THE FIRST RECORDED
INITIATION IN
BY BRO. DUDLEY
WRIGHT,
THE BUILDER 1921
"At Neucastell the 20 day off May, 1641. The quilk day ane serten nomber
off Mester and others being lafule conveined, doeth admit Mr the Right
Honerabell Mr Robert Moray, General quarter Mr to the Armie of Scotlan,
and the same bing aproven be the hell Mester off the Mesone of the Log
off Edenroth, quherto they heaue set to ther handes or markes. A.
Hamilton, R. Moray, Johne Mylln. James Hamilton."
THUS RUNS the entry of the first ascertained recorded Masonic initiation
on English soil into Speculative Freemasonry. It is the record of the
initiation of one of the most remarkable men of his time. His name, by
writers other than himself - for he always signed his name in bold
characters
as "R. Moray" - is spelt variously as Moray,
and a singular mistake occurs in the standard edition of Evelyn's Diary,
where
the entries occur as "
letter that appears from Moray is, of course, signed in the correct manner,
with
the result that both forms appear in the General Index. In
Registers of
Craigie, by a daughter of George Halket, of Pitferran, but Burke's History
of the Landed Gentry and other authoritative works of reference state that
he was a son of Sir Mungo Murray, and this undoubtedly is correct.
Sir Robert Moray was
a descendant of an ancient and noble
family. He was educated partly at the University of St. Andrew's and partly
in
XIII. He gained very high favour with Cardinal Richelieu, to such a degree
that French historians have remarked that few foreigners were so highly
esteemed by that great minister as was he. It was possibly through the
influence of the all-powerful Cardinal-statesman that Moray was raised to
the rank of Colonel in the French army. When, however, the difficulties of
Charles I increased,
Moray returned to
General of Ordnance when the Presbyterians first set up and maintained
their
government. He was in charge of the
Scottish army at
the time of his initiation, which took place two months before that city was
evacuated
by the soldiers. Moray was knighted at
January, 1643, by Charles I.
Moray was also on good terms with Mazarin and fought with his regiment
in
the same time he was appointed Colonel of the Scotch regiment in
succession to James Campbell, Earl of Irvine, and he was nominated by
the
Scots as a secret envoy to negotiate a treaty between
I. His release in
William Moray,
afterwards Earl of Dysert, provided a vessel at
onto which Sir Robert Moray was to conduct the king, who was to assume
a disguise. The king put on the disguise and even went down the back
stairs with Sir Robert, but fearing that it would scarcely be possible
successfully to pass all the guards without being discovered "and judging
it highly indecent," says Burnet, "to be taken in such a condition, he
changed his resolution and went back"
After the accession
of Charles II to the throne of
1651, was appointed Justice-clerk, an office which had been vacant since
the deprivation of Sir John Hamilton, in 1649. A few days afterwards, he
was sworn as a privy councillor, and, in the following month, was
nominated a lord of session, though he never officiated as a judge. His
various appointments were, however, merely nominal, in order to secure his
support to the government, particularly if it be true, as Wood asserts, that
"he was presbyterianly affected." His uncle, the Rev. John Moray, was a
great opponent of the bishops and suffered imprisonment for his opinions.
However, at the Restoration, Sir Robert Moray was re-appointed
justice-clerk and a lord of session, in addition to being made one of the
lords auditors of the exchequer.
The Royal Society may be said to have been founded by Moray: it was
certainly the outcome of suggestions made by him, and Bishop Burnet says
that "while he lived he was the life and soul of the Royal Society."
A quibble has frequently been raised over the statement made by writers
that Moray was the first president of the Royal Society, since the name of
Viscount Brouncker appears in that capacity on the Charter. Moray was the
sole president of the Society from its first formal meeting on 28th
November, 1660, until its incorporation on 15th July, 1662, with the
exception of one month from 14th May to 11th June, 1662, during which
short period Dr. Wilkins occupied that honourable position, though in a
Latin letter addressed to M. de Montmor, president of the Academy at
Nor is too much to say that it was through his influence the charter of
incorporation was obtained. He was the bearer of the message from
Charles II to the effect that his Majesty Approved the objects of the Society
and was willing to encourage it and, generally he was the organ of
communication between the king and the Society. Moray was also the
prime mover in the framing of the statutes and regulations.
Wood, the well-known
and an abhorrer of woman," but here he is in error, for he married the Hon.
Sophia Lindsay, elder daughter of the first Earl of Balcarres, who died,
without
issue, at
1653. If the daughter inherited the tastes and pursuits of her father, the
marriage must, indeed, have been a felicitous one, since it is recorded that
Sir David Lindsay, the first Earl of Balcarres, "chose a private life without
ambition, was learned, and had the best collection of books in his time and
was a laborious chymist. There is in the library of Balcarres ten volumes
written by his own hand upon the then fashionable subject of the
philosopher's stone." He was raised to the peerage when Charles I visited
After the death of his wife, which apparently affected him greatly, Moray
lived, apart from his philosophical meetings, a hermit-like existence. In a
letter dated 23rd February, 1658, he wrote to a friend who had accused him
of being in love:
"If you think no more of a mistress not take more pains to look after one
than I do, I know not why one may not think that you may lead apes
among your fellow virgins when you dy. You never maet with such a cold
wooer as I: since ever I came to this place I never visited male nor female
but two or three cousins, and they never three times. The truth is I never go
out of doors but to the church except I have some glasses to make, and
then I go to the glass house. Nor do I receive visits from anybody once in
two months, except it be the commander, so that I am here a very hermit."
In his correspondence with Kincardin during that year (1658), he describes
how he was making chemical experiments on a large scale. At one period,
when he was at Maestricht, he had two rooms with a kitchen and cellar.
One of the first he converted into a laboratory and there he spent his days
in perfect content. "You never saw such a shop as my laboratory," he wrote,
"so there's a braw name for you, though means matters." He constantly
speaks of his chemical labours in the language of an enthusiast. "It is
somewhat considerable that I afford you such volumes in the amount of my
chemicall operations. I have had seven stills going these two days with
one fire, most upon juniper berries, some with water, some with sack, and
some dry."
Moray was naturally of a retiring disposition. During a portion of his life he
was called upon to take up a prominent position, but he never cared to be
"in the limelight" in politics and he did his best to keep out of the political
arena altogether. His books, his chemical furnaces and retorts, his music,
his medical and mechanical investigations, and his philosophical friends
were more to him than "such stuff," as he once impatiently caged politics.
He was happier, far more satisfied to be President of the Royal Society than
Deputy
Secretary for
There are few characters in history, particularly among those who have
undertaken peculiarly difficult, and even dangerous, diplomatic tasks, so
generally revered as was Sir Robert Moray. Birch, one of the historians of
the Royal Society,describes him as being "universally loved and esteemed
and eminent for his piety, spending many hours a day in devotion in the
midst of armies and courts. He had an equality of temper in him that
nothing could alter, and was in practice a stoic, with a tincture of one of the
principles of that sect, the persuasion of absolute decrees. He had a most
diffused love to mankind and delighted in every occasion of doing good,
which he managed with great zeal and discretion. His comprehension was
superior to that of most men. He was considerably skilled in mathematics
and remarkably so in the history of nature."
Nor is Birch a solitary appreciator of his character. Bishop Burnet, a
historian of higher rank, styled him the "wisest and worthiest man of his
age"; and, on another occasion, he wrote: "I have every joy that next to my
father I owe more to him than to any other man." To Evelyn he was a
"deare and excellent friend"; Sheldon, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was
absolutely won by his charm of manner; Pepys speaks of him as "a most
excellent man of reason and learning, and understands the doctrine of
music and everything else I could discourse of very finely"; while his
sovereign and personal friend, King Charles II, tersely gave expression to
his independence of character by the statement that he (Moray) was "head
of his own church." A writer in the Scottish Review for January, 1885, said:
"To the beautiful and remarkable character of Robert Moray justice has yet
to be done. Few men of so strong and decided a personality have left
behind them so little trace upon the public documents of their time: except
in a few Privy council letters his signature does not appear at all." A writer
in the Biographica Britannica says that "his general character was excellent
in the highest degree. He was beloved and esteemed by men of every
party and station."
But these expressions of opinion found some exception. Was ever man
placed in a position of responsibility and influence who did not encounter
enemies? From 1660 to 1670 the infifience of Moray affected the whole
course of the Scottish government, and he guided, controlled, and
supported Lauderdale against the cabals that were formed to oust him.
Thus it was that Sharp, Alexander Burnet, and other apostles of repression
came to look upon him as an enemy to be dreaded, and one, Lord
Glencairn, made an attempt to break and ruin him. A letter was pretended
to
be found at
whipping-boy to Charles I. This letter gave an account of a bargain alleged
to have been made by Moray with another man for murdering the king, the
plan to be put into execution by William Murray. Sir Robert was questioned
and put under arrest, and the rumour got abroad that he had intended to
kill the king, but, says Burnet, the historian, "upon this occasion Sir Robert
practised in a very eminent manner his true Christian philosophy without
showing so much as a cloud in his whole behaviour."
It was in the society of such men as Andrew Marvell, John Evelyn, and
Robert Moray that Charles II loved to linger; his delight was not, as some
have asserted, in consorting with less noble types of humanity. Wood is of
opinion that the degree of intimacy existing between Charles II and Sir
Robert Moray was probably more upon a philosophical than a political
basis "for he was employed by Charles II in his chemical processes and
was indeed the conductor of his laboratory." Birch says that it was Moray
who first interested the sovereign in philosophical pursuits. Charles II was
a
frequent visitor to the laboratory in
Moray's workshop, is said to have been conducted by him for and on
behalf of the king, and there may be truth in the opinion more than once
expressed that Charles II was also a royal initiate of the ancient and
honourable order known as Freemasons. In any case, assuming, which is
very unlikely and improbable, that Sir Robert Moray was the first non-
operative
to be initiated into the mysteries of the Craft in
Freemasonry has no reason to be ashamed when it looks to the rock
whence it was hewn.
Moray was the friend and benefactor of the well-known mystic, Thomas
Vaughan, who, says
Wood, settled in "
patronage of that noted chymist, Sir Robert Murray, or Moray, Knight,
Secretary
of State for the
when
he died there.
Oldbury,
about eight miles from the
the said Sir Robert Moray." This was in 1673, shortly before Moray's own
death and but a few hours after he had informed Wood of the passing of
Moray's life came to an end in a very sudden manner. It occurred on 4th
July, 1673, and Burnet, recording the event, wrote: "How much I lost in so
critical a conjuncture, being bereft of the truest and faithfullest friend I had
ever known: and so I say I was in danger of committing great errors for
want of so kind a monitor."
Under date of 6th July, 1673, Evelyn wrote in his Diary: "This evening I went
to the funeral of my dear and excellent friend, that good man and
accomplished gentleman, Sir Robert Murray, Secretary of Scotland. He
was buried by order of his Majesty in Westminster Abbey," and then he
added in a footnote: "He delighted in every occasion of doing good. He
had a superiority of genius and comprehension." Moray was not only buried
in the Abbey by the King's express command, but also at the King's
personal expense. His grave is by the Vestry, door, close to the grave of
Sir William Davenant, sometime laureate to Charles II; the name appearing
in the register as "Sir Robert Murray."
His memory remained green with John Evelyn, for six years afterwards - on
11th July, 1679 - writing to Dr. Beale, he said, referring to the Royal
Society: "You know what pillars we have lost, Palmer [Dudley Palmer, d.
1666, one of the first council, with Moray, of the Royal Society], Moray,
Evelyn made frequent mention of Moray in his Diary, as will be seen from
the following excerpts:
"9th March, 1661. I went with that excellent person and philosopher, Sir
Robert Murray, to
visit Mr. Boyle at
coliple for weighing air."
"9th May, 1661. At Sir Robert Murray's, where I met Dr. Wallis, Professor
of
Geometry at
subjects."
"22nd August, 1662 (the day after Evelyn was sworn one of the Council of
the Royal Society), I dined with my Lord Brouncker and Sir Robert Murray."
"25th January,
1665. This night being at
standing in the withdrawing room, and gave me thanks for publishing The
Mystery of Jesuitism, which he said he had carried two days in his pocket,
read it, and encouraged me; at which I did not a little wonder; I suppose
Sir Robert Murray had given it to him."
"19th July, 1670. I accompanied my worthy friend, that excellent man, Sir
Robert Murray, with Mr. Slingsby, Master of the Mint, to see the latter's seat
and estate at Barrow-Green in Cambridgeshire."
Wood, recording the demise of Moray, wrote: "He had the king's ear as
much as any other person and was indefatigable in his undertakings. . . .
He was most renowned chymist, a great patron of the Rosi-Crucians, and
an excellent mathematician. His several relations and matters of experiment,
which are in the Philosophical Transactions (of the Royal Society, many of
which referred to the phenomena of the tides) show him to be a man well
vers'd in experimental philosophy."
After his initiation into the Craft there is only one other record of his
attendance at a meeting of the Lodge of Edinburgh, which was on 27th
July, 1647, on the occasion of the admission of "William Maxwell, doctor off
Fisick ordinate to his Maj'stie hines," when he signed the minute of the
meeting. ln his correspondence, however, he frequently made use of his
Masonic mark (a five-pointed star), particularly in his correspondence with
Lauderdale, and this has been reproduced in the Lauderdale Papers
without comment, beyond the mere statement that Moray frequently made
use of his Mason mark when he referred to himself or had anything of
importance to communicate. If this had been an unusual occurrence in
correspondence at that day one would think that more notice would have
been taken of such an incident.
An interesting story might be woven around "Moray and his Circle," for the
men who composed that circle bore names which are familiar to every
student of the history of the Craft. Such men as Wren, Ashmole,
Brouncker, and others, all of whom are accredited with having been
initiated into Freemasonry. Moray's name, together with that of Christopher
Wren, is to be met with on almost every page of the early volumes of the
Journal of the Society.
It is also of interest - may it not even be said, of significance - to compare
the constitutions of the Royal Society with those of the Masonic Order.
Sprat, the earliest historian of the Royal Society, says that they freely
admitted men of different religions, countries, and professions. "This they
were obliged to do, or else they would come far short of the largeness of
their own declarations. For they openly profess not to lay the foundation of
an English, Scotch, Irish, Popish, or Protestant Philosophy, but a
Philosophy of Mankind." Members were elected by ballot, being proposed
at one meeting and balloted for at another. The duties of the President
were to call and dissolve the meetings, to propose the subjects for
discussion or experiment, to regulate the proceedings, to change the
enquiry from one thing to another, to admit the members elected. The
President, on his installation, took an oath as follows: "I . . . do promise to
deal faithfully and honestly in all things belonging to the Trust committed
to me, as President of the Royal Society of London for improving Natural
Knowledge. So help me God."
Whatever, however, may be the deductions on this ground, it will
unhesitatingly be admitted that none could more have sought the study of
the liberal arts and sciences that came within the compass of his attainment
than did Brother Sir Robert Moray, the first known initiate into the Craft of
Freemasonry on English soil.
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