Under William and Mary Protestantism replaced Catholism in England;
by an act of Parliament all Catholics were forbidden to ascend to the throne,
as was anyone married to a Catholic and this is true to this day.
Queen Ann was the youngest
daughter of James II, sister in law of William of Orange. She succeeded him
upon his death in 1702 to the Throne of England. She was succeeded in 1714 by
George I, grandson of Elizabeth Stuart and Friedrich Count of Palatine of the
Rhine.
When George died in 1727 the
Throne passed to his son George II who reigned until 1760. For sixty years after
Williams’s ascension to the Throne the Stuart dynasty held on to a desire to
regain their royal prominence and return to the Throne.
While in exile, the Stuart
dynasty remained as a Neo-Government without an empire. James II died in 1701
being replaced by his son James III, known as the ‘Old Pretender’.
James III was replaced by his
son the ‘Young Pretender’ otherwise known as ‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’. Under
these three Monarch’s in exile there existed a center of political intrique.
In 1708 a Stuart invasion of
Scotland took place supported by French Armies and their Navy. England
meanwhile had its resources focused on the War of Spanish Succession.
Even unprepared as England
was to deal with the French threat they were able to counter the offensive; not
by military ingenuity but by being able to take advantage of disorganization
amongst the leadership of the invasion.
France wasn’t energetically
motivated towards the cause, there was poor decision making and just general
bad luck. England was able to thwart the invasion but seven years later in 1715,
a very well organized revolt, under the Earl of Man, who had replaced the
Viscount of Dundee as Grand Master, of the latter day Knight Templars and
Freemasonic Lodge’s.
The Earl of Winton, Lord George
Seton also joined the Earl of Man in this revolt. He however was captured and
imprisoned in the Tower of London where he was condemned to death and his title
of Earl was revoked. He was able to escape to France where he remained active in
the Jacobite causes for the remainder of his life. In 1736 he became Master of
the Jacobite Masonic Lodge in Rome.
The revolt wasn’t successful
and the Stuarts remained a threat to the British Empire for the next 30 years.
With the revolt of 1688 started many much needed reforms, the most important of
which would be the Bill of Rights.
Even though changes were
taken place there was much confusion amongst the British society. Although the
Stuarts were in exile they had many supporters, many of which were civil
servants. Because of this Stuart interests were well represented, but not all
of the Stuart supporters were willing to oppose Parliament with the use of
force or by other means.
William, Mary and Ann were
well liked Monarchs, but the German Hanoverians were a much different case. Many
opposed the German sovereigns and desired the return of the Stuarts, who they regarded
as rightful heirs to the Throne.
It was from the Stuart
sympathizers that the modern day Tories evolved. Most were active Anglican or
Anglo-Catholic out of the cavalier class of society.
Most were land owners, noble
men from the upper classes, who preferred patronage to the crown versus the
Parliament, and insisted on the Stuarts recovery of the Throne.
The Whigs were primarily the
professional classes and merchantmen. They were active in industry, banking,
commerce, and members of the military. They were composed of free thinkers,
religious diversity and dissenters from society.
They preferred the Parliament
over the crown. They were made up of what we would call today the middle class.
They subscribed to the Puritan work ethic, the leadership of the commerce and
industrial revolution and a change in British history where money would become
the main arbitrator. They were willing to tolerate their German Sovereigns as a
means to their successes in commerce.
The differences in British
society were evident in Freemasonry itself. After the revolution of 1688 the
lodges continued to meet and proliferate.
It is likely the membership
of the established lodges and the senior members of the newer lodges were pro
Stuart or Tory. But there isn’t evidence to support that the lodges were part
of a Jacobite propaganda effort. The lodges apparently tried to remain
apolitical.
As more and more Whig members
rose to economic and political prominence they also found their way into the
lodges, thus placing their pro-Hanoverian thoughts onto Freemasonry.
Freemasons historically were
pro-Stuart, and had to pledge loyalty to the King and rout out conspirators,
thus becoming part of the Stuart covert network.
It should not be surprising
that the main emphasis of Freemasonry would have followed the Stuarts into
exile, and from exile work to further its interests in English affairs.
During the beginning of the
18th century lodges could be either Tory or Whig, Hanoverian or
Jacobite; it was the Tories of England and the Jacobite’s abroad who possessed
much of the heritage of Freemasonry, they were the mainstream.
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