Wilmington expositor. (Wilmington, Del.) 1831-18??, 1831-09-09
MR.. RUsII's ANSWER.
YoRK, PENNSYLVANIA, Iune so.

Gentlemen. Your communication dated the 21st Of
May, and bearing the Boston postmark of the 2lst Of
TINS MONTH reached me on the goth instant, which
mention as it will account for what might otherwise
seem long interval between its date and this acknow-
Judgement
The favorable sentiments which, as Delegates of a
Convention lately assembled in Boston from various
parts OF the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,, to a.
dept measures for the suppression of Freemasonrg.
you have been pleased to express Of the views which
have given to the public upon this subject yield
very solid satisfaction They naturally and power
fully tend TO confirm in my mind the soundness Of
those views. They demand all my acknowledgements
which beg leave 70 tender 10 YOU, fully and sincerely
foAhaye yourselves presented views of the subject
otsf than those which took, they full of impor
tance. The subject indeed is of great extent and ma,
be useully discussed under n variety of aspects a,
different minds may be differently affected towards it
and thus the aggregate OF scperdtc contributions will
in good time make up the entire volume of light with
which it ought to be enconpassed
In the letter which has drawn forth your obliging
communication to me, it was my object to hold up the
dangers OF masonry as seen in the contest has waged
with the LAW in MorSans case and the victory it has
won That part Of the subject, and, in direct con-
neXion with it, the ensavement Of so great portion
ot our Newspaper press TO Masonry, those up
on which alone l meant IL dwell l thought these
points pi:n and practicable, and the ground under
each so strong, that it was impossible not stn1 firm
y upon it. As further reflection leads me to think it
still stronger than at FIRST and have now, in addi
ton, your valued appreciation, besides that OF others #
ltlliW-ClIlSenS WHOSE appreciation cannot Dut
fattelng, will claim your indulgence whilst throw
ONT few mere ideas under the same heads, and per-
haps incidentally upon others. 1t is Of the Law
of which chiefly desire to speak, in its connection
with Masonry, because IS OF the utmost that
its true doctrines should be understood No only do
all cur civil lights depend upon the true understanding
of them, but also our public liberty First however,
of the Press.
The thrlldom Of the press was cvnced by its gene
raj silence under the foul decd of Morgans abduction
and murder; or by the abs fthat decided ndigna-
ton with which ought to have followed it up, such
the press is sure to manifest in other cases where
great crimes are perpetrated; or, what dis
reputable still, by not unrcqueny treating the whole
subject with levity, making it the occasion of
rlbaldry and unseemly melTlmcnt. The friends the
press will have to bsh often this part OF
its history in our country is recall d. They will feel
shame in rccollccng, that whcn the liberty and life Of
citizen, sssolS down by conspiracy of extra
ordinary bodness and malgnity, an immense majority
of the American press, fur had any means Of
knowng, repeat tile expression of my former letter.
it it spoke at all, would speak out; chat against all
its nature and habits il grew tauc; if first
to save appearances, it dd make demonstrations
and show guarded indignation, that it soon drew ill.,
becoming indifferent becoming blind to an unSpeaka-
Bile outrage, that it knew t be still unavenged. In
fact, that it laid down its vigilance its intelligence and
its spirit, the footstool of Freenasonry. More re-
prehenSible than all;that, reversing its true duties
it absolutely cXertcd its spirit and launched forth its
vrtu0us horror only against those who embarked in the
pursuit Of justice, by branding that pursuit
necessary excitement" and that finally, in effect, it
passed ovcrthe necessary consequences OF its
ured step against the crime in the begnang-to the
side Of tie Offending party, where 1t is in full
juxtaposition, administering TO Masonry the comfort
which it needs in this remarkable fellowship. Such,
in word has been the course Of the press.
Often, in other times and countries. it has
been silenced by arbitrary will, or brought up
by corrupting gold but in this country, it has
been bestrodden by Masonry. Servitude I'M
der any circumstances, is humiliating; but in
the lowest depth; and that our press should
have bowed down in worship to this Idol, is
the step into that deep. A late writer on the
e Principles of Morality" Dymond, whose
early death those who stand high i'll letters in
Britain deplore as public loss, whilst discus
sing the subject of newspapers, utters this
striking opinion; "hiathe are some credita-
bke editors 1cho do harm in the 7V9ri to an extent
in comparison 7Oith 1uhich ro6beries and treason
are as nothing" give the passage in his own
emphatic words. If this searching writer, as
he has been called,--he was of the society of
Friends and an honor to that society," -could
have witnessed in the United States the sub
lection of large band of editors to Masonry,
he would not surely have revoked his opinion.
On the contrary, astonishment and disgust
must have taken possession of his bosom at
lperceiving how the press in a country proud OF
! It's freedom, could have come under such a
yoke; and, being under it, how it could pass
from absurdity, at one time loosing itself in a
confusion of the understanding, at another in
I; a tornado of passion, in attempts to excuse it.
self for not doing its duty to the public under
an event as authentic as ever arose in any
country, for drawing out all its honest and
most uncompromsing indignation.
The National Intellgencer of the nth Of
this month, now lies before me. This news
paper has long been published in the capital of
the Union, For high and various merit, do
not believe that it is exceeded by any journal
in this, or in any country. Its condustors do
honor to profession as noble and useful in
its honorable exercise, as it is mischievous and
unworthy in its abuse. Elevated in mind,
they never, whatever their own views of sub
4 L..