Jacobite Studies Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Ric Berman's latest offering provides a fascinating insight into the intelligence war waged by employees of the Whig government against the ever-present threat of Jacobite plots and conspiracies in Britain in the early to mid-eighteenth century. Berman approaches this theme via two related subjects: first, Charles Delafaye (1677-1762), who was the Whig and pro-Hanoverian under-secretary for the Northern and Southern departments, as well as being a Freemason, spy master and Justice of the Peace, and second, the aptly named 'Secret Department of the Post Office' and its Deciphering Branch-key weapons in the Hanoverian anti-Jacobite arsenal. Berman begins by demonstrating how James Anderson, in his Constitutions of 1723, helped to usher in important changes into Freemasonry, including new Masonic passages that reinforced loyalty to the government and monarchy. Berman explains how the formation of the Grand Lodge in 1717 (this date is now being challenged by historians) was in large part a political reaction to the extant Jacobite threat, and in particular to the attempted Stuart restoration of 1715. The illustrious Horn Tavern Lodge (and several other London lodges) are shown by Berman to have been bastions of pro-Hanoverian loyalty and he identifies several brethren, such as Charles Delafaye, Thomas Pelham-Holles (Secretary of State for the Southern Department) and John Lefebure (Head of the Secret Department of the Post Office), as occupying senior positions within Walpole's Whig government (Robert Walpole was also a Freemason). These posts were largely concerned with national security, counter surveillance, intelligence gathering, spying, and the secret opening and decryption of suspected Jacobite or criminal correspondence. In addition, several postmaster generals and employees within the Secret Office of the Post Office and the Deciphering Branch were also known Freemasons. Charles Delafaye, was a Huguenot, Member of Parliament for Westminster, and a loyal servant to the crown and government, who served as under-secretary to both the Northern Department (1717-24) and Southern Department (1724-34). He was a key conduit between the Secretaries of State and the Secret Department of the Post Office, a covert department that was established around 1660 in order to oversee the interception of mail from international and domestic sources that was suspected of containing treasonable content. Letters would be opened in receipt of a warrant (which was often postdated). The contents of letters would then be deciphered and copied if necessary, before being resealed and sent on. Berman shows the successful outcomes of opening correspondence that was suspected of containing treasonable material can be measured in the department's substantial contribution to the failure of the Jacobite plots of 1717, 1719 and the abortive and potentially very serious Atterbury Plot of 1721 (Francis Atterbury, Bishop of Rochester, has now been identified by Dr. Robert Collis as the 'Great Prelate' of the Jacobite Order of Toboso in France). Berman also highlights the important connection between several of Walpole's most loyal and trustworthy employees and their religion. Most notably, in this regard, was the employment of Huguenots, such as Delafaye and John Theophilus Desaguliers, in important positions of power in the British government and within the Craft. Delafaye and Desaguliers were friends and fellow brothers of Horn Tavern Lodge and were both instrumental in the founding and direction of early Grand Lodge Freemasonry. The second half of Berman's study investigates the use of spies by the Whig government, several of whom were known Freemasons. It is well documented that Walpole took the Jacobite threat very seriously and ordered the creation of an international spy network to infiltrate Jacobite circles in order to gather intelligence, create subterfuge and spread disinformation. In this clandestine world, the identification and apprehension of Jacobite spies was a priority. If possible, it was also sought to enlist them as double agents. At the centre of the spy network was Charles Delafaye, the government's anti-Jacobite spymaster, who additionally oversaw the Press. Several of these spies were Freemasons, who acted as part-time information gatherers rather than as full-time government agents. Berman here cites William Dugood, Vincent La Chapelle, Charles Labelye, Philip von Stosch and John Coustos.
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