The Morgan Mystery;

ticket ; and they came hear ancl were compelled to cry , Morgauize Masons ! Morganize Masons ! Away with them Crucify them I The excitement had been got up , and fostered and fanned to get into power . This is made a political question . It is saicl one of the Presidential candidates is a Freemason , aud the other is not , and therefore the

excitement must be kept up . That is all there is to harp on . " After all thafc has been said against Freemasonry , it is pleasant to hear the opinion of a man in such a position as the Speaker of the House of Congress ; and to his opinion I will add thafc of Governor Clinton . "I am persuaded , " says he , iu a letter to the chairman of the Antimasonic

Committee , " _ that the body of Freemasons , so far from having any participation , iu this affair , or giving any countenance to ifc , reprobate it as the most unjustifiable act , repugnant to the principles , and abhorrent to the doctrines of the fraternity . ^ I know that Freemasonry properly understood , and faithfully attended tois friendlto reliionmoralitliberty

, y g , y , , and good government ; ancl I shall never shrink under any state of excitement , or any extent of misrepresentation , from bearing testimony in favour of the purity of au institution whicli can _ boast of a Washington , a Franklin , and a Lafayetto ^ as distinguished members , and which inculcates no principles , and authorises no acts , that are not ia perfect

accordance with good morals , civil liberty , ancl entire obedience to government and the laws . It is no more reispoiiaible for the acts of unworthy members than any other association or institution . Without intruding in the remotest degree a comparison or improper allusion , I might ank - pjroiher we ought to revile our holreliion because Peter denied aud

y g J udas betrayed ?" As to what really became of Morgan has never satisfactorily been cleared up ; but many reports were then current ; amongst others , one was that he had been taken to Niagara

and thence voluntaril y passed over into Canada , iu order to join the North Western Fur Company , as he himself wished to be beyond the influence of Miller . Another story was that he had entered on board a ship of war at Quebec . Bufc the most probable story was that ho was a passenger on board a sloop that was lost on Lake Ontario at the time of his

disappearance , when all on board perished . Iu spite of the rewards offered for his apprehension , both by the United States government and the British government in Canada ( afc the request of the Americans ) , no trace was ever discovered of him . ' ' From tho evidence already adduced , most indeed of which is gained from Stonean anti-masonic writer

, , ifc appears to have been a malicious conspiracy formed for the sake of gratifying avarice , revenge , and political ambition ; aud iu this view I am confirmed by the testimony of an American Brother Mason , who knew nearly all the actors iu the plot , and was present during the whole persecution ; Morgan therefore had no claim to the honours of martyrdom

which the fanatic zeal of the anti-masonic party gave him ; the motives for his disclosures were base and sordid , and his conduct in every way unjustifiable . If he were a true Mason , and his revelations true , they were so many violations of honour , faith , and confidence , and above all , of truth . 11 There is no vice" says Lord Bacon" that cloth so cover a

, , man with shame , as to he found false and perfidious . " "Confidence , " says Paley , "in promises is essential in the intercourse of human life ; because without it , the greatest part of our conduct would proceed upon chance . But there coulcl . be no confidence in promises if men were not obli ged to perform themthe obligation therefore to perform

-; pro mises is essential , to the same ends and in the same degree . " Now although I do not think that Morgan was abducted and put to death—yet supposing such to have been the case , if he deliberatel y violated a promise or oath to ivhich any specific penalty was attached , ho most certainly ought to

The Morgan Mystery;

have suffered that penalty , had it even been death , since he took the obligation willingly of his own free will and accord , and wilfully violated it ; if a soldier deserts his colours and joins the ranks of the enemy , his punishment is death ; he knows it , ancl runs the risk ; that is the fixed law . Freemasons from time immemorial have hacl certain fixed laws and constitutionswith penalties attached to the violation of

, any of them ; it is a legalized society , its laws and customs have been ancl are sanctioned by the highest in authority , kings , lawyers , ancl nobles , in the various lands where it is found ( ancl where docs not Freemasonry exist 1 ) . So that even if the Freemasons had put Morgan to death ( whicli the evidence proves they did not ) he would have deserved it .

As to his book , it was like all so called revelations of the secrets of Freemasonry—bosh , humbug , pur et simple . I speak on the authority of a brother who has seen it . " It is the most absurd thing in nature , ancl the reason , will bo obvious to every Mason" ( says Jones , Masonic Miseell . 202 ) , "to believe that any part of the real arcana of Masonry over was or ever could be committed to writing . Needy men have , we know , levied contributions pretty successfully on the public credulity , by publishing whimsical pamphlets

professing to lay open the secrets of Freemasonry ; and 1 am prepared to hear many persons in ridicule say thafc the reason why no secrets have been published , or can be written , is , that none exist among us . I am satisfied thafc they should say so ; inasmuch as I perfer hearing men laugh to hearing them lie . " Now what have been the results of this plot . Firstintriguing clever rogues obtained for a time their

, ends ; next , Freemasonry was persecuted , reviled , and attempted to be ruined , but in vain ; although Stone says , in his book , "The institution is on the wane ; in most places is dead , and its torpid body can never be reanimated ; " yet very different was the ultimate result—the worthless branches were lopped off from , the tree ; where any wounds had been

inflicted on the surface they speedily closed , ancl having gained fresh strength and vigour from being pruned , she shot out many fresh and vigorous new ones , these in their turn produced more , ancl now her branches overshadow the land , affording a pleasant shelter and rest for the weary and afflicted . The persecutioninstead of injuring , benefited

, the Graft , inasmuch as by its fire the virtues and beauties of Masonry became more apparent ; that such has been fche result is proved by the fact that at the present moment in no country is Masonry more prosperous than in America . E . B . W .

The Late Sir C. Barry, R.A.

THE LATE SIR C . BARRY , R . A .

WANT of space last week prevented our giving at such length as we wished , a sketch of the career of this distinguished brother ; and we now supply tlie omission . Our contemporary , the Builder , has so happily performed the task , however , that we have taken the greater part of what follows from its columns . With regard especially to Sir Charles ' s connexion with the Masonic bodywe may note that the

, deceased brother was initiated in 1827 , in the Eoyal Clarence Loclge , No . 338 , Brighton , to which he was a subscriber for ton years . In 1838 , ho joined the Oak Lodge , of which he continued a member to the time of his death . It is difficult to say whether the feelings of personal regard , or of admiration for the talents of one who ivas eminently the

representative man of British advancement in architecture , must prevail to excite the regret with which tlie simple announcement of the loss is read . Sir Charles Barry was emphatically an architect , ancl was the artist amongst us all ; but he was endeared to all who knew him well , and to many who had scarcely the advantage of his friendship , by the goodness of his nature , ancl the modesty of pretensions that did hardljustice to his remarkable iftsand to

y g , the merit for benefits present and ivhich arc to come , of his professional career . Throughout those Estates of the realm ivhose habitation he built and ' adorned , having brought to his duty the greatest combination of contrivance in planning , skill in construction , business management , and true art , that the world has seen ;