The Massachusetts spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1831-1858, 1832-12-05

'.Se, VI iehNtig tne Lodge after MS du"'e
sion, should Tail to have observed with pain
and mortifitstion, the contrast between the
awful solemnity OF the oath which ne has
taken, and the extreme insigniicance OF inc
secrets revealed to him. 1t is to meet this
unavoidable impression, that the institution
is graduated. The lure of curiosity is still
held out, and its attractive power is slnewed
by the very disappointment which the APP
prentice has experienced. He takes the
degrees of Fellow Craft and Master Ma
son, and still finds ppolnimen:--still finds
himself bound by tremendous oatlls, to keep
their trifiinr and frivolous secrets. The
practice of the institution is deceptive and
fraudulent. 1t holds out TO him promise
which it never performs. Its promise is
iight-its performance is darkness.
But it introduces him to intimate, conf
dental, and exclusive relations, with Sc
lect and limited circle of other men-and
TO the same confidential and exclusive rela-
tiens, with great multitudes of men, belong
ing 10 every civilized nation throughout the
globe. The Entered Apprentices Oath, is
merely an oath of secrecy-but the candi-
date who takes it has pledged himself, by
his application for admission, 20 conform to
all the ancient and established usages and
customs of the fraternity. And the charge
of the Master given him upon the Bible
compass and square, presents him with three
precious Jewels, a listening cara silent
tongue-and faithful hed,t-all, of course,
exclusively applicable TO the secrets reveal
ed to him-and he is told that the listening
ear teaches him to listen to the instructions
of the WorshiDful Master; hut more espe-
cialy 10 the cries Of worthy distressed
brother and that the faithful heart teach
es him to he faithful 10 the instructions of
the Worshipful Master at all times but
more especially to keep and conceal the Sc
c:ets OF Masonry, and those Of brother,
when given to him in charge as such, that
they may remain as secure and inviolable
in his 1.-THE Entered Apprentice's) breast, as
in his 1.-THE brother's). own. Two check
words are also presented to lIim-truth and
1nion-the explanation of which concludes
that the heart and tongue of Free Masons,
JON in promoting each others welfare, and
rejoicing in each others prosperity.
Thus the essential nature of the entered
Apprentices oath preceded by his pledge
to conform to all the established usages and
customs OF the fraternity, and followed by
the charge of the Master, is secret and err
'clusire favor, assistance and fidelity to The
brotherhood and brothers Of the Graft
Now combine together the disappoint-
ment which every intelligent accepted Ma
son must feel, at the puerili,y of the secrets
revealed 10 him, compared with the appal-
ling solemnty of the oath exacted from him
for the purchase his lamb skin apron. and
the secret ties with which he has linked
himself with multitudes of other men, ex-
clusvely to favor, assist and be faithful to
each other, and acknowledge that the
to make the secrets more i'm
portant and to turn them to better account
10 the craft, must be irresistible. Judge
this system a priori, without reference to
any of the consequences which it has pro-
duced, and say if human ingenuity could
invent an engine better suitet, to conspira-
cy of any kind. The Entered Apprentice
returns from the Lodge, with his curiosity
his Imagination bewildered, and |
his reason disappointed. The mixture of
Religion and Morality, blended with false
hood and imposture, which pervade all the
of initiation, is like arsenic mir
gled up with balm.
" Is that Temptation which doth lead us on
7" To Sin, In loving Virtue"
If the candidate has been educated to
sincere and heartfelt reverence for Religion
and the Bible, and if he exercises his rea-
son. he knotcs that all the tales Of Jachn
and Boaz, of Solomon's Temple, of Hiram
Abltf and Jubela, Jubelo and Jpbelum, are
mPostures-poisons poured into the peren-
NAL fountain of truth-Traditions exactly
resembling those reprobated by Jesus Christ,
as making the word of God of none effect.
If, as in this age but too often happens, he
enters lodg sceptic, the use of the Bible
there, if it have any effect upon him, will
turn him out confirmed infidel. The sim
cere and rational believer in the Gospel,
can find no confirmation of his faith in the
uses made of the Holy Scrip
lures to shed an JUNCTION of their sanctity
around the fabulous fabric of Free Mason
~, while the reprobate miscreant will be
taught the uses to which fraud and secrecy
may turn the lessons of petv and viz
tue. inculcated in the sublimest illusions of
divine inspiration. In those scriptures we
are told, that when "the children of Israel
did SECRETLY those things that were not
right against the Lord their God" they he
came idolators, and were carried into captiv-
ity. Their cities then were soon filed with
race of Babylonians and Assyrians.
who perverted the Word of God with the
impostures of Paganism; burnt their chill
dren in fire, to the Gods of Sepharvaim, and
Is feared the Lord, and serued their craven
images"-an emblem OF Free Masonry, far
more illustrative of its character, than the
Tragedy Of Hiram Abiff.
The Entered Apprentices oath, is, there
fore, in its own nature, a seminal principle
Of conspiracy-and this objection applies
% the only oath originally taken in all the
legTees of Free Masonry at its first insti-
.ntioI. The ostenSible primitive purposes
IF Free Masonry, were all comprised in
70 I'd; teliotcship. Bot 10 good fellowship,
whether of labor or Iefreshment, neither
nor oath, nor penalties, are neces-
ary or congenial. In the original instltu-
ion of Free Masonry, there was then an
,stensble and secret object, and by the
graduation of the order, the means were
Implied Of converting il TO any eva purpose
# associated power, screened from the dan
ger of detection. Hence NIL the bitter
iuits which the institution has borne in
Germany. in France, in Mexico, and lastly,
n this our beloved country. Nor could
hey haze fitiled to be produced in Great
Britain, but by sharp and biting statutes,
hey have been confined within the limits of
he ostensibie object of the brotherhood
good-fellowship.
am, with much respect, dear sir, your
friend and sery't. J. @. ADAMS.
From he Boston Patriot
ANTI-MASONRY
We conv in io.havts nanar from. sba Na,y