Re: Hull FM

In
1827, Robert Beverley, the Deputy Provincial Grand Master for the North and=
 East
Ridings of Yorkshire, wrote to the Grand Secretary about the turmoil which =
had
overtaken the Humber Lodge in Hull, the oldest lodge in the province. The l=
odge
had decided to build a masonic hall. The landlord of the inn where the lodg=
e had
hitherto met was upset about his potential<span style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes"=
>&nbsp;
</span>loss of earnings. In a desperate attempt to prevent the lodge leavin=
g his
premises, the landlord arranged for two constables to be placed at the inn =
door
on the evening of a lodge meeting. When the master appeared, the constables
arrested him (on what grounds are not clear) and carried him off to prison.=
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">After
a great tumult, the master was released. The lodge decided, not surprisingl=
y, to
move elsewhere. The lodge's former landlord sought revenge. He persuaded th=
ree
other members of the lodge, the most prominent of whom was a Brother Roach,=
 to
blackball everyone proposed for membership of the lodge, so that it would
eventually collapse for lack of members. The rest of the lodge eventually
realised what was going on, and expelled the blackballers.</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">Brother
Beverley seemed to view these events with equanimity. The immediate occasio=
n of
his letter to Grand Lodge was an action of Brother Roach which he regarded =
as
far more heinous. In<span style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>the wor=
ds of
the letter, 'Brother Roach, highly indignant at the scrape he has brought
himself into, has commenced proceedings so unmasonic as in<span style=3D"ms=
o-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;
</span>my opinion to call loudly for some punishment. He takes about with h=
im
Carlisles publications on masonry, lends them to people, not masons, to rea=
d,
and assures them all the secrets of masonry are there fully and completely
exposed - and that anybody purchasing Carlile's book may know the whole sec=
ret
for 2s 9d.'</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">This
was not the only occasion on which publications by Richard Carlile figured =
in a
lodge dispute. Curiously, the argument again involved the keeper of an inn =
used
by a masonic lodge. In 1844, a formal complaint was made by the Master and
Senior Warden of the Lodge of Hope and Charity in Kidderminster against Ric=
hard
Smith, the landlord of the Black Horse Inn, where the lodge met. They accus=
ed
Smith of calling the Senior Warden a damned liar and a hypocrite in open lo=
dge.
The Senior Warden, Dr William Roden, went on to add the following: 'On the =
same
occasion, and whilst a Brother was being passed to the second degree, Bro. =
Smith
had in his possession in open lodge a book called 'Carlile's Manual' which =
he
opened inside the Book of Constitutions, as though to prevent notice. He wa=
s
writing with a pencil either in the book itself, or a piece of paper placed=
 in
the book...I feel confident he was noting down those parts of the ceremony =
which
differed from the Master's in the Chair and the system in Carlile's Book.' =
To
support Roden's complaint, George Caswell, a past master of the lodge, adde=
d
that Smith had produced 'Carlile's Manual of Freemasonry' in the smoke room=
 of
his inn.</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">In
answering the complaints, Smith did not deny possessing Carlile's book. In =
fact,
he said Dr Roden, who had brought the complaint, had on many occasions aske=
d to
borrow Carlile's book and had offered to contribute towards the cost of
purchasing it. Moreover, Roden himself had used Carlile's manual when initi=
ating
masons. Smith further alleged that Caswell had also possessed Carlile's boo=
k,
and had lent and sold copies to members of the lodge. Smith declared that h=
e did
not know it was an offence to possess this book, particularly as another me=
mber
of the lodge had regularly offered to sell copies to newly initiated brothe=
rs.</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">This
is the little red book which caused such controversy. It is one in a long l=
ine
of publications which purport to reveal all the secrets of masonic ritual,
passwords and signs. Carlile's Manual is one of the most long-lived of thes=
e
publications, having first appeared in 1825 and been fairly continuously in
print since 1831. Carlile's book is one of the most comprehensive of these
exposures of freemasonry, containing in addition to craft and royal arch ri=
tuals
those of many additional degrees. For some of the additional degrees, Carli=
le's
publication is in fact the earliest evidence of their ritual. Although publ=
ished
by a non-mason, this book has proved to be one of the most successful
publications dealing with freemasonry, possibly because, as at Kidderminste=
r, it
has been used by masons themselves in learning ritual, a testament to the c=
are
with which Carlile did his work. Diane and Rebecca tell me that, after Goul=
d's
History, Carlile's Manual is the book most frequently brought into the libr=
ary
here for evaluation.</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">One
wonders whether any of the freemasons at Kidderminster noticed a curious re=
port
of a death in <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:
normal">The Times</i> in 1843, and connected it with the little book that t=
hey
had been using in their lodge meetings. The Times reported the death of the
eccentric gentleman Richard Carlile, and described how he had left his body=
 to
be dissected. Initially Carlile had stipulated that his body should be give=
n to
the famous surgeon Sir William Lawrence for dissection and that his bones s=
hould
be afterwards burnt. Lawrence refused to have anything to do with this body=
, so
Richard Grainger, a surgeon who was later a pioneer of sanitary reform, agr=
eed
to lecture on the body. A great crowd gathered in the old operating theatre=
 at
St Thomas's to view the proceedings, but the governors, hearing whose body =
was
to be the subject of the lecture, refused to allow the dissection to procee=
d,
for fear that it might suggest that the hospital supported the religious vi=
ews
of the dead man. This man, so notorious that, even when he was dead surgeon=
s
refused to dissect him, was the Richard Carlile who produced the <i style=
=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Manual
of Freemasonry</i>. Why was he reviled in this way, and what connection did=
 his
work on freemasonry have with his other views?</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">Carlile
was one of a group of working class radicals who, in the early nineteenth
century, produced the first English working class political and philosophic=
al
literature. He was a pugnacious republican and opponent of conventional rel=
igion,
who popularised the works of the radical social philosopher and deist, Thom=
as
Paine. By conducting a brave and determined campaign, supported by his fami=
ly
and dozens of associates, Carlile effectively broke government censorship o=
f the
book trade, and perhaps did more than any single man to create modern freed=
om of
the press. He espoused and publicised a wide range of causes that seemed ve=
ry
outlandish at the time but which are now more commonplace, such as vegetari=
anism,
alternative medical treatments, birth control, divorce, and equality for wo=
men.
Yet he was a man of unpredictable views who managed to alienate many of his=
 own
supporters. His intellectual inheritance is in many ways puzzling - when,
shortly after his death, members of the London Secular Society tried to rai=
se
funds for a monument in Kensal Green, they were unsuccessful, and only a ha=
ndful
of people attended the commemoration for the centenary of his death in 1943=
. It
is only in recent years that Carlile's pivotal position in nineteenth centu=
ry
radical politics has become more evident. Carlile has, for example, emerged=
 as
something of a forefather of modern political protest. As a recent commenta=
tor
Joss Marsh has put it: 'the Chartists' jailhouse refusals, the suffragettes=
'
hunger strikes, the self-starvations and blanket rebellions of IRA terroris=
ts
and internees: all alike look back to Richard Carlile'.</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">When
in 1939, S. J. Fenton published a pioneering study of Carlile in <i style=
=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Ars
Quatuor Coronatorum</i> (this was the first modern scholarly account of Car=
lile,
predating G.D.H. Cole's biography by four years, but is hardly known outsid=
e
masonic circles), the Master of Quatuor Coronati lodge expressed relief tha=
t the
only reason that Carlile was of interest to the lodge was his publication o=
f the
<i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Manual of Freemasonry</i>, so that =
the
lodge did not have to concern itself with the rest of his activities. It is=
 very
easy to suggest that Carlile's interest in freemasonry was simply another o=
f his
many intellectual hobby-horses, akin to his enthusiasm for phrenology. Howe=
ver,
it is striking that the <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Manual of
Freemasonry</i> is the only work of Carlile's prodigious output to have rem=
ained
continuously in print. Moreover, Carlile went to a lot of trouble towards t=
he
end of his life to ensure that the book stayed in print, suggesting that he=
 felt
it was one of his most important achievements. Carlile's views on freemason=
ry
are essential for understanding the later stages of his career, and explain=
ing
some of his views which alienated his supporters, particularly on trade uni=
ons.
Finally, Carlile's publications on freemasonry are important for helping to
understand his connections with other radicals.</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">Carlile
was born in Ashburton in Devon in 1790. His father had been by turns a shoe=
maker,
exciseman, teacher and soldier, and had published a book of mathematical ad=
ages,
but drank heavily, and abandoned his wife and children. Richard's mother wa=
s
deeply religious and tried to drill her beliefs into her children, but what
Richard remembered most vividly about his Devon upbringing were what he cal=
led
the wasteful activities of his teenage years, such as badger baiting, squir=
rel
chasing, Oak Apple Day, and, above all, the burning of effigies of figures =
such
as Guy Fawkes and, ironically the man who was afterwards to become Carlile'=
s
great hero, Tom Paine. Carlile received a very basic education at charity
schools, and in 1803 became a tinplate worker, making pots, pans and other
utensils. It was a bad trade to choose, as hand plate working was being
undermined by competition from northern factories. Carlile struggled to mak=
e a
living, moving first from Devon to Portsmouth, and then finally moving to L=
ondon.
In 1812 or 1813, under the influence of Anglican advocates of moderate deis=
m, he
briefly contemplated taking holy orders, but instead, he married Jane, the
daughter of a poor Hampshire cottager. Within five years they had three son=
s.</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">From
1813 to 1817, Carlile worked for tinplate firms in Blackfriars and Holborn.
London was at that time in a ferment of radical discussion and agitation, i=
ts
streets crowded with tractsellers hawking William Cobbett's <i style=3D"mso=
-bidi-font-style:normal">Political
Register</i> and other cheap papers aimed at working class radicals. Carlil=
e was
intoxicated by this heady atmosphere of debate and discussion. By the winte=
r of
1816-1817, like many other workmen, he faced a bleak prospect as his employ=
ers
reduced his hours. He began attending reform meetings, and in 1817 wrote hi=
s
first essays. They were not very accomplished, prompting a comment from Wil=
liam
Cobbett that 'A half-employed mechanic is too violent'. Nevertheless, in Ma=
rch
1817 Carlile gave up tin plate working to devote himself full-time to radic=
al
politics, selling such papers as <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:
normal">The Political Register </i>and the <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:=
normal">Black
Dwarf</i>. He afterwards remembered 'Many a day traversed thirty miles for =
the
profit of eighteen pence'.</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">Among
the contacts which<span style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Carlile f=
ormed
at this time was William Sherwin, who briefly published a radical journal c=
alled
<i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:
normal">The Republican</i>, and in 1819 produced the more substantial <i st=
yle=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Sherwin's
Political Register</i>. The risks involved in publishing political literatu=
re of
this kind were considerable. The 1799 Unlawful Societies Act, which require=
d the
registration of freemasons' lodges, also stipulated severe penalties, inclu=
ding
transportation, for the sale of publications which breached various strict
regulations. In March 1817, the Home Office ordered magistrates summarily t=
o
arrest the publishers of blasphemous and seditious writings. Sherwin and Ca=
rlile
came up with an ingenious scheme. Carlile would be the nominal publisher of
Sherwin's paper and run the various legal risks. In return, Sherwin would
finance the publications, help provide copy, and give Carlile use of his
premises in Fleet Street. Prison was evidently at this time a better bet fo=
r
Carlile than starvation or the workhouse, and the arrangement with Sherwin
enabled Carlile to launch himself as a radical publisher.</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">Carlile
seized his chance enthusiastically, and flooded the streets of London with =
cheap
political publications. Apart from the <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:norm=
al">Weekly
Register</i>, Carlile also published political parodies by William Hone, Ro=
bert
Southey's <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Wat Tyler</i> (disavowed =
by its
now respectable author on its first appearance), and many pamphlets designe=
d to
show that Britain was, in Carlile's words, 'a continued mass of Corruption,
Falsehood, Hypocrisy and Slander'. Above all, Carlile published the works o=
f Tom
Paine, and Carlile's growing reverence for Paine is evident in his decision=
 to
name his third son after his hero. In 1817, Carlile was imprisoned for the =
first
time, for blasphemy and sedition, committed by publishing an article mainta=
ining
that the poor were enslaved politically. On his release, Carlile returned t=
o his
publishing activities with renewed fervour. He also played an energetic par=
t in
the Westminster election campaign of the celebrated radical politician Henr=
y
Hunt.</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">At
this stage, Carlile was indistinguishable from many of the other London rad=
ical
figures engaged in the struggle for parliamentary reform. In the words of
Carlile's biographer, Joel Wiener, ' His obduracy was beginning to mark him=
 out
for advancement, but as yet he did little more than to repeat the ideas of
others. Feelings of inferiority weighed heavily on him. He had a dumpy phys=
ical
appearance; his West Country speech sounded awkward to London workers on th=
ose
infrequent occasions when he attempted public oratory; and he was conscious=
 of
the inadequacies of his formal education. Yet singleness of purpose could, =
he
realised, compensate for many defects'. It was the example of Paine which w=
as
responsible for the next stage in Carlile's development, and the study of
freemasonry was to play a significant part in<span style=3D"mso-spacerun: y=
es">&nbsp;
</span>this process.</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">Paine's
writings had been vigorously prosecuted ever since their first appearance, =
and
they were consequently difficult to obtain. Carlile, convinced that Paine's
works were 'the only standard political writings worth a moment's notice', =
felt
that, if only Paine could be readily available in cheap editions, the momen=
tum
for reform would be unstoppable. First of all, Carlile published Paine's
political works. This was risky enough, but the first indication that Carli=
le
was about to cross the rubicon came in 1818, when he published Paine's <i s=
tyle=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:
normal">Essay on the Origins of Free Masonry</i>. Although Carlile had
previously published some anti-religious squibs, this was the first sign of=
 his
growing interest in religious matters.</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">Paine's
short <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:
normal">Essay on</i> <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:normal">the Origins of=
 Free
Masonry</i> is a good example of his strengths as a writer. Unlike many oth=
er
writings on freemasonry at this time, it is detached, almost to the point o=
f
being sympathetic in tone, very clearly written, and thoroughly researched.
Paine's proposition is laid out clearly at the beginning: 'It is always
understood that Free Masons have a secret which they carefully conceal; but=
 from
everything that can be collected from their own accounts of Masons: their r=
eal
secret is no other than their origin, which but few of them understand; and
those who do envelope it in mystery.' The mystery was, according to Paine, =
as
follows: 'Masonry...is derived, and is the remains of the religion of the
ancient Druids; who, like the magi of Persia and the priests of Heliopolis =
in
Egypt, were priests of the Sun. They paid worship to this great luminary, a=
s the
great visible agent of a great invisible first cause...'</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">Paine's
suggestion that freemasonry was a remnant of the Druid religion was not a n=
ew
one. It had previously been anticipated by eighteenth-century writers such =
as
William Stukeley and John Cleland, the author of <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-=
style:normal">Fanny
Hill</i>. The Ancient Order of Druids was formed in 1781 by freemasons who
sought to restore the druidical components to masonic ritual. The importanc=
e of
Paine's essay on freemasonry lies instead in its relationship to his other
religious writings. His essay formed part of a reply, unpublished at the ti=
me of
his death, to an attack by the Bishop of Llandaff on Paine's infamous work,=
 <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:normal">The
Age of Reason</i>. <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:
normal">The Age of Reason</i>, partly written while Paine was imprisoned in
revolutionary France, was, at one level, a compelling attack on christianit=
y,
and, on the other, an argument for the necessity of a more generalised deis=
tic
religion. The <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Essay on Freemasonry<=
/i>
developed this thesis further by arguing that Christianity was a perversion=
 of
the ancient worship of the sun, and that freemasonry preserved these tenets=
 in a
purer form. Paine favoured a return to the ancient sun religion, developing=
 a
new solar method of chronology which he used to date his letters. This
aspiration to return to the old sun religion was to haunt radical freethoug=
ht
for much of the nineteenth century. The <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:nor=
mal">Essay
on Freemasonry</i> was unpublished by Paine when he died, but a version,
omitting the more abusive comments on christianity, was published by his
executrix in 1810. The <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Essay</i> wa=
s
afterwards reprinted in this expurgated form in French in 1812. Carlile's 1=
818
edition was apparently the first unexpurgated edition of Paine's <i style=
=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Essay</i>,
and reflects the assiduousness with which Carlile tracked down texts of Pai=
ne's
works. Carlile's version was to form the basis of all subsequent editions o=
f
Paine's <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:
normal">Essay</i>.</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">Having
printed the <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:
normal">Essay on Free Masonry</i>, the obvious next step for Carlile was to
produce a cheap edition of Paine's infamous <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style=
:normal">Age
of Reason</i>. All previous attempts to publish this work in England had en=
ded
in the prosecution of the publisher. In December 1818, Carlile produced a c=
heap
edition of <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:normal">The Age of Reason</i>, a=
imed at
the working class reader. Within a month, a prosecution against him for sel=
ling <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:normal">The
Age of Reason</i><span style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>was brough=
t by
the Society for the Suppression of Vice. Carlile responded by publishing fu=
rther
freethought tracts, and the government and the Vice Society worked together=
 to
bring a dozen prosecutions against Carlile between January and September 18=
19.
Street vendors selling Carlile's publications were arrested, and his book s=
tocks
seized. The more Carlile was prosecuted, the more his business boomed. He m=
oved
to larger premises at 55 Fleet Street, which he christened 'The Temple of
Reason', and which became the chief outlet for radical publications in Lond=
on.
He later recalled how 'I knew the face of almost every public man in London=
, by
their coming into my shop for pamphlets'. Carlile was invited to join Henry=
 Hunt
as a speaker at a mass meeting for parliamentary reform at St Peter's Field=
s in
Manchester. When the peaceful meeting was attacked by the Manchester yeoman=
ry,
Carlile saw their sabres 'cutting very near' him, and within minutes was
surrounded by dying men, women and children.</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">Escaping
from Manchester, Carlile published eye witness reports of the 'Peterloo
Massacre' in the first issues of his new venture, a journal called <i style=
=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:normal">The
Republican</i>. Joel Wiener summarises the importance of <i style=3D"mso-bi=
di-font-style:normal">The
Republican</i> as follows: 'By the end of 1825, when <i style=3D"mso-bidi-f=
ont-style:
normal">The Republican</i><span style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>h=
ad run<span style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;
</span>its course after six contentious years, it had established itself as=
 one
of the premier working-class journals of the early nineteenth century'. But=
 <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:normal">The
Republican</i>'s greatest years were yet to come. Carlile's more immediate
concern was a trial for blasphemous libel in publishing <i style=3D"mso-bid=
i-font-style:
normal">The Age of Reason</i>. Since the 1790s, radicals had used such tria=
ls as
a means of gaining publicity, and a great set-piece trial was an indispensa=
ble
rite of initiation for a major radical leader. Carlile seized his chance
gleefully. He read aloud lengthy extracts from <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-st=
yle:
normal">The Age of Reason</i>, which were entered verbatim into the court
record, so that anyone printing the record of the trial, a public document,
could print <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:normal">The Age of Reason</i> w=
ithout
fear of prosecution. He attempted to summon the Archbishop of Canterbury, t=
he
Chief Rabbi and the Astronomer Royal as witnesses, so that he could interro=
gate
them on the truth of certain passages in the Bible. Despite all these stunt=
s,
Carlile was found guilty on two counts of blasphemous libel, and sentenced =
to
three years in Dorchester gaol and a fine of fifteen hundred pounds.</span>=
</p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">Carlile
was imprisoned in Dorchester from November 1819 to November 1825. These wer=
e
perhaps his greatest years. Carlile in a sense pioneered the prison protest=
.
Just as Nelson Mandela was latterly able to use letters and faxes to work
towards majority rule in South Africa while still in prison, so Carlile tur=
ned
his gaol cell in Dorchester into a 'Repository of Reason' and the focal poi=
nt of
the struggle for freedom of speech. In return for a weekly payment, Carlile=
 was
given a light, airy room, containing a sink, bed and desk, as well as some
oddments of furniture and a set of weights for training. These were donated=
 by
friends and supporters, who also sent him razors, hosiery, night caps and o=
ther
gifts. Carlile was allowed to purchase his own provisions and hired two ser=
vants,
one to run errands and the other to do laundry and cleaning. However, Carli=
le
was kept away from other prisoners and visitors were discouraged. He was al=
lowed
only three hours exercise a week, and, when permitted this luxury, 'he was =
led
out as a caged animal and exhibited to the gaze of the passing curious',
degrading treatment which was remembered long afterwards in the small Dorse=
t
town.</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">Carlile
developed a programme of rigorous mental and physical training. He read and
wrote ceaselessly, constantly asking for supplies of books and periodicals.
During the time of his imprisonment, he read thousands of books sent by his=
 wife
and friends. He bathed regularly at a time when this was an unusual habit,
avoided alcohol, followed a vegetarian diet, used 'natural' herbal remedies=
 when
ill, and recommended the drinking of herbal tea. His aim in following such =
a
regime was to make his personal behaviour moderate and temperate, but the
immediate effect was to make him very fat.</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">In
planning the battle for the freedom of the press from his gaolroom, the fir=
st
footsoldiers deployed by Carlile were his family. He insisted that they sho=
uld
face the risks involved in continuing his publication activities. His wife =
Jane,
though personally unsympathetic to her husband's political activities, loya=
lly
took over the publishing house, and was duly sent to join her husband in
Dorchester for two years. Carlile's sister Mary-Anne then took over, and wa=
s
also eventually dispatched to Dorchester. By this time, Carlile's gaolroom =
was
getting rather crowded - he complained that 'locked up as I am with wife, s=
ister
and child I find it difficult to accomplish the necessary quantity of readi=
ng
and writing'. He demanded that Jane and Mary-Anne should be completely sile=
nt,
but they refused. The strains of this communal imprisonment contributed to =
the
subsequent breakdown of Carlile's marriage.</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">From
July 1821, Carlile asked for volunteers to sell his publications, and the '=
battle
of the shopmen' began. Dozens of working class volunteers offered to sell
Carlile's publications, and more than twenty were convicted and imprisoned
between 1821 and 1824. These volunteers altogether served more than two
centuries in gaol. Carlile carefully directed their trials from Dorchester.
These tactics were incredibly successful. By jamming up the courts and pris=
ons,
and keeping the issue of freedom of the press constantly in the public eye,
Carlile simply wore the government out. By 1825, the attorney general had t=
hrown
in the towel. There were no more prosecutions for publication of <i style=
=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:
normal">The Age of Reason</i>.</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">The
kind of ingenuity used to defeat the government is evident from the clockwo=
rk
apparatus known as 'invisible shopman' used at one stage in Carlile's shop =
in
Fleet Street. Customers selected the name of a forbidden publication, which=
 was
then dispatched by a series of chutes, flaps and pulleys, so that the custo=
mers
never knew who sold it to them Experiments were also made with speaking tub=
es.
But the battle was not just about freedom of thought. Carlile was the first
reformer to popularise the aggressively deist views of French Enlightenment
thinkers such as Holbach and Volney. Supporters of Carlile formed themselve=
s
into debating clubs, known as Zetetic societies after the Greek word for tr=
uth,
which engaged in 'infidel' anti-christian and scientific debate.</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">Meanwhile
a flood of publications issued from Dorchester gaol, which, it was claimed,=
 was
the only place in the country where true freedom of expression could be fou=
nd.
Of these productions, the most influential was <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-st=
yle:normal">The
Republican</i>, which was avidly consumed by Carlile's supporters throughou=
t the
country. In 1825, in opening the twelfth volume of <i style=3D"mso-bidi-fon=
t-style:normal">The
Republican</i>, Carlile declared that 'my last effort in Dorchester gaol wi=
ll be
the annihilation of Free Masonry, at least, such an exposure of it, as will
shame sensible and honourable men from joining it, and draw many from it'. =
He
wrote breathlessly to one of his Sheffield supporters saying that he was 'f=
ull
of Masonry', and asking him to send twelve of the best steel pens to furnis=
h him
for the battle. He urged another correspondent not to be ill until the expo=
sure
of freemasonry was complete. He promised to provide 'the only correct histo=
ry of
masonry', which would be a great blow to superstitition. By exposing masonr=
y as
empty tom-foolery, he would also, by analogy, expose christianity: 'I shall
strike the very roots of masonry, and, in so doing, I shall un-christianize
thousands'.</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">Throughout
the second half of 1825, <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:normal">The Republ=
ican </i>was
filled with transcripts of the rituals not only of craft masonry, but also =
of
the Royal Arch and many additional degrees, interspersed with Carlile's com=
ments.
Many features distinguished Carlile's exposure from earlier works. First, i=
t was
explicitly linked to Carlile's attacks on the monarchy and religion, and us=
ed
the kind of mocking rhetoric and satire which characterised radical publica=
tions
of the period. There were dedications and open letters to George IV, urging=
 him
to give up his position as Grand Patron of Masonry and patronize mechanics'
institutes instead. Carlile notes 'I recollect reading...of the Duke of Sus=
sex
toasting his mother, as the mother of six masons. If she had been the mothe=
r of
six practical house-building masons, it would have been more to her credit.=
..'</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">However,
despite the acerbic tone of Carlile's commentary, he also provides a
wide-ranging and well-informed account of the history of freemasonry. He ha=
d
assembled a comprehensive masonic library at Dorchester, including the work=
s of
William Preston, George Oliver, Samuel Hemming and Waller Rodwell Wright,
together with earlier exposures such as <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:nor=
mal">Jachin
and Boaz </i>and works by non-masons, such as Thomas de Qunicey's essay on =
the
origins of freemasonry and Rosicrucianism. He had obtained part of the libr=
ary
of William Finch, a tailor from Canterbury who published commentaries on ma=
sonic
ritual. Although Finch was only following the lead given by Preston and oth=
ers,
he fell foul of Grand Lodge, and eventually died, crushed, in Carlile's vie=
w, by
the opposition of Grand Lodge. Carlile remembered as a young man sheltering=
 from
the rain in Finch's bookshop, and being fascinated by the masonic prints an=
d
emblems displayed there. Carlile made very intelligent use of the materials=
 he
had assembled in Dorchester. For example, he was one of the first authors t=
o
emphasise the distinction between operative masonry and the modern speculat=
ive
freemasonry which developed from 1717. In reprinting the so-called Leyland-=
Locke
manuscript from Preston, he expressed doubts about the authenticity of the
document because of the appearance of words such as 'chemistry', the ground=
s on
which the document is indeed today considered a forgery.</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">The
most remarkable feature of Carlile's exposure is the accuracy of the printi=
ng of
the ritual and its comprehensiveness. His skills as a textual critic are ev=
ident
from the care with which he blends information from various books, particul=
arly
Hemming and Finch. He also made extensive use of manuscripts provided by so=
me of
his supporters who had been masons. For example, a Bristol mason who wrote =
a
letter of support to Carlile signed 'Hiram the Second' was probably the sou=
rce
of<span style=3D"mso-spacerun:
yes">&nbsp; </span>the bye-laws of the Baldwyn Encampment printed with the
Knight Templar ritual. Carlile's frequent complaints about the cost of this=
 'masonic
trash' suggest that he also purchased manuscripts containing ritual of
additional degrees. A 1796 attack on the additional degrees, <i style=3D"ms=
o-bidi-font-style:normal">A
Word to The Wise</i>,<span style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>notes =
that
the masonic Knights Templars often read their ritual from manuscript, sugge=
sting
that it was not of any great antiquity. Finch and others also sold manuscri=
pt
copies of ritual, charging by the line, and some of these rituals were acqu=
ired
by Carlile.</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">As
Carlile's study of freemasonry developed, its tone changed. Again, the most
important influence was that of Paine. At first, Carlile argued that there =
was
not a shred of antiquity in masonic ritual. But, on rereading Paine's <i st=
yle=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Essay
on Freemasonry</i>, Carlile felt that Paine was right in suggesting that
freemasonry in some way reflected ancient forms of religion. Carlile decide=
d
that masons had forgotten the true significance of their craft, and that he
would have to teach it to them. 1825 was to be for masons AL (the year of l=
ight)
1. Carlile declared that: 'I shall masonify masons, not only by teaching th=
em
what is morality, about which they talk without understanding; but by showi=
ng
them what is the real meaning of all their boasted secrets, about which the=
y
talk without understanding'.</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">The
twelfth volume of <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:
normal">The Republican</i> was perhaps the first exposure of masonic ritual
directed at a large working-class audience. The weekly circulation of The
Republican was at that time about 12,000 (with a much higher readership), a=
nd,
as Carlile's discussion of freemasonry gradually unfolded, it was avidly
followed by his supporters. One correspondent wrote that 'Thy blow at mason=
ry is
a masterpiece, and when completed will be one of the best books for lending=
 out
that could be put in a library. I know several who intend to avail themselv=
es of
the residing of it by that means'. Susannah Wright, a Nottingham woman who =
had
been imprisoned for selling Carlile's books, sent details of an Oddfellow r=
itual
supplied by her husband. Another correspondent sent a Druid ritual. Again, =
the
versions of these rituals in <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:
normal">The Republican</i> are among the earliest such texts surviving for =
these
organisations. Carlile went on to expose God, by displaying a provocative
caricature in the window of his Fleet Street shop, which caused unruly crow=
ds to
gather.</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">At
the end of 1825, Carlile was unexpectedly released from Dorchester gaol. In=
 the
final numbers of <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:
normal">The Republican</i>, Carlile had published some attacks on christian=
ity
by the Rev. Robert Taylor, one of the most bizarre figures in the radical w=
orld
at this time, and, on his release from Dorchester, Carlile formed a close
alliance with Taylor.<span style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;</span></span>=
</p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">Taylor
had drifted into the priesthood after graduating from Cambridge, and was
appointed to a post in a country parish in Sussex. On meeting a deist there=
,
Taylor was easily won over to his views. Taylor became convinced that all
religions derived from sun worship and that Christianity, by substituting C=
hrist
for the sun, was blasphemous. He wrapped up these ideas in an elaborate pan=
oply
of spurious astrological and etymological learning. Becoming a pariah in<sp=
an style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;
</span>the English church, Taylor went to Dublin, which soon became too hot=
 to
hold him. Pitching up in London, he began to preach at deist gatherings, he=
ld as
mock services on Sundays. Taylor was a natural showman, and an ebullient
speaker. He often wore baroque clerical attire which shocked his audiences.
Henry Hunt called him 'The Devil's Chaplain'. Taylor's sermons were reprint=
ed
under the title 'The Devil's Pulpit', with the epigram 'and a bonnie pulpit=
 it
is'. Much of these sermons read like a kind of mocking music hall patter, a=
s in
this extract on John the Baptist:</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">John
the Baptist! John the Baptist! How d'ye do, Johnny? Where d'ye come from? W=
ho
are you when you're at home? What d'ye mean by making ducks and drakes of t=
he
people - by sousing them i' the horse-pond? What d'ye mean by the kingdom o=
f
heaven being <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:
normal">at hand</i>?</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">The
lecture concluded with Taylor gobbling like a turkey.</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">Carlile's
study of freemasonry had convinced him that it concealed ancient deist trut=
hs.
Taylor's arguments reinforced his conviction that the value of christianity=
 was
also in its allegorical representation of ancient moral truths. Just as Car=
lile
had taught masons the true meaning of masonry, so he and Taylor would now t=
each
the true meaning of christianity. Carlile and Taylor set out on 'infidel
missions', and Carlile became prone to even more extreme statements, such a=
s (prefiguring
John Lennon) 'I am the Jesus Christ of this Island, and of this age'. In tr=
uth,
a more appropriate label might have been, by analogy with the title given t=
o
Taylor, 'The Devil's Freemason'.</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">In
May 1830, Carlile and Taylor's partnership reached its climax when they ope=
ned
the Rotunda in Blackfriars Road, which became the focus of radical and
freethought activity during the period leading to the passing of the Reform=
 Act
in 1832. The Rotunda was a large complex containing a theatre, lecture room=
s,
refreshment and game rooms, which later became the Surrey Institute. Taylor
spoke two or three times weekly, presenting what can only be described as
multi-media presentations, with the signs of the zodiac painted on the dome=
 of
the theatre, and spectacular use of lighting and theatrical effects,
particularly during Taylor's most popular performances, <i style=3D"mso-bid=
i-font-style:normal">Raising
the Devil </i>and <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Sons of Thunder</=
i>.<span style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;
</span>Taylor was sometimes accompanied by a female chorus playing guitars.=
 From
the time the Rotunda opened, Carlile was keen that Taylor should examine th=
e
allegories of freemasonry, and Carlile hoped it might even be possible publ=
icly
to enact masonic rituals at the Rotunda.</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">Eventually,
in 1831, Taylor was ready to give a course of lectures on freemasonry. Thus=
, at
the supreme moment of the Reform crisis, the main centre of radical activit=
y in
London was preoccupied with the spiritual allegories of freemasonry. Taylor=
's
aim in these talks is clearly explained at the beginning: 'I shall prove Fr=
ee
Masonry to be the combined result of the Egyptian, Jewish and Christian
superstitions, and absolutely identical with the celebrated Eleusinian myst=
eries
of Greece, the Dionysian mysteries, or the Orgies of Bacchus, and the Chris=
tian
mysteries of the sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ, which are absol=
utely
not more different in any respect from each other, than the customs and for=
ms of
any Lodge of Freemasons in England may be from those of a Lodge in any of t=
he
nations of the Continent'. Carlile urged freemasons to attend Taylor's lect=
ures,
pointing out that they coincided with a quarterly communication. He attempt=
ed to
hire Freemasons' Hall so that Taylor could repeat his lectures to a masonic
audience. Taylor=E2=80=99s lectures were printed in <i style=3D"mso-bidi-fo=
nt-style:
normal">The Devil's Pulpit</i>, and also issued separately. They continued =
to be
read for many years afterwards. The copy of <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style=
:
normal">The Devil's Pulpit</i> in the Library and Museum of Freemasonry was
issued as late as 1881-1882 by the Freethought Press, run by Charles Bradla=
ugh
and Annie Besant. Although the Library's copy of the separate issue of Tayl=
or's
Discourses on Freemasonry doesn't have a date or place of publication, it l=
ooks
as if it was also issued by Bradlaugh and Besant at about the same time.<sp=
an style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;</span></span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">To
accompany Taylor's lectures, Carlile reissued the material from volume twel=
ve of
<i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:normal">The Republican </i>as a separate bo=
ok,
entitled <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:normal">An Exposure of Freemasonry=
: or, a
mason's printed manual, with an introductory Key-stone to the Royal Arch of
Freemasonry</i>, considerably revising and refining his edition of the ritu=
als.
Anxious to stress the allegorical meaning of freemasonry, Carlile inserted =
new
introductions, omitting the attacks on freemasonry itself and stressing its
spiritual interest. As Carlile put it, 'My great object is here to instruct
Masons as well as others, and not to give them offence. They ask for light.=
 Here
is light. They ask for fellowship. Here is the only basis of fellowship'.
Carlile's aim was the same as Taylor's: to expose the ancient mysteries
preserved in freemasonry. To quote Carlile again, 'the Key Stone of the Roy=
al
Arch of Freemasonry is the ancient science of the zodiac, with its moral
counterpart of human culture made mysterious in its secret and priestly
associations; which is also the science of all religions that pretend to
revelations; and also of the religion of the Druids, and of all the Pagans =
from
Hindostan to Rome'.</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">Carlile
was also increasingly influenced by the researches of Godfrey Higgins, a re=
tired
soldier who settled in West Yorkshire and became an energetic social reform=
er.
Higgins was a pioneering scholar of comparative religion, and sought again =
to
demonstrate that all religions derived from an ancient sun religion. Higgin=
s
became a mason to investigate the ritual of freemasonry for himself; though=
 he
refused to join the Royal Arch or Knights Templar for fear of compromising =
his
scholarship. Carlile recalled a conversation with Higgins in which Higgins =
had
said that there were only two masons in England - the Duke of Sussex and hi=
mself.
Carlile responded that he and Taylor were the third and fourth (he afterwar=
ds
dropped the reference to Taylor when they fell out).</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">In
1836, the Exposure was reissued by Carlile's son Alfred as<i style=3D"mso-b=
idi-font-style:normal">
The Manual of Masonry</i>. The title <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:normal=
">Manual
of Freemasonry</i> was finally adopted when the work was first issued in a
single volume in 1845.<span style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>The L=
ibrary
and Museum of Freemasonry contains the most comprehensive collection in the
country of the different editions of Carlile's work, and the introductions =
to
the successive editions from an essential key to understanding the developm=
ent
of Carlile's thought. Carlile increasingly to emphasised the moral allegory=
 of
freemasonry, as well as its importance in understanding the history of reli=
gion.
This played an important part in the development of Carlile's later view of=
 the
Bible, as an allegory of the creation of man's intellect. In his later year=
s,
Carlile began to see all religion as the story of the struggle of the good =
man
to communicate knowledge. From this, it was a short step for Carlile to ide=
ntify
himself with Christ, Mohammed or Buddha: a man whose great struggle in life=
 had
been to communicate knowledge to others.</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">Carlile
and Taylor suffered further long periods of imprisonment, and were eventual=
ly
unable to keep the Rotunda going. Carlile, disappointed by Taylor's self-pi=
tying
behaviour in prison, fell out with him. Carlile's marriage also finally bro=
ke
up, and Carlile entered on a 'moral marriage' with one of his supporters,
declaring that reform should begin at home and that amicable separations sh=
ould
be permitted. Carlile's views of marriage, and his advocacy of birth contro=
l,
alienated some of his supporters; further divisions were created by Carlile=
's
views on trade unions. Carlile's reasons for opposing trade unions were clo=
sely
linked to his views on freemasonry. Carlile had a long-standing antipathy t=
o
political associations of any kind, declaring that 'they are a field for no=
isy
and worthless men to declaim in' and stating that 'nine out of ten of all t=
he
associations of the country<span style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>=
are
arrangements for the profit of a public house...' But stories of the use of
initiation rituals and secret oaths by trade unions horrified Carlile. '</s=
pan><span lang=3D"EN-US" style=3D"mso-ansi-language:EN-US">There
is one thing very desirable to be done at once for and by these trades' uni=
ons',
he wrote, `and that is to break up their secret character, their oaths and
ceremonial nonsense.' When the Tolpuddle Martyrs were arrested for carrying=
 out
such an initiation, Carlile ran a caricature of the ceremonies on the front=
 page
of his periodical, <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:normal">The Gauntlet</i>=
</span><span lang=3D"EN-GB">.
</span><span lang=3D"EN-US" style=3D"mso-ansi-language:EN-US">`A greater pi=
ece of
quackery has never been played off upon mankind', he thundered. To the Tolp=
uddle
men, he declared: 'You have degraded yourselves. I present you today with a
picture of your degradation.' If you want nonsense, said Carlile, why pay m=
ore
when you could buy his exposure of freemasonry for five shillings?<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-US" style=3D"mso-ansi-language:EN-US">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-US" style=3D"mso-ansi-language:EN-US">Through
the difficult struggles of his last years, the main thread which ran throug=
h
Carlile's life was his <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Manual of
Freemasonry</i>. One aspect of the publication of the Manual illustrates ho=
w
Carlile was concerned to keep it in print. Like many reformers of his
generation, Carlile was anxious to emphasise his moral respectability. The
borderline between the blasphemy of which Carlile was accused in printing P=
aine
and obscenity through pornographic publication was a fine one. Some radical
printers felt that freedom of the press meant freedom to publish pornograph=
y as
well. Thus one radical printer William Dugdale not only printed Shelley's b=
anned
poem Queen Mab, but was also one of London's leading pornographers. Carlile=
 felt
such activities were disreputable, and fell out with his sons when they wor=
ked
with Dugdale. Nevertheless, towards the end of Carlile's life, the<i style=
=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:normal">
Manual of Freemasonry </i></span><span lang=3D"EN-GB">was printed by Dugdal=
e. It
seems that Carlile may have been sufficiently anxious to ensure that the Ma=
nual
stayed in print, that he was willing to countenance its publication by a pr=
inter
of whom he disapproved.</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">Although
Carlile's <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:
normal">Manual</i> was bought by many masons, its impact on freemasonry was
apparently limited. Carlile reported that a secretary of a London lodge had=
 told
him that all the signs and passwords were changed because of his exposure, =
but
there is no evidence that this happened. Carlile also claimed that his
publications had led to the formation of the Anti-Masonic Party in the Unit=
ed
States following the murder of William Morgan, but again there is no eviden=
ce to
show that Carlile's publications had much influence on events in America.
Shortly after the <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Manual</i> was re=
issued
in book form by Carlile, George Claret began printing masonic ritual, a pro=
cess
which led eventually to the emergence of the modern official ritual books.
Carlile's work may have encouraged Claret to proceed, but the publications =
of,
for example, William Finch had already paved the way for this work. Similar=
ly,
the appearance of the <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Freemason's
Quarterly Review</i> in 1834 may have been partly prompted by a feeling tha=
t
institutional freemasonry should also make use of the power of the press, b=
ut
this is only tangentially connected with Carlile.</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">The
real interest of Carlile's work on freemasonry lies in the way it offers ne=
w
perspectives on the radical tradition in Britain. It is difficult to find s=
trong
lines of continuity in British radical thought, but an interest in freemaso=
nry
appears to be one such thread, which has been largely neglected. This inter=
est
began with Paine and his essay on freemasonry, but it is also evident in th=
e
work, for example, of William Hone and George Cruickshank, who made liberal=
 use
of masonic symbolism in their satirical publications. From Paine, there is =
a
link through Carlile to the modern secularist movement. Carlile was very cl=
ose
to George Jacob Holyoake, who was imprisoned for blasphemy because he oppos=
ed
the use of public money to build churches. Holyoake was very interested in =
the
Oddfellows, and, to the outrage of the Oddfellows, won a competition for
composing new lectures for use in Oddfellow ceremonies. Holyoake's interest=
 in
freemasonry is apparent from his proposal that the London secular guild sho=
uld
be a 'freemasonry in freethought'. When the young freethinker Charles Bradl=
augh
was thrown out of his home, Carlile offered him lodgings. Bradlaugh was to
become an active freemason, joining a craft lodge in Tottenham, and resigni=
ng in
protest at the appointment of the Prince of Wales as Grand Master. Bradlaug=
h was,
of course, closely associated with Annie Besant who introduced co-Masonry i=
nto
England. In 1896, Moncur Conway, an associate of Bradlaugh and Besant, prod=
uced
the modern edition of Paine's Essay on Freemasonry, thus bringing the wheel=
 full
circle. Conway Hall in Theobald's Road was named after Moncur Conway, and C=
onway
Hall, with its Sunday morning rationalist lectures,<span style=3D"mso-space=
run: yes">&nbsp;
</span>may be regarded as the modern descendant of Carlile and Taylor's Rot=
unda.<span style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;=
&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">At
first sight, Carlile's career is very difficult to sum up, but there is one
strong thread running through it which can be easily overlooked. Carlile's
passion was the written word and the printed book. Like all his generation =
of
working class publishers and pamphleteers, he was intoxicated by the power =
of
the printing press. This is nowhere better expressed than in one of his let=
ters
to George IV printed in <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:normal">The Republi=
can, </i>with
which I would like to end:</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">Sir,</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">When
the art of printing was discovered, there arose, on the part of those who r=
uled
the people of Europe, a great dread of printed books. The first book submit=
ted
to the press was the bible, and a printed Bible then had precisely the same=
 or a
more terrifying effect, than the printed investigation of the Bible called =
the 'Age
of Reason'...</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">I
counsel you to throw off all dread of printed books and to send out a flami=
ng
proclamation, inviting all to free discussion, upon all subjects. We shall =
then
hear nothing but the cry of 'God Bless the King: we have gotten a wise king=
 at
last'.</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">I
am, Sir, your prisoner,</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">For
printing books,</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">Richard
Carlile.'<span style=3D"mso-spacerun:
yes">&nbsp;&nbsp; </span><i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span styl=
e=3D"mso-spacerun:
yes">&nbsp;</span></i></span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0">&nbsp;</p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-right: 15.0pt; margin-top: 0; margin=
-bottom: 0"><b style=3D"mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal"><span lang=3D"EN-GB" style=3D"color:black">Further Reading</span></=
b><span lang=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">This
lecture is heavily reliant on the excellent biography of Carlile by Joel H.
Wiener, <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:
normal">Radicalism and Freethought in nineteenth-century Britain: the Life =
of
Richard Carlile</i>, Contributions in labor history no. 13 (Westport, Conn,=
 and
London: Greenwood Press, 1983). Wiener is unusual among labour historians i=
n
that he gives full weight to Carlile's interest in freemasonry. Prior to Wi=
ener's
full treatment, the best biography of Carlile available was the anniversary
publication by G.D.H. Cole, <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Richard
Carlile, 1790-1843</i>, Fabian Biographical Series, no. 13 (London: Victor
Gollancz and Fabian Society, no. 13, 1943). The biography by Guy Aldred, <i=
 style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Richard
Carlile, Agitator: his life and times</i> (London: Pioneer Press, 1923) is =
a
hagiographical exercise by a writer operating very much in Carlile's own
tradition. All modern writers on Carlile have overlooked the important arti=
cle
by masonic historian S. J. Fenton, 'Richard Carlile: His Life and Masonic
Writings', <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:
normal">Ars Quatuor Coronatorum</i> 49 (1952), pp. 83-121, where Fenton ach=
ieved
the extraordinary feat of talking to a masonic lodge about Carlile while al=
so,
in the words of one member of the lodge, 'steering his course so as to avoi=
d the
Scylla and Chrybdis of Religion and Politics'. Fenton's article includes a
detailed bibliography of Carlile's writings on freemasonry, with a full lis=
ting
of different editions of the <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Manual=
</i>. A
large selection of Carlile's papers are in the Huntington Library, San Mari=
no,
California, and I am grateful to the Curator of Manuscripts there for provi=
ding
me with microfilms of them. The Home Office files in the Public Record Offi=
ce (particularly
the HO 42 class) naturally contain a great deal of material about Carlile.<=
/span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"text-indent: 15.0pt; margin-top: 0; margin-=
bottom: 0"><span lang=3D"EN-GB">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"><span lang=
=3D"EN-GB">On
Robert Taylor, see I.D. McCalman, 'Popular Irreligion in early Victorian En=
gland:
infidel preachers and radical theatricality in 1830s London' in <i style=3D=
"mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Religion
and Irreligion in Victorian Society: Essays in Honour of R.K.Webb</i>, ed. =
R. W.
Davis and R. J. Helmstadter (London: Routledge, 1992), pp. 51-67. McCalman'=
s
works are helpful in placing Carlile in the context of radical activity
generally; see particularly: <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Radica=
l
Underworld: prophets, revolutionaries and pornographers in London, 1795-184=
0</i>
(Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988); 'Ultra-radicali=
sm
and convivial debating-clubs in London, 1795-1838', <i style=3D"mso-bidi-fo=
nt-style:
normal">English Historical Review</i> 102 (1987), pp. 309-333; 'Unrespectab=
le
Radicalism: Infidels and Pornography in early nineteenth-century London', <=
i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Past
and Present</i> 104 (1984), pp. 74-110. Other important works placing Carli=
le in
the context of the infidel and republican tradition are: Joss Marsh <i styl=
e=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Word
Crimes: blasphemy, culture, and literature in nineteenth-century England</i=
>
(Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1998); Frank Prochaska, <=
i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:normal">The
Republic of Britain 1760-2000</i> (London: Allen Lane, 2000); Edward Royle,=
 <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Radical
politics, 1790-1900. Religion and unbelief</i> (London: Longman, 1971); ide=
m, <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Victorian
infidels: the origins of the British Secularist Movement, 1791-1866</i>
(Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1974); Edward Royle and James Wal=
vin, <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:
normal">English Radicals and Reformers 1760-1848</i> (Brighton: Harvester,
1982); <i style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style:normal">The infidel tradition : from=
 Paine
to Bradlaugh</i>, edited by Edward Royle (London: Macmillan, 1976).