staging rites. Most Masonic ritualists, however, have failed to examine the degrees of the order within the context of the eighteenth century.
Several scholars not affiliated with the Craft correctly suggest the ideological and sociological importance of Masonic rites. To Hobsbawm, Masonry is a ritual movement; the degrees of the Craft are conferred to explain its doctrines and symbols and to enable its members to identify with the Masonic community.8 Abner Cohen and Georg Simmel agree with Hobsbawm about the concept of community in Masonry. They maintain that the ritualistic teachings of the Craft help to produce cohesion and solidarity within Masonry. These two sociologists also believe that the rites of the order revolve around universal moral doctrines and well explain in symbolical terms the place of man in nature and society.9 Simmel, who wrote about the sociology of secret societies, and Cohen, who is known for his account of Masonic lodges in Sierre Leone, offer perceptive views applicable to the study of eighteenth century Masonry. The ideas of these two scholars help to suggest how eighteenth century Masonic rites served as a means for diffusing cultural and moral concepts and how Masonic lodges at that time reflected distinctive male bonding patterns.
There are several reasons why eighteenth-century English, French, and Habsburg lodges and their members have not been adequately studied. It has been difficult, in many cases, for investigators to obtain evidence about eighteenth-century lodges. Although recorded, the minutes and rosters of numerous lodges either were lost or destroyed. The absence of pertinent primary materials is especially apparent in the case of early eighteenth-century England. London lodges, for the most part, did not record their minutes, evidently wished to preserve the private and secret character of Masonry, and thus are difficult institutions for researchers to examine. There are, however, some membership lists of London lodges during the Augustan Era. A few articles appearing in Ars Quatuor Coronatorum about eighteenth-century London members of the Craft, the Masonic histories of Coil, Findel, and Robbins, and the biographical accounts and writings of London Masons provide researchers with information about the activities of Masons in the British capital and suggest some insights about the lodges with which these London Masons were affiliated.
There are only a few works about eighteenth-century lodges and Masons in the Habsburg Empire and in France. The voluminous Geschichte der Freimaurerei in Oesterreich-Ungarn by Ludwig Abafi, based on the few extant primary sources about Habsburg Masonry, describes in some cases the operations of Prague and Viennese lodges, lists many members of lodges in these two studies, and proved to be indispensable for my study. Three recent scholarly works treat the Craft in eighteenth-century France. Francs-Maçons et Ateliers Parisiens de la Grande Loge de France au XVIII Siècle by Alain Le Bihan offers some insights into the operations of Parisian lodges, and, more importantly, contains numerous biographical accounts of lesser known Masons in the French capital. Les Ducs Sous L ‘Acacia and Histoire de la Franç-Maçonnerie Française: École de l’Egalité, 1725–1799 by Pierre Chevallier adequately survey major developments arising in eighteenth-century French Masonic History, comment on the operations of some Parisian lodges and on the activities of their members, and allude to the importance of the Parisian Masonic learned society known as the Lodge of the Nine Sisters.10
The major problem involving the study of the Nine Sisters concerns the lack of evidence about the structural operations of this lodge. The Lodge of the Nine Sisters, in differing from ordinary Masonic bodies, was established in 1776 to foster the study of the arts and sciences, but regretfully neither kept minutes nor published journals. An examination of the important cultural and organizational operations of this lodge thus requires probing the writings of and secondary sources about its members. An analysis of this Masonic learned society further entails investigating the few accounts written about its history.
Une Loge Maçonnigue d’avant 1789 by the nineteenth century French grand lodge administrator Louis Amiable is the most extensive account of the Nine Sisters. This work has several strengths. The study of Amiable is written in light of evidence obtained, for the most part, from eighteenth- century memoirs, biographical accounts, and the few Masonic documents available to him. By utilizing these sources for his study, Amiable is able to recount some major developments arising during regular meetings and during banquets of the Nine Sisters. Amiable also provides his readers with illuminating accounts of minor intellectuals affiliated with the Nine Sisters but tends to exaggerate the importance of the accomplishments of lodge members.
There are weaknesses, however, in the study of Amiable. It suffers from the lack of topical arrangement and from that of direction. Moreover, it reveals the anticlerical sentiments of its author. Nor does Amiable satisfactorily explain the relationship of the Nine Sisters to the Grand Orient or to local lodges either in Paris or in France. Amiable does not refer to elites functioning in Masonry or in Paris and does not suggest why Masons from specific cultural groups wished to belong to the Nine Sisters. He mentions some special lodge sessions devoted to lectures about various topics but does not explain well how the Nine Sisters functioned as a learned society.
Several scholars have offered views about the Nine Sisters. An ardent advocate of the conspiracy theory, Bernard Fay perceives the Nine Sisters as having been a significant agency for the dissemination of eighteenth-century radical doctrines and for the training of Masonic revolutionaries.11 The views of Echeverria, Hahn, and Hazard differ from those of Fay. In their terse accounts of the Nine Sisters, these three scholars maintain that this lodge consisted of numerous philosophes and was involved with some important cultural activities.12 In his short article about the Nine Sisters in the Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Nicholas Hans summarizes rather well major findings of Amiable and briefly remarks about the operations and personnel of this lodge. He mentions that lodge meetings were devoted to cultural, ritualistic, and social activities and claims that the sponsoring of educational institutions in Paris represented the major achievement of the Nine Sisters in its role as a learned society. Hans devotes considerable attention to the Masonic career of Benjamin Franklin, emphasizing his contributions as Master of the Nine Sisters. Hans also lists approximately 100 members of the lodge, but, despite his access to primary sources of the American Philosophical Society, failed to consult works pertaining to the cultural functions of intellectuals associated with the Nine Sisters.13
There are numerous primary and secondary sources concerning the cultural functions of personnel affiliated with the Nine Sisters in the American Philosophical Society and in other libraries in the Philadelphia vicinity. As a consequence of the involvement of Franklin in the Nine Sisters, writings, memoirs, and some letters of lodge members are housed in Philadelphia collections. My research indicates that many members of the Nine Sisters participated in salons and learned societies and, for the most part, were affiliated with elites headed by Lalande, Bailly, Fourcroy, Franklin, Court de Gébelin, and Pilâtre de Rozier. My research also suggests that minor intellectuals of the Nine Sisters envisioned themselves as contributors to an international Masonic learned society and to eighteenth-century culture.
Problems arise in the investigation of the Viennese True Harmony Lodge and in some cases resemble those encountered in writing about the Lodge of the Nine Sisters.14 Reconstructing the history of the True Harmony Lodge is difficult, since the writings of and the secondary sources about most lodge members are not numerous. Like its Parisian counterpart, the Viennese True Harmony Lodge was created in 1781 to stimulate the study of the arts and sciences, but did not publish either its minutes or its roster. Proceedings of the True Harmony Lodge, however, were published and in part help the researcher to understand how this body functioned as a learned society.
What is lacking is a comprehensive account about the Masonic activities and the cultural operations of the True Harmony Lodge. The study of Abafi about Habsburg Freemasonry contains several valuable sections devoted to the workings of this lodge. Abafi mentions how the True Harmony functioned as a Masonic lodge; he shows that the True Harmony functioned under the jurisdiction of the Austrian Grand Lodge, conferred rites during its regular meetings, and held several special meetings with other lodges in the city to recruit new members.15 Abafi lists approximately 150 Masons associated with the True Harmony, mentions some important articles appearing in the two journals sponsored by the lodge, but fails to specify how the True Harmony operated as a learned society.16
What is apparent is that the major function of the True Harmony Lodge in its role as a learned society was to publish a literary and a scientific journal. My research indicates that neither Masonic historians nor scholars have investigated the writings appearing in these two journals and that the True Harmony was the first Masonic lodge to publish journals devoted to literature, philosophy, music, and the sciences. As will be seen, contributors to the Journal für Freymaurer, edited by Alois Blumauer, wrote essays and poems to vindicate reform legislation instituted by Joseph II. Some lodge members published articles about the doctrines and symbols of Masonry, thus attempting to demonstrate the importance of Masonic philosophy to the intellectual life of the eighteenth century. My investigation of the volumes of the Physikalische Arbeiten der Einträchtigen Freunde in Wien, edited by Ignatz von Born, reveals that many scientists affiliated with the True Harmony published in this journal significant findings concerning geology. While encouraging members to contribute to its two journals, the True Harmony Lodge held few sessions devoted either to the presentation of papers or to the staging of special cultural events.
Several works contain accounts about the members of the True Harmony. Biographical portraits about many lodge members are in the volumes of Biographisches Lexicon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich by Constantin Wurzbach. Jesuits and Jacobins by Paul Bernard, and Mozart and Masonry by Paul Nettl also provide details about the careers of numerous members of the True Harmony. Bernard and Nettl suggest that as a result of serving as a center of literary, reform, musical, and scientific activities, the True Harmony Lodge performed valuable cultural functions and succeeded in recruiting Masons from Vienna and from other cities in the Habsburg Empire.17 My research suggests that most active and corresponding members of the True Harmony were associated with elites headed by Born, by Blumauer, or by Sonnenfels.
Similar to topics involved with the study of Masonic learned societies, many facets of eighteenth-century European Freemasonry merit investigation but have not received attention from scholars. In some cases it is difficult for scholars not associated with the Craft to secure access to Masonic sources; they frequently meet with resistance from some Masonic librarians who are not permitted to open their files to researchers not holding membership in the order. Scholars who have been allowed to consult materials from Masonic libraries sometimes are disappointed to discover that Masonic sources either do not contain answers to certain questions or are missing. If and when Masonic libraries change their restrictive policies, numerous aspects of Masonry during the eighteenth century can be examined. Ample evidence is available in Masonic and scholarly libraries to show how the rites of Masonry explicated major tenets of eighteenth-century culture, to illustrate how lodges functioned in specific states and regions, and to suggest how these institutions filled social, cultural, political, and philanthropic needs in urban centers. Scholarly studies can be written to show what aristocratic and bourgeois groups gravitated to Masonry, to explain how Masons acted and thought, and to suggest how they interacted with each other in specific elite groups in urban centers. Evidence also can be obtained to substantiate the novel view of J. M. Roberts that from 1720 until 1789, anti–Masonic groups failed to thwart the evolution of European Masonry.18
As a result of my affiliation with the Masonic order, I became interested in the study of the Craft during the eighteenth century and was able to investigate sources housed in Masonic collections. I belong to several Masonic research societies and have published two books and numerous articles about Masonry. In doing research for this study, I obtained permission to use materials belonging to the Grand Lodge Libraries of Iowa and Pennsylvania. Since the Nazis destroyed many important sources in European Masonic Libraries, materials relating to eighteenth-century European Freemasonry in these two excellent grand lodge collections are invaluable. The collections of the American Philosophical Society, the Library Company of Philadelphia, the University of Pennsylvania, and Princeton University also contain pertinent primary materials pertaining to eighteenth-century English, French, and Habsburg Masonry.
My book is written as a contribution to Masonic and eighteenth-century scholarship. What seems fair to say is that few scholarly works have been published about eighteenth-century Masonry and that most Masonic historians have not adequately explained how the Craft is related to eighteenth-century culture and society. Unlike the few other studies about eighteenth-century Masonry, my study shows that Masonic rites embodied cardinal Enlightenment doctrines and served as an effective vehicle for their transmittance. As opposed to other studies about the Craft, this study emphasizes that the institutional operations of Masonic lodges were important to the cultural and social life of major cities in eighteenth-century Europe and that the cultural functions of many Masons were involved with the promotion of the ideas of the Enlightenment. I examine Masonry and the Enlightenment in London, Paris, Prague, and Vienna. By focusing on these four cities, I intend to illustrate the patterns and variations of the Craft and the Enlightenment in England, France, and the Habsburg Empire and to explain the relationship of these two movements to each other in each of these states.
As Gay, Cassirer, and other eighteenth-century scholars show, the Enlightenment revolved around several major aims. Enlighteners shared the belief that reason could be employed to investigate and to classify knowledge. Those involved with the physical sciences devoted their efforts to probing Nature to ascertain her laws; some enlighteners attempted to determine laws governing the social sciences, and others tried to discover principles governing the humanities. Most enlighteners also endorsed the view that the study of ancient and modern knowledge would lead to the achievement of material progress.19
Promoting the natural sciences became paramount during the Enlightenment. Many achievements in experimental science were identified with the principles, theories, and models of Sir Isaac Newton and with those of his disciples. Pertinent Newtonian ideas led to noted discoveries in astronomy, physics, and electricity during the first half of the eighteenth century and contributed to the evolution of chemistry and geology during the last half of this century. It also was evident that some Newtonian concepts were fruitfully applied to advance the study of eighteenth-century medicine.
The Enlightenment centered on efforts to foster the study of the social sciences and humanities. Some enlighteners postulated political theories. In Augustan England, many political theorists were proponents of Whiggism and attempted to justify the functions of Parliament in light of this philosophy. Most French and Habsburg political writers, on the other hand, were spokesmen of secular reforms. Writers from these two states denounced the status of the Catholic Church and its clergymen, favored the separation of church and state, and like their English counterparts called for the implementation of religious toleration and other natural liberties. Numerous British, French, and Habsburg enlighteners, who were involved with the study of the social sciences and humanities, subscribed to deistic doctrines; what these enlighteners believed was that the tenets of this philosophy helped to explain the place of man in Nature and contained pertinent moral and cultural teachings of the ancients. It also was apparent that concepts and models of antiquity were meaningful to the humanities during the Enlightenment. Many enlighteners pursuing the study of literature, music, and the fine arts helped to revive ancient ideas, rendered modern interpretations of classical tenets, and thus attempted to promote the neoclassical movement.
What the Enlightenment needed for the investigation and diffusion of knowledge were cultural and social institutions. British, French, and Habsburg enlighteners, for the most part, relied upon institutions in urban centers to publicize their ideas. Some enlighteners from these states played an active role in learned societies; salons, taverns, coffeehouses, and Masonic lodges further emerged as significant urban institutions, enabling many enlighteners to disseminate effectively their beliefs. Masonry and club life, especially in London, were important for the spread of Enlightenment ideas.
Newtonian science was important to the British Enlightenment. As Cohen and Schofield argue, mechanistic principles and theories, postulated by Newton in 1687 in the Principia, did constitute the first school of Newtonian science. Newton in the Principia used mathematics and inductive techniques to demonstrate that celestial and terrestrial objects function in space and time in accordance with the laws of gravity and motion. He further postulated that matter is endowed with primary and secondary qualities and operates according to the theories of attraction and repulsion.20 As Schofield explains, many English scientists were advocates of mechanism. These scientists helped to explain principles concerning the Newtonian mechanical cosmology and to repudiate the physical theories of the Cartesians; English mechanists further offered their interpretations about motion and gravity and about the mechanical attributes of matter. A few mechanists performed experiments to describe the properties of electricity and to explain how motion applied to the study of steam engines.21 As will be seen, Speculative Freemasonry enlisted the support of some mechanists in London. The rites of Modern Masonry embodied explanations of mechanistic concepts, and London lodges provided mechanists with the opportunity to present their ideas.
Although not as numerous as the mechanists, the materialists constituted the second major school of Newtonian science during the Enlightenment in Augustan England. In the Opticks, first published in 1704, Newton discusses many findings pertaining to his experiments with light particles and proposes theories about the properties of matter; he develops a corpuscular theory, speculating that corpuscles constitute the smallest particles in light rays and in other forms of matter. Newton further believes that the aether governs the operations of the most minute particles in matter and thus emerges as a proponent of atomism.22 My research indicates that a few materialists were affiliated with London Masonic lodges. English Masonic materialists performed some experiments with light rays and, more importantly, devoted attention to developing taxonomies of metallic substances.23
Similar to Newtonian physical concepts, Whiggish political doctrines were important to the thought of the British Enlightenment. Kramnick, Pocock, and Speck share the belief that during the first half of the eighteenth century, Whigs endorsed balanced constitutions, mixed governments, Parliamentary sovereignty and patronage, and natural liberties. Kramnick and Speck argue that Whigs secured support from the English aristocracy and bourgeoisie and favored expanding the roles of Parliament and the prime minister; Whigs acted to implement the New Industrial Policy of Walpole and maintained their positions against the Tories who accused them of destroying the political and economic foundations of England.24 Pocock claims that the Whigs, in the Harringtonian sense, constituted the Court Party during the Augustan Era and were fortune hunters, working to increase trade, commerce, and their land holdings. He explains that despite their corrupt practices, Whigs, like the Florentine and Venetian leaders of the Renaissance, envisioned themselves as promoters of civic humanism and virtue.25 My research reveals that most Masons were Whigs. Some Masons affiliated with the party of Walpole to secure political favors. Others subscribed to Whiggish theories concerning civil liberties, especially endorsed the principle of religious toleration, and in many cases were proponents of deism.
Various tenets of deism were significant to the Enlightenment in Augustan England. Newton, in the Scholia, a document appended to Book III of the Principia, advances deistic ideas to explain important scientific concepts. Newton believes that God is the First and the Final Cause and that the mechanical properties of gravity and the operations of the universe and nature are traced to Him. McGuire and Rattansi maintain that to substantiate his mechanistic views, Newton referred to the deistic beliefs of Pythagoras, Plato and other ancient thinkers.26 Other ideas, as well, were involved with English deism. As Gay and Stromberg demonstrate, English deists, for the most part, envisioned God as being Benevolent and Omniscient. English deists further believed that as the source of ancient and modern knowledge, the Creator endowed humans with reason to enable them to determine His Grand Design and understand divine, natural, and moral laws.27
Enlighteners from numerous groups in Augustan England subscribed to deistic doctrines and, in some cases, affiliated with Masonry. Christian Deists under the leadership of Toland and Tindal arose in Hanoverian London, shared the belief that reason would enable man to reveal the truths of Christianity, but were not involved with Masonic lodges in the British capita1.28 Members of Protestant sects, however, were quite numerous in Masonry and, in many cases, endorsed deistic beliefs. Many members of Protestant dissenting groups advocated the deistic and Masonic doctrine of religious toleration and believed that the Craft could serve as a valuable agency for ameliorating relations among Protestant sects. As Jacob shows, some Anglican Latitudinarians belonged to London lodges and believed that the rites of Masonry vividly explained salient deistic and mechanistic concepts.29 It was also apparent that members of scientific, literary, and other cultural circles in London considered the deistic tenets of Masonry to be meaningful. By identifying deistic teachings of the Craft with moral, secular, and scientific doctrines of the ancients and the moderns, some prominent and many minor English enlighteners became involved in London lodges.
Literature was also used to diffuse Enlightenment ideologies in Augustan England. Many Augustan writers referred to the beliefs of ancient authors to substantiate modern ethical and political concepts. As Humphreys and others maintain, English writers translated major works of the Greeks and Romans, praising the ancients for the clarity of their models, for their love of Nature, and for their perceptive explanations of the qualities of man.30 A few English writers published essays about the Roman architect Vitruvius, endorsing his principles based on harmony, order, and coherence.31 As Marjorie Nicolson shows, English writers, as well, emerged as propagandists of the new science. The Mason, Alexander Pope, and other minor writers, who in some instances affiliated with the Craft, revealed interest in materialistic theories associated with experiments concerning light rays and lauded Newton for discovering mechanical laws to explain the orderly operations of Nature.32
Numerous institutions were involved with the promotion of the Enlightenment in early Hanoverian London. The Royal Society of London developed into an important cultural hub; the society was identified with discoveries of Newton and published the experiments and findings of the mechanists and materialists.33 This institution further consisted of scholars not involved with the sciences and of aristocratic and bourgeois gentlemen interested in learning about Enlightenment ideas. There were, however, other cultural agencies in early eighteenth-century London. As Rudé explains, the College of Physicians, the Society of Antiquaries, and the St. Martin’s Lane Academy functioned as important centers for the diffusion of Enlightenment ideas.34 Many Masons participated in these learned societies and frequented London coffeehouses and taverns. As Timbs and Rudé maintain, the many coffeehouses and taverns located in the Covent Garden and in other districts of London performed valuable social and cultural functions. As a result of their involvement in these institutions, London Masons were able to dine and to drink with each other, to discuss political matters, and on occasion to deliver lectures and to perform experiments.35 Coffeehouses and taverns further served as the aristocratic and bourgeois institutions from which Speculative Freemasonry was to evolve and, in functioning as communicative centers and as “penny universities” in London, helped to spread Enlightenment tenets.36
As most historians maintain, Newtonian concepts circulated in France between approximately 1720 and 1740 and were important to the development of the French Enlightenment. As Gay shows, Voltaire and other French intellectuals generated interest in the views espoused by Newton and by his disciples. They corresponded with British Newtonians, visited England, were admitted to the Royal Society and other London learned societies, in many cases became Anglophiles, and published translations of important works of Newtonian science.37
Many French scientists became mechanists; they campaigned against and succeeded in discrediting the advocates of Cartesian physical theories. French mechanists were especially interested in the study of astronomy and electricity and also wrote treatises about the inertial properties of matter. Baker and Thackray argue that by approximately 1760, French mechanists became positivists, attempting to develop models and a scientific language to explicate rather than to describe Newtonian mechanical laws.38 My research reveals that a few astronomers, electrical theorists, and physicians were members of the Craft and that most eighteenth-century French Masonic scientists were more interested in the ideas posited in the Opticks than in those advanced in the Principia.
Materialistic concepts were of central significance to the development of science during the French Enlightenment. Materialistic views influenced the taxonomic schemes of Buffon and those of other eighteenth-century French geologists.39 According to Schofield and Thackray, pertinent concepts advanced in the Opticks produced their most significant impact in France during the 1770s and 1780s and shaped the development of chemistry. As a result of the studies of Lavoisier, minor French chemists, who in many cases were associated with Masonry, conducted experiments concerning properties, weights, and phlogiston contents of varying forms of matter. These experiments further helped to demonstrate the interest of French enlighteners in the atomistic theory.40
The Neoclassical Movement dominated the arts during the French Enlightenment. Lucie-Smith and Levey emphasize the intimate relationship of Neoclassicism to eighteenth-century French art and sculpture; an accurate depiction of Nature, the feats of ancient gods and heroes, and the portraits of eminent moderns characterize the paintings of French Neoclassical artists. An accurate portrayal of facial features and an emphasis upon clarity and symmetry appear in the busts and statues of sculptors connected with the French Neoclassical School.41
John Lough cogently demonstrates the pervasive influence of Neoclassicism upon eighteenth-century French literature; he shows that French writers published translations of important ancient poems and succeeded in having their modernized presentations of Greek and Roman comedies and tragedies staged in Parisian theaters.42 What is distinctive about French writers was their interest in aesthetics. According to Gay, many French enlighteners held the view that ancient Greek and Roman theories relating to the arts and humanities constituted the basis of aesthetics and could be integrated into a philosophical system to explain the concept of beauty.43 As will be seen, many French Masons contributed to the fine arts and humanities, and a few members of the order were concerned with aesthetic questions.
Varying philosophies of deism were propounded during the French Enlightenment and in many cases revolved around concepts espoused by the ancients. As Manuel demonstrates, ancient allegories, myths, and teachings of the mystery cults were embodied in the deistic philosophies of Voltaire, d’Holbach, Court de Gébelin, and minor French enlighteners. By investigating the writings of the ancients, many French deists, like their English counterparts, attempted to demonstrate that the ancients had postulated doctrines of a universal morality to explain the relationship of man to God and to Nature. Like Court de Gébelin, some French deists believed that the ancients had evolved principles to explain the Great Order established by the Supreme Creator.44
Doctrines of deism in France were also related to those of Newtonianism, Masonry, and state reform. As Gay and others suggest, some French deists, who were Newtonians and in many cases Anglophiles, tried to explain the importance of mechanistic and materialistic concepts in light of major tenets of moral philosophy.45 As will be seen, Masonic rites conferred in France served as an important source of deism; these rites emphasized the importance of reason for the investigation of Nature and depicted God as the Supreme Creator, as the First and Final Cause, and as the Moral Governor. As a result of embodying deistic tenets, Masonry appealed to Newtonians, to individuals who were falling away from Christianity, and even in some cases to those seeking an understanding of Enlightenment doctrines to reinforce their religious beliefs. Masonic rites in France embodied the deistic philosophy of “secular salvation,” stressing that the Moral Governor delegates individuals with natural liberties and encourages Masons to work for the implementation of state reforms.46
As Parker and Kors maintain, varying groups supported the cause of state reforms during the French Enlightenment. Parker claims that important and minor philosophes were associated with the “Cult of Antiquity,” having been educated in the ancient classics and having integrated views of Greek and Roman authors into their arguments concerning state reforms.47 Kors shows that major and minor proponents of reform were affiliated with different elite groups in Paris during the 1770s and 1780s and that the behavior, thought, and statuses of these writers sharply varied.48 My research indicates that most Masonic advocates of reform were familiar with the political doctrines of the ancients and were minor writers associated with varying Parisian elites. A few Masonic enlighteners looked to the Bourbon Monarchy and its ministers to initiate needed reforms, but many others were critical of the crown for not instituting them.
Numerous French enlighteners embraced the cause of legal reform. A few enlighteners were aristocrats who served as judges in the parlements. As Ford and Shackleton show, these judges endorsed salient reform proposals of Montesquieu and were advocates of the thèse nobiliaire, believing that the parlements should take measures to abolish unjust laws and should serve as the protector of natural liberties.49 Other enlighteners also wished to introduce legal changes in France. Some minor philosophes endorsed legal reforms proposed by Voltaire and by the Milanese aristocrat Beccaria. Most of these philosophes were Parisian Masons, advocating the extension of civil liberties to the Huguenots and sweeping reforms of the French criminal code and legal systems.
Under the influence of Voltaire, many of these minor Parisian writers became involved with the issue of religious toleration. Most of these writers were connected with the Masonic circle of Court de Gébelin and favored the granting of this civil liberty to the Huguenots. Their writings have remained important, to some extent influenced the decision of Louis XVI to issue the 1787 Edict of Toleration, but have received minimal attention from historians.
Few studies have been published about educational reform proposals during the French Enlightenment. As Lough explains, after the expulsion of the Jesuits from France in 1764, minor writers in Paris during the 1770s and 1780s called upon the crown to terminate the control of Catholic clergymen over French schools and to secularize educational institutions. As will be seen, many of these writers were Masons, favoring the separation of church and state, and contributing leadership and funds to lycées and musées established in Paris.50
Cultural institutions contributed to the diffusion of Enlightenment ideologies in Paris. As Baker and Hahn show, the Paris Academy of Sciences served as the nucleus of science during the French Enlightenment. This academy functioned as an intensively competitive institution, only recruiting to its ranks professional scientists and thus differing from the Royal Society. The Paris Academy, for the most part, consisted of some mechanists, of many materialists, and of a few Masons.51 The Académie de Peinture et de Sculpture, the Académie Française, and Parisian salons also evolved into major agencies for the spread of Enlightenment concepts. As will be seen, a few Parisian Masons belonged to these institutions and, in several instances, held membership in provincial learned societies. Many others participated in the affairs of Parisian salons and were provided with the opportunity to display their artistic works and to deliver lectures concerning state reforms and literature.52
Parisian intellectuals also utilized publications to spread Enlightenment ideas. Prominent philosophes and some Masonic writers published articles about varying topics relating to the Enlightenment in the Journal de Paris, the Journal des savants, the Mercure de France, and in other Parisian journals. As Hazard and Darnton show, articles of numerous philosophes appeared in the Encyclopédie and contain significant knowledge about the liberal arts and sciences. Despite the efforts of the censors to prevent its publication and circulation, this work was distributed in Paris and throughout France and served as an important vehicle for the dissemination of Enlightenment beliefs.53 According to Hazard and Schlegel, Masonic administrators supposedly financed the publication of the Encyclopédie, and Masons wrote numerous articles for this work.54 My research indicates that definitive evidence concerning Masonic sponsorship of the Encyclopédie is lacking and that only two Masonic writers contributed articles to this major work. What can be said is that minor Parisian Masonic intellectuals belonged to cultural circles, headed by eminent philosophes, and that promoting the arts and sciences was important to Masons and philosophes.
Unlike those in France, major Enlightenment ideas in the Habsburg Empire were identified with successful state building policies and thus with enlightened despotism. There is, however, some debate about despotism among historians studying the Habsburg Empire during the eighteenth century. Peter Gay and a few historians refuse to recognize enlightened despotism, claiming that this term is too vague to explain political and cultural developments in Central and Eastern Europe.55 Gagliardo, Wines, and most historians argue that enlightened despotism led to the transformation of the Habsburg Empire and was associated with reforms instituted by Maria Theresa and by her son Joseph 11.56
Historians offer varying views about the aims of the reform programs of these two monarchs. Ernst Wangermann and Robert Kann believe that imperial reform programs were designed to achieve monarchical absolutism and to reduce the powers of the estates.57 Lhotsky and Valjavec argue that the centralization and the efficient operations of imperial institutions were ascribed as major motives for the implementation of reforms.58 As Bernard and Gagliardo cogently argue, Maria Theresa and Joseph instituted reforms to secularize the empire in light of many theories proposed by West European enlighteners.59 As will be argued, the centralization, the consolidation, the secularization, and the efficient operation of Habsburg institutions characterized the imperial programs of these two monarchs.
Administrative and legal reforms were enacted to ameliorate the efficacy of imperial institutions. As Kann and McGill show, Maria Theresa established the State Council to coordinate administrative operations and empowered the High Court of Justice to direct legal activities.60 Bernard maintains that during the reign of Joseph, imperial councils and commissions were centralized and operated to assure the implementation of the edicts of the emperor.61 The emperor as well established a legal commission under the direction of the natural law theorist Joseph von Sonnenfels; this important commission was instructed to propose revisions of imperial laws and changes regarding legal proceedings and punishments.62 Kann and Frankovich emphasize the importance of recommendations of this commission, explaining that the proposals of Sonnenfels embodied theories advocated by Italian and French enlighteners.63
Economic reforms of Maria Theresa and Joseph were enacted to increase industrial production. As Bernard and Tapie demonstrate, economic policies of both monarchs embodied cameralist theories and thus revealed the influences of West European reform advocates.64 Both monarchs took measures to assist businessmen, craftsmen, and industrialists. As Bernard and Tapie further argue, the granting of religious toleration during the 1780s to Jews and Protestants in imperial lands marked a distinctive variation of the Habsburg Enlightenment. According to both historians, these religious groups played a cardinal role in improving banking and business, in increasing industrial production, and in promoting Enlightenment culture in the Empire.65
Educational reforms led to the secularization of imperial schools and thus were important to the Habsburg Enlightenment. As Kann explains, Maria Theresa allocated funds for the operations of primary, secondary, and technical schools; she believed that her subjects should be trained for specific careers.66 While serving as co-regent, Joseph became involved with educational problems. As Macartney shows, Joseph suspended in 1773 the operations of the Jesuits, thus ending the pervasive influence of this order over imperial education.67 During the early 1780s, Joseph applied the principle of state intervention to ameliorate imperial educational institutions. As Wangermann explains, the emperor abolished many clerical orders, confiscated their properties, and allocated monies from the sale of these lands for educational improvements. Wangermann emphasizes that the Educational Commission was authorized to fund imperial schools, to hire secular teachers, and to appropriate monies for programs offered in imperial universities.68 As will be seen, many Masons served as imperial administrators and supported the educational, legal, clerical, and religious reforms instituted by Joseph.
Many Prague and Viennese writer-bureaucrats were enlighteners and Masons involved with the promotion of the humanities. Most Prague intellectuals wrote in German, devoted minimal attention to the study of Czech culture, and displayed astute interest in West European Enlightenment ideas.69 Prague enlighteners issued German translations of major British and French plays and poems and, like their Viennese counterparts, wrote some essays regarding clerical abuses, deism, and religious toleration for Jews and Protestants. As Bernard shows, many Viennese writer-bureaucrats, who in some instances were former Catholic clergymen, became involved with the literature of reform; they used literature as a vehicle for the vindication of Josephinian reforms. Many Viennese writers were proponents of Neoclassical themes, referring to salient teachings of the ancients to justify their views concerning imperial reforms and also to substantiate their deistic beliefs. As Bernard further argues, Alois Blumauer and minor writers connected with his circle were advocates of Neoclassicism and Josephinian reforms and more importantly worked to establish a distinctive Viennese literary school.70 As will be argued, Blumauer, his rival Alxinger, and other minor Viennese writers played an active part in Masonry and engaged in literary activities to disseminate Enlightenment and Masonic ideas in the imperial capital.
The development of the fine arts in the eighteenth-century Habsburg Empire acutely differed from that of the arts in England and in France. Music—rather than architecture, painting, and sculpture—occupied a central place in the empire and was especially significant to the cultural life of Josephinian Vienna. As Grout, Lang, and other historians of music argue, the evolution of the sonata-symphony, of the piano concerto, and of opera was important to music in the imperial capital. As Grout and Lang explain, the sonata-symphony arose in eighteenth-century Austria and stressed intricate modulations and themes; it further emphasized the usage of the chorus, winds, and strings. Popularized by Mozart, the piano concerto centered on the effective interplay between the pianist and the orchestra and provided music with great flexibility and range.71 Grout and Lang further maintain that after the reforms of Gluck, opera was presented in German and skillfully conveyed human traits and ancient legends.72 As will be seen, some composers and many musicians affiliated with Viennese and Prague lodges received financial assistance from Habsburg nobles, and used music as a vehicle for the presentation of Masonic and Enlightenment ideas.
Enlightenment concepts, moreover, contributed to the development of the physical sciences and medicine in the Habsburg Empire. As opposed to those in Vienna, scientific and medical activities in Prague were of minimal importance. My research indicates that a few Viennese scientists were mechanists. Their works, which have not been investigated, contain explanations of fundamental concepts concerning gravity, motion, and electricity. In his fine biography of Gerard van Swieten, Frank Brechka explains how this enlightener improved the medical facilities of the University of Vienna Medical School.73 My research reveals that historians have overlooked the role of Viennese Masonic physicians. These doctors held important positions in the University of Vienna Medical School and wrote about the functions of body organs in light of mechanistic concepts. Geology arose as the major science in Vienna during the Josephinian Enlightenment, revolved around materialistic concepts, and has received minimal attention from historians. Schneer and Thackray allude to the stratigraphic theories of Torbern Bergman concerning the composition of minerals but mention nothing about the impact of his views upon Habsburg geologists.74 As will be seen, the materialistic theories and classification schemes of this Swedish enlightener influenced the thinking of Masonic geologists in Vienna and in other imperial lands.
Cultural institutions and journals involved with the diffusion of Enlightenment ideas appeared to be lacking in Prague and in Vienna. There were no major scientific academies or publications in either Habsburg city. A few Viennese scientists, however, belonged to scientific societies in Western Europe and published some papers in the journals of these societies. As Kimball shows, the Bohemian Society of Learning was one of the few learned academies in Prague. Members of this society engaged in literary and philosophical studies, issued a journal, and in some cases were associated with Prague Masonry.75 There seemed to be few academies in Vienna resembling the Bohemian Society. There were, however, two pertinent Viennese publications involved with the promotion of the humanities. As will be seen, the Wiener Musenalmanach and the Wiener Realzeitung contain poems, plays, and literary essays written by some important Viennese Masonic enlighteners.76 As a consequence of the paucity of learned societies in Prague and in Vienna, Masonry served as a significant vehicle for the spread of Enlightenment ideas in these two cities. As will be argued, Masons from various cultural circles in Prague and in Vienna were provided with ritualistic explanations of salient Enlightenment concepts and frequently utilized their lodges to promote eighteenth-century culture.
Comparative analysis can serve as a useful tool for the examination of the cultural functions and organizational operations of eighteenth-century Masonry. Such analysis can reveal the ritualistic, structural, and membership patterns of Masonry in London, Paris, Prague, and Vienna. It also can illustrate how Masonry was related to the Enlightenment in each of these cities. In the next chapter, my purpose is to investigate the origins, organization, and ritualism of Modern Speculative Freemasonry in London and to examine the cultural functions of its members.