Darren Lorente-Bull

Freemasonry started off as the domain of skilled working men, the operative builders of cathedrals, churches and castles in the Middle Ages. These were men - rarely but on a few odd occasions women too- who without being members of the royal household or the nobility, enjoyed certain privileges and mobility in a time when most people lived and died in the same village or hamlet where they had been born and rarely would ever set foot outside of it. These Master Builders were the forerunners of the Freemasons and celebrated the new apprentices and members of the guild in ritual ceremonies such as the ones described in the Halliwell Manuscript, where references to Sacred Geometry, Euclid and Ancient Egypt are made in relation to the building trade. Eventually, with the advent of the Renaissance, these operative lodges opened up and started to accept non operative masons such as Elias Ashmole for example, who was initiated in 1646 attracted by the discreet atmosphere and fr...

The true basis of morality is utility; that is, the adaptation of our actions to the promotion of the general welfare and happiness; the endeavour so to rule our lives that we may serve and bless mankind. Annie Besant   Emma had only been working in the factory for a year. At first, she ignored the tooth aches and the swelling of her gums. She was happy that she had the job which despite the long hours and hard conditions afforded her a salary allowing her to feed her three children and put a roof above their heads in that small and cramped tenement in Dorset Street. Eventually, the pain become unbearable and when she finally managed to save the fee for the local physician, a rather aloof and stern middle-aged man, he diagnosed Emma with a case of ‘phossy jaw’. Emma already knew. Two of her work colleagues, Mrs Murphy and Miss Ingham had already caught the disease. Mrs Murphy was lucky that her husband, a coach man, had savings and a good job as well as a kind dispositi...