OFFICE OF THE - STAR, 03.121tREIRI3i 1 ITRG -STREET ) • -A-FEW 7.1100 RR Warr OF MR. FORRY7I ADVERTISEMENTS c o lupicuously inse.rted FOUR time ' a..fiir *NE DOLLAR per squ4ro—over Igor limos, TWRIViIr-FIVE Inters por square will be eharget4_, Printed Lind Published, at GErrviullika, BY ROBERT w. NIDDLETON • ANTI-MASONIC. RUSH vs. MASCfNRY. HON. P. HUSH, DEAR Stn,—The undersigned, acting as the Anti-Masonic Committee or corrosporniarico Yel York County, beg leave to address you. They, in general a hh the party to vc Inch they belong, view the present, as a period of great importance in the history Of this Country. : A large body-of the Freemen of these United States deem th'e staution of Freemasonry 'dangerous . t& our politi cal and moral welfare, and have united themselves in a determination to put it down. In'this attempt they have been vigorously and systematically op 'posed by another portion, who aro atiached to it, and it has thus become a mutter of vast importance for those who entertain the :opinions which wo profess, to know, who ate for, and who against us. Thei cline, as it has on the one hand, been stated in a public newspaper that you are a member of the Institution, Which has again by. others been denied; we, together with many other of our fellow citizerrs, will feel thankful to you, tOr such infor mation upon the subject as you may think proper to communicate; and likewise, your views with respect to the question between Masonry and its opponents. Addressing you as we do, in the char. actor of tv public body, it is of course our desire "that the.reply shotld publie o leo. ith sentiments or high respect nu d estevin, me roma in, Sir, your obedient serv'ts. WILLIAM AI'ILVAIN, JOHN UFFE LT, • 111:G11 APDONALD, 'l'llo. C. HA 1113 L Anti-Masonic Committee of Correspon. dtnce for York County YORK, PA., MAY 4, 1831. GENTLEMEN hs►ve meeived - he communication ö the 20th April, which, as *a Cofnn►ittee of Correspondence Of A ntimasons for this coun ty, you have done me the honor to address to me, on the general subject of 111.4.soNiv and ANTI3I.I SON nr, and making some. in quiries of me in relation to it.. I do not -low, that the yiews.which I entertain up on either topick, can be of more importance, than those olany'othor private individual; who may have taken the trouble to intbrm liiinsclf on tl►e passing events of the day, and to reflect upon them. But as you are pleased to invite an expression of those views, I will not withhold them. When a citizen . : • •. opted, on sufficiont deliberation, opinions upon any public question, they Seem u 1• right, to belong to whomsoever may think them, worth asking for". My opinions - having been mado up neither hastily nor very recently on those which your letter embraces, I willingly proceed, without oc cupying time by ally further introduction, to present them to you, with t)►c grounds on which they are founded. seo Objections to sectot u ,Focietie be cause, pursuing objects not knoWn to the public, through means not known to the lie, they act under diminished res'ponsibili ----ti-eirto—tlie why mit 'state them; if bad, they ought to be known. thir legislati've halls are all open, and our courts; so are all the acts of our people, that may came to oil:et the interests of the body political; or social. Not a bridge company, not a turnpike effrepany, no hank; : associationi3Ctirt - ely - an - ()rani, kind, fonwhaf. - ever purpose existing, w ier or vancenient of charity, or learning, or reli gion, or any of the common business of life, and whether incorporated by the laws or not, but renders its statements to the public, either' voluntarily, or by command of the Jaws.: If the latter do not positively enjoin publicity; a competent share of informaticil regarding the objects of any such associa tions, is rarely or ever withheld, on proper inquiry being made. Societies, then, pro. foundly secret, by the first element of their constitution, whatever their ostensible ends', cannot be too closely watched, in a country - whose primary principles of poli cal and so cifil action; are all in the face of day. The mystery uhould appear to have good conic, and be free from all suspicion of abuse. If such societies guard Choir secrets by strong. penalties; if they have numbers and antiqui ty on their side; if their visible out post's are but links of a chain stretthinzfrom nation to nation; if the sense of atliliated attach ment and union among them is perceived to be exceedingly energetic and zealous; if their whole scheme of discipline, improved throughout ages, has becoine in a high, de- Wee' imposing, even terrifying, their opera : tions-ovill naturally have the , more scope, nml Lthiluid.be wattalled with the more care. Free Masonry IS such a.;seciety.. Great and good men have belonged to it, I know; and do belong to it, at this moment; yet, re cent AsClosures in the - United States, have, I think, Shown the danglra of which the Society. may become the parent, throurrh the agency of bad men. Wall governments_ 'existing ours is the One, *hirit Would be most justiti4 in watching,: . yith .constant and scrupulous care, theLcinidnct or socie.. , ties prof;')undly Secret. Most', or'all, -other v,overnments f admit the pkinciple ofsecreeb 444 themselves practice it, at, least to sotoo, YORK, APRIL !.26Ti1, IEBI, ... .. ... . . . „ - - - .......... .....-..,---...-_-,__ . - .. .. ... ... - . .. . ~...... . .. r ..... . .... _ e .. ..._ ..„ .• ~... . ... .. • . • , . I ,-' ... . . ......... . ..- . . , AVOR PATRiE PRODESSE CIVIR US-L" THE LOVE OF MY COUNTRY' LEAbS MK TO #E OF AIWA WAGE TO MY Fr.LLow.CrltztNE.," extent. Ours, never. All its operations are, sooner or later, laid before .the grand, original, constituent body—the people; the only fountain, with us, of all influence and sovereignty and power. These are obvious principles of our __system. Free Masonry puts forth an exception to them. It is hence, the right and duty of the people, to exercise strict CCIISW ship over a beiY, whiCh moves in an element so contrary . to their own.— They are the higher power, and entitled to the undisputed contraul. It is as much a general ti:uth in Morals as in government, that it is vice, not virtue, which needs a In 'saying that recent disclosures have shown the dangers of masonry in the Uni ted States, let us see If lam not right. I desire to be guided by facts, and 'to look at them rigorously. Your inquiries are broad,, and should be met broadly. But Cols shall be my basis, and I wish to deal with them practically, as I have really beheld them. You apply to me as citizens, taking an ac tual part in the affairs around you. I am to answer you in that capacity, arid as a member of the same community. The public all know, that certain trials have been held from time to time in the state of.4.ew York, for the discoveryofthe authors of the abduction and murder of William Morgan. Against this man's lib- erty atialife, an extensive and formidable conspitacy had been laid, which ended in, the destruction of both. Ile was a native. , of Virginia, and had removed into New York. It Nvas there, it seems, t hat he com mitted a certain ollisnre, n''t against the laws of his country, hut the. Code orllason• rv; namely, that of revealing its secrets; and this is the olllnce for which he was made to suffer death. The conspirators neither laid against him, nor pretended any other The case is therefbre purely masonic in its origin and termination. There is nothing extraneous to embarrass the judgment, or lead away the thou: , hts. When I fetnilrk, that the puLii I know of the trials, 1 mean that tliev have heard of them, generally; for I do not believe, that ono person in fifty knows any thin! , more about them. 1 have followed up the account of them, as far as 1 have had the mean , ..'; and especially those that have taken place at Lockport, within the last feW months. I have done so in no prejudiced spirit, but with an earliest desire to understand the whole case rightly. They- appear to me, to unfold one of the most extraordinary in cidents that has ever transpired. All the circumstances considered, I know not where we shall seek for its counterpart. It is seen from these trials, that the laws of the laud ' cannot be executed upon thci'authors of an audacious and bloody conspiracy, although its entire theatre was in one of the must populous parts of. the union, althought at tempts have been made to entbrce them in all practicable ways for a period now ex ceeding four years, although the govern ment of the state of New York, has aided, by its immediate countenance and direction,- the public _prosecutions, besides.bayiagis, sued commissions of special investigation; 'and", what is more astonishing than all , al though the conspirators, with their Milers nd - a bettorEr, - tureTitrat I - Tires - MN - My , lcuowti to more than one hundred persons 4clonging to the masonic body, if not to a larger num ber. That :they are certainly known to a great many, masons, if to fiwer than one hundred, is plain, from lights that must bring ef mvictiop homo-tcrevery dispassion ate and sound mind. SucE - is the case as it meets us on the threshhold. It is startling. Under a gov ernment of lawsond in a season of tranquil. ity, it must be pronounced an anomaly.— It seems a scandal upon the trial by jury, t upon the public examination of Witnesses, upon ourTorros of presentment and ntibt ment, upon the power of commitment for not answering legal questions, upon all the modes heretofore the boat of (air judicature, fin. getting at the -truth; all of which have been, so earnestly, solemnly yet fruitlessly resorteclto. Amidst the din ()farms we are told, indeed, that the laws become silent; but that they should so totally 'Use their au thority, at a period of profound peace and general - good order, as .they have done on tis occasion, must arise; from some extra. ordinary and portentous cause. The vic=- tory of crime is the oppl'bbium of the liar, and should call forth a spirit.. of determined inoity - into On - cause.. ' 4O „, It, has been said .that the human bosom is not strong enough to hold the secret of a foul murder. So heavily does it press, that the stoutest heart gives way, seeking relief in . the gush of its sin. Hitherto . , also, in proportion as the knowledge of the filet of miirder has been shared by' large numbers of people, has been the' case, the prompti tude, we may add, the- certainty, of detect tion. But in Morgan's case, we behold the frightffil reverse. It stands,l6 this-respect, elone,4l the records of criminal jurispru dence. .The law-books -a ancient and mo dern- tinies, .might safely .be invoked for a precedent. 'lie difficulty of keeping . the secret of a murder, , operated as some safe guard over innocent life. It served in . some degree, to deter the murderer making liimOrink froM th'9 fear or his own thoughts 'after ads, end, to obstruct fell 0444 fitim the:Tab-Aar keeping away. ac WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 183,1. complices. As by stripes, the flesh IS made to quiver, so the whips and stings of re morse lacerate the heart. They are inter nal executioners, from whose torture the guilty cannot escape. Cuthere, we behold this :safeguard of life put to scorn; one seat ed in the very conscience of man, and which nothing but , the most baleful pc:tions, re admin. . admin istered as it by itifmrals, could ever extir pate. Every sober minded citizen. will be anxious to arrive at the solution olthi s ph e . norflenon. If a train of evidence altogeth, er irresistible in its direct or circumstantial application,-force upon his mind the belief, that its entire and complicated horror, is Clearly traceable to the confederated and unholy contrivances of bad men Nl ho are masons, all his right feelings as a citizen must be shocked. He must standcontiaind ed, at seeing human life and liberty. so sported with, by a power, the more tremen duous in its victory over the laws, as it rides in darkness. Good men who are Masons, will turn from such conduct with ..abhor rence. Candid mien of the society, on hear ing the relation of it, may be disposed to ask themselves, whether all the benefits of masonry, alleged or real, can be a counter poise fur the perils which may thus spring from it, through deluded or depraved zeal ots, who gain admittance to its sanctuary; and who effectually silence compunet rit I no der iniquity, by flying to the misunderstood or iwrverted ties and obligations of the craft. If a power shrouded from the day, has been fou:,d of efficacy sufficient, to interpose a fatal obqi nction to the great course of pub lic justice 'Where guilt has been so aggrava ted, are we to suppose that the mischief] ends here? That it is a single, an insula ted, instance? It is irilpos. , siblP. ::-He is weak arid credidous who believes it. In the vast and active character and business of masonry, in its close and diversified con ne.NieltlS with society at larg• , ., w hose paths it ucsets every whei.e, wtios:_ movements rrom behishl its owl:screen it can wat li and (follow up at pleasure, it must 14.40p0ri, that the streains ofjustiee will often bo tainted, On occasions less conspicuous, by the same power. - A. danger then exist", under the highest moral and even judicril4ornonstra uon, which aught to rivit dcoo attention, and awaken general alarm. Not only has the, government of the state New York lent its effirts in aid of flip ordinary pr as of law, for detecting the culprits dacious conspiracy. This government of Upper Canada has stepped forward in co operation; for it is a ebaracte_gistic of the conspiracy, that there were strong r•tispi cions of its embracing depraved meinhyrs of the fraternity in that fw•eign jurisdiction; so extensive were believed, and on rittiJnal 4rounds, to have been the hideous workings of its malignant sympathies. But all has been in vain. Executive messages, execu tive acts and proclamations, with the otli:r of executive rewards, like indictments and jury trials under special courts and judges, (for these. too were added,) have all fallen to . the ground. Tun LAW i 3 Still paralyz_ed_ by a hidden agent, that continues to prove stronger than the combined force of its ma chinery and its ministers: the Lodge of this L agent, fins becorits sepulchre. lies, a spectacle tbr freemen to look at. In the whole compass of aflitirs to which government is subservient, there is nothing. ofsuch transcendent i mportance, as the fait h ail and of administration of justice be. j tweet' man and man, and by the body politic . ao-ainst:public delinquents. It is of daily,. unceasing, c mergence. It blends itself with a I the-wants, duties and necessities; with all the hopes and all the dangers, that belong to the political and social condition of the world. It conies perpetually home to the immedi atn-bwiiness an d ls,som of mankind, the re• mark so often repeated from Bacon,but which on this subject has its application in exact truth. flume describes it, as the sole end and aim of all government; awl, certainly, if such an administration of justice be wanting it is not going too far to assert, that the rune- tions of government have stopped in a poin`t that is vital. If we. have laws without the power to give them effect, we are in the con dition of a people having none; which brings society to a pause. The levy of ship money was among the causes that produced -the decapitation of, Chailes I. and a change in the English' Dynasty. • tax of three pence a pound on tea, helped to bring_on our own - reveiutlon. How small such acts in themselves; yet; in unien with a - quick arid well understood spirit of liberty, how vast .their Consequences - throughout nations, and the posterity of nations. I fear not to say 'that neither of them, were calculated to press so destructively upon the great fabric of society, as the fact before us, of a secret combine tion - iii - the heart of the republic, be ing able ter' eep the laws at bay in this ease of the murderers of Ajorgan;. so long to tram ple bpon,solong.to triumph over thent The apathy prevailing under the baffled 'efforts to probe and fully to punish so great an ,e --normity,is, to my mind, inexplicable, among a people . WatchfuL of their . rights, and who woUld . ever lie ready, it might ,have beep supposed, to.: .embody the of power of sobiety, - Oherevor any one of pembers, however. 'humble, was seari • _flithlets ly'struck,down, Intorpnli , oul,l ha o been,:;tlio,m6Winthiodioto' the blow Was so bold and terrible; as it was given - amidst concomitants so unusual, and indicative ofso supreme, so insolent, a con tempt for the laws. Ilever an event arose in the annals of any people, that should have made the whole body of the public, identical with the authrwitv of .the magistrate, by a burst of indignation and a concert-40E0s, - i - t - Trirs this. - ' No oth - dr - fe - ein ig ever - y et - kept permanently alive the spirit of public liberty or, upheld the supremacy and giiindeur of the laws. Thoy both die as certainly under orpor, as if cu:lied by open despotism. It is one of the ways, in which free States the gin to lose their liberties. It is a deadly o piate,ditilising itself th rough the political sys tem, against th - e instillations of Nihich, the pat riot-heart should be roused by every con sideration that can animate it tti its highest 1 duties. Whoa the magistrates . are seen with the ensigns of authority powerless in their hands, all appeal is made to the inex tinguishable allegiance and generous devo: tion which should bind every citizen to the common weal. The love of public freedom must he shown in the inviolable maintenance I of individual tights. We are degenerate' RePublicans, we are no Republicans, other wise. Morgan's case is no common one. It is of great and inspiring magnitude. Looked at by itself, it may be called detached or lit tle, by those who little know how to think, or are determined not to think.' But proper ly weighed by its principles us well as facts, it is momentous and appalling. It is no ease for County Courts. It is for the Nation. That is its proper tribunal. Those - who will lift up their minds to an enlarged and just conception of it, instead ofkeeping down to a superficial and imperfect one, will see it under a connexion indissoluble, with a train of public principles with which are interwo ven the interests, the safety and the durable glory of the nation. Let the law, that sheet anchor of society, conic to miss its grapple npon , public felons, handed in league togeth er by a - principle — that -- e - xalts — their - crimes into achievements of merit, and every thing is exposed to wreck and dissolution. The daring and profligate nature of the conspirl acs against the liberty and life of this citi zen; the inflexible and malignant vigor of purpose with which, step by step, it was pur-' sued to eonsumation; the cool, the systematic the inveterate depravity of all the actors, in it, have no parallel, in the previous history of our.`dtMnrigy, scarcely in that of any coati try. I challenge the Spanish Inquisition to exceed it. 1 boldly invite a Search into the a relneves of t hat engine °fa ferocious despo tism, which for four centuries in Eurup crushed its unhappy victims with a vengeance so diabolical, uudencolor of vindicating hetv church, to produce a case that goes beyond it. Morgan's inunolution was in nest in form, an Aril° dc Fe. Holy Masonry, round its vindicators too. The siniilttate is close and shocking. It should Linn' the check every American, who contemplates it. The iron clamps that were probably prepared for the feet and hands of Morgan, aptly compare, with the chains iii which the victim of the inquisition was habited, when trembling on the verge of eternity; whilst the pictures of devouring doe's and serpents triTifwere hung round his nccT, completely prefigure the horrid gang of murdering cue spitators who plunged their hands in the blood of Morgan. . This case, thus far, is entirely out of the track Of all events in a free or well govern ed community: It benefits the grim despo . tism of dark and superst it iuus_i• igesatiaLconn-; tries. But I atn now to present an aspect of it, stilt more extraordinary;still more a larming. Alow to present it, how to realize it, lam at aloss. It seems a delusion. It doubles all my amazement. , I 'would throw it °fres a phantom if I cotildf Lait I cannot; and I sink in my feelingsaSan American citi zen, under the mortified abashed conscious. ness of its truth. Perlius; tought to pause ere I advance further. That which lam a bout to touch, is on all sides encompassed with hazards. A saving energy it has, in.' deed,for its friends, and knows howand when , to exertit; but it can make its blasts howl ab(vet the ears of all, who, with unsurictified steps, approach its precincts; blaStS as 'from "Boreas and Eurus, and Caurus, and Arges tes, loud.'..' If. I followed - the counsels of prudence, I should betuffrie knee in rever ence and retreat before it, But, I will pro ceed.. At_your ~ .tukenjwhatJ believe to be the cause of public order, and of truth; in hand, and that cause must be my shield. A saying that we had when I was at sclool, conies into my mind. I 'scarcely know how to quote it, and must hope for ri* your pardon if I do. It was not, .flat fits litia„ ruat ecElthn; but, TELL THE 7RIJTII, TRUDDIT TILE DEVIL BE BEFORE YOU. Let it. he heard. , Hitherto, when a murder eopecially eme attended by any start h 4 or untisaa ClScti3n stancqs, has been committed by tinwell bands, in a country where existed a free pre. a, that great instrument haS never fail ed Lb raise, and. to keep up, the tarm. It has done ini)feclar More, than' 'Writs and depositions, and search warrants; more than the whol6-pill „idler* and,constables iI detainee, with the paise comblitatufliat'keir: wake, to drag the peipetratora froin:their cover. - By itet! -universal and- . Nrcintaneque aOtiyity, oporAt nig'hua and • • 4. ' TERWOF 'THIS PAPER - Two DOLLAR. per annum—payable half yearly in advance. ; N. subscriptions taken kir less dud six months.and none discontinued until all arrearagee are mid r unless at the option of the Editor—and a failure , to notify discontinuance will be considered a. new eng,agetuont, and the paper forwarded an. vorilingly. • 1 ERm5- 0 2 PER ANNUM 0 V GE.- 2.---No. G. cry, it helps to point aright, public vigilance, and suspicion. It minisiert: usefully to pub ' lie indignation, making. fr strong and stir ring. It put, every thing in,motion, heading the pursuit. It sharpens scrutiny. • re.i nv igora tes tlAtertion, smiles • inward lire upon the tbars mid pantings of the skulking tidon, and throws out signals of all kinds a thousand times tunic valuable:, when its mighty trumpet is sounded•in a good cause, than any that masonry ever planted upon its mysterious Lodges., Need I instance the case of White, at Salem?—= Need I mention that ofThurtell, inEngland, a few years ago, when the unceasing clan: gor of their ptess, reverbated even to our shores. Paris never had such a police; so ciety never such a conservative principle. It is omnipresent. Like flashes frciiii the heavens, it lights up the entire horizok... Its sweep is from the "orient to the diVp ing west;" the whole nation its stage; - thii whole people its audience. What a power in society, when directed to proper ends; how resktless, how awftd! But, in the case we are considering, with the - e'xo — ep - tiOn the comparatively low newspapers, anti-ma sonic in special name and object,tthe press, as' far as I have bad opportunities of obser ving, has been shamefully silent. This best imard of a free state, better than legions of bayonets, this Lion at its portals, whose no ble nature, for 'the Trio , it - pad ifis; to spring forward, enraged and uncompromising, upt on crime, hiis been lulled to sleep; has been chained and muzzled; has been faithless, has been criminal. I say criminal. Silence in such a cause, is participation. It shows, . in eflhet, companionship with the murderers had there been nothing more then silence. It is keeping bands with when a, voice, loud, simultaneous and incense shoul d have rumg throu g h the land. - gay I not Justly say . . that the whole trans action, in eve - ry — ltature in which,the public have a right to feel an interest, an anomaly- Generally, it has been - the course of the press• as through a salutary instinct of its nature, to be ton quick rather than t000sloW; tofly IA wrong in the remote intention and ten denev;-tc; err by inflaming too much, rather than too little. But here, in Morgan's case with the stain of blood befhre its eyes, with crime actually perpetrated, and crying for punishment, it shuts its eyesa It becomes suddenly and stupidly blind, or it turns trai tor. There is no alternative. • The press on this occasion, has fallen into stupefaction or turpitude;- for it cannot so utterly have lost its senses as not to know, that the crime would 'never have been committed and left unavenged, but tier the full and continued existence; in our country, of the Masonic obligation. No sophistry elm gainsay Ilia position. The e'vid - eiffa of it is fragfant; its foundation is upon a rock. Had a case like Morgan's arisen in 1776; had blood been so atrociously shed, and gone so long unavenged through any acts of the government then ru ling us, or the black doings and subtle hid. logs . of masonry within its borders, 1 believe that it would have acted upon public opining like one electric shock, and that our fathers would have sought no stronger cause for wostratinff in the dust •tin_. • • • • . „ a secret influence, that could so iniquitowly.. ...._ prostrate justice. Am I wrorg? do I affirm too much? Am i giving . lvtlY to feerngs . in place reasoning? No! I speak under the highest of all sanctions, betbre the Ameri can public. Turn to the Declaration ()fin. dependence, that glorious charter of our lib- ' .....-.rties,_and_see_lif it boarint- - • ----- -,--,---4--- - one. of the causes for dismembering an Em. pire, that the British 'Ring, by his odious _ acts, .had obstructed the administration of justice in our country. No single Case., comparable in atrocity to this of Morgans,_ ' whether as regards the original cgpspitacy and murder, or' the totatobstructton or the . laws since,ever disgraced the tyranny of that era over us. If one like. it had occurred, a - town meeting in Boston would have rallied New England to her duty; the-fire of Pat; rick Henry's eloquence would Italie sum „moned Virginia- to her's; the deeree would . - have prie 'forth ;and Monarchy, or. 'Vegan.' ry, would ,have fallen. -- That the car test with the latter would baie - been the most difficult; I have no-mnuner of doubt;-- hut down it would have come. Had . the universal Press, of the country dOne its duty, in a spirit resolute and lofty.as-af-t -that-day,- instead- -of--sluggishly -remaining - - quiet, or ignominnusly conniving, this con spiracy against Morgan would long since. have been laid hare, and public justice been vindicated. Its voice would have carried - consternation into the .reeesses'of every Lodge. Its thunders would have-shaker: . their very walls and rilfterg; their foundh- tions underneath would have rocked, their turrets above would havelrembled, and ma- germ, in turn, like the _suffering victim of the • consOraey, would -have. put up _ita prayer-for mercy. ; Apnalled, - pieruiced - far its -exit tense, it wool(' have been seewevery where 'itt motion. Then,Yhee, its Activity,..4ti:dilfr. . . . cipline, its terrors would have been at stoik .. .. to ferret out the deitp guilt.. Its corckiveiv .. vo . olqd have assembled : -no othe r ebreet, . 1 , :until - that object had been attpined.' . rrhe .. : .. Institution would. have been placed ander - ' acetraetion;-it would hoe' bOell'.iltr ~ 6 , :* re 7i3 , the dread her- of the nation, vi • . . . rat% wider Ow majestic inqueft of.. re o 4 . .":* .'''' ..lT I\.:-)' 0 la