The North Carolina Mason

Authors of the 1723 Constitutions A lthough Freemasonry's 1723 Constitutions are known as Anderson's Constitutions, the authorship was not the sole effort of James Anderson but of a triumvirate that included two others: George Payne and Jean Theophilus Desaguliers, with Desaguliers the driving force behind the endeavour. Born March 12, 1683, at Aytré, near La Rochelle, to a Huguenot-French Protestant family that fled France the same year, Jean Theophilus Desaguliers was brought up in London in relative poverty. His father, also Jean, became one of five deacons practicing at the French Anglican church in Swallow Street near present-day Piccadilly Circus. His pay was minimal and although supplemented by fees for baptisms, deaths and marriages, this work was limited and he received little more than a subsistence wage. Poverty and financial insecurity were not uncommon in the Huguenot community. Around 50,000-80,000 refugees had fled to England to escape persecution in France, with some 40,000- 50,000 settling in London where they represented around 8-10 percent of the population. Unable to support his family as a clergyman, Desaguliers' father left Swallow Street to establish a French School in Islington, north of the City of London, and it was here that Desaguliers received his primary education. He was exceptionally bright and went on to study at Bishop Vesey's School in the midlands before being admitted in 1705 to Christ Church, Oxford, as a servitor scholar. At Oxford Desaguliers read divinity and natural philosophy. His tutor, John Keill, a Fellow of the Royal Society, introduced him to Sir Isaac Newton, its president, and to the Duke of Chandos, one of England's wealthiest men. Newton's sponsorship led to Desaguliers' election as an FRS in 1714, with his fees waived "in consideration of his great usefulness to the Royal Society." Desaguliers was also made the Society's demonstrator, in effect Newton's assistant. And in Chandos, Desaguliers secured a well- connected and wealthy patron whose endorsement led to a stream of paid scientific consultancies. Alongside, Desaguliers enhanced his earnings by giving fashionable scientific demonstrations and lectures. Science was emerging into popular culture and interest in new scientific theories had spread beyond Oxford, Cambridge and the Royal Society to coffee houses and taverns across Britain. Desaguliers entertained as well as informed, demonstrating to his audiences the effects of electricity, the physical properties of gases, optics, and the orbits of the planets. The lectures were both popular and remunerative, and Desaguliers gained a reputation as the foremost scientific lecturer of the age. As a member of the new Grand Lodge and its third Grand Master in 1719, Desaguliers became a pivotal figure within Freemasonry. His status gave him influence and he re-worked Freemasonry's Charges and altered English Ritual to incorporate Enlightenment philosophical concepts. He also helped to develop a governance structure for Freemasonry, oversaw the introduction of lectures at lodge meetings, and introduced or, as he termed it, "revived," the "ancient toasts" at Masonic dinners and promoted Masonic benevolence. George Payne (c.1685-1757), one of Desaguliers' close friends, was born in Chester. Although he did not attend university, his younger brother, Thomas, was a contemporary of Desaguliers at Christ Church where he was also a servitor scholar. George Payne moved from Chester to London in around 1711 to take up a job as a clerk in the Leather 22 | T H E M A S O N M AGA Z I N E

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