The first known references to the Order of the Secret Monitor are known to be Dutch in origin, being first mentioned in 1778 as the Order of Jonathan and David in connection with an Order of Jesus Christ. However, the Masonic degree as we know it today, arose in the United States around 1850, under various titles – “Brotherly Love,” “Jonathan and David,” and finally “Secret Monitor”, as a side degree conferred by any Freemason who had received it himself.
It was taken to the United Kingdom by Isachar Zacharie when he returned from America following the American Civil War in 1875. Under Zacharie’s leadership a Grand Council was formed in 1887, and the ritual was expanded to include two extra degrees, one of which pertained to the chair of Supreme Ruler. The degree gained in popularity. The Order is sometimes known as the Brotherhood of David and Jonathan. All Master Masons are eligible for membership of this Order.
The Order meets in Conclaves, each with a Supreme Ruler at its head. There are three degrees in the order, as practised in the UK. The first degree, the Secret Monitor in which the legend of David and Jonathan is acted out in the ceremony of induction. The second degree, Prince, the admission ceremony is derived from the Book of Samuel in the Old Testament. The third degree is the ceremony of installation of Supreme Ruler and is normally carried out once a year at the installation meeting.
The glass was given at the formation of the Province of the Channel Islands that was constituted on the 26th September 1998, there are two conclaves in Jersey, Harold Manners and Fedelé Amiétchi and the Le Marchant Conclave No.421 in Guernsey.
Pictured is the glass we have put a piece of black paper in the glass to make it easier to see the etching.
