Le parfait maçon: Les débuts de la maçonnerie française (1736-1748)

The institution of Freemasonry has inspired awe, respect, fear, mistrust, suspicion and a whole host of other reactions throughout its long history. A Europe-wide phenomenon with numerous national and regional differences, the Freemasons arose at a time when criticism of the church and state appeared more frequently and individuals took it upon themselves to speak for and influence public opinion. At this moment, people also began to found a plethora of groups-like salons, academies, musées, etc.-designed to help spread ideas and foster social interaction. Sociability and Enlightenment encouraged the development of such societies and in this environment Freemason Lodges flourished. Such lodges were not static, however, and their early development saw numerous changes in their organization, outlook, purpose, and personnel. Johel Coutura's anthology of Freemason pamphlets, Le parfait maçon: les débuts de la maçonnerie française (1736-1748), attempts to unmask the inner workings of these lodges at their beginnings. Coutura points out that French Freemasonry today looks very different than its early eighteenth-century antecedents and that an examination of pamphlets from the period before 1750 can help unmask some of the original ideas of that organization and aid historians in tracing the changes that occurred over the course of the century.

In particular, Coutura wants to reveal such issues as when and where the Freemasons used to meet; the kind of activities in which they might have participated; what their meeting rooms looked like; and who was present at their gatherings. To help understand these issues, he has collected seven pamphlets first published between 1736 and 1748. These are: "Le parfait maçon ou les véritables secrets de la franc-maçonnerie"; "Le secret des francs-maçons mis en évidence"; "Apologie pour l'ordre des francs-maçons"; "Le secret des francs-maçons entièrement découvert à une jeune dame"; "La Franc-maçonne ou révélation des mystères des francs-maçons"; "L'école des francs-maçons"; and "Constitutions de la très vénérable confrérie des acceptés francs-maçons". While these pamphlets represent just a few of the many titles published on Freemasonry prior to 1750, they nonetheless offer the reader a broad view of the practices and beliefs of Freemasons from that period. Coutura chose pamphlets that presented many of the different aspects of Freemasonry and which demonstrate both similarities and differences in practices. He also selected examples that ranged from the very well known to those that are relatively rare.

The manner in which the information is presented within the individual pamphlets varies to a certain extent but generally includes similar things. Many of them, for example, offer a history of Freemasonry, typically extending back to Adam (but not Eve) through Moses and Noah. Several of them include a transcript of the initiation ceremonies for the lower degrees of Freemasonry and note that many new initiates went through the first three grades, up to the rank of master, on the same day. At least one part of most of these pamphlets attempts to defend the lodges against attacks on the character and practices of members, such as those that claimed the Freemasons were not Christian. In the "Apologie pour l'ordre des francs-maçons," for example, the author emphasized the strictness with which the lodges weeded out anybody who might be either a deist or an atheist or who even neglected their religious practices (98). Similarly, in "Constitutions de la très vénérable confrérie des acceptés francs-maçons," the author stressed that a Freemason was obliged, according to the rules of the order, to obey moral law (258).

These pamphlets also address the exclusion of women from the practice of Freemasonry during this early period. In "Le secret des francs-maçons mis en evidence," the author wrote that he knew that women would never believe that their exclusion was justified, but he insisted that they were left out of the lodges for the good of their reputations, peace of mind, and happiness (83-4). The author of "L'école des francs-maçons" added a different twist by claiming that the work of the men in the lodges was of a true and unique good, but that they would not be able to concentrate on their efforts if they were distracted by women (220). Others, as in "Le parfait maçon," simply went back to the historical beginnings of Freemasonry, in their view the time of Adam and Eve, and noted that God has passed on knowledge of the arts and sciences to Adam alone. Since Adam had started Freemasonry to pass this knowledge from one generation to the next, it stood to reason, the author claimed, that this was solely a male endeavor and that Freemasons were justified, if not required, to exclude women (38).

This anthology of Freemason documents has much to recommend it. The pamphlets collected by Coutura provide interesting insight into the earliest period of French Freemasonry and those sources touch on many of the issues of interest to historians of the period. His introduction, however, is somewhat brief and the notes he provides to the pamphlets are few and far between. In addition, Coutura does not provide an index. Thus, readers will need to peruse the entire book to find what they need. Similarly, Coutura does not take this opportunity to provide an up-to-date bibliography of primary and secondary sources on the history of Freemasonry. Nonetheless, this book has much to offer and serves as an excellent source for the introduction of Freemasonry into France and the gradual development of its practice, rituals, membership, and goals.