Mackey A G - Encylopedia of Freemasonry - The Grand Masonic ...

64 ANTI-MASONIC
ANTI-MASONIC
Masonic press in England . No work abusive interdicted ." This work was published at
of the Institution of any importance has ap- I Dantzic, in 1764, and was intended as a defense
of the decree of the Council of Dantzic
peared in that country since the attack of
Robison . The Manuals of Richard Carlile against the Order. The Germans, however,
and the Theologico-astronomical sermons of have given no such ponderous works in behalf
of anti-Masonry as the capacious volumes
the Rev . Robert Taylor are the productions of
men who do not profess to be the enemies of of Barruel and Robison. The attacks on the
the Order, but who have sought, by their Order in that country have principally been
peculiar views, to give to Freemasonry an by pamphleteers .
origin, a design, and an interpretation In the United States anti-Masonic writings
different from that which is received as were scarcely known until they sprung out of
the general sense of the Fraternity . The the 1VMorgan excitement in 1826 . The disappearance
and alleged abduction of this individ-
works of these writers, although erroneous,
are not inimical .
ual gave birth to a rancorous opposition to
The French press was prolific in the production
of anti-Masonic publications . Com-
withant Masonicworks . Most of these were,
Masonry, and the country was soon flooded
mencing with La Grande Lumiere, which was however, merely pamphlets, which had only
published at Paris, in 1734, soon after the an ephemeral existence and have long since
modern introduction of Masonry into France, been consigned to the service of the trunkmakers
or suffered a literary metempsychosis
but brief intervals elapsed without the appearance
of some work adverse to the Masonic in the paper-mill. Two only are worthy, from
Institution. But the most important of these their size (their only qualification), for a place
was certainly the ponderous effort of the Anbe in a Masonic catalogue . The first of these is
Barruel, published in four volumes, in 1797, entitled Letters on Masonry and Anti-Masonry,
under the title of Memoires pour servir a l'his-
addressed to the Hon. John Quincy Adams . By
toire du Jacobinisme . The French Revolution
was at the time an accomplished fact .
The Bourbons had passed away, and Barrucl,
as a priest and a royalist, was indignant at
the change, and, in the bitterness of his rage,
he charged the whole inception and success of
the political movement to the machinations of
the Freemasons, whose Lodges, he asserted,
were only Jacobinical clubs. The general
scope of his argument was the same as that
which was pursued by Professor Robison -
but while both were false in their facts and
fallacious in their reasoning, the Scotchman
was calm and dispassionate, while the Frenchman
was vehement and abusive . No work,
perhaps, was ever printed which contains so
many deliberate misstatements as disgrace
the pages of Barruel. Unfortunately, the work
was, soon after its appearance, translated into
English . It is still to be found on the
shelves of Masonic students and curious
work collectors, as a singular specimen of
the extent of folly and falsehood to which
one may be led by the influences of bitter
party prejudices .
The anti-Masonic writings of Italy and
Spain have, with the exception of a few translations
from French and English authors, consisted
only of bulls issued by popes and edicts
pronounced by the Inquisition . The anti-
Masons of those countries had it all their own
way, and, scarcely descending to argument or
even to abuse, contented themselves with
practical persecution .'
In Germany, the attacks on Freemasonry
were less frequent than in England or France .
Still there were some, and among them may be
mentioned one whose very title would leave
no room to doubt of its anti-Masonic character
. It is entitled Beweiss dass die Freimaurer-Gesellschaft
in alien Staaten, u . s . w .,
that is, " Proofs that the Society of Freemasons
is in every country not only useless, but,
if not restricted, dangerous, and ought to be
WilliamL . Stone. This work, which was published
at New York in 1832, is a large octavo
of 556 pages .
The work of Mr . Stone, it must be acknowledged,
is not abusive . If his arguments are
illogical, they are at least conducted without
malignity . If his statements are false, his
language is decorous . He was himself a Mason,
and he has been compelled, by the force of
truth, to make many admissions which are
favorable to the Order. The book was evidently
written for a political purpose, and to
advance the interests of the anti-Masonic
party. It presents, therefore, nothing but
partisan views, and those, too, almost entirely
of a local character, having reference only
to the conduct of the Institution as exhibited
in what is called " the Morgan affair." Masonry,
according to Mr . Stone, should be
suppressed because a few of its members
are supposed to have violated the laws in
a village of the State of New York. As
well might the vices of the Christians of
Corinth have suggested to a contemporary
of St . Paul the propriety of suppressing
Christianity .
The next anti-Masonic work of any prominence
published in this country is also in the
epistolary style, and is entitled Letters on the
Masonic Institution . By John Quincy Adams .
It is an octavo of 284 pages, and was published
at Boston in 1847 . Mr . Adams, whose eminent
public services have made his life a part
of the history of his country, has very properly
been described as "a man of strong
points and weak ones, of vast reading and
wonderful memory, of great credulity and
strong prejudice." In the latter years of his
life, he became notorious for his virulent opposition
to Freemasonry . Deceived and excited
by the misrepresentations of the anti-Masons,
he united himself with that party, and threw
all his vast energies and abilities into the political
contests then waging . The result was this