Free Masonry
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1 FREE MASONRY. ITS PRETENSIONS EXPOSED IN FAITHFUL EXTRACTS OF ITS STANDARD AUTHORS; WITH A REVIEW OF TOWN'S SPECULATIVE MASONRY: ITS LIABILITY TO PERVERT THE DOCTRINES OF REVEALED RELIGION, v DISCOVERED IN THE SPIRIT OF ITS DOCTRINES, AND IN THE APPLICATION OF ITS EMBLEMS : ITS DANGEROUS TENDENCY EXHIBITED IN EXTRACTS FROM THE ABBE UAKIUII AND PROFESSOR ROBISON; AND FURTHER ILLUSTRATED IN ITS BASE SERVICE TO THE ILLUMINATI. BY A MASTER MASON. "And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do 1 Though thou clothcst thyself with crimson, though thou dockest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou reddest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair ; thy lovers will despise thee ; they will seek thy life." — Jeremiah. NEW-YORK: 1828. .♦?..'* > southern District of AV»- Krrfc, ss. BE IT REMEMBERED, that on tho twenty -eighth day of April, A- D. 1823, in the fifty- >l g. second year of the Independence of the United States of America, D wight Fanner, of J the said district, has deposited in this office the title of a book, the right whereof he claims an proprietor, in tho words following, to wit: '' Free Masonry. Its Pretensions exposed in faithful extracts of its standard Authors ; with a Review of Town's Speculative Masonry : its liability to pervert the doctrines of Re vealed Religion, discovered in the spirit of its Doctrines, and in the application of its Emblems : its dangerous tendency exhibited in axtrac.ta from the Abbe Barruel and Professor Robison ; and further illustrated m its base service to the Uluminati. By a Master Mason. " ' And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do ? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou reddest thy faco with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair ; thy lovers will dospiso thee ; they will seek thy life-* — Jeremiah" In conformity to tho Act of Congress of the United States, entitled, "An Act for the encouragement of Learning, by securing thn copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the time therein mentioned." And also to an. Act, entitled, "An Act, supplementary to an Act, entitled, an Act for the encouragement «f Learning, by securing the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned, and extending the benefits thereof to the arr* of designing, engraving, and etching historical and other prints." FRED. I. BETTS, Clerk of the Southern DUtrict of Went- York. TO FREE MASONS. Brethren, Having devoted much study to the subject of Free Masonry, I am thoroughly convinced that the ancient land marks are removed, that our old customs are irreparably infringed, and the established usages of the Art are in ut ter confusion, bringing great discredit upon the Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons, and concealed daggers of infidelity to the hearts of the brethren. It becomes my bounden duty, as a faithful brother, to make an effort, in the words of the Master's charge, " to correct the irregularities of the less informed brethren ; to fortify their minds with resolution against the insidious foe, and to guard them against every allurement to vicious practices." — See Preston's Illustrations of Masonry, p. 78. and the Free Mason's Monitor, p. 76. Fearless of her whose name is Mystery, and whose light is Egyptian darkness, it is done affectionately, brethren, with respect to you. It will present you strange and un expected facts, with approved Masonic authorities for them, in every case faithfully and amply quoted. Accept the work ; ponder it ; and may Immanuel, God with us, ever be with those, who with simplicity of heart receive truth in the love of it. THE AUTHOR. A LIST OP MASONIC AUTHORS QUOTED IN THIS WORK, TO ILLUSTRATE THE CHARACTER OF FREE MASONRY, With the page furnishing their masonic reputation. And let it be observed, that though they have not all the same value with the fraternity, not one of them is considered apocryphal; and but in a single instance do I recollect of one evil spoken of by another. Law rie and Dalcho boih give a gibe at Ahiman Re- zon : and why ? Because he maintains the mechanic origin of the fraternity, and the party of the Ancients ; while Lawrie brings Free Masonry from the sinks of antiquity, and Dalcho from hea ven, and both are stout supporters of the late party of Masons called Moderns. 1. Free Masons' Monitor, by Col. Thomas Smith Webb. New- York edition, 1803. Its sanction found in this volume, p. SO. 2. Masonic Chart, by Jeremiah L. Cross. 3d ed. New-Haven, 1824. Sanction, chapter x. p. 55. 3. Book of Constitutions of Massachusetts. 4to. Sanction, p. 344. 4. Preston's Illustrations of Masonry. 12mo. Richards' edition. Portsmouth, N. H. 1804. From Strahan's 10th London edition. Mr. Preston was master of the Lodge of Antiquity, London, " acting by immemorial custom." His work, dedicated to Loid Pe- tre, P. G. M. of England, is the most complete manual and history of English Masonry, and the most approved. It has the authority of a Book of Constitutions in England, and forms the basis of the Free Mason's Monitor, and of Dalcho's Ahiman Kezon, and contri butes largely to every manual of Masonry published in America. The only sanction I can quote for this book, is the favour it has enjoyed, and still enjoys, with the Masonic public, best proved by the number of editions through which it passed in London — ten, in less than thirty years. 5. Hutchinson's Spirit of Masonry. 18 mo. Reprinted at New- York, A. D. 1802. Sanctioned by the Gr. Lodge of England, p. 130. 6. Ahiman Rezon, by Lawrence Dermott, Secretary of the An cient Masons. 8vo. p. 284. London, 1764. Noticed, p. 123. 7. Smith's Use and Abuse of Free Masonry. A large octavo, dedi cated to Frederick of Prussia. London, A. D. 1 78-. 8. Calcott's Disquisitions upon Free Masonry. 8vo. Reprinted at Boston, A. D. 177-. VI MASONIC AUTHORS. 9. Tannthill's Manual. A handsome octavo. Tennessee. Dedica ted to the Most Worshipful Andrew Jackson. This is one of the best historical and practical lodge books I have seen. 10. Hardie's New Free Mason's Monitor. 3d edition. New- York. ISrao. Recommended by twelve presiding officers in the lodges of New-York. 11. Town's Speculative Masonry. 12mo. Sanction, p. 171. 12. Dalcho's Orations. Charleston, South Carolina. This is an important work. Dr. Dalcho is a Sovereign Inspector General of Free Masonry ; and his orations are published by the request of the Grand Lodge, and of the Sublime Grand Lodge of South Carolina. 13. Lawrie's History of Free Masonry. Edinburgh, 1804. 8vo. This work discovers more learning and good sense together, than any other masonic treatise 1 have perused. The most valuable part of it may be seen in the Encyclopedia Britannica, Art. Masonry. It is far from satisfactory. 14. Greenleafs Brief Inquiry. Portland, 1820. 8vo. A hand some volume of 100 pages The views are with Lawrie : both make Free Masonry originate in the ancient heathen mysteries ; but the proof is deficient ; not so much barren as inconsistent. 15. Templar's Chart, by J. L,- Cross. New-Haven, 1821. 18mo. 16. Esprit du Dogme de la F. Afajonnm'e. Brussels, 1825. 8vo. Its character may be seen in extracts, page 240 of this volume, using the emblems and pretended traditions, to dispute and pervert the sacred writings. It is the last masonic author I have read, and could not possibly have coloured these pages before it enters them. p. 249. 17. Dalcho's Ahiman Rezon, which is the Book of Constitutions of South Carolina. Charleston, 1807. 8vo. 18. Free Mason's Library, by Samuel Cole. Baltimore, 1826. 2d edition. 8vo. pp. 400 This is the Book of Constitutions of Maryland. Sanction, p. 50. These treatises have all been carefully, some of them, studiously, examined; and if limn I hem the character of the institution cannot be fairly learned, I despair of obtaining it. It may interest the inquirer to know, that the entire body of the first 236 pages of this volume was written, except chapters 25 and 26, before the author suffered himself to peruse a single anti-maso nic author but Stearns' Inquiry. He sought to deal honourably with Free Masonry ; and to judge of it solely by the testimony of its friends : having done that, he felt free to examine the opinions of others. PREFACE. The first Free Mason Lodge in North America was es tablished in New-Jersey, A. D. 1730, by warrant from the mother of lodges, the Grand Lodge of England, under the hand of the Duke of Norfolk, Grand Master. (Preston.) The revolutionary struggle caused Free Masonry, for a season, to flourish ; then it languished ; and it was almost breathless at the time the first grand chapter was formed ; and the first edition of Webb's Free Mason's Monitor was published, A. D. 1797. Then it revived, and though checked by the works of the Abbe Barruel, and Professor Robison, it bore them down at length with the multiplicity of its as sertions, and went on increasing until A. D. 1816 ; the offi cial returns of lodges in the United States was estimated at 850 nearly. (Hardie.) The Free Mason's Library, Baltimore, 1826, furnishes a list of the principal lodges in the United States, " collated from, and compared with, copies of the original records of the several grand lodges." This list numbers, to Maine, .