The Hellfire Club
The Rise and Fall of a Shocking Secret Society
Daniel P. Mannix
- The
- author
- of
- The
- Way
- of
- the
- Gladiator
- turns
- from
- the
- arenas
- of
- ancient
- Rome
- to
- the
- center
- of
- debauchery
- and
- impiety
- in
- eighteenth-century
- England.“Stranger,
- refuse,
- if
- you
- can,
- what
- we
- have
- to
- offer.”
- These
- words,
- engraved
- in
- Latin,
- welcomed
- visitors
- to
- a
- rebuilt
- medieval
- abbey
- on
- the
- banks
- of
- the
- Thames.
- Adorned
- with
- stained-glass
- windows
- featuring
- the
- twelve
- apostles
- in
- indecent
- poses
- and
- a
- pornographic
- fresco
- on
- the
- ceiling,
- the
- abbey
- was
- the
- brainchild
- of
- Sir
- Francis
- Dashwood,
- a
- baronet
- and
- heir
- to
- a
- great
- fortune.There,
- Dashwood’s
- Hellfire
- Club
- was
- born,
- including
- among
- its
- members
- some
- of
- the
- most
- influential
- figures
- of
- the
- time,
- including
- the
- prime
- minister
- of
- England,
- the
- mayor
- of
- London,
- several
- of
- England’s
- greatest
- artists
- and
- poets,
- the
- Prince
- of
- Wales,
- and
- even
- Benjamin
- Franklin.
- And
- it
- was
- dedicated
- to
- the
- practice
- of
- black
- magic,
- sexual
- orgies,
- and
- political
- conspiracies.Placing
- the
- Hellfire
- Club
- in
- the
- context
- of
- the
- turbulent
- era
- that
- spawned
- it,
- Daniel
- P.
- Mannix
- chronicles
- the
- club’s
- heady
- glory
- days
- to
- its
- ultimate
- demise.
- Placed
- far
- above
- the
- law,
- the
- society’s
- wealthy,
- noble
- rakes
- and
- rogues
- surrendered
- to
- their
- basest
- urges
- and
- set
- out
- to
- ridicule
- and
- destroy
- moral
- conventions—respect
- for
- the
- monarchy,
- religion,
- and
- decency—and
- to
- a
- large
- extent,
- they
- succeeded,
- and
- even
- changed
- the
- course
- of
- history
- .
- . .
pro-mbooks3 : libris
