CHAPTER XXXIII

THE ORANGE SOCIETY
About the formation of the Orange Society in Ireland we have the evidence of one who was an eye-witness of the events that gave rise to it. At the parliamentary enquiry in 1835 Lieutenant-Colonel William Blacker, who had been a member of the society for forty years, that is practically from its start, told the following story.1
About the 16th September, 1795, a body of Defenders made an incursion into the county of Armagh near the village of Loughgall with the intention of disarming the inhabitants. The Protestants assembled to oppose them and were helped by others from the neighbourhood of Portadown where young Blacker, then a mere stripling, was living. The opposing parties skirmished for a day or two without much harm being done, when a local gentleman Captain Atkinson and the parish priest, representing either side, intervened to effect a reconciliation, which apparently was successful. The Defenders agreed to retire, and the Protes¬ tants to return to their homes. This was being done, when unfortunately on Monday, the 21st September, there arrived in Armagh a fresh body of Defenders from Louth, Monaghan and Tyrone. They “were much disappointed at finding a truce of this kind made, and were determined not to go home without something to repay them for the
1 On the 3rd April, 1835, the Grand Lodge of Ireland passed a resolution ordering any of its members who might be examined before the Commons Committee “to disclose all signs, pass-words, and secrets of the institution without any concealment whatever.” It is only just to the society to state that, so far as one can judge from the printed evidence, the Orange witnesses gave their testimony fully, freely, and, except where long-ingrained political and religious prejudices were concerned, fairly. As a body they denied that the Orange Society sprang from the older Peep-of-Day Boys; but that this was actually so admits of no doubt.
251
252 FAMOUS SECRET SOCIETIES
trouble of their march. In consequence, they made an attack upon the house of a man named Winter at a place called the Diamond, it is a meeting of cross-roads, where there are only three or four houses. Word was brought to the Protestants who were on their return home of what had taken place. They returned to the spot, attacked the Defenders, and killed a number of them. ... It so happened that my father was making some alterations in his house, which occasioned a quantity of lead to be removed from the roof ; a carpenter’s apprentice and myself took possession of a considerable quantity of this lead, ran it into bullets, and had it conveyed to the persons of my neighbourhood who were going to fight the battle of the Diamond.” Blacker hastened to the scene, but was not in time to be under fire, only to see the Defenders retreating and a number of dead bodies. The Protestants were the better armed and had the advantage of position, so they suffered no casualties; the Defenders about thirty. The actual engagement had lasted about fifteen minutes. Immed¬ iately after the battle the first Orange Lodge was planned in Winter’s house in the Diamond, and came into being in the house of one Sloan in Loughgall.
Whether this began the organization of all the militant Protestants in Armagh cannot be stated with certainty; but sure it is that the condition in the county became so bad before the end of the year that the Governor, Lord Gosford, convened the magistrates on the 28th December, and addressed them on the subject. A persecution was raging, he said, whose victims’ only crime was professing the Roman-Catholic religion. “A lawless banditti have constituted themselves judges . . . and the sentence they pronounce is nothing less than a confiscation of all property and immediate banishment.” He went on to describe the excesses of the Peep-of-Day Boys, and after declaring that he was as true a Protestant as any man present, said he could not shut his ears to the complaints of a persecuted people. The magistrates thereupon resolved to take steps to “stop the progress of the persecution now carrying on by an un¬ governable mob against the Catholics of this county.”
THE ORANGE SOCIETY
253
The inference has since been drawn that this orgy of outrages was due to the newly formed Orange Society. The matter is not proved conclusively. To affirm it would assume that the new organization had within three months banded together all the partizans of the “To hell or Connaught” watchword, and taken over the direction of the good work.
It is, however, quite impossible to state the exact date at which a Grand Orange Lodge was formed in Armagh, and began to issue warrants of regularity to local groups. It was certainly in existence by July, 1796, and later in that year Thomas Verner, a local gentleman, became the first Grand Master. The Orange Society was established by him in Dublin in 1797 , joined by various men of good social position, and another Grand Lodge seems to have been formed there which eventually supplanted the indepen¬ dent one functioning in the County of Armagh.
The early Orange Lodges were stated, as is not unlikely, to have borrowed some of their symbolism and ritual from the older Masonic order.1 The officers of a Lodge con¬ sisted of a Master, Secretary, Treasurer, and Committee¬ men. They were bound by an oath, and possessed secret modes of recognition. In the early days of the society two degrees appear to have been recognized, Orangeman and Orange Marksman; these may have been the originals of the two later standard Orange degrees, Orange and Purple. But in addition to these degrees there arose at a very early date in the history of the Order what came to be known as Black Lodges, offshoots which were not recognized by the Grand Lodge, and conferred an additional sequence of degrees with appurtenant secrets and oaths, and embraced the most determined and irreconcilable portion of the order.
As stated by one of its founders: “The original intention of the Orange Society was to support the constitution of the country and allegiance to His Majesty, in opposition to societies of a rebellious and treasonable nature, to join the
1 Daniel O’Connell, who had himself been a Freemason, stated in the year 1812, when attacking the Orangemen publicly, “A feeble imitation of Free¬ masonry lent something of mysticism and much of regularity to the Orange Lodges.”
254 FAMOUS SECRET SOCIETIES
Government in protecting the country in case of foreign invasion, and for purposes of self-defence.”
This, of course, is an idealistic statement of the case. From the first the Society was intended to be a thorn in the side of Roman Catholics; and it had not been in existence for very long before it began to publish manifestos on polit¬ ical questions of the day, such as the Union of 1800. It aimed from the first at acquiring great influence in State politics; and it has succeeded in that aim.
One of the gravest charges that has been brought against the society from its inauguration, to be alleged by its opponents and denied indignantly by its supporters to the present day, is that the loyalty of an Orangeman, whereof he makes a parade, is a conditional loyalty, terminable in the event of certain contingent possibilities, such as a change of religion on the part of the House of Windsor. Some early published documents of the Society will be enough to show how this misconception, if it be such, arose.
In the printed rules of the Society approved 20th November, 1798, the following is given as the obligation of an Orangeman:
“I, A.B., do solemnly and sincerely swear of my own free will and accord, that I will to the utmost of my power support and defend the present King, George the Third, and all the heirs of the crown, so long as he or they support the Protestant ascendancy, the constitution and laws of these kingdoms; and that I will ever hold sacred the name of our glorious deliverer, William the Third, Prince of Orange ; and I do further swear, that I am not nor was not a Roman Catholic or papist; that I was not, am not, nor ever will be an United Irishman; and that I never took the oath of secrecy to that society; and I do further swear, in the presence of Almighty God, that I will always conceal and never will reveal, either part or parts of this I am about now to receive, neither write it, nor indite it, stamp, stain nor engrave it, nor cause it so to be done, on paper, parch¬ ment, leaf, bark, brick, stone, or anything so that it might be known; and that I am now become an Orangeman without fear, bribery or corruption.”
THE ORANGE SOCIETY
255
“ Secret Articles 1
“1. — That we will bear true allegiance to His Majesty King George the Third and his successors, so long as he or they support the Protestant ascendancy; and that we will faithfully support and maintain the laws and constitution of this kingdom.
“2. — That we will be true to all Orangemen in all just actions, neither wronging one nor seeing him wronged to our knowledge without acquainting him thereof.
“3. — That we are not to see a Brother offended for 6d. or is., or more, if convenient, which must be returned next meeting, if possible.
“4. — We must not give the first assault to any person whatever that may bring a brother into trouble.
“5. — We are not to carry away money, goods or anything from any person whatever, except arms and ammuni¬ tion, and those only from an enemy.
“6. — We are to appear in ten hours’ warning, or whatever time is required, if possible (provided it is not hurtful to ourselves or family, and that we are served with a lawful summons from the master) otherwise we are fined as the company think proper.
“7. — No man can be made an Orangeman without the unanimous approbation of the body.
“8. — An Orangeman is to keep a brother’s secret as his own, unless in case of murder, treason and perjury, and that of his own free will.
“9. — No Roman Catholic can be admitted on any account.
“10. — Any Orangeman who acts contrary to these rules shall be expelled, and the same reported to all the Lodges in this kingdom, and elsewhere. God save the King.
1 The compilers of the rules say in the preface: “The secret articles are as near as possible in their original shape.” It is possible we may have preserved here some of the expressions used at the first Orange Lodge in The Diamond, 2 1st September, 1795.
256
FAMOUS SECRET SOCIETIES
“ Marksman s Obligation.
“I, A. B., of my own free will and accord, in the presence of Almighty God, do hereby most solemnly and sincerely swear, that I will always conceal and never will reveal either part or parts of this which I am now about to receive; and that I will bear true allegiance to His Majesty King George the Third, and all the heirs of the crown, so long as they maintain the Protestant ascendancy, the laws and constitution of these kingdoms; and that I will keep this part of a marksman from that of an Orangeman, as well as from the ignorant1; and that I will not make a man until I become master of a body, nor after I am broke; and that I will not make a man, nor be present at the making of a man2, on the road, or behind hedges; and that I will be aiding and assisting to all true Orange honest marksmen, as far as in my power lies, knowing him or them to be such; and that I will not wrong a brother marksman, nor know him to be wronged of anything of value, worth apprehend¬ ing, but I will warn or apprize him thereof, if in my power it lies. All this I swear with a firm and steadfast resolution, so help me God, and keep me steadfast in this my marks¬ man’s obligation.”
The following extract from the rules of 1 798 has a bearing on the Black Lodges mentioned above.
“Many persons having introduced various orders into the Orange Society, which will very much tend to injure the regularity of the institution, the Grand Lodge disavow any other orders but the Orange and Purple, as there can be none others regular, unless issuing from and approved of by them.”
At this date (1798) the Master of each Orange Lodge was appointed by the Grand Lodge, and he then appointed his Deputy-Master, Treasurer, and Secretary; but this was changed by the rules of 1800 to allow each Lodge to elect its own Master.
1 This passage suggests that Marksman was the original name of the Purple degree in the society.
2 “Man” in this sense undoubtedly means Orangeman.
THE ORANGE SOCIETY
257
In this later year also the Grand Lodge was reconstituted. Hitherto it had evidently been a self-appointed body, and it was henceforth to consist of all the Masters of Orange Lodges, who were to elect the Grand Master and other officers.
The system of splitting up the order into districts (con¬ sisting of five Lodges) and counties, both presided over by local Grand Masters, had thus early become firmly estab¬ lished; and the order had been introduced into the British Army, each regimental Lodge ranking as a district.
In the rules of the society published in 1814 the oaths were given an altered form. It will be enough to say that the Orangeman’s began: “I, A.B., do voluntarily and sincerely swear that I will to the utmost of my power support and defend the present King George the Third, his heirs and successors, being Protestants ...” while that of the Marksman, here printed Marchman, added to the Orange oath: “And that I will keep the signs, tokens and words of a Marchman from an Orangeman, as well as from the ignorant, unless authorised to communicate them by the proper authorities of the Orange Institution; and that I will not make an Orangeman or Marchman, except only whilst I shall act as Master of an Orange Lodge; and that I will not make nor assist at, or sanction the making of any member in any other order than the Orange and Purple, which are the original orders of this institution.”
From these rules of 1814 the Secret Articles were omitted.
The rules printed in 1824 omit the oaths given hitherto, and give the forms of the oaths of Allegiance, Supremacy, and Abjuration, which are to be taken by every Orangeman. The preamble to the rules states: “This Association is formed by persons desiring, to the utmost of their power, to support and defend his Majesty King George the Fourth, the con¬ stitution and laws of this country, and the succession to the throne in his Majesty’s illustrious house, being Protestant ...”
In these rules of 1828 the Duke of Cumberland appears as Grand Master of the Orange Society of Ireland. To
258 FAMOUS SECRET SOCIETIES
the former oaths of Allegiance, Supremacy, and Abjuration is added one against Transubstantiation.
In the year 1824 Parliament passed an act abolishing all secret societies, and the Orange Society was stated to have gone out of existence till the year 1828. This was probably true of the Grand Lodge, but there is not the least doubt that many, if not the great majority, of the country Lodges continued to meet throughout that period in defiance of the law ; so that there was not the least difficulty in reviving the society officially in 1828.
Changes in the ceremonies are said to have taken place at the time of this reconstitution; but the Declaration of an Orangeman which heads the rules of 1834 is simply the old oath of 1798 with a different heading. After the rules were published, it was discovered that such a declaration was illegal and a felony under the Act of 1824, and the society hastened to supress it by tearing the page out of all available copies, and it did not appear in the rules published in 1835; still it would be more than one could expect from human nature to believe that the rank and file of the society had at the same time torn the declaration out of their ceremonies.
In fact, in view of all the printed evidence from 1798 that has just been recapitulated, one is forced to the conclusion that the society, despite of its having been dissolved twice, was very much the same in spirit and objects, and perhaps in ceremonies as well, in 1834 as it had been in 1795.
The official ritual of the order was printed with the rules for 1835, and reprinted in the Parliamentary report of the same year. The ceremonies of the two degrees, Orange and Purple, consist in the reading of passages from the Bible by the chaplain, and exhortations addressed to the candidate by the Master. No oath is prescribed for either degree. The candidate declares in the first: “Of my own free will and accord I desire admission into your loyal institution ” ; in the second: “Of my own free will and accord I desire advancement into the Purple Order of our loyal institution.” The request in either case, so far as the printed ritual discloses, was sufficient to ensure compliance, without any
THE ORANGE SOCIETY 259
further pledge of fidelity. Such a procedure must be unique among secret societies.
It remains to be said that the Purple degree was looked upon as a reward for faithful service, and that all members of the Grand Orange Lodge must have received it.
The alteration in the form of oath shown in the printed rituals took place at an uncertain date. None of the witnesses examined in 1835 had been able to retain its wording in his memory; but all were unanimous in saying that oaths of every kind were abandoned in 1825 when an act of Parliament had made all secret societies bound by oath illegal.
All the witnesses were equally emphatic in denying that no oath was ever administered having as object the exter¬ mination of the Roman Catholics. These respectable people were no doubt telling the truth about what was personally known to them; their knowledge, however, admittedly did not extend to what took place in the Black Lodges, which had been under the ban of the Grand Orange Lodge from an early period. It seems extremely likely from the un¬ easiness of some of the witnesses under cross-examination that they had heard more about the proceedings of these Black Lodges than they cared to avow, and that a full avowal would have been, to say the least of it, inexpedient.
“The Grand Lodge,” said one high official, “were always desirous of having their two orders of Orange and Purple perfectly unshackled and unconnected with any other order whatsoever. They had reason to believe that those Black Lodges, over which they had not any control nor the slightest connexion, had induced some of their members to enter their body. They had also heard that there were certain rules among them, such as if a brother is struck, any brother who sees him struck is immediately to take up his quarrel without inquiring whether he has just cause so to do or not. They thought that this might lead to riots at fairs and markets, and also from the frequent admission of various improper characters who had been expelled from the Orange Institution for misconduct into those Black Lodges, they considered it their duty to warn all members
260 FAMOUS SECRET SOCIETIES
in connexion with the Orange Institution to avoid their meetings, and also thus clearly to disavow all connexion with societies of whose principles they were to a great degree ignorant, and over whose actions they had not the slightest control.” The witness stated later that he had not the slightest idea how Black Lodges originated, but imagined “they arose from the desire of the lower orders to have something more exciting or alarming in the initiation of members; I think it may be a mixture of Freemasonry with that of the old Orange system, a species of mummery innocent in itself, and originating in the strong desire that vulgar minds in general manifest for awful mysteries and ridiculous pageantry.”
In the light of the foregoing testimony one may perhaps assume that these Black Lodges demanded that their initiates should carry their “Protestant principles” to more extreme lengths than were required by the orthodox Orange and Purple orders.
Reference has been made above to the power of expulsion exercised by the Orange Society. This was the penalty, according to the official version, for “disreputable conduct as a citizen, a Christian, or a loyal subject;” but it might also follow the public expression of certain political views or actions not in themselves either immoral or subversive of the constitution. Such a case was recorded in a quaint minute of the Grand Orange Lodge dated 29th November, 1832: “That ex-Sheriff Scott be expelled the institution for entertaining Daniel O’Connell at breakfast on political principles which we do not approve.”
It will be needless to give further instances of political questions in which the society interfered either by public manifestos or private punishment. It will be seen later that the Grand Orange Lodge of England adopted precisely the same methods ; nor is it easy to see how any society composed of men with strong political and religious prejudices could avoid such courses.
The presence of such a society in the State will never be welcome to those charged with administering the law firmly and impartially between citizens of every political
THE ORANGE SOCIETY
26l
and religious persuasion; so in its early days the Orange Society came in for some severe condemnation. Judge Fletcher, in 1815, in addressing a Grand Jury at assizes expressed his views on the matter in these terms:
“Those societies called Orange Societies have produced the most mischievous effects, and particularly in the north of Ireland. They poison the very fountain of justice. . . . I do not hesitate to say that all associations of every de¬ scription in this country, whether of Orangemen or Riband- men, whether distinguished by the colour of Orange or of Green, all combinations of persons bound to each other by the obligation of an oath in a league for a common purpose, endangering the peace of the country, I pronounce them to be contrary to law. . . . Of this I am certain, that so long as those associations are permitted to act in the lawless manner they do, there will be no tranquillity in this country, and particularly in the north of Ireland. There those disturbers of the public peace, who assume the name of Orange Yeomen, frequent the fairs and markets with arms in their hands, under the pretence of self-defence or of protecting the public peace. . . . Murders have been repeatedly perpetrated on such occasions . . . petty juries have declined (upon some occasions) to do their duty.”
The learned judge went on to condemn party processions as “producing embittering recollections and inflicting wounds upon the feelings of others;” and it was largely on account of having given such manifestations of their existence that the Orangemen had found themselves with a crow to pluck with the Government in 1835.
It has been the custom of the Orange Society ever since its formation to parade with bands and banners on the 12th July, the anniversary of the battle of the Boyne, but one hundred years ago these processions contained elements of danger that have since been eliminated. In the eighteen- thirties the society marched with loaded fire-arms, for every Orangeman, no matter how indigent, belonged to a gun club that enabled him to purchase his weapon on an instalment system; the bands played party tunes — The Boyne Water , The Protestant Boys (the famous Lillibulero in an
s
262 FAMOUS SECRET SOCIETIES
Orange sash), Croppies, lie down, etc. — and too often a district was chosen for the parade where the music and banners and party taunts would not fail to raise up a volunteer army in opposition, only too ready to shed fresh blood in a dispute that had not died with either King William or King James.
The resultant riots and loss of life had become such a scandal that in 1832 Parliament passed a law prohibiting all processions for the purpose of commemorating any festival, anniversary or political event “connected with any religious or other distinctions or differences between any classes of His Majesty’s subjects . . . and who shall bear, wear or have amongst them any fire-arms, or other offensive weapons, or any banner, emblem, flag or symbol, the display whereof may be calculated or tend to provoke animosity between His Majesty’s subjects of different religious persuasions, or who shall be accompanied by any music of a like nature or tendency. . . In a word, anyone who did any of these things was on the first convic¬ tion to go to jail for a month, on the second, for three.
On the 20th October, 1832, the Grand Lodge issued a circular to all Orange Lodges ordering them to obey the law and discontinue their usual processions.
July, 1833, demonstrated that the country Lodges were not prepared to obey either their Grand Lodge or the law.
Processions took place as usual; so did attendant riots, woundings, and homicides. In the upshot many Orange¬ men were away from home for a month; others were let off with a caution, but not so one stalwart who, on being asked by the judge to express regret, when he would be set free, proceeded as sole response to whistle the stirring strains of The Protestant Boys. Orange magistrates were removed from the bench for encouraging the processions. Others resigned the Commission of the Peace to mark their disapproval of Government.
The fact was clearly demonstrated that the rank and file of the society did not intend to obey any law of which it disapproved; and also another fact, that the accredited leaders had no real control over the rank and file.
THE ORANGE SOCIETY 263
It was, of course, deplorable that the name of a Royal Prince, the Duke of Cumberland, should be lent as Grand Master to such proceedings; for his name meant much to the more ignorant type of Orangeman. When in July, 1830, a police officer produced a proclamation signed by the Duke of Northumberland as Lord Lieutenant forbidding a certain Orange procession, the Masters of the Lodges “treated the communication with respect, but said they had warrants for marching bearing the authority of Govern¬ ment, and that they considered th emselves justified in march¬ ing until these warrants were withdrawn. They produced to informant some of these warrants, bearing as signatures His Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland, Lord Enniskillen, and some other individuals. I found they were under this delusion, that the Duke of Cumberland’s name being attached to the document was as an authority equal to that of the Government of the country, or greater. . . . They stated to me that the Duke of Cumberland is a greater Duke than the Duke of Northumberland.”
There was another matter came to light at this enquiry in 1 835 which reflected on the Duke of Cumberland. It was discovered that in fifteen regiments of the British Army Orange Lodges existed, holding warrants with his signa¬ ture, though he as a Field-Marshal must have been perfectly well aware that such associations were forbidden in the Army. Cumberland excused himself in a letter to the Com¬ mons Committee, stating that he had signed no warrant for a regimental Lodge, which statement he qualified by “I cer¬ tainly have issued no warrant to that effect, as I have before said. It is true, I have signed many blank warrants, as far as they have no specific number of the lodge or even name.”
In other words, Cumberland had lent his name to the society in return for their support, and had not troubled himself over much what use they might make of that name. But in the case of the Irish Grand Lodge he did not cast the blame on others in such cutting terms as he used later about the military warrants issued by English Grand Lodge. Perhaps he felt that the latter was more accustomed to his usual manners.
264 FAMOUS SECRET SOCIETIES
It appears that the first Orange Lodge to be established in a regiment was No. 47 in the Monaghan Militia in 1797. Many had been formed in the army afterwards, but in 1835 only fifteen of these were still in existence, because it had become the custom for the Lodges to exchange their Irish warrant for an English one on returning to England. This was done as a matter of course for a small fee.
The authorities had reason for their objection to Orange Lodges in the army. An instance had occurred in 1803 when the Moira Yeomanry, exclusively composed of Orange¬ men, had refused to be brigaded with a Roman-Catholic unit; but apart from such concrete instances of ill-feeling, it was plain that the presence of any such sectarian society in the regiments would lead to the formation of counter¬ societies; so that, as one military expert expressed it, “If its ramifications are allowed to enter into the army, there is no knowing what extraordinary collisions or divisions might take place.”
The Orange processions, though suppressed for a short time, were legalized again a year or two later, and take place to this day, though mercifully they are no longer such a menace to the peace of the country, even if still looked upon as an offence by the bulk of its inhabitants. It would be fitting, however, before passing from the subject, to show that even in the worst days of these party proces¬ sions (for of course the Roman Catholics organized counter-demonstrations on St. Patrick’s Day and Lady Day, which were dubbed by the Orangemen Riband- men processions) others took place, that were attended by all sects alike, and gave rise to neither rioting nor bad feeling. These were the Freemasons’ processions on the 24th June. One that took place in 1835 is thus described.1
“Several bodies of Freemasons assembled in this town (Newry) from Rathfriland, Poyntzpass, Market-hill, Warren- point, and various parts of the country ; they all moved in procession, both Protestants and Roman Catholics, to
1 The Freemasons had been expressly excluded from the operations of the act against oath-bound societies in 1824.
THE ORANGE SOCIETY
265
church with their aprons and sashes; they had drums and fifes, but no party tunes; two magistrates of this town formed part of the processions; and after the service was over they all dispersed in a most respectable, orderly manner. The evening passed over without the least dis¬ turbance.”
The numbers of Orangemen in Ireland were estimated to be 200,000 in 1835. The figures could not be given exactly, because though it was known that about 1,600 Lodges were in existence, the majority of these failed to make any return to the Grand Lodge or to pay their dues to it of 2s. 6d. a year. Consequently, the Grand Lodge was sadly in want of funds; its greatest income in any one year had been £400, its normal income one-half that sum.
The influence of the society, however, was not to be measured in the terms of its income. Not only was it power¬ ful in Ireland, and endeavouring to make itself so in Eng¬ land, but also in Upper Canada the society was preparing at this time to play a great political part. Vast numbers of Orangemen had emigrated there from Ireland, and the society had grown strong in the new country. It was freely stated in Orange circles in Ireland that the loyalty of these men to the Mother Country in the approaching conflict between men of French and British descent in Canada would depend to a large extent upon the home Government’s atdtude to the Orange Society in Ireland. These statements were certainly made on insufficient data, but the mere fact that they were made at such a time of crisis in Empire affairs did not tend to make such “conditional loyalty” any more popular in Great Britain.
Indeed the society in England was just then in very bad odour. The English have never approved of secret societies that meddle with politics, as has been discovered to their cost by many foreign missionaries who have attempted to introduce this method of securing influence. The Orange Society had just been exposed as violating this taboo; and in consequence the attention of the nation was keenly directed, not too benevolently, on its activities in England.
266 FAMOUS SECRET SOCIETIES
Some account must now be given of its settlement in that country.
Soon after the establishment of the Orange Society in Ireland the system seems to have been carried into England by lodges formed in marching regiments. The first English Grand Lodge acting independently of the Grand Lodge in Ireland was founded in Manchester in 1808, with a certain Colonel Taylor of Mostyn as Grand Master. The newly formed body apparently did not extend its influence very far, for in 1819— 20 there were no more than two Orange Lodges in London, and one of those only just established by warrant from Manchester. Still the society had attracted some people of social position, among others Lord Kenyon. Taylor died in 1820. The headquarters of the Grand Lodge were moved to London in 1821, and the Duke of York in February of that year was offered and accepted the Grand Mastership. Within a very short time, however, he discovered that the society, as then constituted, was illegal, and he withdrew from it in June, 1821. This event led to a reconstitution of the society. Prior to that date every member on entering had taken an oath promising conditional loyalty to George III and his heirs while they continued to support the Protestant ascendancy; he further declared that he was not a Roman Catholic, no United Irishman, nor member of any treasonable society; that he would keep the secrets of the Order; and that “I now become an Orangeman without fear, bribery, or corruption.” This oath was now omitted; and another circumstance led to what were in all probability even more drastic changes.
The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland on the 29th January, 1820, wrote to the Grand Lodge of England stating that in consequence of the admission of “some persons of a most improper description” into the Order in Ireland who “were proceeding to take advantage of the circumstance by initiating rebels to His Majesty’s Government into the institution,” the Irish Grand Lodge had determined to change the signs and pass-words of the society, and that this had been done.
THE ORANGE SOCIETY 267
It so happened that owing to the Secret Societies Act the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland became dormant from 1825 to 1828, but on its resuscitation on 15th September in the later year it apparently adopted altered signs and pass-words which were communicated to the English Grand Lodge. The two systems were assimilated in 1831—32; so that in the phrase of the House of Commons Committee: “The new system of lectures, secret signs and pass-words has of late years been adopted by all Orangemen in Great Britain and the colonies .... Its whole institution is one neighbourhood within which every Orangeman is at home in the farthest parts of the world.”
Incidentally, while the Irish Grand Lodge was in abeyance 1825-28, many of its subordinate Lodges continued their meetings, but those who had scruples sought for and obtained warrants from the Grand Lodge of England to give a varnish of legality to their proceedings.
Lord Kenyon, who had been Deputy Grand Master under the Duke of York, continued to direct the English society. The Duke died in 1827, and in 1828 his brother the Duke of Cumberland was elected Grand Master of the Empire. This title meant that he became Grand Master of the English and older Irish Grand Lodges, both of which retained complete independence of one another, while conferring upon their joint Grand Master as chief and supreme head a permanent office, not subject to re-election — “his powers and authority are discretionary, illimitable, and absolute.”
Lord Kenyon was Deputy Grand Master of England, and the Duke of Gordon Deputy Grand Master in Scotland under the Duke of Cumberland. Scotland at this time had no Grand Orange Lodge. The activities of the society there were mainly confined to the neighbourhood of Glas¬ gow.
There seems not the slightest reason to doubt on the evidence produced to the Committee of the House of Commons which was appointed in 1835 to inquire into the proceedings of the Orange Society in England that the society mainly existed at that time for organizing resistance
268
FAMOUS SECRET SOCIETIES
to the parliamentary and legislative reforms then in process under successive Whig Governments *; while a subsidiary, but not less actively promoted object was to bring some badly wanted popularity to the Duke of Cumberland. More doubt exists concerning a revolutionary object with which the society generally was at that time credited; no less a one than that of setting aside the succession of the Princess Victoria to the throne in favour of her uncle, the Duke of Cumberland. The charge has never been proved; but at the same time it has never been disproved. If only as a tradition it has to be mentioned in any account given of the Orange Society. Since the Orange Society itself saw fit to refer to the Duke of Cumberland in a draft circular of 1834 as the individual “nearest to the Throne,” there can be little doubt that some of its members would have been prepared to support that opinion.
At any rate, the Duke of Cumberland spared neither time nor trouble in making himself agreeable to the society. He presided at all the meetings of its Grand Lodge in London, and was in continual touch with its officers whether in person or by correspondence.
The most active and, subsequently, the most notorious of these officers was Lieutenant-Colonel (by courtesy) W. Blennerhassett Fairman, the Deputy Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of England. He was appointed to this post only in January, 1832, but had previously, in 1821, been Deputy Grand Master for London on the transferring of the Grand Lodge to the metropolis. In the same year 1832 he was given a roving commission to make two tours through England and Scotland, all expenses being paid by the Grand Lodge, nominally in order to visit old Orange Lodges and communicate to them the new signs, etc.1 2, and to establish new Lodges.
It is apparent from Fairman’s correspondence with Lord Kenyon (produced to the Commons Committee) that his embassy had at least quite as much to do with a campaign
1 e.g. Members who voted for Whig parliamentary candidates at the election of 1834 were expelled by Grand Lodge from the Order.
2 Each Brother who received the new signs was to pay one shilling as fee.
THE ORANGE SOCIETY 269
to whiten the reputation of the Duke of Cumberland as to teach a few honest Protestant artisans a new form of ritual in exchange for a handful of silver.
Fairman had a very enjoyable trip, and was entertained wherever he went, but of no avail were all his efforts to make the country Lodges pay their dues to Grand Lodge, whose income remained very small, so small as to be quite inadequate to reward the Deputy Grand Secretary on the scale he considered he deserved. There were, however, contingent possibilities in the shape of a fat government post, should the Tories come back into power, and Fairman relaxed no effort in decrying the measures of their political opponents. He had a fluent and peculiar style, witness a sample from a proclamation which he had printed in Glasgow in 1833 and wished to have affixed in church- porches and other public places:
“The Church, which is the sister of the State, is exhibited to public view in the mangling embraces of a lustful ravisher.”
In 1835, in consequence of events which had happened in Ireland, the House of Commons appointed a Committee to examine the conduct of the Orange Society in England. At this inquiry Fairman was an important witness, and refused to produce his letter-book containing copies of letters written by him in his capacity as Deputy Grand Secretary. This refusal prejudiced the case of the society, which was not improved by the discovery that Orangeism had found its way into the army, though general orders forbade the existence of any secret society in a regiment, and that in one instance a non-commissioned officer acting as Master of an Orange Lodge had even been encouraged by the Deputy Grand Secretary of England to continue the Lodge in the regiment in direct violation of the orders of his commanding officer.
It further transpired at the same inquiry, that an Orange¬ man named Nucella had in 1833 gone on a trip to the Mediterranean, and had received a commission from the
270 FAMOUS SECRET SOCIETIES
Grand Master to further the spread of the Orange Order in the regiments in Malta and the Ionian Islands.
On the 24th August, 1835, just before the Committee proceeded to investigate these matters, the Duke of Cumber¬ land issued a circular to the Orange Society stating that the warrants signed by him and issued to regiments were the result of indiscretion and negligence on the part of his Deputy Grand Master and other officers, and that he thereby declared all such warrants void. He was invited by the Committee to attend, and make any statement he wished on the matter; but he curtly declined the invitation.
In the outcome the Committee presented a report very animadversive of the Orange Society. It considered the evidence sufficient to show “the existence of an organized institution pervading Great Britain and her colonies to an extent never contemplated as possible; and which your Committee consider highly injurious to the discipline of His Majesty’s Army, and dangerous to the peace of His Majesty’s subjects.”
The strength of the Society in England at this time seems to have been about 300 Lodges, of which thirty had been military.
The Society was shown to have extended into Canada and Australia, the latter being dependent on the Grand Lodge of England, the former probably already independent, but, if owning any allegiance, adhering to the Grand Lodge of Ireland.
The inquiry established that in England as in Ireland there were but two degrees recognized by the Grand Lodge, the Orange and the Purple. One solitary instance of a “Black Lodge ” came to light. In London there had existed a short time previously a gathering known as the Britannic Society. Only Orangemen were eligible as members; it administered an oath, had secret methods of recognition, and kept up a correspondence with Ireland where there were many more Lodges of the same kind. This body, in the words of one witness, “continued orders [degrees] which the Orange society did not recognize.” It was stated to have become extinct before the date of the inquiry.
THE ORANGE SOCIETY 271
The findings of the Parliamentary Committee of 1835 were condemnatory of the Orange Society, and the Govern¬ ment was advised to dissolve it. The Grand Lodges in both England and Ireland forestalled any legislation by declaring the Order dissolved, and it remained suspended from 1836 to 1847, when it was revived, and has flourished to this day in Great Britain and the Dominions overseas.
This period of suspension when there was no Grand Lodge exercising functions in Great Britain did not in many cases prevent the local Lodges in Ireland from continuing their existence clandestinely. They as well as the spirit of the Order were very much alive at the resurrection of 1847.
By one of those fatalities which have been so common in the history of Ireland the resuscitation of the Grand Orange Lodge synchronized more or less with the Young Ireland rising of 1848, and the latter event must have given an impetus to the former; for the support of a body of men oath-bound to loyalty to the Crown cannot but have been welcomed by the authorities. Nor since 1848 has there been any lack of other National movements in Ireland to provide the Orangemen with antagonists and a justifi¬ cation for continued existence. The inauguration of every movement, whether constitutional or otherwise, for Irish autonomy has been accompanied with an increase in the numbers and influence of the Orange Body, and that influence has always been exercised against making any change in the best of all possible Constitutions. Such activities have of course resulted in fostering other secret societies established as a counterpoise; and both sides thrive as opposition grows stronger, for action and reaction follow the same law in politics as in mechanics.
While awaiting a new (Edipus to solve the riddle of Irish disunion, the Orange Order continues to flourish not only in the British Isles but in some of the British Dominions.