MASONRY. 



715 



don, united in 1813 (of which the second part 

 appeared in 1815), the traits of the ancient York 

 instrument are always to be recognised. The fol- 

 lowing are the most important duties (charges) of 

 the masons, as they appear in the edition of 1784, 

 and, with few alterations, in the constitutions of 

 1815: The mason is bound to obey the laws of 

 morality, and if he understands the principles of the 

 society, he will neither be an atheist nor a profligate. 

 Though the masons of ancient times were obliged to 

 profess the religion of their country, whatever that 

 might be, it is considered now more beneficial to bind 

 them to that religion alone in which all men agree, 

 and to leave to each his peculiar opinions ; they are 

 to be men of probity and honour, whatever may be 

 their differences in name or in opinion. By this, 

 says the constitution, masonry becomes the central 

 point of union, and the means of establishing friend- 

 ship among persons who, without it, would live in 

 continual separation. The mason is to be a peace- 

 able subject or citizen, and never to allow himself to 

 be involved in riots or conspiracies against the 

 public peace and the welfare of the nation. No 

 private hatred or feud shall be carried to the thresh- 

 old of the lodge, still less political, or religious dis- 

 putes, as the masons, in this capacity, are only of the 

 above-named general religion : masons are of all 

 nations and tongues, and decidedly against political 

 feuds, which never have been favourable to the wel- 

 fare of the lodges, nor ever will be. 



The second of the above mentioned documents 

 was written under Henry VI. of England, first 

 printed in the Gentleman's Magazine, in 1753, 

 p. 417 et seq., and, since then, has been repeatedly 

 reprinted. 



The last of the three documents is the ancient 

 mode of admitting masons, as it is still exercised by 

 all the masons of the ancient English system. It 

 contains some customs of the Roman colleges, and of 

 the most ancient Christian monks and ascetics. 

 From this ritual, that of the new English grand 

 lodge, contained in Browne's Master Key (London, 

 1802), differs in some important particulars, though 

 they agree in spirit. 



The first lodge in France, after the English sys- 

 tem, was established in Paris, in 1725; in Germany 

 (in Hamburg), in 1735; in America, 1730. The 

 more the order was extended, the less intimate be- 

 came the connexion of the lodges ; secessions took 

 place; new systems were established; rivalry often 

 occurred ; to the three first degrees, of apprentice, 

 companion, and master, additional ones were added ; 

 in fact, it would be difficult at present to give a 

 general character of masons, so numerous are their 

 lodges, and so various their characters. They have, 

 in many places, done much good, by assisting the 

 poor, establishing schools, &c. In some countries, 

 they have excited the suspicions of the government, 

 have been prohibited and persecuted, as in Spain. 

 Pope Clement XII. excommunicated them. As we 

 have already said, the society has been sometimes 

 used for bad purposes. These, however, are de- 

 clared, by the members, to be foreign from its spirit. 

 According to some masons, the society requires a 

 total renovation. During the time of Napoleon, 

 there often existed lodges in the different regiments. 

 The activity of the masonic societies, in the French 

 revolution ; the use of their forms by the Carbonari ; 

 their titles and ceremonies, which have too often been 

 made mere instruments of ostentation, we have not 

 room to describe. Of late, the society has attracted 

 a peculiar interest in the United States of America, 

 in consequence of the abduction of a certain William 

 Morgan, attributed to some of its members. The 

 opponents of masonry ascribe this act to the funda- 



mental principles of the society, and therefore con- 

 sider its existence as inconsistent with the security of 

 the community. The subject has given rise to a 

 violent contest. A brief statement of the facts of 

 the Morgan case will be found in a note below.* 

 We refer the reader, for further information on the 

 subject of Free Masonry to Preston's Illustrations of 

 Masonry (8th edition, London, 1812) ; Lawrie's 



* William Morgan was a native of Virginia, but, for some 

 time previous to the autumn of 1826, had been an inhabitant of 

 the western part of the state of New York. As early as the 

 month of August of that year, it became generally known that 

 he was engaged in preparing for the press a work by which the 

 obligations and secret proceedings of freemasonry were to be 

 divulged. Some members of the fraternity in and about Ba- 

 tavia, where Morgan then resided, were alarmed, and eventu- 

 ally became much excited, on account of the contemplated 

 publication. Remonstrances ami inducements to dissuade him 

 from such a course of conduct, were resorted to by his brother 

 masons, but in vain. At length a conspiracy was formed^ in- 

 cluding in its origin, or at its subsequent stages, no inconsider- 

 able number of persons, for the purpose of separating Morgan 

 from those who had engaged him to undertake, and were 

 encouraging him to go on with the development of the secrets 

 of the masonic order. Given up to an unaccountable infatua- 

 tion, they commenced the execution of this ill-advised project, 

 by taking him, on the 10th or llth of September, 1826, from 

 Batavia, under the pretence of a charge for petit larceny, to 

 Canandaigua. The criminal charge was abandoned, and a 

 civil suit instituted against him. A judgment for a small 

 amount was'recovered, and he was committed, by virtue of an 

 execution issued thereon, to the jail of Ontario county. On 

 the evening of the 12th of September he was discharged by the 

 interference of some of the conspirators, and, as he passed out 

 of the door of the jail, was seized by them, taken a small dis- 

 tance, and then forcibly put into a carriage. He was carried, 

 in the course of that night, on to the Ridge road, about two 

 miles beyond the village of Rochester. During the next day 

 and night, he was taken to Lewiston, a distance of seventy or 

 eighty miles, and from thence to Fort Niagara, at the mouth 

 of the Niagara river. Soon after his abduction, it was ascer- 

 tained, to a reasonable degree of certainty, that he had been 

 taken to Fort Niagara : but for some time an almost impene- 



uiuUght to'a tragical eiiu. ne \v;is eieuureu lu me magazine 01 

 that fort, which was at that time unoccupied by any of the 

 forces of the United States. Soon after he was brought to that 

 place, those who had him in charge were much embarrassed to 

 devise what to do with him. Consultations were held on the 

 subject, and some of the party proposed to take his life, which 

 they alleged he had forfeited by violating the obligations he 

 had voluntarily taken on himself when he became connected 

 with the masonic fratennity, or in the subsequent stages of his 

 advancement to its higher distinctions ; but others protested 

 against such a violent and wicked course. When all the cir- 

 cumstances are considered, and the evidence given on this 

 point is well weighed, they seem to be sufficient to bring any 

 candid mind to the conclusion that this proposition was finally 

 adopted and executed : but it is not fully known who adopted 

 it, or by whose hands it was executed. The number of those 

 directly concerned in the final catastrophe is believed to be 

 small ; it is also believed that those who first formed the con- 

 spiracy to carry him off, and those who subsequently became 

 connected with it by lending their aid in carrying him to Fort 

 Niagara, did not intend or anticipate the termination to which 

 this affair was brought. Indeed, it is reasonable to conclude 

 that the design upon his life was suggested by the embarrass- 

 ment which those felt who were called on to make a further 

 disposition of him after his arrival at Fort Niagara. This 

 outrage upon the liberty of a fellow-citizen, and contempt of 

 the laws of the land, from the protection of which this citizen 

 had been violently taken, roused the indignation of the com- 

 munity in the midst of which the offence was committed. 

 They demanded their fellow-citizen : he was not produced, 

 nor could he be found. They anxiously sought to know his 

 fate, but they long sought in vain. The public excitement 

 increased in intenseness, and spread over a wider region of 

 country. Those who partook of it largely did not stop to 

 discriminate. The single circumstance that an individual had 

 a high standing in the masonic order, was sufficient evidence, 

 to tlu-ir minds, of his participation in the crime. Finally, the 

 whole fraternity were regarded as in some manner implicated 

 in the transaction. It is believed by some, and perhaps alleged 

 by more, to have been the natural consequence of the dis- 

 cipline of the masonic institution. A current of feeling so 

 strong and so deep was soon turned to political purposes. An 

 anti-masonic party was immediately formed ; it predominates 

 in several of the counties in the western part of New York, 

 and has converts in every part of the state, and in many other 

 parts of the Union. This party is numerous, active, well or- 

 ganized, and everywhere seeking political ascendency, not 

 only in the several statet>, but in the general government of the 

 :ouutry. 



