A career across several countries
Smith was born in Greenwich, but his exact birth and death dates remain uncertain. Archival research traces him through a 1748 marriage in Utrecht, work teaching English and trading books in the Netherlands, and later military and lodge connections in Germany. In 1772 he became inspector at the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich. His military publications included the Universal Military Dictionary of 1779.
He became Provincial Grand Master of Kent and served as master of the Royal Military Lodge at Woolwich. His disagreements with Grand Lodge went beyond literary matters: initiating prisoners at the King’s Bench prison brought a formal censure. In 1785 he was expelled after issuing a forged certificate recommending two brethren for assistance.
Defending Masonry in print
The Use and Abuse of Freemasonry first appeared in 1783 without the approval Smith had sought from Grand Lodge. The held edition is the New York reprint of 1866, published by the Masonic Publishing and Manufacturing Company. Smith presents Masonry as an instrument of moral improvement and social fellowship, celebrating its spread while defending its ceremonies and institutions.
The contents combine narratives of antiquity with discussion of secrecy, oaths, charity, lodge government and the building and dedication of Freemasons’ Hall. A section addressing women explains their exclusion from membership, despite the subtitle’s promise of special usefulness to female readers. Much of Smith’s historical account drew on earlier Masonic writers. He presented ancient continuity as part of Masonry’s identity, drawing on traditions that do not establish an unbroken institutional history.
