The Massachusetts spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1831-1858, 1832-12-19
From the .Neic York Commercial advertiser
LETTERS FROM JOHN QUINCY
ADAMS.-No 4.
Quincy, September, l
Jam L. Stone Esq Man York

SSOiNC1, 'oepteiiIoei, AC''~'
Hiiiiam. L. Stone Esq, Near York:
DEAR SIR-The second objection to the prom
Use of the Entered Apprentices obligation, is il
universally. The candidate swears that he Wi
never reveal any Of the underlined { arts parts o
points of tie mysteries of Free Masonry, 10 an
person under the canopy Of Hearen " This prom
Use, like the administration 'oi the cath, IS, in it
terms contrary to the law Of the land The law
of this, and of every civilized country. max,
1t the duty of every citizen to testify the whole
truth of facts, deemed by legislative bodies, or ju
dcial tribunals, material to the issue of the nves
tjgatiUn before them. Il is also the duty of gooC
citizen to denounce and reveal to the authorities
established to execute the laws against criminals
7 any secret crimes of which lie has in any manner
acquired the knowledge. Now there is nothing in
the arts, parts or points Of the mysteries Of Ere,
Masonry, which, in the trial OF judicial cause
| or IN an inve stigation of Legislative Assembly
may not be justly deemed material to the issue be.
fore the court or the legislature OF its materail-
ty, the Judges, the legislators have the exclu-
svc right TO decide. No witness, called before
court of justice, authorized committee OF
the legislature, can refuse TO answer any question
put to him by the court the committee. on the
ground that he deems it immaterill the trial be-
fore them. This principle becomes more glarlngy
obvious, when applied to the promise never to re-
veal the secrets of brother Mason, communi-
Gated as such, contained in the Master Ma
sons oath. But the principle is identcally the
same. The Entered Apprentice promises never to
reveal to any person under the canopy OF Heaven,
That which the laws Of his country naay the ne-t
day alter he makes the promise, make it his duty
TO reveal to any court OF justice before which he
may be summoned to appear or to any committee
oil the legislature of the State in which he resides,
or OF the Union. The promise is therefore unlaw-
lul, by its universally.
gu Will remember that | am maintaining the
position that the obligation, under oath and penal
administered In n n takn nv fba En,a
prentice, is IL, itself essentially vicious now
state the promise in the words universally admit
ted TO be used in that ceremony Do YOU deny
That they contain an unlawful promise Yes,
say you, because the candidate told BY the mas
ter who administers the oath, that " he is express
y to understand that nothing therein contained is
to interfere with his political or religious prnci-
pies F.; with his duty TO God or the laws of his
country" And you, and all honest and worthy
Masons, take and administer the oath with this
understanding. Well then-the promise is in its
terms contrary to the law of the land but you take
and administer it with taeit reservation, furnish
Cd to you not by the action of your own under
standing, but by the previous notification of the
master who administers the oath to YOU So, and
so only you say, the terms of the promise are to be
construed. But in the first place, this is not
question of construction but question of mental
reservation. The words are plain and unequivo-
cal ; but you pronounce them with reservation.
tnat the promise shall bind you to nothing contra
~ TO law Now what possible reason or iustifica-
ton can there be for exacing promise under oath
Tie real meaning of which is totally different from
that OF the terms in which tits couched. You swear
man to one thing, and you tell him it means an
other. But, secondly, how far does your excep-
tloh extend! You say the promise extends only
10 tne essential secrets Of Masonry, and to the
lawful transactions in the lodges and to the Sc
cfets oil Masons not criminal-the former of which
you consider of not the least consequence to the
world o. al f,oY
clety The secrecy of transactions in the lodges
you believed to be merely conventional; and the
promise OF keeping the secrets of Il brother Ma
son, are cancelled, when the secret confided to
you by him is Of crime committed by himself
Now all these exceptions resolve themselves in
10 'he taclt reservation authorized by the decara-
tion Ct the Master, before administering the OATH
'hat II contains nothing contrary to law. If the
oath IS taken with that reservation, it applies
equally TO the promise to keep the essential secrets
OF the order, and TO all the Others And. there
fore, Free Mason, summoned before the Com
mlttee OF Legislature, or Court of Justice, is
bound not less to disclose the grips, signs, due
GUARDS, and tokens than he to divuge the crimes
OF brother Mason, known to him.
The simple question take to be this l suppose
Free Mason to be summoned before Legislative
committee or assembly, or judicial tribunal, 10
testify Is he or is he not bound to answer any
lnterrogatory put to him by their authority, and
which they require Of him TO answer, respecting
the essential secrets Of the craft? IF he is how
can these secrets be kept, and of what avail
are all the oaths, administered to masonic candi-
dates, whether with or without penalty 7 If he is
not, then the obligation of the masonic oath super
sedes the obligation of the law of the land And
II The masonic oath of secresy is paramount to the
law OF the land with regard to mysteries of the craft
where is the principle which restores the supreme
cy of the law, to require the disclosure of masonic
crimes The masonic oath makes no discrimina-
In . ln,N -
them all. The declaration of the Master that
there Is nothing unlatcfM in the oath, makes no
dlscriminaton-it applies to all or it, applies to
none.
With this view of the subject you will perceive
that deem 1t altogether immaterial to the argu-
ment, whether the words " murder and treason
not excepted" are are not included in the Roy-
al Arch Mason's promise of secrecy-whether he
promises to espouse the cause of brother mason
lght or wrong, or not-and whether the words
and they left to my own election" are or are
not an innovation IN the Master Mason's oath
But when you ask me, as an act of Justice to be-
iieVe that should brother mason tell you secret
That he had robbed store, you would very speed-
" make the matter public in the police office"
must, while very cheeriully and sincerely believ-
ing you, observe, that it would be at the expense
OF the very explicit import of the Master Masons
cath. BY that oath, the Master Mason promises
to keep the secrets of brother Master Mason, as
secure and inviolable as if they were in his own
breast, " murder and treason excepted" That is,
excepting two specific enumerated crimes. What,
then, is the meaning of this exception land why
are they excepted The naming of them. en-
phaticaly leaves all other crimes, included in the
promise and excluded from the exception The
Master Mason's promise does, therefore, by the
pam import OF its terms, pledge him to keep the
secret knowledge Of any crime committed by a
brother Mnster Mason and communicated to him as
Masonic Secret other than the two specified by
name and if you should be in the unfortunate
condition of having such Secret communicated
to you, and should give notice of it at the Police
Office, you would discharge your duty to your
country, only by considering your Masonic promise
as null and void. For here is the dilemma If the
Masonic Promises are all made with the tacit re-
servatlon, that nothing contrary law is under.
stood to be included in them, then the exception
OF Murder and Treason in the Master Mason's
Oath is not only superfluous, but deceptive since
IL limits to two specific crimes, the exception al.
ready referred to, of all crimes whasoever and II
the Masonic Promises are made without the re-
served exception of all unlawful things, then the
exception of Murder and Treason, from the Sc
crets which the Master Mason pledges himself to
keep, leaves all other crimes distinctly UNI
ger The shelter OF the promise, as if they had been
included IN IT expressly by name.
! 3. To the Penalty
Death by Torture and Mutilaton.
have, in former letter, exposed the fallacy-
must say the heterogeneous ialacy of the attempt
! to defend this part Of the Masonic Obligation ir
| the late Rhode Island legislative investigation II
the tale of January and May" when the doat
ing, blind and abused husband. by the miraculous
n;erpOsition of the King of Fairies. receives in
stantaneous restoration of sight, to witness his owl
dslonor; the Queen Of the Fairies with equa
prompttude, suggests TO the guilty wife an rXpI
NATION. The Masonic brotherhood of Rhode Isl
and, are as ready TO take suggestion from thu