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Article THE MORGAN MYSTERY; ← Page 2 of 2 Article THE ORIGIN OF FREEMASONRY. Page 1 of 2 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Morgan Mystery;
the carriage , though she sAvore to the driver . From tho testimony of Hubbard , the driver of the carriage , it appears he was engaged to take a party to Rochester that night , and about nine P . M . a man came to his house , and told him that the party had gone doAvu the road towards Palmyra , and would get in when he overtook them . He accordingly drove
after them , and overtaking them , saw six get into the carriage , and ordered him to turn and proceed to Rochester . This witness says merely " they got into the carriage . " Had there been any forcible abduction , had Morgan been taken vi et armis and against his will—would not the driver of the carriage have perceived it 1 But no ; he states they got iu
, evidently meaning of their own free will . Stopping but twice on tlie way , they arrived iu Rochester about daybreak ; but passing through , at once proceeded to Hanford ' s Landing , three miles below , where he understood the party were to take boat . Here they alighted , and he returned to . Rochester .
Such was the information obtained by the investigations at Canandaigua ; and although there was no positive testimony that Morgan had been carried away in the ' carriage , still the Miller and anti-masonic party boldly asserted that such was the fact ; every circumstance in connection with his disappearance , every chance word dropped by a Freemason in
reference to the occurrence , was twisted and distorted into threats and evidence ( so called ) against . the Craft . Meetings Avere held condemning the Freemasons ; and all that ignorance and folly could do , urged on by unscrupulous men in furtherance of their OAVH views , was done . Stone , that enemy to the fraternity ( from whom many of these facts are taken ) in his
, book ( Letter XV ., ) says : — " It did not , it could not , appear that all those who were concerned in the consjhracy belonged to the-Masonic fraternity . Many of the most respectable of these were amongst the foremost in resenting the outrage upon the laws , and demanding an investigation . And there wore not Avanting those amongst them who ridiculed these
manifestations of the public feeling ( the meetings ) , and added to the public indignation by laughing at their anxiety to know what had been done Avith the absentee . " The excitement was IIOAV raised to a very high pitch ; large public meetings were assembled in various places , committees formed for investigating the affair , and petitions forwarded
to the authorities ; all the ' blame was laid upon the Freemasons , and even some of the clergy denounced the Craft from the pulpit . Meantime no information was obtained as to Avhat had become of Morgan . At the November General Sessions of tlie Peace for the county of Ontario , indictments were found against Nicholas G . ChceseboroLoton Lawson
, , Edward Sawyer , and John Sheldon , for a conspiracy to seize William Morgan and carry him thence to foreign parts , and to secrete and confine him there . A second indictment was likewise found against the same parties for carrying the conspiracy into execution . Tliese indictments , by consent of parties , were sent to the court of oyer aud terminer , to be held
at Cauandaigua , in January then following 1827 . R , B . W . ( To be continued . )
Music—God has made the whole earth with sweet sounds . Tho untravelled forest echoes the notes of tho wild bird , and the habitations of men are made glad by the song of tho feathered minstrel . But , above all , the human voice , which combines the highest charm of sweet sound with the inspiration of thought , is given for no ordinary purpose of earthly pleasure . In its whispers of affection , how grateful . In its expression of religious devotion , how exalted . For its solace ill trouble , how dear its in
. For participation joy , how unspeakable . HOPE . —Among some of the South Sea Islanders the compound word for hope is beautifully expressive ; it is " manaolanii , " or the swimming thought—faith floating and keeping its head aloof above water , when all the waves and billows arc going over one—a strikingly beautiful definition of liopc , worthy to bo ;; et dmvn along with the . in : ; wcr which a deaf and dumb person wrote with his pencil , iu reply to the question , "What was his idea of forgiveness ? " " It is the odour ivhieh flowers yield when trampled on . "
The Origin Of Freemasonry.
THE ORIGIN OF FREEMASONRY .
A LECTUIiE , BY BKO . HENRY T . B 0 BART . MASONRY , according to the general acceptation of the term , is an art founded ou the principles of geometry , and directed to the service and convenience of mankind , and at one time really indicated the nature and objects of our society ; the symbolical use of the implements of tho Craft was for many ages posterior in date to the actual . The
earliest association of mankind is one for the purpose of architecture on a gigantic scale , which resulted in confusion . We read in Genesis that "the whole earth Avas of one language and one speech . And it came to pass , as they journeyed from tho cast , that they found a plain in the land of Shinar , and they dwelt there . And they said , Go to , let us build us a city and a tower , whose top may roach to heaven . And they had brick for stone , and slime had they for mortar . "
It is only necessary to remark that Ave have here a memorable instance of the early association of Masons , for building a city and tower of vast dimensions . This plainly supposes community of idea , thought , and action , arrangements made that some should prepare bricks , others lay them , precise instructions and ordersmaster minds to directand all so
, , united , and linked , and marked , by such distinctions of dress and emblems as -were readily recognizable , that the ruling impulse , " Let us build a city , " could be acted upon by all . Thus , long before the time of Abraham , and one thousand years before the building of Solomon ' s temple , the oldest and most authentic record of the creation notices the union of
Masons . We can trace from history the early existence of associations , united by secret mysteries , jealously preserved from the vulgar , using certain religious ceremonies and mystic symbols , and bearing much resemblance to the present rites of Freemasonry ; and once such societies having originated ,
the adoption by craftsmen of similar mysteries , rites , and ceremonies would rapidly follow . And it so happens that hi each ancient nation , distinguished for architectural science , there existed mysterious brotherhoods , requiring initiation by secret and appalling ceremonies , guarding the admission to the fraternity by a most rig id scrutiny ; some of these
associations originated one thousand four hundred years before the Christian era , and some centuries before the building of Solomon ' s temple . A short account of the Eleusiiiian mysteries—which are esteemed the most ancient and most closely resembling Freemasonry—may prove interesting . The candidate for initiation was admitted at night into a vast building , and amid imitations of thunder and lightning , and the terrors of an earthquake , sudden darkness beset him . A fter enduring much calculated to strike terror ,
the candidate was at length admitted into the sanctuary of the goddess Ceres , aud there instructed in the meaning of the sacred symbols presented to his vieAV . Significant passwords were then communicated to him , by which he might recognize the brethren , and a most solemn oath Avas administered that he never should divulge the mysteries in which he Avas then instructedto the uninitiated . His instruction
, in the mysteries was by successive steps , aud a morality much superior to that prevailing amongst tho mass of the nation was inculcated . We have thus , then , proof of the early existence of a source from which Freemasonry would naturally originate . Now in the district of Asia Minor called Ioniathere
, existed , before the building of King Solomon ' s temple , a very remarkable fraternity called the Dionysian Artificers . They were an association of scientific men who possessed the exclusive privilege of erecting temples , theatres , and other public buildings in Asia Minor ; they possessed appropriate words and signs by which they could recognize their
brethren ; they were divided into Lodges called b y different names . Their rules for the support of their poorer brethren , for securing general concord , aud for the promotion of public
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Morgan Mystery;
the carriage , though she sAvore to the driver . From tho testimony of Hubbard , the driver of the carriage , it appears he was engaged to take a party to Rochester that night , and about nine P . M . a man came to his house , and told him that the party had gone doAvu the road towards Palmyra , and would get in when he overtook them . He accordingly drove
after them , and overtaking them , saw six get into the carriage , and ordered him to turn and proceed to Rochester . This witness says merely " they got into the carriage . " Had there been any forcible abduction , had Morgan been taken vi et armis and against his will—would not the driver of the carriage have perceived it 1 But no ; he states they got iu
, evidently meaning of their own free will . Stopping but twice on tlie way , they arrived iu Rochester about daybreak ; but passing through , at once proceeded to Hanford ' s Landing , three miles below , where he understood the party were to take boat . Here they alighted , and he returned to . Rochester .
Such was the information obtained by the investigations at Canandaigua ; and although there was no positive testimony that Morgan had been carried away in the ' carriage , still the Miller and anti-masonic party boldly asserted that such was the fact ; every circumstance in connection with his disappearance , every chance word dropped by a Freemason in
reference to the occurrence , was twisted and distorted into threats and evidence ( so called ) against . the Craft . Meetings Avere held condemning the Freemasons ; and all that ignorance and folly could do , urged on by unscrupulous men in furtherance of their OAVH views , was done . Stone , that enemy to the fraternity ( from whom many of these facts are taken ) in his
, book ( Letter XV ., ) says : — " It did not , it could not , appear that all those who were concerned in the consjhracy belonged to the-Masonic fraternity . Many of the most respectable of these were amongst the foremost in resenting the outrage upon the laws , and demanding an investigation . And there wore not Avanting those amongst them who ridiculed these
manifestations of the public feeling ( the meetings ) , and added to the public indignation by laughing at their anxiety to know what had been done Avith the absentee . " The excitement was IIOAV raised to a very high pitch ; large public meetings were assembled in various places , committees formed for investigating the affair , and petitions forwarded
to the authorities ; all the ' blame was laid upon the Freemasons , and even some of the clergy denounced the Craft from the pulpit . Meantime no information was obtained as to Avhat had become of Morgan . At the November General Sessions of tlie Peace for the county of Ontario , indictments were found against Nicholas G . ChceseboroLoton Lawson
, , Edward Sawyer , and John Sheldon , for a conspiracy to seize William Morgan and carry him thence to foreign parts , and to secrete and confine him there . A second indictment was likewise found against the same parties for carrying the conspiracy into execution . Tliese indictments , by consent of parties , were sent to the court of oyer aud terminer , to be held
at Cauandaigua , in January then following 1827 . R , B . W . ( To be continued . )
Music—God has made the whole earth with sweet sounds . Tho untravelled forest echoes the notes of tho wild bird , and the habitations of men are made glad by the song of tho feathered minstrel . But , above all , the human voice , which combines the highest charm of sweet sound with the inspiration of thought , is given for no ordinary purpose of earthly pleasure . In its whispers of affection , how grateful . In its expression of religious devotion , how exalted . For its solace ill trouble , how dear its in
. For participation joy , how unspeakable . HOPE . —Among some of the South Sea Islanders the compound word for hope is beautifully expressive ; it is " manaolanii , " or the swimming thought—faith floating and keeping its head aloof above water , when all the waves and billows arc going over one—a strikingly beautiful definition of liopc , worthy to bo ;; et dmvn along with the . in : ; wcr which a deaf and dumb person wrote with his pencil , iu reply to the question , "What was his idea of forgiveness ? " " It is the odour ivhieh flowers yield when trampled on . "
The Origin Of Freemasonry.
THE ORIGIN OF FREEMASONRY .
A LECTUIiE , BY BKO . HENRY T . B 0 BART . MASONRY , according to the general acceptation of the term , is an art founded ou the principles of geometry , and directed to the service and convenience of mankind , and at one time really indicated the nature and objects of our society ; the symbolical use of the implements of tho Craft was for many ages posterior in date to the actual . The
earliest association of mankind is one for the purpose of architecture on a gigantic scale , which resulted in confusion . We read in Genesis that "the whole earth Avas of one language and one speech . And it came to pass , as they journeyed from tho cast , that they found a plain in the land of Shinar , and they dwelt there . And they said , Go to , let us build us a city and a tower , whose top may roach to heaven . And they had brick for stone , and slime had they for mortar . "
It is only necessary to remark that Ave have here a memorable instance of the early association of Masons , for building a city and tower of vast dimensions . This plainly supposes community of idea , thought , and action , arrangements made that some should prepare bricks , others lay them , precise instructions and ordersmaster minds to directand all so
, , united , and linked , and marked , by such distinctions of dress and emblems as -were readily recognizable , that the ruling impulse , " Let us build a city , " could be acted upon by all . Thus , long before the time of Abraham , and one thousand years before the building of Solomon ' s temple , the oldest and most authentic record of the creation notices the union of
Masons . We can trace from history the early existence of associations , united by secret mysteries , jealously preserved from the vulgar , using certain religious ceremonies and mystic symbols , and bearing much resemblance to the present rites of Freemasonry ; and once such societies having originated ,
the adoption by craftsmen of similar mysteries , rites , and ceremonies would rapidly follow . And it so happens that hi each ancient nation , distinguished for architectural science , there existed mysterious brotherhoods , requiring initiation by secret and appalling ceremonies , guarding the admission to the fraternity by a most rig id scrutiny ; some of these
associations originated one thousand four hundred years before the Christian era , and some centuries before the building of Solomon ' s temple . A short account of the Eleusiiiian mysteries—which are esteemed the most ancient and most closely resembling Freemasonry—may prove interesting . The candidate for initiation was admitted at night into a vast building , and amid imitations of thunder and lightning , and the terrors of an earthquake , sudden darkness beset him . A fter enduring much calculated to strike terror ,
the candidate was at length admitted into the sanctuary of the goddess Ceres , aud there instructed in the meaning of the sacred symbols presented to his vieAV . Significant passwords were then communicated to him , by which he might recognize the brethren , and a most solemn oath Avas administered that he never should divulge the mysteries in which he Avas then instructedto the uninitiated . His instruction
, in the mysteries was by successive steps , aud a morality much superior to that prevailing amongst tho mass of the nation was inculcated . We have thus , then , proof of the early existence of a source from which Freemasonry would naturally originate . Now in the district of Asia Minor called Ioniathere
, existed , before the building of King Solomon ' s temple , a very remarkable fraternity called the Dionysian Artificers . They were an association of scientific men who possessed the exclusive privilege of erecting temples , theatres , and other public buildings in Asia Minor ; they possessed appropriate words and signs by which they could recognize their
brethren ; they were divided into Lodges called b y different names . Their rules for the support of their poorer brethren , for securing general concord , aud for the promotion of public