Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
This Morgan Affair.
the theory of murder and throws us upon further inquiries . All the rumours started by the gossips of that day , concerning Morgan and the pretended confessions of participators in the murder of Morgan , prove upon examination to be baselessand we can only
, fall back , as so many wiser inquisitors of the day did , upon the honest confession , " we have no knowledge of his fate . " That the abduction itself was a piece of folly from its inception to its completionand calculated to prove a
lament-, able failure and involve the actors in serious troubles , is easy enough at the present clay to charge . It was founded upon two serious mistakes in the minds of the actors , thc exposition of which forms a prominent purpose in the preparation of
this article . These mistakes were : First—That the contemplated publication by Morgan would be fatal to the maintenance of Masonic secrecy . Second—That it was a covenanted duty of Freemasons to take justice into their hands in the punishment of a traitor . AVe remark briefly upon each of the points :
1 st . —Masonic " Expositions " have abounded in English Literature ever since 1828 . Scores of them , of all names and assumptions and degrees of venality , can be seen upon the shelves of those who are curious in such matters . They have abounded equally in the French and
German tongues as in the English , and being accessible in book shops , and offered at the lowest prices , no man is so poor but what if he likes , he can have a ( pretended ) " Exposition of the secrets of Masonry . " These publications have done Freemasonry
no injury . Based primarily upon the most hideous falsehood and violation of a trust , purchasers open them with no confidence in their correctness , and find little within their lids to inspire it . To set upon a scheme of abduction in violation
of law , and to involve the whole fraternit y in a persecution for the sake of smothering an " Exposition , " was oue of the most unfortunate mistakes that ever Freemasonry committed . Had they permitted Morgan to publish his book it must have fallen still-born , or at the best , taken its place upon the book-shelf with the long array of its contemptible predecessors ,
2 nd . —A sense of the duty of punishinr . an infraction of Masonic pledges , undoubtedly actuated the brethren who abducted Morgan . But this was founded in error . All masonic pledges are assumed and maintained subordinate to the hi gher
duty we owe to the laws . If a mason violates his pledges and goes so far in breaking down our landmarks and exposing our arcana as Morgan attempted to do , we have no penalities that we can inflict upon him , save moral ones . AVe
can publish him abroad to the Fraternity as an expelled Mason ; we can avoid his society as a " betrayer of secrets , " and wo can use all proper measures to prevent his treason from injuring the cause we cherish , but his person is sacred under the shield
of law , and any Mason , who would undertake to tear that away , is himself a violator of Masonic law and liable to its utmost ( moral ) penalties . The anti-masonic party which rose in 1826 , immediately following thc events to which we have alluded , undoubtedly had its origin in the best princi ples of human nature .
It was , however , immediately seized upon amidst the monotony of political events , and made a basis , on the part of the evil and designing , of a new party , whose cry of "death to Masonry ' was but a pretext for self-elevation . The discovery of Morgan ' s fateand the
punish-, ment of his abductors , was in a few months lost sight of in this selfish impulse . The honest and law-abiding , whose horror at the mysterious outrage had induced them to give time , money and influence to its detection , were soon left in the rear by
those who found profit and elevation in the excitement of the day . This was the origin of the anti-masonic party which , dying out in New York , sprung up in various parts of the Middle and Eastern Statesand maintained an
, existence until 1836 . Its worst effects were manifest in Rhode Island and Vermont ; next to those States , Massachusetts and Pennsylvania , experienced the greatest severity of the storm . The lessons to be derived from this
movement must be patent to every reader , That every brother ought to be instructed in the nature and extent of his obli gations must be admitted b y all . That no
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
This Morgan Affair.
the theory of murder and throws us upon further inquiries . All the rumours started by the gossips of that day , concerning Morgan and the pretended confessions of participators in the murder of Morgan , prove upon examination to be baselessand we can only
, fall back , as so many wiser inquisitors of the day did , upon the honest confession , " we have no knowledge of his fate . " That the abduction itself was a piece of folly from its inception to its completionand calculated to prove a
lament-, able failure and involve the actors in serious troubles , is easy enough at the present clay to charge . It was founded upon two serious mistakes in the minds of the actors , thc exposition of which forms a prominent purpose in the preparation of
this article . These mistakes were : First—That the contemplated publication by Morgan would be fatal to the maintenance of Masonic secrecy . Second—That it was a covenanted duty of Freemasons to take justice into their hands in the punishment of a traitor . AVe remark briefly upon each of the points :
1 st . —Masonic " Expositions " have abounded in English Literature ever since 1828 . Scores of them , of all names and assumptions and degrees of venality , can be seen upon the shelves of those who are curious in such matters . They have abounded equally in the French and
German tongues as in the English , and being accessible in book shops , and offered at the lowest prices , no man is so poor but what if he likes , he can have a ( pretended ) " Exposition of the secrets of Masonry . " These publications have done Freemasonry
no injury . Based primarily upon the most hideous falsehood and violation of a trust , purchasers open them with no confidence in their correctness , and find little within their lids to inspire it . To set upon a scheme of abduction in violation
of law , and to involve the whole fraternit y in a persecution for the sake of smothering an " Exposition , " was oue of the most unfortunate mistakes that ever Freemasonry committed . Had they permitted Morgan to publish his book it must have fallen still-born , or at the best , taken its place upon the book-shelf with the long array of its contemptible predecessors ,
2 nd . —A sense of the duty of punishinr . an infraction of Masonic pledges , undoubtedly actuated the brethren who abducted Morgan . But this was founded in error . All masonic pledges are assumed and maintained subordinate to the hi gher
duty we owe to the laws . If a mason violates his pledges and goes so far in breaking down our landmarks and exposing our arcana as Morgan attempted to do , we have no penalities that we can inflict upon him , save moral ones . AVe
can publish him abroad to the Fraternity as an expelled Mason ; we can avoid his society as a " betrayer of secrets , " and wo can use all proper measures to prevent his treason from injuring the cause we cherish , but his person is sacred under the shield
of law , and any Mason , who would undertake to tear that away , is himself a violator of Masonic law and liable to its utmost ( moral ) penalties . The anti-masonic party which rose in 1826 , immediately following thc events to which we have alluded , undoubtedly had its origin in the best princi ples of human nature .
It was , however , immediately seized upon amidst the monotony of political events , and made a basis , on the part of the evil and designing , of a new party , whose cry of "death to Masonry ' was but a pretext for self-elevation . The discovery of Morgan ' s fateand the
punish-, ment of his abductors , was in a few months lost sight of in this selfish impulse . The honest and law-abiding , whose horror at the mysterious outrage had induced them to give time , money and influence to its detection , were soon left in the rear by
those who found profit and elevation in the excitement of the day . This was the origin of the anti-masonic party which , dying out in New York , sprung up in various parts of the Middle and Eastern Statesand maintained an
, existence until 1836 . Its worst effects were manifest in Rhode Island and Vermont ; next to those States , Massachusetts and Pennsylvania , experienced the greatest severity of the storm . The lessons to be derived from this
movement must be patent to every reader , That every brother ought to be instructed in the nature and extent of his obli gations must be admitted b y all . That no