Andrew Michael Ramsay
Encyclopedia
Andrew Michael Ramsay commonly called the Chevalier Ramsay, was a Scottish
-born writer who lived most of his adult life in France. He was a Baronet
in the Jacobite Peerage
.
Ramsay was born in Ayr
, Scotland, the son of a baker. He served with the English auxiliaries
in the Netherlands, and in 1710 visited François Fénelon
, who converted him to Roman Catholicism. He remained in France until 1724 writing politico-theological treatises. One of these was dedicated to the Jacobite
claimant to the English and Scottish thrones, James Francis Edward Stuart
. In January 1724, Ramsay was sent to Rome as tutor to James' two sons, Charles Edward
and Henry
. But his appointment was short-lived; Ramsay was associated with the court party of John Erskine, Duke of Mar
, who fell from favour that year. By November 1724 Ramsay was back in Paris.
Ramsay was in England in 1730, and received an honorary degree from the University of Oxford. The claim was nominally his discipleship to Fénelon, but in reality beyond doubt his connection with the Jacobite party. He died at St Germain-en-Laye (Ile-de-France
) on 6 May 1743.
He was a Christian universalist
, believing that all people would eventually be saved. He wrote "Almighty power, wisdom and love cannot be eternally frustrated in his absolute and ultimate designs; therefore God will at last pardon and re-establish in happiness all lapsed beings."
As a youth Ramsay was attracted to the mysticism of quietism
as practised in the circle of George Garden at Rosehearty
, centred on the teachings of Antoinette Bourignon
in a community along the lines of a similar one in Rijnsburg led by Pierre Poiret
, where people from different religious persuasions and social castes lived together.
In 1710 Ramsay travelled to Rijnsburg to meet Poiret and later met Jeanne Marie Bouvier de la Motte Guyon
known as Mme Guyon; from there he went on to stay with the elder Fénelon at Cambrai
(August 1710). He remained in his household for several years and became steady friends with the Marquis de Fénelon, a young relative of the archbishop and an ardent pupil of Mme Guyon. He wrote his Vie de Fénelon in loyal testimony to that period. From 1714 till 1716, Ramsay acted as secretary to Mme Guyon and he was present at Blois
on 9 June 1717 when she died.
Although Ramsay himself was converted to Catholicism by Fénelon, conversion was not deemed an option by Mme Guyon, who strongly advised the community around her to stick to the principles of their proper faith while meditating on Pure Love. In his Life of Fénelon(London, 1723) Ramsay stated his own insights of how Mme Guyon's system had affected him. Association with Fénelon, who as preceptor of the grandsons of Louis XIV had retained huge influence at Court, caused Ramsay to be remarked by the nobility, in particular by the Comte de Sassenage, whose son he tutored from 1718 till 1722.
In 1722 Ramsay became active in high level negotiations over a tax on assets of Jacobite
exiles proposed by the British government. By then Ramsay was already well acquainted with Cardinal Fleury, who after the death of the Regent Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
(1723) was to be the power of state behind Louis XV.
In 1723 Ramsay was knighted into the Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem, which had originated as a Crusader military order based in France for the protection of pilgrims. In 1724 he entered the Jacobite household in Rome. Court intrigue and the impracticability of his educational task – Bonnie Prince Charlie was only three-and-a-half years old – caused him to return to Paris in the same year.
From 1725 till 1728 he stayed as an invited guest at the Hôtel de Sully
under the patronage of Maximilien de Béthune, Duc de Sully, the husband of the widowed Comtesse de Vaux (daughter of Mme Guyon). During this period he frequented the Parisian literary club Club de l'Entresol
in the company of Rene-Louis Argenson, Lord Bolingbroke and Montesquieu. Against that background he wrote his Travels of Cyrus in 1727, which made him a best-selling author in his time, and for the revised edition of which he travelled to London (1729–30) where he was again in touch with Montesquieu.
Both were elected Fellows of the Royal Society
in December 1729. In 1730 Ramsay became a member of the Spalding Gentlemen's Society in Lincolnshire, a club in correspondence with the Society of Antiquaries of London
. Prominent members had included Sir Isaac Newton
, John Gay
and Alexander Pope
. Still another honour was conferred on Ramsay in 1730: the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Civil Law at Oxford University.
Prior to the conferrence of the academical titles (and apart of his Life of Fénelon and Travels of Cyrus) Ramsey had been remarked in the intellectual circles of his time. The influential Mémoires de Trévoux published several of his tracts – in 1732, his introduction to the mathematical work of Edmund Stone
– and remained favourable throughout to his philosophical contributions. In 1719 he had published an Essai de Politique, revised in 1721 as Essai philosophique sur le gouvernement, où l'on traite de la nécessité, de l'origine, des droits, des bornes et des differentes formes de souveraineté, selon les principes de feu M.François de Salignac de la Mothe Fénelon, archvèque-duc de Cambray and published in English translation in 1722.
Ramsay returned to France in 1730 and, following the death of the Duc de Sully, passed into the service of the Comte d'Évreux (the original patron of the Elysée Palace
), a prominent member of the family of la Tour d'Auvergne
and Bouillon
which had ties of marriage with the Jacobite Court, through Charlotte, the elder sister of Queen Clementina (Maria Klementyna Sobieska
), and bonds of loyal friendship to the circle around Fénelon, through the Cardinal de Bouillon
. It was the Cardinal de Bouillon who is said to have had the inspiration of having the family descend from Godfrey of Bouillon
, thus making the Crusader King of Jerusalem the totem
rather than the genetic precursor of the family (Henderson, 1952).
Ramsay's task in the Évreux household was to tutor a nephew, Godefroy Géraud, duc de Chateau-Thierry, son of the elder brother, Emanuel Theodose de la Tour d'Auvergne, Duc de Bouillon; shifting upon the death of Géraud to the tutorial of the Count's grand nephew, the Prince of Turenne, Godefroi Charles, son of Charles Godefroi, Duc de Bouillon, the head of the house.
It was for the Prince's education that Ramsay wrote the Histoire du Vicomte de Turenne, maréchal général des armées du roy (1735), using as documentary evidence (authorised by James Francis Edward Stuart
) the handwritten Mémoires du Duc d'York (James II
). These were the Memoirs of James II discovered by David Hume
in the Scots College in Paris in 1763 in the company of Michael Ramsay, the nephew of the Chevalier. The manuscripts were lost in the French Revolution
.
In June 1735 Ramsay married Marie Nairne (1701–1761), the daughter of Sir David Nairne, undersecretary to James III. For the occasion the Chevalier Ramsay was created a Scottish Knight and Baronet (23 March 1735) with remainder to heirs male. He had issue, a son and a daughter, but his son (1737–1740) died in infancy, and his daughter (1739–1758) from smallpox at the age of 19.
Ramsay lived until 1743 under the benevolent protection of the house of Bouillon, in St. Germain-en Laye, writing and studying, but above all preparing his magnum opus: Philosophical Principles of Natural and Revealed Religion, edited after his death (1748–49) by his wife and friends. This was, in Ramsay's words, "a history of the human mind in all ages, nations and religions concerning the most divine and important truths". Some "Chinese Letters" written by Ramsay remained unpublished.
from its introduction in France (1725–26). Charles Radclyffe
, Earl of Derwentwater, who acted as Grand Master for France beginning in 1736, was present at Ramsay's funeral. It is presumed that Ramsay's being a Mason facilitated his introduction into the Gentleman's Club of Spalding, of which the prominent Masonic propagator John Theophilus Desaguliers
was then also a member.
In 1737 Ramsay wrote his: Discourse pronounced at the reception of Freemasons by Monsieur de Ramsay, Grand Orator of the Order, in which he connected Freemasonry
with the Crusades
. His own stature as a Knight of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem may have inspired him, or perhaps even his zeal to propagate an alleged tradition linked to the house of Bouillon. In any case Ramsay thought his speech worthy of note by the prevailing religious authority, and he sent the text to Cardinal Fleury, asking for a Church blessing of the principles of Freemasonry as he had stated them: "The obligations imposed upon you by the Order are to protect your brothers by your authority, to enlighten them by your knowledge, to edify them by your virtues, to succour them in their necessities, to sacrifice all personal resentment, and to strive after all that may contribute to peace and unity of society."
To a Church already in difficulty over the deviating principles of the Society of Jesus
, not perhaps the cited reference, but the concept of Masonic ritual was entirely preposterous. To Ramsay's letter of 20 March 1737 came Cardinal Fleury's reply at the end of March interdicting all Masonic reunions.
It is frequently mistakenly repeated that Ramsey mentioned the Knights Templar
in his Discourse, when in fact he did not mention the Order at all - he mentioned the Knights Hospitaller
.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
-born writer who lived most of his adult life in France. He was a Baronet
Baronet
A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
in the Jacobite Peerage
Jacobite peerage
After the deposition by the English parliament in February 1689 of King James II and VII from the thrones of England and Ireland , he and his successors continued to create peers and baronets, which they believed was their right...
.
Ramsay was born in Ayr
Ayr
Ayr is a town and port situated on the Firth of Clyde in south-west Scotland. With a population of around 46,000, Ayr is the largest settlement in Ayrshire, of which it is the county town, and has held royal burgh status since 1205...
, Scotland, the son of a baker. He served with the English auxiliaries
Auxiliaries
An auxiliary force is a group affiliated with, but not part of, a military or police organization. In some cases, auxiliaries are armed forces operating in the same manner as regular soldiers...
in the Netherlands, and in 1710 visited François Fénelon
François Fénelon
François de Salignac de la Mothe-Fénelon, more commonly known as François Fénelon , was a French Roman Catholic archbishop, theologian, poet and writer...
, who converted him to Roman Catholicism. He remained in France until 1724 writing politico-theological treatises. One of these was dedicated to the Jacobite
Jacobitism
Jacobitism was the political movement in Britain dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, later the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Ireland...
claimant to the English and Scottish thrones, James Francis Edward Stuart
James Francis Edward Stuart
James Francis Edward, Prince of Wales was the son of the deposed James II of England...
. In January 1724, Ramsay was sent to Rome as tutor to James' two sons, Charles Edward
Charles Edward Stuart
Prince Charles Edward Louis John Casimir Sylvester Severino Maria Stuart commonly known as Bonnie Prince Charlie or The Young Pretender was the second Jacobite pretender to the thrones of Great Britain , and Ireland...
and Henry
Henry Benedict Stuart
Henry Benedict Stuart was a Roman Catholic Cardinal, as well as the fourth and final Jacobite heir to publicly claim the thrones of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Unlike his father, James Francis Edward Stuart, and brother, Charles Edward Stuart, Henry made no effort to seize the throne...
. But his appointment was short-lived; Ramsay was associated with the court party of John Erskine, Duke of Mar
Duke of Mar
The Jacobite title of Duke of Mar was conferred on John Erskine, 6th/23rd Earl of Mar by the Jacobite pretender James III and VIII. He was created Duke of Mar, Marquess Erskine or Marquess of Stirling, Earl of Kildrummie, Viscount of Garioch and Lord Alloa, Ferriton and Forrest in the notional...
, who fell from favour that year. By November 1724 Ramsay was back in Paris.
Ramsay was in England in 1730, and received an honorary degree from the University of Oxford. The claim was nominally his discipleship to Fénelon, but in reality beyond doubt his connection with the Jacobite party. He died at St Germain-en-Laye (Ile-de-France
Île-de-France (province)
The province of Île-de-France or Isle de France is an historical province of France, and the one at the centre of power during most of French history...
) on 6 May 1743.
He was a Christian universalist
Universal reconciliation
In Christian theology, universal reconciliation is the doctrine that all sinful and alienated human souls—because of divine love and mercy—will ultimately be reconciled to God.Universal salvation may be related to the perception of a problem of Hell, standing opposed to ideas...
, believing that all people would eventually be saved. He wrote "Almighty power, wisdom and love cannot be eternally frustrated in his absolute and ultimate designs; therefore God will at last pardon and re-establish in happiness all lapsed beings."
Biography
Albert Cherel (1917, 1926) and G. D. Henderson (1952), from their readings of the archival sources in France, England and Scotland, have greatly contributed to the biography of Ramsay.As a youth Ramsay was attracted to the mysticism of quietism
Quietism (Christian philosophy)
Quietism is a Christian philosophy that swept through France, Italy and Spain during the 17th century, but it had much earlier origins. The mystics known as Quietists insist, with more or less emphasis, on intellectual stillness and interior passivity as essential conditions of perfection...
as practised in the circle of George Garden at Rosehearty
Rosehearty
Rosehearty , Rizarty in the local dialect, is located on the Moray Firth coast, four miles west of the town Fraserburgh, in the historical county of Aberdeenshire in Scotland....
, centred on the teachings of Antoinette Bourignon
Antoinette Bourignon
Antoinette Bourignon de la Porte was a Flemish mystic. From an early age she was under the influence of religion, which took in course of time a mystical turn.-Biography:...
in a community along the lines of a similar one in Rijnsburg led by Pierre Poiret
Pierre Poiret
Pierre Poiret was a prominent 17th century French mystic and Christian philosopher. He was born at Metz April 15, 1646 and died at Rijnsburg Pierre Poiret was a prominent 17th century French mystic and Christian philosopher. He was born at Metz April 15, 1646 and died at Rijnsburg Pierre Poiret was...
, where people from different religious persuasions and social castes lived together.
In 1710 Ramsay travelled to Rijnsburg to meet Poiret and later met Jeanne Marie Bouvier de la Motte Guyon
Jeanne Marie Bouvier de la Motte Guyon
Jeanne-Marie Bouvier de la Motte-Guyon was a French mystic and one of the key advocates of Quietism...
known as Mme Guyon; from there he went on to stay with the elder Fénelon at Cambrai
Cambrai
Cambrai is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.Cambrai is the seat of an archdiocese whose jurisdiction was immense during the Middle Ages. The territory of the Bishopric of Cambrai, roughly coinciding with the shire of Brabant, included...
(August 1710). He remained in his household for several years and became steady friends with the Marquis de Fénelon, a young relative of the archbishop and an ardent pupil of Mme Guyon. He wrote his Vie de Fénelon in loyal testimony to that period. From 1714 till 1716, Ramsay acted as secretary to Mme Guyon and he was present at Blois
Blois
Blois is the capital of Loir-et-Cher department in central France, situated on the banks of the lower river Loire between Orléans and Tours.-History:...
on 9 June 1717 when she died.
Although Ramsay himself was converted to Catholicism by Fénelon, conversion was not deemed an option by Mme Guyon, who strongly advised the community around her to stick to the principles of their proper faith while meditating on Pure Love. In his Life of Fénelon(London, 1723) Ramsay stated his own insights of how Mme Guyon's system had affected him. Association with Fénelon, who as preceptor of the grandsons of Louis XIV had retained huge influence at Court, caused Ramsay to be remarked by the nobility, in particular by the Comte de Sassenage, whose son he tutored from 1718 till 1722.
In 1722 Ramsay became active in high level negotiations over a tax on assets of Jacobite
Jacobitism
Jacobitism was the political movement in Britain dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, later the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Ireland...
exiles proposed by the British government. By then Ramsay was already well acquainted with Cardinal Fleury, who after the death of the Regent Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
Philippe d'Orléans was a member of the royal family of France and served as Regent of the Kingdom from 1715 to 1723. Born at his father's palace at Saint-Cloud, he was known from birth under the title of Duke of Chartres...
(1723) was to be the power of state behind Louis XV.
In 1723 Ramsay was knighted into the Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem, which had originated as a Crusader military order based in France for the protection of pilgrims. In 1724 he entered the Jacobite household in Rome. Court intrigue and the impracticability of his educational task – Bonnie Prince Charlie was only three-and-a-half years old – caused him to return to Paris in the same year.
From 1725 till 1728 he stayed as an invited guest at the Hôtel de Sully
Hôtel de Sully
The Hôtel de Sully is a hôtel particulier, or private mansion, in the Louis XIII style, located in the Le Marais, IV arondissement, Paris. It is located at 62 rue Saint-Antoine.-History:...
under the patronage of Maximilien de Béthune, Duc de Sully, the husband of the widowed Comtesse de Vaux (daughter of Mme Guyon). During this period he frequented the Parisian literary club Club de l'Entresol
Club de l'Entresol
The Club de l'Entresol |Mezzanine]] Club) was a think-tank, club and discussion group founded in 1724 by Pierre-Joseph Alary and Charles-Irénée Castel de Saint-Pierre on the English model for free discussion of political and economic questions...
in the company of Rene-Louis Argenson, Lord Bolingbroke and Montesquieu. Against that background he wrote his Travels of Cyrus in 1727, which made him a best-selling author in his time, and for the revised edition of which he travelled to London (1729–30) where he was again in touch with Montesquieu.
Both were elected Fellows of the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
in December 1729. In 1730 Ramsay became a member of the Spalding Gentlemen's Society in Lincolnshire, a club in correspondence with the Society of Antiquaries of London
Society of Antiquaries of London
The Society of Antiquaries of London is a learned society "charged by its Royal Charter of 1751 with 'the encouragement, advancement and furtherance of the study and knowledge of the antiquities and history of this and other countries'." It is based at Burlington House, Piccadilly, London , and is...
. Prominent members had included Sir Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."...
, John Gay
John Gay
John Gay was an English poet and dramatist and member of the Scriblerus Club. He is best remembered for The Beggar's Opera , set to music by Johann Christoph Pepusch...
and Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope was an 18th-century English poet, best known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer. He is the third-most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, after Shakespeare and Tennyson...
. Still another honour was conferred on Ramsay in 1730: the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Civil Law at Oxford University.
Prior to the conferrence of the academical titles (and apart of his Life of Fénelon and Travels of Cyrus) Ramsey had been remarked in the intellectual circles of his time. The influential Mémoires de Trévoux published several of his tracts – in 1732, his introduction to the mathematical work of Edmund Stone
Edmund Stone
Reverend Edward Stone was a Church of England Rector who discovered the active ingredient of Aspirin.- Biography :Edward Stone was born in Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire, England in 1702 into a family that had been farming in Princes Risborough since 1580...
– and remained favourable throughout to his philosophical contributions. In 1719 he had published an Essai de Politique, revised in 1721 as Essai philosophique sur le gouvernement, où l'on traite de la nécessité, de l'origine, des droits, des bornes et des differentes formes de souveraineté, selon les principes de feu M.François de Salignac de la Mothe Fénelon, archvèque-duc de Cambray and published in English translation in 1722.
Ramsay returned to France in 1730 and, following the death of the Duc de Sully, passed into the service of the Comte d'Évreux (the original patron of the Elysée Palace
Élysée Palace
The Élysée Palace is the official residence of the President of the French Republic, containing his office, and is where the Council of Ministers meets. It is located near the Champs-Élysées in Paris....
), a prominent member of the family of la Tour d'Auvergne
La Tour d'Auvergne
La Tour d'Auvergne was a French noble family. Its senior branch, extinct in 1501, held the titles of count of Auvergne and count of Boulogne for about half a century. Its junior branch, extinct in 1802, held the title of duke of Bouillon since 1594 and the titles of duke of Albret and duke of...
and Bouillon
Bouillon
Bouillon is a municipality in Belgium. It lies in the country's Walloon Region and Luxembourg Province.The municipality, which covers 149.09 km², had 5,477 inhabitants, giving a population density of 36.7 inhabitants per km².- History :...
which had ties of marriage with the Jacobite Court, through Charlotte, the elder sister of Queen Clementina (Maria Klementyna Sobieska
Maria Klementyna Sobieska
Maria Clementina Sobieska was a Polish noblewoman, the granddaughter of the Polish king John III Sobieski.-Biography:...
), and bonds of loyal friendship to the circle around Fénelon, through the Cardinal de Bouillon
Cardinal de Bouillon
Emmanuel Théodose de La Tour d'Auvergne was a French prelate and diplomat, known as the Cardinal de Bouillon.-Biography:...
. It was the Cardinal de Bouillon who is said to have had the inspiration of having the family descend from Godfrey of Bouillon
Godfrey of Bouillon
Godfrey of Bouillon was a medieval Frankish knight who was one of the leaders of the First Crusade from 1096 until his death. He was the Lord of Bouillon, from which he took his byname, from 1076 and the Duke of Lower Lorraine from 1087...
, thus making the Crusader King of Jerusalem the totem
Totem
A totem is a stipulated ancestor of a group of people, such as a family, clan, group, lineage, or tribe.Totems support larger groups than the individual person. In kinship and descent, if the apical ancestor of a clan is nonhuman, it is called a totem...
rather than the genetic precursor of the family (Henderson, 1952).
Ramsay's task in the Évreux household was to tutor a nephew, Godefroy Géraud, duc de Chateau-Thierry, son of the elder brother, Emanuel Theodose de la Tour d'Auvergne, Duc de Bouillon; shifting upon the death of Géraud to the tutorial of the Count's grand nephew, the Prince of Turenne, Godefroi Charles, son of Charles Godefroi, Duc de Bouillon, the head of the house.
It was for the Prince's education that Ramsay wrote the Histoire du Vicomte de Turenne, maréchal général des armées du roy (1735), using as documentary evidence (authorised by James Francis Edward Stuart
James Francis Edward Stuart
James Francis Edward, Prince of Wales was the son of the deposed James II of England...
) the handwritten Mémoires du Duc d'York (James II
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
). These were the Memoirs of James II discovered by David Hume
David Hume
David Hume was a Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist, known especially for his philosophical empiricism and skepticism. He was one of the most important figures in the history of Western philosophy and the Scottish Enlightenment...
in the Scots College in Paris in 1763 in the company of Michael Ramsay, the nephew of the Chevalier. The manuscripts were lost in the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
.
In June 1735 Ramsay married Marie Nairne (1701–1761), the daughter of Sir David Nairne, undersecretary to James III. For the occasion the Chevalier Ramsay was created a Scottish Knight and Baronet (23 March 1735) with remainder to heirs male. He had issue, a son and a daughter, but his son (1737–1740) died in infancy, and his daughter (1739–1758) from smallpox at the age of 19.
Ramsay lived until 1743 under the benevolent protection of the house of Bouillon, in St. Germain-en Laye, writing and studying, but above all preparing his magnum opus: Philosophical Principles of Natural and Revealed Religion, edited after his death (1748–49) by his wife and friends. This was, in Ramsay's words, "a history of the human mind in all ages, nations and religions concerning the most divine and important truths". Some "Chinese Letters" written by Ramsay remained unpublished.
Freemasonry
Ramsay was associated with FreemasonryFreemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
from its introduction in France (1725–26). Charles Radclyffe
Charles Radclyffe
Charles Radclyffe titular 5th Earl of Derwentwater, who claimed the title Fifth Earl of Derwentwater...
, Earl of Derwentwater, who acted as Grand Master for France beginning in 1736, was present at Ramsay's funeral. It is presumed that Ramsay's being a Mason facilitated his introduction into the Gentleman's Club of Spalding, of which the prominent Masonic propagator John Theophilus Desaguliers
John Theophilus Desaguliers
John Theophilus Desaguliers was a natural philosopher born in France. He was a member of the Royal Society of London beginning 29 July 1714. He was presented with the Royal Society's highest honour, the Copley Medal, in 1734, 1736 and 1741, with the 1741 award being for his discovery of the...
was then also a member.
In 1737 Ramsay wrote his: Discourse pronounced at the reception of Freemasons by Monsieur de Ramsay, Grand Orator of the Order, in which he connected Freemasonry
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
with the Crusades
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
. His own stature as a Knight of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem may have inspired him, or perhaps even his zeal to propagate an alleged tradition linked to the house of Bouillon. In any case Ramsay thought his speech worthy of note by the prevailing religious authority, and he sent the text to Cardinal Fleury, asking for a Church blessing of the principles of Freemasonry as he had stated them: "The obligations imposed upon you by the Order are to protect your brothers by your authority, to enlighten them by your knowledge, to edify them by your virtues, to succour them in their necessities, to sacrifice all personal resentment, and to strive after all that may contribute to peace and unity of society."
To a Church already in difficulty over the deviating principles of the Society of Jesus
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
, not perhaps the cited reference, but the concept of Masonic ritual was entirely preposterous. To Ramsay's letter of 20 March 1737 came Cardinal Fleury's reply at the end of March interdicting all Masonic reunions.
It is frequently mistakenly repeated that Ramsey mentioned the Knights Templar
Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
in his Discourse, when in fact he did not mention the Order at all - he mentioned the Knights Hospitaller
Knights Hospitaller
The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta , also known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta , Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, is a Roman Catholic lay religious order, traditionally of military, chivalrous, noble nature. It is the world's...
.
Works cited
- Cherel, Albert. 1917. "André Michel Ramsay – Sa vie" =Chpt II in Fénelon au XVIIIe siècle en France. Paris: Librairie Hachette ed.
- Cherel, Albert. 1926. "Un aventurier religieux au XVIIIe sciècle, André Michel Ramsay" Paris: Perrin.
- George David Henderson. 1952. Chevalier Ramsay. London: Thomas Nelson and Sons.
- Dupriez, Bernard. 1965. Fénelon: Écrits Spirituels – Extaits. Paris: Nouveaux Classiques Larousse.