OPINIONS oN SPECULATIVE MASONRY, RELATIVE TO ITs ORIGIN, NATURE, AND THNDENCY. A COMPILATION, EMBRACING RECENT AND IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS ON THE SUBJECT, AND EXHIBITING THE VIEWS OF THE MOST DISTIN- GUISHED WRITERS RESPECTING It. BY JAMES C. ODIORNE. Tapake openly ta the world, and in secret have I said nothing. Juave Cunist, BOSTON: , PERKINS & MARVIN, 114, WASHINGTON ST. 1830.PREFACE. oe Tue several documents comprised in the following work have been published at various times, and in different sections of our country. They have’ princi- pally appeared in the pamphlet form; and wherever circulated have been read with avidity, and have ex-. erted a powerftl influence. Those which have ‘heen’ presented to the ‘puplic only through the medium of newspapers have not received that general circulation and perusal which their value and importance demand,” owing to the fact, that those organs of communication are for the most part subjected to masonic influence, and that but few papers are enlisted in the Anti- masonic cause. ‘They are here republished, with the hope that they may receive from the public that attention which they merit; and that the influence which they are caleulated to exert may be felt, and be widely extended. Collectively, they form a volume which may be of some service to those who have given to the subject on which they treat bat little attention, and who have not informed themselves in relation to the principles of the Masonic Institption, as they have been developed by recent investigations.Ww PREFACE. The nature and tendency of the institution are here clearly exhibited, and its principles and practices fully illustrated and exposed. From the fact that most of the writers of the pieces herein contained have been mémbers of the institution, and consequently acquaint- ed with its secret principles and designs; and also from the uniformity of their testimony, we may rely on' their statements as correct, and consider their representation of its character as in accordance with tratli. Theincreasing demands of the public for informa- tion'on the subject of Masonry, and the persuasion that a work which should present at one view the ‘opinions of the most distinguished writers respecting it, wauld be useful, and well adapted for -distribution, were the causes which led to tHe publication of the present volume. The compiler indulges the hope that it may subserve the cause of truth, by diffusing light on the subject of Masonry, and by exciting a more general inquiry into the nature of its claims. Boston, Feb. 22, 1830.