Ritual , Secrecy , and Civil Society
lodges are linked to each other . The relations are strong between the lodges of the region , the Orators proclaim , and strong between the lodges of France and Europe . Affirmations of a solidarity that reaches from Edinburgh to Constantinople via Vienna , Berlin , and Saint Petersburg , not forgetting “ The Antilles and the terra firma of America ,” appear in several documents .
On the political plane , the speeches reveal a great respect for the country ’ s monarchist institution . Document I is written on the occasion of the death of Louis XV — thus just after May 10 , 1774 . Ignoring the political reality , the orator , like a faithful patriot , glorifies the deceased monarch and proclaims his fondness for his successor , for whom he predicts a happy lot , an abundance of grace , and a gentle and blessed reign !
Conclusion This collection of manuscripts shows that Freemasonry takes root very early in Anjou ( the manuscript of songs is dated 1737 ), and that the members of the lodges have the respect of the authorities of the land ; but at the same time that they feel they “ belong to a Society whose extent is circumscribed only by the contours of the globe ,” that they are concerned with transmitting correctly the symbolic content of the Masonic method , and with the consciousness of being linked to that type of society peculiar to the traditional initiatory schools that have existed since Antiquity .
It shows that it was not unheard of to receive women , since a lodge met at the Château de la Hurtauderie near to Longué , 10 kilometers from Beaufort , 15 kilometers from Saumur , and 27 kilometers from Angers , that it brought together men and women , that it received persons of nobility , the clergy and the world of business , and that it gave itself ( or received from the Grand Lodge ) the authority to create another lodge . It also proves that Madame Louët of Cordaiz , who was at one time the Trustee , and then the Grand Mistress , exercised a definite authority and that , clearly , she was not subject to any supervision …
The fact that the correspondence of a woman Freemason is found at the heart of a collection of manuscripts concerning Freemasonry per se may be understood as a wink in the direction of researchers — an invitation to look differently at the beginnings of women ’ s Freemasonry and to recognize that it has a rightful place within Freemasonry in general , and has occupied that place since the eighteenth century .
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