| Masonic references in the writings of Robert Carter
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| Courage A British Naval officer, Sir Sidney Smith, falls in love with the daughter of a French aristocrat during the French Revolutionary period. Chapter six [pp. 261-274] is a fictionalized account of Smith’s initiation into a lodge of Knights Templars in London, while further fictional details are given on pages 300-301. Claims are made that more than a hundred of the French National Convention were members of the Brotherhood [p. 304]; that Antoinette had assured her husband that the Grand Orient lodge was no threat to the social order; that “…British government aims and the aims of the Brotherhood were so intimately twined together.” [p. 426]; that Britain’s loss of the American colonies was planned [p. 458-9]; and that the initiative for the French Revolution had come from the Brotherhood but events had become uncontrollable. Such errors as claiming Jefferson as a Brother or translating “Novus Ordo Seclorum” as “a new secular order” [p. 460] highlight the fictional nature of the book. It is noteworthy that although a great number of Masonic reference are made and the cover art includes a square and compasses, Freemasonry is never mentioned by name: A man from the East, Brother p. 325 Brother pp. 89, 234, 252, 253 Brother Knight of the Order, an Illuminatus p. 381 Brothers pp. 118, 327, 457 Brotherhood pp. 180, 209, 303, 455, 456, 457, 489 Brother of the Craft p. 198 darkness visible p. 383 Handshakes pp. 104, 117, 516 Knights Templar p. 422 on the level p. 322 symbols p. 111 sign p. 178, sign of the Brotherhood p. 194. square-and-compasses p. 264 Craft p. 179, 180 Grand Master p. 196 Supreme Master pp. 197, 199 Stranger who travels to the West p. 233 Widow’s Son pp. 233, 234.
Orion Books Ltd., London: 1985. ISBN 0 75280 347 6 [paperback 585 p.] |