THE BUILDER AUGUST 1926

The Rise and Development of Anti-Masonry in America, 1737-1826

By BRO. J. HUGO TATSCH, Associate Editor,

THIS is the first of a short series of distinct though connected
articles on AntiMasonry in the United states. They are especially
timely inasmuch as this is the centennial anniversary of the
disappearance of William Morgan, the episode which precipitated the
great wave of hostility to the Craft. The present article is by
Bro. J. Hugo Tatsch, an Associate Editor of The Builder, and as
most of our readers know, the Curator of the Iowa Masonic Library
at Cedar Rapids. It is intended as a general introduction to the
subject, and will be followed by one dealing with the Morgan Affair
itself written by Bro. Tatsch and Bro. E. M. Erikson, Ph. D., in
collaboration. It is interesting to learn that about five years ago
these two brethren started on this line of research independently,
a mutual discovery of the fact arising when their respective
articles appeared; "An American Masonic Crisis" by the former, in
A.Q.C., Vol. 34 (1921), and Speaker's Bulletins Nos. 9 and 10 of
the M.S.A. Bro. Erikson also contributed an article to The Builder
for March, 1921, and a series of sketches of Anti-Masonic leaders
from his pen has recently appeared in the Bulletin of the Grand
Lodge of Iowa.

ANTI-MASONRY appeared in America very soon after the revitalized
fraternity of England made its influence felt in the American
colonies. Only twenty years after the Revival of 1717 took place in
England, and within a decade after the first positive traces of the
Craft are found in Pennsylvania and New England, the first
so-called antiMasonic sentiment is recorded. The "Pennsylvania
Gazette," No. 444, June 9 to 16,1737--published by our Bro.
Benjamin Franklin --relates how Dr. Evan Jones, a prominent
apothecary of Philadelphia, duped an apprentice, Daniel Reese, who
had expressed a desire to become a Freemason. Seeing an opportunity
for ribald amusement, Dr. Jones and several associates put the
young man through some absurd ceremonies, telling him he was an
Entered Apprentice, and directed him to return June 13, 1737, for
another degree. Further horse-play, coupled with indecencies and
indignities, were then indulged in. These were followed by a final
ceremony in which his Satanic Majesty appeared, but who, to the
disappointment of the conspirators, did not serve to frighten the
candidate; whereupon Dr. Jones, the impersonator of the devil,
threw a pan of flaming spirits upon the apprentice, with such
frightful effect that he died three days later.

The publication of the story in local papers, and the blame
attached to the regular Masons, innocent of any wrong doing and
equally strong in their censure and condemnation of the act,
brought the fraternity into bad repute in certain quarters, and
enemies of the local Craft did not hesitate to seize upon the
occasion to further their own ends. The various accounts were
reprinted in the colonial papers, and thus the occurrence achieved
a place in the annals of American Masonry as the first anti-Masonic
expression in the colonies.

Aside from the excitement and feeling engendered in Philadelphia by
the regrettable occurrence, it had no serious effect. Sporadic
expressions are found in later years which only serve to indicate
that Freemasonry was well established. One Christian Sauer, an
erratic printer of Germantown, took a fling, in 1740, at the free
school system inaugurated by Benjamin Franklin, and vented his
spleen upon it by saying: "The people who are promoters of the free
schools are Grand Masters and Wardens among the Freemasons, their
very pillars."

An early reference to the Craft from an anti-Masonic standpoint
appeared in the New York Mercury of Dec. 31, 1753, in which
considerable space is given to the assumption of office by George
Harrison as Provincial Grand Master. The occasion was made
noteworthy by the donation of fifteen pounds toward the purchase of
clothing for poor children in the charity school; an additional sum
was raised for indigent prisoners. This prompted the editor to ask:

Query. Whether the performance of public and private acts of
beneficence, such as feeding the hungry and clothing the naked, be
most correspondent to the Genius of Christianity, or the
Institution of the Prince of Darkness?

There were no direct attacks the Craft in Massachusetts until 1751.
The Pennsylvania affair and the anti-Masonic activities of European
enemies were impartially recorded in the papers of the colony. On
Jan. 7, 1751, some doggerel verse and a picture were printed in the
"Boston Evening Post" of a very disgusting nature. The brethren of
Boston were much disturbed thereby, and passed resolutions in local
lodges and also in Grand Lodge against the publication.

With this brief introduction, the subject of Anti-Masonry in the
American Colonies can be dismissed for present purposes. It was not
until the last decade of the eighteenth century that we encounter
what may be termed anti-Masonry in the strict sense of the term,
and which really had a marked effect upon the Craft. The roots of
the Morgan Affair of 1826 are found herein, and the student going
into the subject thoroughly will find much hitherto unconsidered
material to examine.

ANTI-MASONRY IN EUROPE

The anti-Masonic spirit, which developed in the period of
1797-1825, had its foundation in the literature avowedly written to
oppose secret societies in Europe, which were accused of being
anti-Christian, anti-social and dangerous to both state and
religion. Freemasonry was unavoidably included among the leading
societies of the period, for the fraternity had made a rapid growth
throughout Continental Europe from the day it was first introduced
in England.

Space forbids a presentation of the background attached to the
story of Anti-Masonry in Europe; let it suffice to say for present
purposes that the French Revolution, 1789-1799, was watched in this
country with both interest and anxiety. Many of our people were in
open sympathy with the French, and Genet, the French minister
accredited to our government, was enthusiastically received by
these. The French popular customs were imitated, French
revolutionary songs were sung, the American and French colors were
displayed together. The French Jacobin clubs were imitated by the
formation of democratic associations styled "Democrat Clubs," and
the phrase, "the rights of man," was heard at assemblies of all
kinds.

The course of Washington in proclaiming strict neutrality, even
though not endorsed by many of our citizens, saved this nation from
dangerous consequences. The details can be learned from any
reliable history; we are only concerned with the influences which
bear upon the development of anti-Masonry. These are found in the
principles of Jacobinism. Briefly, the Jacobins of France were
originally members of a political club formed in 1789 which was not
extremely radical, but which underwent rapid changes until the term
"Jacobinism" became synonymous with the promulgation of extreme
revolutionary opinions. The conservative members were excluded by
internal processes until the club degenerated into a loosely
defined but very dangerous organization, which brought about the
reign of terror in France under Marat and Robespierre at the very
time (April, 1793) that Washington issued his neutrality
proclamation. The horror of the period stirred the civilized world
to its depths. Genet, in America, misinterpreted the popular
opinion, and in his enthusiasm threatened to appeal to the mass of
the American people if our leaders did not permit activities which
were threatening to involve us in war with Great Britain. Popular
sentiment thereupon began to weaken; Genet was recalled in disgrace
by his government, which would have beheaded him had he returned.
He was permitted to remain in the United states, and later married
the daughter of Governor De Witt Clinton (a Mason) of New York,
dying at an advanced age.

The aristocracy and the Roman Catholic clergy suffered the greatest
losses during the French Revolution. It was but natural, therefore,
that they should attempt to fasten the responsibility upon some
one. The Jacobins, representing the masses, were pointed out as the
instigators of the misfortunes which had befallen the upper
classes. One of the representative literary productions of the
period was the Memoires poui servir a l'histoire du Jacobinisme, by
Abbe Augustin Barruel, published in French in London in 1797. A
second edition followed in 1798; English translations were
available immediately. The work was also printed in German;
numerous abridged editions appeared each year from 1798 to 1802. It
was printed in Spanish as late as 1827.

An American edition, four volumes, was published in Hartford,
Conn., "printed by Hudson & Goodwin for Cornelius Davis, New York,"
in 1799.


ROBINSON'S PROOFS OF CONSPIRACY

A work akin to Barruel's, written independently of it, was Proofs
of a Conspiracy against all the Religions and Governments of
Europe, carried on in the Secret Meetings of Free Masons,
Illuminati and Reading Societies, by John Robinson, A. M.,
Edinburgh. It was announced in January, 1797, two editions appeared
some months later, a third of 1798 was reprinted in Philadelphia
the same year. New York and Dublin editions of 1798 are also known.
Like Barruel's work, this, too, was reprinted in other languages,
French and German editions predominating, with one printed in
Holland, no date given. Barruel acknowledged the priority of
Robinson in Vol. III, p. xiv, London edition of 1798; Robinson
refers to Barruel in his second edition, page 519.

Barruel and Robinson asserted that secret societies were
responsible for the distressing situation in Europe, and did not
hesitate to place the odium upon the Freemasons and the Illuminati.
Thinking people accepted these statements seriously. Says Hayden:

The public mind in the United states was not only agitated with the
aggressions of France, which threatened a bloody war between our
country and our former ally, but also that the cause of the
frenzied state of the public mind in France, and other parts of
Europe, was ascribed to Masonry under the name of Illuminism.
France, in her folly, had attempted to banish every vestige of
revealed religion from her domain, and had caused it to be
inscribed over the gates of her churchyards that death was an
eternal sleep. False tongues were not wanting to say that Masonry
designed to overturn all human governments. (1)

The Illuminati referred to were members of a secret society founded
in Bavaria in 1776 by Adam Weishaupt, professor of canon law at the
University of Ingolstadt. Its object was:

By the mutual assistance of its members to attain the highest
possible degree of morality and virtue, and to lay the foundation
for the reform of the world by the association of good men to
oppose the progress of moral evil.

Weishaupt, who became a Mason between Nov. 26, 1776, and Feb. 8,
1777, adapted Masonic rites and customs to his society; but the
activities of Jesuit enemies caused its suppression by royal edicts
in 1784 and 1785. Weishaupt fled to Gotha and found protection
under Duke Henry II, devoting his energies to the writing of
philosophical treatises.

INFLUENCE IN AMERICA OF THE LITERATURE OF THE PERIOD

The periodicals of England and America graphically related the
startling French occurrences to their readers, and it was upon
such, supplemented by personal correspondence, that
non-participants based their opinions. This was particularly true
in America. The causes of a colossal disturbance are always sought
for; whether the reasons given be right or not, supporters of
various claims can always be found. The Barruel and Robinson books
contributed to the available information--and misinformation.
Freemasonry was charged by some to be at the root of the
difficulties, (2) and it can be perceived readily that a growing
acceptance of the charge would make the publication of antiMasonic
literature profitable. It must be remembered that the general
public was not so familiar with Freemasonry as it is today, the
secrecy always associated with the fraternity was not only
restricted to its essential words, signs and grips which are the
sum total of actual Craft esotericism, but was also construed to
cover membership, places of meeting and the like. Therefore,
literature purporting to expose the "secrets" of Freemasonry found
a ready sale among the curious and the gullible, and also, in the
times under discussion, among earnest, serious and conscientious
persons imbued by a legitimate desire to be informed on a subject
of more than ordinary moment. The gamut of interest ranged between
the two extremes.

The elusive reference to be found in the ephemeral literature of
the period need not be stressed herein; the interest lies in the
more enduring publications. Among those are the numerous editions
of Jachin and Boaz, an alleged expose which first appeared in
England in 1762, and was reprinted by the thousand from that year
down to the present day. No doubt many copies circulated in the
Colonies. The first American edition which has been traced is one
of 1796, printed in New York city. It was followed by others in New
York, Pennsylvania and New England in the years 1797, 1798, 1802,
1803, 1811, 1812, 1814, 1815, 1817 and 1825; probably there are
editions which have escaped the Masonic bibliographer. One in
Spanish was printed in Philadelphia in 1822.

The exposes mentioned thrived in the soil fertilized by the Barruel
and Robison volumes. An abridgement of Barruel and Robison appeared
in 1802, at Charlestown, Massachusetts, entitled Proofs of the Real
Existence and Dangerous Tendency of Illuminism, by Seth Payson, A.
M. One of the Barruel volumes was reprinted in 1812 at Lancaster,
Pennsylvania, in a volume entitled Antichristian and Antisocial
Conspiracy which also contained within its covers a reprint of
Jachin and Boaz.

BEGINNING OF CLERICAL OPPOSITION

The situation in France was viewed with continued alarm by our
representative citizens when John Adams became the second President
of the United states. Saying, among other things, that the United
States was "at present placed in a hazardous position," he issued
a proclamation on March 23, 1798, proclaiming May 9, 1798, as a
public fast day. Rev. Jedediah Morse, Charlestown, Massachusetts,
preached a sermon on that occasion which opened the way to long and
inflamed discussions of the Illuminati, and indirectly upon
Freemasonry. The Rev. Morse made no allusions to the Craft in his
sermon, but his silence on the subject was noted as peculiar and
significant when his listeners later read the Robison book which he
had recommended to them in his sermon. Other comment followed in
the pulpit and the newspapers. College presidents and political
orators discoursed volubly upon the new menace to civilization. The
cry had been raised, and the pack was in full chase.

A dissenting voice dared to question the assertions and the
insinuations that had been made. "Censor," writing in the
Massachusetts Mercury of July 27, 1798, asked for proofs. The Rev.
Morse, looked upon as the proper person to answer the query
inasmuch as he had been the first to arouse public interest through
his sermon, was not loath to take up the fight. Yet he expressed
surprise that he should be called upon to substantiate statements
(Robinson's) which contained such excellent internal evidence of
their truth. He was astonished, among other things, by the
sensitiveness and irritation which the Masons had displayed; he had
hoped that the manner in which he handled his sermon would preclude
censure from that direction. The controversy waxed warm; Morse
spoke again in a formal address on Thanksgiving Day, 1798. He was
supported in his position by clergymen in other pulpibs; the
numerous Thanksgiving sermons revived interest in the subject and
it swept through the countryside. The public did not differentiate
With meticulous care between secret societies in general and the
Craft in particular; the resentment and denial of Freemasons that
they had nothing to do with the Illuminati fell on inconsiderate
ears. They had been linked together, and that was all that was
necessary to make them avowed allies. The Grand Lodge of
Massachusetts, in protest, drew up an address to President Adams on
June 11, 1798; it stated its position relative to civil authority
and declared that Freemasons promoted the public welfare. The reply
of President Adams is worthy of record herein:

Many of my best friends have been Masons, and two of them my
professional patrons; the learned Gridley and my intimate friend,
your immortal Warren, whose life and death were examples of
patriotism and philanthropy, were Grand Masters; yet, so it has
happened, that I had never the felicity to be initiated. Such
examples as these, and a greater still in my venerable predecessor
(Washington) would have been sufficient to induce me to hold the
Institution and Fraternity in esteem and honour, as favourable to
the support of civil authority, if I had not known their love of
the fine arts, their delight in hospitality, and devotion to
humanity.

The Rev. Thaddeus Harris, Grand Chaplain of the Grand Lodge,
delivered some stirring addresses, in one of which he blamed the
clergy for the prevailing Illuminati excitement. He spoke of them
as those "who ply the shuttle-cock of faith, with the dexterity of
expert gamesters, and have the art of making the multitude fly with
its feathers." The Grand Lodge of Vermont also went on record (Oct.
23, 1798) in dignified defense of the Fraternity.

Adams appointed a second fast day, set for April 25, 1799. Morse
seized upon the occasion to voice his opinions upon the subject
into which he had precipitated himself by his previous Fast Day
sermon. In his address--the third and last--he called attention to
some alleged Masonic correspondence, showing a connection between
the Grand Orient of France and bodies in America, situated at
Portsmouth, Va., and presumably at New York, as well as in the
French possessions in the West Indies. Apparently, Masons were
Masons the world over, and that fact was sufficient to brand the
American Craft as a danger to the government and all social
institutions. (3)

JEFFERSON'S COMMENT ON BARRUEL

Yet in spite of the clerical opposition from Morse-- and it must be
remembered that there were brethren of the cloth in. New England
who did not agree with him, and even opposed his utterances--the
diatribes fell flat. The political dangers pointed out did not hold
ground; Thomas Jefferson, although not a Mason, went so far as to
comment on the absurdity of the Barruel books held forth by Morse
as authorities and proofs. Others rallied to the assistance of
those who declared Morse's position untenable, and it was not long
before the hue and cry subsided. The Masonic angle was definitely
cleared away by a letter showing that the lodge at Portsmouth, Va.,
was a reputable organization, and its members honest and
industrious citizens of the community. Morse wisely refrained from
further discussion, and politically, at least, the attacks failed.
The danger to the Craft was over from that direction until after
the disappearance of Morgan, when numerous attempts were made to
revive the alleged connection of Freemasonry with the Illuminati of
the previous century. Noteworthy in this connection were two
seceding Masons, Moses Thacher and Henry Dana Ward, both of whom
were ministers.

A review of the Masonic press for the few years preceding the
Morgan Affair of 1826 shows that there was marked opposition to the
Craft from Protestant clerical sources; but before citing a few of
the many instances that can be found, mention should be made of one
cause contributed by Freemasons themselves. The Masonic writings
and orations at the period (1800-1825) reveal a boastfulness that
reacted seriously after 1826, and which gave the enemies of the
Craft weighty matter in support of anti-Masonic utterances. This
spirit of braggadocio and arrogance continued to within the very
year of the Morgan abduction. Early in 1826, the "Christian
Telescope," a religious paper edited by Rev. David Pickering and
published by Barzillai Cranston, both Masons, in commenting on an
Alabama anti-Masonic situation, said:

We are truly thankful to find this spirit of intolerance confined
to the bigots of Tuscaloosa, who will find it hard to kick against
a Colossus, which, if it had the inclination, could crush them or
any other denomination of sectarians, almost without an effort,
that is in America, where civil and religious liberty have
established a dominion.

This was quoted from a Wilmington, North Carolina paper, said to
have been edited at the time by Rev. Jacob Frieze, also Grand
Chaplain of the Grand Lodge of Rhode Island.

The most glaring examples of such Masonic boasting prior to the
Morgan Affair can be found in the expressions of William F.
Brainard. His lecture before Union Lodge, New London, Connecticut,
on Saint John's Day, June 24, 1825, was probably quoted more by
anti-Masons than any other similar addresses. The following is a
good example of his indiscreet and uncalled for remarks:

What is Masonry now? It is powerful. It comprises men of rank,
wealth, office and talent, in power and out of power, and that in
almost every place where power is of importance, and it comprises,
among the other classes of the community, to the lowest, in largest
numbers, effective men, united together and capable of being
directed by the efforts of others so as to have the force of
concert through the civilized world. They are distributed, too,
with the means of knowing one another, and the means of keeping
secret, and the means of co-operating; in the desk, in the
legislative hall, on the bench, in every gathering of men of
business, in every party of pleasure, in every enterprise of
government, in every domestick circle, in peace and in war, among
enemies and friends, in one place as well as in another.

So powerful indeed is it at this time, that it fears nothing from
violence either public or private, for it has every means to learn
it in season to counteract, defeat and punish it.

REJECTIONS AND EXPULSIONS WERE FACTORS

Another cause for enmity against the Craft was the unusually large
number of rejections and expulsions. The latter were published in
the Grand Lodge proceedings of the time; and considering that
reading matter was not so profuse as it is now, and that the Craft
was a far greater mystery than it is today, it can be readily
assumed that the publicity thus accruing to the expelled brethren
was pronounced. The resentment welling therefrom in the hearts of
rejected petitioners was far more intensive than the feelings
engendered in modern times through similar actions. Such
individuals would be inclined to join anti-Masonic demonstrations,
rather than hold aloof.

A corollary to such rejections and expulsions is the apologetic
attitude of Masonic speakers, who, taking cognizance of the
prevailing but yet lightly provocative anti-Masonic sentiment,
still offered a defense of the Craft. Rev. John L. Blake, A. M.,
speaking before Friendship Lodge at Gloucester, Rhode Island, in
1825, said:

In view of the remarks made, it may well be concluded, that Masonry
is, in no sense, opposed to Christianity, notwithstanding that many
nominal Masons are a disgrace to the name they bear.... The person
who is a dishonor to the Christian church is no honor to the
Masonic Fraternity. It may be asked then, if the good Mason is not
almost the good Christian!

Henry Gassett, a virulent anti-Mason of his day, points out in the
introduction to his Catalogue of Anti-Masonic Books (Boston, 1852)
that anti-Masonry existed "in Hamilton College, New York, in 1819,
and in the Presbyterian Church of the United states, in 1820" (page
84). Rev. John G. stearns, a writer of anti-Masonic literature
after the Morgan Affair had taken place, had been made a Mason in
Champion Lodge, No. 146 (New York). stearns, in citing his reasons
for issuing his Inquiry Into the Nature and Tendency of Speculative
Freemasonry, had the following to say:

In the fall of 1819 I was received as a student in the Literary and
Theological Seminary of Hamilton, N.Y. In my examination I was
inquired of whether I was a Mason. I answered in the affirmative.
I was then requested to dispense with Masonry while a member of
that school. I replied that I had already made up my mind never to
have anything more to do with Masonry.

EXAMPLES OF RELIGIOUS OPPOSITION

Just as at the present time we have some narrow and bigoted
religious Protestant sects, so in the days under discussion
preachers were not lacking who believed that Christianity's cause
was promoted by assailing alleged evils. The seeds furnished by
Morse and his kind--sincere and honest as they were in their
beliefs--were transmitted to the outlying settlements of
Pennsylvania and Western New York by itinerant preachers and
circuit riders and found fertile soil. It was they who kept alive
the distrust of all secret societies long after the political
menace of such organization from abroad had faded into nothingness.
The Roman Catholic opposition, such as has developed in a more
pronounced manner since the Morgan Affair, was either negligible or
non-existent. The Roman Catholics were not large in numbers or
influence; where attention was directed toward them--as in Ohio by
Henry Ward Beecher in the thirties and forties-- they were classed
with the enemies of Americanism. The charge was made--one that no
person would advance today--that Freemasons were allied with Roman
Catholics "to crush the liberty of the Republic." An able
illustration of the blindness of popular prejudices and passion!
(4)

The "American Masonic Register and Ladies' and Gentlemen's
Magazine" (New York), for January, 1821, carries this notice:

The Western (Pennsylvania) Register says--"We are informed that at
the last meeting of the Presbyterian Synod of Pittsburg, some of
the clergy introduced a resolution to exclude Freemasons from the
rights and benefits of the Church, except in case where they might
confess their errors, and abjure their Masonic principles."

In its issue of March, 1821, a full account is given. It is of
value to the student as showing the sentiment against the Craft,
for it is evident that it was prepared after careful deliberation.
After a preliminary statement of some length, the committee
drafting the report recommended that the following resolutions be
adopted:

1. Resolved, That Masonic lodges, especially as composed and
conducted in various parts of our country, have had, and are
calculated to have, a pernicious influence on morals and religion,
and that attendance on them is unsuitable to the profession of the
holy religion of our Lord Jesus Christ, Therefore--

2. Resolved, That it is the duty of all ministers of the gospel,
elders, parents, and professional Christians, to use their
influence to prevent those under their care from entering these
associations, and induce those who may have entered, to discontinue
their attendance.

3. The synod, deeply impressed with concern for the general
interest of society, civil and religious; particularly with concern
for some amiable men, who now stand connected with the aforesaid
society, recommend them to take with earnestness the course of
safety for themselves; and in the present crisis of the conflict of
the kingdom of God with the kingdom of darkness, to show themselves
on the Lord's side, and to perform zealously, the duties which
their attitude in relation to the church of Christ, and to those
societies, particularly recommend; so as not only to promote the
cause of godliness generally, but also the eternal welfare of their
brethren, with whom they may be connected, and upon whom they may
exert a salutary influence.

It should be pointed out, however, that the report was not adopted
by the Synod; still it has its value herein as showing the marked
and organized opposition to the Masonic Fraternity at that time in
religious circles. The lodges of Pittsburg took cognizance of it,
as shown by a lengthy article quoted by the American Masonic
Register, from the Pittsburgh Gazette.

The Tuscaloosa incident of 1826 previously mentioned herein relates
to the action of Methodists at Tuscaloosa, Alabama, publicly
resolving "that the cause of God, in their opinion, could not
prosper while connected with Freemasonry." According to Charles
McCarthy, the General Methodist Conference of Pennsylvania had
taken action in 1823 forbidding its ministers from becoming Masons.

The Masonic Mirror and Mechanic's Intelligencer (Boston, May 6,
1926) calls attention to the proscription of Masons by Methodists,
yet points out that many of the New England Methodists are "zealous
and good Masons." The issue for Oct. 14, 1826--it should be
remembered that the Morgan Affair was not mentioned in its columns
until a month later--states:

We learn from the Kentucky Gazette, that an inquisitorial bench has
been erected by the South District Association of Baptists at
Salt-River, Mercier county, in that state, for the trial of their
minister for the "horrible crime" of being a FREEMASON !


As one reads the Craft literature of the period, he is further
impressed with the fact that both subtle and marked opposition to
the Fraternity existed. To illustrate: An address delivered June
24, 1818, to the brethren of Washington Lodge, No. 17, Hamilton,
Ohio, by Bro. William Burke (printed in full in the "American
Masonic Register" for July 21, 1821), has three columns addressed
"To the Members of Religiouis Denominations" in which a defense of
the Craft against one of the clerical aspersions is made. Other
instances could be cited, increasing in number a approach the
Morgan Affair, and, of course, appearing still more frequently
after that occurrence. The point to be made is that anti-Masonic
sentiment was strong for many years before the disappearance of 
Morgan. It was that sentiment which made it possible for shrewd
political opportunists to further their own ends with such a simple
and preposterous occurred as the Morgan Affair.

NEW YORK GRAND LODGE POLITICS

Another factor to be considered in the anti-Masonic sentiment of
the pre-Morgan period is the political situation in the Grand Lodge
of New York. The two factions struggling for supremacy at the time
brought undue notoriety to the Craft in the state through their
efforts to increase factional strength by increasing the number of
lodges, and the membership of both old and new lodges among the
supporting elements. To quote R. W. Bro. Charles W. Moore, Grand
Secretary of Massachusetts, an active and outspoken Mason during
the excitement of 1826-40, and who was editor from 1842 to 1873 of
the "Freemasons Monthly Magazine":

Canvassers, either by appointment, or as volunteers, were active in
all the western counties, and persons were urged to come into the
Institution, who had no more right or claim to be there than they
had to be in any other good place, or to associate with honorable
men. They were brought in, forced in without the payment of any
money, but on notes and due bills and when the time came for a
settlement and a readjustment of the pending difficulties, and a
reunion of the bodies, thousands of dollars rolled into the Grand
Lodge in due bills, that had never been paid, and which there had
never been any intention to pay. (5)

This laxness was one of the causes of the 1826 difficulties and
also had an influence in the unprecedented withdrawal of members
from the Fraternity when the storm burst in full force. Bro. Moore
supports the statement that the clergy took a dominating part in
the excitement. On this subject, he said:

The anti-Masonic excitement soon worked itself into all neighboring
towns, broke up many of our lodges, spread dissension in the
churches, and demoralized too many of our clergy, too many (God
knows, too many) of whom, trampling their obligations under their
feet, joined our enemies, and, in many instances, did us more harm
than all the opposition arrayed against us.

NOTES
(1) From a MS. in the archives of the Grand Lodge of Maryland.
(2) The assertion that Freemasonry was involved in the tragic
development of the French Revolution is shown to be unfounded when
it is recalled that the Jacobins suppressed all Masonic lodges. It
was not until Napoleon assumed authority that the Freemasons were
permitted to assemble again.
(3) Mention should be made at this point of the Act of Parliament,
July 12 1799, "for the more effectual Suppression of Societies
established for Seditious and Treasonable Purposes " etc. The
situation in France, and in Ireland, was specifically mentioned
therein. Enemies of Freemasonry mentioned the Act, even though
Masonic lodges were exempted from its provisions. (See Gould,
History of Freemasonry, Vol. II, pages 486-88; also Acts of
Parliament Referring to Freemasonry London, 1847 and 1817.)
(4) "In view of the well-known attitude of the Catholic Church in
regard to Masonry, it is really remarkable how little Catholics in
the United states seemed to mix in this fierce strife. Ann Royall,
the most widely known woman of her day and country (1769-1854)--
traveler, author, editor and lecturer-- said they 'minded their
business' and she respected them accordingly. But Presbyterians,
Baptists and Methodists fell greatly under her displeasure because
of their hostility toward Masonry." Life and Times of Ann Royall,
by Sarah Harvey Porter, M. A., 1909, page 107
(5) Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, 1871, page
417.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

For the history of anti-Masonry in the Colonies, the reader is
referred to Julius F. Sachse's Benjamin Franklin as a Freemason
(Philadelphia, 1906); Sachse and Barratt's Freemasonry in
Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, 1908), and Melvin M. Johnson's
Beginnings of Freemasonry in America (New York, 1924).

Extensive histories of the United States cover the French
Revolution insofar as it affected our country during Washington's
and Adams' administrations. The "Gentleman's Magazine," London,
June, 1794, contains an attack on Freemasonry, to which answer is
made in "The Masonic Essayist," part two of Masonic Miscellanies in
Poetry and Prose, by Stephen Jones, London, 1811. Freemasonry and
the French Revolution is a subject by itself. New England and the
Bavarian Illuminati, by Vernon Stauffer, Ph. D., New York, 1918,
treates of the Illuminati phases; this is No. 1, Vol. LXXXII of
"Studies in History, Economics and Public Law," published by the
Columbia University Press. The Robison and Barruel books have been
listed by their full titles in this article.

The addresses of Rev. Thaddeus Harris, Grand Chaplain of the Grand
Lodge of Massachusetts are available in Discourses on Public
Occasions (Charlestown, 1801, and Philadelphia, 1819; also London,
1847-50).

Among the Masonic periodicals of the period which have been
consulted are "The Masonic Miscellany and Ladies' Literary
Magazine," Lexington, Kentucky, 1822; "The American Masonic
Register and Ladies' and Gentlemen's Magazine," New York, 1821 et
seq., "The Masonic Casket," Enfield, New Hampshire, 1823-25; the
"American Masonick Record and Albany Saturday Magazine," Albany,
New York, 1827-32; the "Masonic Mirror and Mechanics'
Intelligencer," Boston, 1824-27, and others.

The Proceedings of various American Grand Lodges have contributed
material of value, notably those of Massachusetts, 1871. Material
was also gleaned from numerous pamphlets and brochures published
between 1827 and 1840; these will be cited in the articles in later
bibliographical notes.
