The Universal Language of Freemasonry - ArchiMeD - Johannes ...

Chapter 9 - Masonic and Anti-Masonic Literature 737
The Mason's dark design we know,
The Mason's bloody grip and sign,
We'll lend a hand to blot from earth
The Mason's bloody shrine. 1826
In this campaign song, the language of Freemasonry, composed of secret
grips and signs, is seen as the grips of the hands of murderers. Equally, all that is
holy to Freemasonry becomes its "bloody shrine," like an altar upon which the
innocent population is slaughtered. The order's requirement of secrecy is
interpreted as a "dark design," a conspiracy of Masonry, of which the whole
"earth" (not only the U.S.A.!) has to be "freed" in a common effort. Thus, by
making all "profanes" the victims of Freemasonry, a common bond is created, in
order to attract voters.
However, as the party began to grow, its character changed from anti-
Masonic attitudes to personal ambition and a general opposition to the
Jacksonian 1827 Democrats, and its outline became more and more identical with
that of the new Whig party. Thus, after 1835, the Anti-Masonic party
disappeared into the Whig coalition. The people's confidence in the Anti-
Masonic agitators' motives waned rapidly and they recognized that they had been
duped by scheming demagogues. 1828
Next to politics, the church got deeply involved in this affair. An organization
calling itself the "National Christian Association" (NCA) grew out of this
religious excitement.
[...] another set of men took up the cause against Masonry. It was a set
of traveling mendicants and ministers of the Gospel, who went peddling
about throughout the country this specie of quackery. 'When Bernard,
Stone, and their satellites took possession of Anti-Masonry as a
religious hobby, churches were made to resemble the Spanish
Inquisition. Christians were denounced, not so much because they were
Masons, but because they would not denounce, abuse, and anathematize
all other Masons who did not renounce Masonry.'
The excitement [...] persuaded many minds that the whole Institution
of Free Masonry was corrupt and vile. In the name of religion, and to
save the Christian church, this humbuggery and quackery was taught in
religious circles quite universally for half a century. 1829
William Morgan was made a martyr: the NCA erected the "Morgan
monument" to his memory on the Batavia cemetery in 1882, 56 years after his
disappearance. A grave on the lot, representing that of Morgan, was decorated
1826
Ibid, p. 148.
1827
Andrew Jackson was a Past Master. Cf. Mock, p. 147.
1828
Cf. Lang, p. 124.
1829
Mock, p. 104/105.