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ONTARIO
سم
Geneseo.
THE MASONIC MARTYR.
THE BIOGRAPHY OF
ELI BRUCE,
SHERIFF OF NIAGARA COUNTY, NEW YORK,
WHO, FOR HIS
ATTACHMENT TO THE PRINCIPLES OF
MASONRY, AND HIS FIDELITY TO HIS TRUST, WAS IMPRISONED
TWENTY-EIGHT MONTHS IN THE
CANANDAIGUA JAIL.
BY ROB MORRIS, LL.D.,
MASONIC AUTHOR AND LECTURER.
"Mine enemies are lively and they are strong; and they that hate me
wrongfully are multiplied."-PSALM Xxxviii: 19.
MORRIS
&
MONSARR
BARRAT

"
LOUISVILLE, KY:
MORRIS & MONSARRAT,
PUBLISHERS OF MASONIC LITERATURE.
1861.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1860, by
MORRIS & MONSARRAT,
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the District
of Kentucky.
STEREOTYPED AT THE FRANKLIN TYPE FOUNDRY, CINCINNATI, 0.
AUG 9 44
3 66.1
TO
THE VETERANS
Who still linger round the Temple Walls,
Devoted to its Interests, Jealous of its Honor, Landmarks of its
Unchangeableness and Truth,
This Volume,
of the
Hard Trials and Sufferings of one of their Cotemporaries,
is
FRATERNALLY DEDICATED.
1067751
PREFACE,
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
The Introduction of Freemasonry into America, and its
Condition in the United States in 1826,..........
CHAPTER II.
The Abduction of William Morgan,....
PAGE
xiii
1
9
CHAPTER III.
The Antimasonic Party,.....
25
CHAPTER IV.
Eli Bruce, his Fault, Trial, and Conviction,........
40
CHAPTER V.
The First Year of Imprisonment,.....
61
CHAPTER VI.
The Second Year of Imprisonment,………………….
225
CHAPTER VII.
The Close of his Life,……………………..
APPENDIX,
290
297
(ix)
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
MAP OF WESTERN NEW YORK.
ELI BRUCE'S ROYAL ARCH MEDAL.
HOMESTEAD OF ELI BRUCE, SENIOR.
COAT OF ARMS OF THE BRUCE FAMILY.
HOUSE OF MR. BURRAGE, AT TEMPLETON, MASS.
(xi)
PREFACE.
THE idea of compiling a biography of MR. ELI BRUCE was
confirmed upon me about eight years since, while reading
the official accounts of his trial. The implacable course pur-
sued toward him by Mr. Spencer and other leaders of the
antimasonic faction; the refusal of Governor Enos T. Throop
to shorten his term of imprisonment, although it was proved
that his life was in peril; and the million insults heaped upon
his head by the entire press and party of antimasonry, awak-
ened an intense indignation, which took this direction. It
appeared to me that the victim of political malice ought not
to pass out of the memory of the present generation without
at least one fraternal attempt to vindicate his honor and
innocence, even though it should be at the expense of men
living and dead who occasioned or profited by his sufferings.
The present prosperity of the Masonic institution is chiefly
due to the constancy of a few men (among whom Mr. Bruce
deserves special mention and undying honor) who bore their
injuries in silence, and patiently awaited the day of justice.
That day has come to others, but not to Mr. Bruce. The man
who entered the Canandaigua jail, May 20, 1829, dejected,
(xiii)
xiv
PREFACE.
but not dismayed; poor, but strong hearted; healthy and
robust, came forth, September 15, 1831, feeble and worn, and
prepared to fall an early victim of the terrible epidemic of
the coming year. And now twenty-eight years having elapsed
since his body was deposited in the old burying-ground at
Lockport, I think it is time his story was told.
In the preparation of this volume I have had many advant-
ages in the way of oral testimony, and of documents printed
and in manuscript. By the family of the deceased, resident
at Centralia, Illinois, (his aged widow, a son and two
daughters,) I have been favored with three volumes of his
jail journals, and various private letters and papers written
during his imprisonment. From his brother, Dr. Silas Bruce,
of Boston, Mass., and his nephew, Rev. A. W. Bruce, late of
Fitchburg, Mass., I have received whatever traditionary matter
remains relative to his youth and early manhood, and which
is necessary to form a correct judgment upon his after con-
duct.
My own researches through Western New York have brought
to light large amounts of intelligence of one sort and another;
but the investigations of Mr. Elisha D. Cooke, who, at my
instance, spent several months in that section, in the winter
and spring of 1859, were still more successful. His accu-
mulations of information upon the subject of the Morgan
excitement in general, and the affair of Bruce in particular,
were very extensive, and leave but little wanting to the de-
mands of history.
It is proper here to mention the names of the following
gentlemen who have contributed most largely to this stock:
Rev. Salem Town, Aurora, N. Y.; N. G. Chesebro, Canan-
daigua, N. Y.; John L. Lewis, jr., Penn Yan, N. Y.; Je-
rome Steele, Lockport, N. Y.; John Whitney, Chicago, Ill.;
PREFACE.
XV
Ebenezer Mix and D. Seever, Batavia, N. Y.; Finlay M.
King, Port Byron, N. Y.; John S. Weed, Saratoga Springs,
N. Y.; Sylvester Gilbert, Ogdensburg, N. Y.; Peter P. Mur-
phy, Royalton, N. Y.; John O. Cole, Troy, N. Y.; Jeremiah
Brown, Jeddo, N. Y.; Robert Macoy, N. Y. City; John W.
Simons, N. Y. City; Mordecai Myers, Schenectady, N. Y.;
James M. Austin, N. Y. City; Sidney Haden, Athens, Pa.;
the late Giles F. Yates, N. Y. City; Philip C. Tucker, Ver-
gennes, Vt.; James Herring, N. Y. City; James S. Reeves,
McConnellsville, O.; Joseph Covell, Jay Bridge, Me.; George
W. Chase, Haverhill, Mass.; Abelard Reynolds, Rochester,
N. Y.; P. H. Taylor, Ionia, Mich.; General P. Whitney,
Niagara, N. Y.; the late Robert P. Dunlap, of Me.; and
William C. Barker, of R. I.
The cheerful assent of the surviving relatives of Mr. Bruce
to the publication of this work, may be inferred from their
readiness to furnish so much material otherwise inaccessible.
Their express permission, however, is recorded in the follow-
ing letter, dated October 4, 1858:
"We, the daughters of ELI BRUCE, do grant you full per-
mission to be the biographer of our father. We give you the
use of his Diary and all other works in our possession that
you may desire, reposing the utmost confidence in your ability
and judgment to do full justice to the memory of one so sorely
tried, and so precious to us-our father."
The anxiety of these estimable ladies that his memory
should be vindicated from the least stain, is evinced in the
following words:
"We charge you to give to the world a truthful delinea-
tion of our father's character. He united himself with the
Masonic Society from the purest motives. He was both noted
xvi
PREFACE.
and honorable before his Masonic troubles gave his name
such notoriety. He suffered much and remained true to the
principles of that Society until his death. Now let that
Society testify to his integrity."
Most sincerely do I hope that the great labor expended
upon this volume, the motives which have supported me
under that labor, and the earnest prayers to the Divine
Throne which go forth with each page, will, in some degree,
relieve that anxiety, and that the sacred debt so long due the
memory of ELI BRUCE will no longer be withheld.
ROB MORRIS.
LA GRANGE, Ky., August, 1860.
ELI BRUCE,
THE MASONIC MARTYR.
CHAPTER I.
THE INTRODUCTION OF FREEMASONRY INTO AMERICA, AND ITS CON-
DITION IN THE UNITED STATES IN 1826.

a
HE institution of Freemasonry is more ancient
than any other in the world. In some form
or other, it has existed in every nation pos-
sessing any trace of civilization or religious
worship, for many thousand years. Among
the American aborigines, there are abundant
evidences of a partial system of Freemasonry (secret
affiliation for mutual profit and religious culture) from
the earliest times. But this is not the enlarged idea
of the Masonic institution as understood at the present.
day. In the latter sense, it was first regularly intro-
duced from England into America, in 1733. On the
thirtieth of April of that year, a Letter of Authori-
zation was issued by the Grand Lodge of England to
Mr. Henry Price, and others, at Boston, Massachu-
(1)
2
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
setts, in New England, to form and open a Provin-
cial Grand Lodge of New England, and, by virtue
thereof, to establish subordinate lodges throughout
New England. This authority was first employed
July 30th of the same year, in the opening of the
Provincial Grand Lodge and establishing the first
subordinate lodge at Boston.
The year following, the authority granted to Mr.
Price, as Provincial Grand Master of New England,
was enlarged to embrace all North America. By
virtue of this extended rule, a charter was granted
by him, in 1734, to Benjamin Franklin and others,
to open a lodge at Philadelphia, in the province of
Pennsylvania. Lodges were instituted the year
following at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and
Charleston, South Carolina; and from that period
the institution steadily enlarged its operations, fol-
lowing closely upon the heels of civilization, until
there was no town or village unenlightened by the
operation of a lodge.
Governed essentially by the same regulations
wherever established; avoiding the exciting political
and religious questions of the day; alike in war as in
peace; kind, benevolent, and humane; binding in one
common tie a Wolfe and a Montcalm, a Washington
and an Andre, a Jackson and a Clay, a Tompkins
and a Clinton; a tie indissoluble in amity; and, put-
* See Morris's History of Freemasonry in Kentucky, and Freema-
son's Almanac, 1860, from which the historical facts in this chapter
are mostly taken.
FREEMASONRY IN 1826.
3
ting into requisition every agency of benevolence
and good fellowship, the Fraternity of Free and
Accepted Masons took possession of the New World
as at the same time it was spreading over the Old.
The first Masonic publication in America was
issued by Benjamin Franklin in 1734. This was a
reprint of the Constitutions of the Craft, published in
England ten years previously. Since that period,
the American press has abounded in works illustrat-
ing the history, philosophy, jurisprudence, and belles-
lettres of Freemasonry.
So great an extension of lodges soon called for the
establishment of governing assemblies in the different
provinces. In 1754, a Provincial Grand Lodge was
instituted in South Carolina; in 1764, in Pennsyl-
vania; in 1771, in North Carolina; and in 1781, in
New York. These five (viz., Massachusetts, South
Carolina, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and New
York) are the only bodies of this class in the Ameri-
can colonies whose records have been preserved,
although it is known that Provincial Grand Masters
were appointed in New Jersey, Virginia, and other
colonies; and it can scarcely be doubted that they
exercised the authority granted to them.
In 1777, the first Grand Lodge in America, prop-
erly so called, was established according to the inher-
ent right of Masons, in the State of Massachusetts.
The lodges that united in this movement were those
that had been previously under the government of
Joseph Warren, Provincial Grand Master, slain at
Bunker Hill. This inherent right was exercised, in
4
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
due order, by Virginia, 1778; Maryland, 1781;
Pennsylvania, 1786; Georgia, 1786; New Jersey,
1786; New York, 1787; South Carolina, 1787;
North Carolina, 1787; New Hampshire, 1789; Con-
necticut, 1789; Rhode Island, 1791; Vermont,
1794. This completed the series of Grand Lodges
in the thirteen original States of the American con-
federacy.
A new series was commenced, and Masonry re-
ceived increased vitality in the establishment of the
Grand Lodge of Kentucky in 1800. Delaware fol-
lowed in 1806; Ohio, 1809; District Columbia,.
1811; Louisiana, 1812; Tennessee, 1813; Indiana,
1818; Mississippi, 1818; Maine, 1820; Alabama,
1821; Missouri, 1821; Illinois, 1823; and Michi-
gan, 1826.
Thus the aggregate of twenty-six
Grand Lodges in the American States was formed
at the period at which the antimasonic warfare com-
menced.
There are now (1860) eleven Grand Lodges addi-
tional to these, viz.: Florida, established in 1830;
Texas, 1838; Arkansas, 1838; Wisconsin, 1843;
Iowa, 1844; California, 1850; Oregon, 1851; Min-
nesota, 1853; Kansas, 1856; Nebraska, 1857; and
Washington Territory, 1858. These govern an ag-
gregate of 4650 lodges, having 200,000 members
nearly.
The number of lodges and Masons acknowledging
allegiance to the twenty-six Grand Lodges of 1826,
can not, in the present condition of Masonic sta-
tistics, be given with accuracy. They may be com-
FREEMASONRY IN 1826.
5
20
puted approximatively, however, at 2,500 lodges and
100,000 Masons.
The State of New York alone had more than 500
lodges, and 20,000 Masons. In no country, indeed,
was the institution more worthily represented than
in New York, the scene of the warfare about to be
commenced. The Governor of the State, DeWitt
Clinton, eminent for every qualification that goes to
the making up of the patriot and statesman, had
been its Grand Master from 1806 to 1819, and was
succeeded in that high position by the late Vice-Pres-
ident, Daniel R. Tompkins, and others of fame and
repute.
The élite of the State in wealth, science, politics,
and trade, were, in 1826, conspicuous among its
members. Joseph Enos was Grand Master in 1822;
Martin Hoffman, 1823 to 1825; Elisha W. King,
1826; Hon. S. Van Rensselaer, 1827 to 1829; Hon.
Morgan Lewis, 1830 to his death in 1843. Elias
Hicks was Grand Secretary from 1817 to his resig-
nation, Dec. 6, 1826, and was succeeded by Oliver
M. Lownds. James Herring was elected in 1829,
and served until 1846. Richard Hatfield was Deputy
Grand Master, 1825 to 1827, and was succeeded by
Mordecai Myers, who served until 1834.
Ministers, merchants, lawyers, farmers, met to
pursue the mystic labors in the Masonic halls. Twice
a year, upon the 24th of June and 27th of December, its
processions marched solemnly through the streets of
every town and village, displaying a strength of num-
bers and influence that no affiliated society had ever
6
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
before wielded; and from the lips of eloquent men its
principles and history were given forth in Orations
that charmed every hearer. Marble tablets in every
graveyard spoke in expressive silence the Masonic
merits of deceased Brothers, and by the universal
voice of symbolical figures declared the perpetuity
of the institution..
The fundamental laws which regulated this great
fraternity were contained in their Book of Constitu-
tions, first published in England in 1723:
"That no atheist or irreligious libertine can be-
come a Mason; that the religion of Freemasonry is
goodness and truth; that Masons are peaceable sub-
jects to the civil powers wherever they reside or
work, avoiding all plots and conspiracies against the
peace and welfare of the nation, and cheerfully sub-
mitting to inferior magistrates; that every Mason
ought to be a member of a lodge and submit to its
rules and regulations; that the members of lodges
are good men and true, free born, of mature and dis-
creet age, no bondmen, no women, no immoral or
scandalous men, but of good report; that official
preferment is based upon real worth and personal
merit only; that Apprentices should only be made
as fast as the real wants of the institution demand,
and must have no maim or personal defect, and must
be born of honest parents; that Wardens must be at
least Fellow Crafts, and they only can be elected
Masters; that Masters only can be elected Grand
Masters; that the Grand Master may have a Deputy;
that the officers of the Grand and Subordinate Lodge
must be obeyed with humility, reverence, love, and
alacrity; that national Sabbaths and holidays must
be observed, and all other time given to labor; that
FREEMASONRY IN 1826.
7
overseers must be selected with reference to their
expertness; and that all ill language and discourtesy
between Masons are forbidden. These, with many
appropriate rules of decorum, regulating the conduct
of Masons in relation to their families and neighbors,
to strangers, and to the brotherhood at large, con-
stitute the entire Code of Masonic Law."
Such was the condition of the Masonic Institution,
especially in the State of New York, in the year
1826, a year ever memorable as the beginning of
events that threatened for a considerable period the
very existence of this ancient and honorable system
in America. The history of this period has never
been adequately written, and our brief sketch of it
in this volume is but to show how far Mr. Eli Bruce
was connected with it, and to explain the cause of
his severe sufferings in its behalf.*
Suffice to say that the abduction of William Mor-
gan, which has rendered the year 1826 chronologi-
cally infamous, grew out of an exaggerated alarm
on the part of certain members of the Masonic fra-
ternity in Western New York, lest the essential
secrets of the Institution, which had been preserved
intact for three thousand years, should be exposed to
the public gaze, as threatened by Morgan and a few
other reckless adventurers in and about Batavia. This
led them into the commission of a series of blunders,
A distinct work upon the Antimasonic Warfare, 1826 to 1836,
has long been in course of preparation, and may be expected to be
issued from the press within a twelvemonth of the date of the
present volume.
8
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
not to say errors, that produced all the sad results to
Masonry which make the story of "the Antimasonic
Warfare," and which brought grief to many hearts.
An abstract of these events is given in the next
chapter.
THE ABDUCTION OF MORGAN.
9
CHAPTER II.
THE ABDUCTION OF WILLIAM MORGAN.

D
UR sketch of the person and character of
William Morgan is derived mainly from the
reminiscences of Hon. Ebenezer Mix, of Ba-
tavia, New York, a veteran Mason of much
and deserved repute, and one who followed,
with critical eye, the progress of the events in
question. William Morgan, it is said, was born in
Culpepper county, in the State of Virginia, about the
year 1776. He was trained to the business of a
stone-mason, which occupation he followed at inter-
vals in a sluggish way until 1826. During the last
war with Great Britain, he was connected with the
piratical band of Lafitte; in which service he united
with Jackson's army at New Orleans, and, with the
rest of his ruffianly compradors, rendered good serv-
ice against the enemy. His only military title, if
any he had, grew out of his connection with the
company of free rovers, the roll of Jackson's forces
being innocent of his name.
After the war, he engaged in a small mercantile
business at Richmond, Virginia, where, October 7,
1819, he married the daughter of a Methodist clergy-
10
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
•
man named Pendleton, then in her sixteenth year.
The marriage not being agreeable to Mr. Pendleton,
Morgan removed, in 1821, to the town of York,
afterward Toronto, in Canada, and engaged with an-
other person in the business of brewing. This prov-
ing unsuccessful, he shifted his labors to Western
New York, the scene of the drama in which he was
to bear the part of Judas Iscariot. Here his char-
acter was, in all respects, infamous. At Rochester,
working at his old profession for a Mr. Warren, he
wormed himself so deeply into that gentleman's con-
fidence as to persuade him that he (Morgan) was a
Freemason, and succeeded in entering the lodge at
Rochester in that capacity. No evidence has ever
been adduced to show that Morgan acquired, in a
lawful manner, more than one degree-the Royal
Arch; and we are constrained to believe that, as to
the rest, he was a base impostor. But, emboldened
by his success at Rochester, he claimed, at LeRoy, to
have acquired the six regular degrees up to, and includ-
ing that of Most Excellent Master, and was allowed,
in the Chapter there, with a most reprehensible lax-
ity, to receive the Royal Arch at their hands.
During the year 1823, he removed to Batavia,
where he resided at intervals until his abduction.
Here he engaged the then Grand Lecturer, Mr.
Blanchard Powers, resident at Batavia, to give him
a course of Masonic instruction; by which means he
was enabled to pass himself, without difficulty, as a
Mason, and, in that capacity, to play whatever char-
acter might seem most profitable to a mercenary dis-
THE ABDUCTION OF MORGAN.
11
position. The room in which these lectures were
taught was adjacent to the printing office of Mr.
David Cade Miller, a printer of little standing, who
had received the degree of Entered Apprentice,
many years before, at Albany, New York. Miller
had been unsuccessful in life, lived hard, made but
little money, and, "being thoroughly tired," as he
said, “of such a dog-trot life, was resolved either to
end it soon, or raise himself to riches and renown.'
These were his own declarations. The acquaintance
between these two men, formed by their accidental vic-
inage, soon ripened into friendship. There was con-
geniality of temper, habits, and views, to unite them.
The partner of David C. Miller was John Davids,
and, at the outset of the undertaking to be presently
specified, the following form of oath was subscribed
to by them:
"We, and each of us, do hereby most solemnly
and sincerely promise and swear, upon the Holy
Evangelists of Almighty God, that we will never
divulge, during our natural lives, communicate, or
make known to any person or persons in the known
world, our knowledge, or any part thereof, respect-
ing William Morgan's intention (communicated to us)
to publish a book on the subject of Freemasonry,
neither by writing, marking, or insinuations, or any
way devisable by man. Sworn and subscribed this
thirteenth day of March, 1826.
"(Signed)
JOHN DAVIDS," and others.*
*By a stretch of delicacy, the other signatures were reserved, by
our informants, from publication.
12
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
Al-
At this time, William Morgan was about fifty
years of age. There is no likeness of him extant,
but it is remembered that he was five feet six inches
in hight, square in build, with a darkish complexion,
and, when closely viewed, a fiendish eye. He had
little depth of thought, was buoyant in spirits, in
character versatile, and extremely illiterate. He
cared little for the acquisition of property, save as a
means of temporary enjoyment. He was much ad-
dicted to drink, and, when intoxicated, very brutal
and ferocious—taking his wife, who was small and
feeble in person, by the hair, and dashing her furi-
ously about the apartment, breaking his furniture,
and committing many other outrageous acts.
though quite unlearned, he was loud in bar-room
debates, and passed, in the lower sort of grog-shops,
as an oracle. With the classes of men who throng
the stove-rooms of taverns on winter nights, he
might well be esteemed a paragon of learning, hav-
ing seen much of the world, and being, on common
matters, somewhat informed; but, by a discriminat-
ing observer, his true mark would readily appear-
an egotist and ignoramus. His family consisted of
his wife and two children, who, through his idle-
ness and improvident habits, were often brought to
extreme want, and became the subjects of common
charity, and especially of the never-failing benefi-
cence of the Masonic Craft.
As early as the month of March, 1826, and per-
haps earlier, negotiations commenced between these
two characters (Morgan and Miller) for a specula-
THE ABDUCTION OF MORGAN.
13
tion at the expense of Freemasonry. A most exag-
gerated idea had taken possession of them as relates
to the existing demand for expositions of Masonic
secrets. Fourteen years before, (1812,) a work by
the title of "The Antichristian and Social Conspir-
acy, an extract from the French of Abbé Baruel:
to which is prefixed Jachin and Boaz, or an Authen-
tic Key to the door of Freemasonry, Ancient and
Modern," (8vo., pp. 438,) was published at Lancas-
ter, Pennsylvania, by Joseph Ehrenfried, printer,
which professed to give all the mysteries of the
Craft, so far as blue-lodge Masonry was concerned.
But this being a large and costly book, it had not
sold freely, having, in fact, fallen well-nigh still-born
from the press, and entailed heavy losses upon the
publisher. Neither had the mysteries so boldly
exposed in it met with general acceptance. The
brethren positively declared they were not the se-
crets of Masonry; while non-Masons, struck with
their puerility and insignificance, were in doubt, and
inclined to suspect the publisher of having drawn
upon his imagination instead of rehearsing the work
and lectures of Masonic lodges. The failure of
"Jachin and Boaz" might be attributed, then, by
Morgan and Miller, to two causes: first, its expens-
iveness; and second, its want of reliability. Yet, a
new work, more modern in the character of its con-
tents, agreeing outwardly with the Monitors then in
general use, and published at a low price, (twenty-
five or fifty cents per copy,) would it not sell?
would not everybody, both in and out of the lodge,
14
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
purchase it? Such were the questions mooted be-
tween that unprincipled pair of speculators, as they
debated, through many a midnight hour, in the
printing office of Miller, until their conclusions be-
came irresistible. Immense fortunes loomed up in
the not extreme distance. The sums of fifty thou-
sand, one hundred thousand, one quarter million of
dollars, were successively proposed and accepted
between themselves as the not unreasonable profits.
that would accrue to them from the undertaking.
The betrayal of the Masonic institution was coolly
proposed by two men; one of whom had entered
one step within its portals, the other had climbed
over the walls; and the price thereof was deliber-
ately weighed and ascertained.
On the 5th of August, John Davids and David C.
Miller, of Batavia, and Russel Dyer, of Rochester,
executed to Morgan a bond in the penal sum of five
hundred thousand dollars, conditioned for the pay-
ment of one fourth part of the sum which should be
received on the sale of the proposed book. Nothing
better shows the exaggerated expectations of the
trio than this engagement.
The conspiracy could not long be concealed.
Neither of these secret-breakers was a prudent man,
and both of them were addicted to drink. In his
maudlin, the weaker man, Morgan, soon began to
drop intimations of the mighty treason in which he
had embarked. Duns, for money due, a class of
men with whom he was very familiar, were put off
with mysterious hints, that soon their claims should
THE ABDUCTION OF MORGAN.
15
be liquidated by the proceeds of a great spec in
which he was engaged. The fraternal counsels
from the brotherhood against the course of blas-
phemy, intemperance, cruelty, and improvidence he
was pursuing, were met by surly references to a
plot—a mine that would soon be sprung under their
feet. The rumor went abroad through the county
of Genesee, and those adjacent, that Miller was
preparing to publish a book, written by Morgan, in
which all the secrets of Freemasonry would, finally
and forever, be brought to light.
The indignation of the Fraternity was not unrea-
sonable, although, in its depth and extent, it was far
greater than the occasion required. That such men
should conspire against such a cause; that Morgan,
whose children were fed almost daily by the bread
of Masonic charity, should propose to sell his bene-
factors for a price; that two men, insignificant in
their social relations, exempt from the debtors' pris-
on only by the courtesy of their creditors, should
plot the downfall of their neighbors; that unlettered
ignorance and presumption should attempt to write
down a society, of which religion and morality were
the foundations, and science the fabric,-it was too
much for human patience. The older members ex-
claimed loudly against such presumption and in-
gratitude; the younger rashly threatened unlawful
pains and penalties upon the men who had engaged
in the undertaking. It is sad to reflect that some
influential counselor could not be found to show how
such attempts at exposition had been made, from
16
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
time to time, by unprincipled men, during the
century preceding, and how totally all of them had
failed when submitted to the cool and honest judg-
ment of the world. The following imprudent notice
was published as an advertisement in the Ontario
Messenger, at Canandaigua, August 9, 1826:
"NOTICE AND CAUTION.
"If a man calling himself William Morgan should
intrude himself on the community, they should be on
their guard, particularly the Masonic Fraternity.
+
"Morgan was in this village in May last, and his
conduct while here and elsewhere calls forth this
notice. Any information in relation to Morgan can
be obtained by calling at the Masonic Hall in this
village. Brethren and companions are particularly
requested to observe, mark, and govern themselves
according.
"Morgan is considered a swindler and a
dangerous man.
"There are people in this village who would
be happy to see this Capt. Morgan.
CANANDAIGUA, August 9th, 1826.”
This notice was copied into two of the newspapers
published at Batavia, where Morgan then resided,
and, as may be supposed, excited much attention and
comment among all classes of readers. The threats
previously made were reiterated, and hints thrown
out of a dark and murderous character, all of which
tended to the disadvantage of the Masonic cause
when the time of trial came.
A few days subsequently to this notice, a third
THE ABDUCTION OF MORGAN.
17
partner, one David Johns, was admitted into the
company by Miller and Morgan, for the sake of the
capital he professed to possess. It is thought, how-
ever, that the amount he was to contribute to the
publication was never paid in, as a quarrel upon this
head soon occurred, which threatened to put an end
to the whole enterprise. That there was a general
want of confidence existing among the whole may be
inferred from the following letter, written just before
the new partnership was formed, and directed to
Davids & Miller:
"August 7th, 1826.
"GENTLEMEN :--My note of this morning has not
been answered. Further evasion and equivocation I
will not submit to. Acknowledge you are not gen-
tlemen, or I will expose you in twelve hours, unless
you do as you have agreed to do. I am not a child-
if you suppose I am you are mistaken. I am a man,
and will not suffer myself to be imposed on; you
have not acted as gentlemen. I am sorry to be com-
pelled to say it. Every part of your conduct has
been mysterious, and why so? My first impressions
were that you were not honest men; therefore I wish
to settle and have no more to do with you. If either
of you feel hurt, call on me as gentlemen, and I will
give you any satisfaction you wish.
(6
(Signed)
WILLIAM MORGAN."
At this time, and since the 25th of July preceding,
Morgan had been confined within the jail limits of
Batavia at the suit of Mr. Nathan Follett. Previous
to this period he had been sued in the Supreme
Court for a considerable sum due to parties in
2
18
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
Rochester, and Messrs. Nahum Loring and Orange
Allen had been accepted as his bail. His debts were
numerous and pressing, and his only hopes of release
were based now upon the nefarious job in hand.
Through the month of August, Morgan boarded
with his family at Mr. Stewart's, and spent his sober
hours at the house of Mr. John Davids, the partner of
Miller, in the suburbs, where with David Johns he
occupied himself in revising the sheets already pre-
pared for publication. Here he was arrested by a con-
stable from Pembroke, on Saturday, the 19th of
August, and taken with his papers to jail. This was
upon an execution sued out by Mr. Thames McCully.
Bail was procured, and he was released on Monday
morning the 21st of August, and remained within the
limits until Sunday, September 10th, following.
On that day, Mr. N. G. Chesebro, of Canandaigua,*
obtained a warrant against Morgan upon the charge
of stealing a shirt and cravat in the month of May
preceding, from a hotel-keeper there, Mr. Ebenezer
C. Kingsly. This was the accusation alluded to in
the public notice of August 9th, already cited. The
warrant was directed to Mr. Chesebro, as coroner
of the county of Ontario, and delivered by him to
Hollaway Hayward, a constable of Canandaigua, who
took with him six others from Canandaigua, (includ-
ing Mr. Chesebro,) viz.: Henry Howard, Harris
Seymour, Moses Roberts, James Day, and Joseph
Scofield, and proceeded the same day to Batavia.
* See Map.
THE ABDUCTION OF MORGAN.
19
On the road they were joined by Mr. Nowlen, John
Butterfield, and E. G. Smith. On the next morning,
(the 11th,) Morgan was arrested under the writ, which
had been indorsed by a magistrate at LeRoy, in
Genesee county, and conveyed on that day to
Canandaigua, where he was conducted before a magis-
trate and discharged. The charge of larceny not being
sustained, a claim for debt, however, was instantly
sworn out against him by Mr. Chesebro, as assignee
of Aaron Ackley, a hotel-keeper at Canandaigua,
and he was conducted to jail about ten o'clock that
evening under the writ.
On the next evening, about eight o'clock, Septem-
ber 12th, Mr. Loton Lawson, a citizen of Canandaigua,
called at the jail, and had an interview with Morgan.
Mr. Lawson proposed to Mrs. Hall, the jailor's wife,
(the jailor being temporarily absent,) to pay the
small amount (two dollars and costs) for which Mor-
gan was confined, and release him. The woman at
first refused, having heard that Morgan was a
dangerous fellow; but upon the assurance of Mr. Ed-
ward Sawyer and Mr. N. G. Chesebro, both citizens
of Canandaigua and gentlemen of excellent standing,
she consented. The amount was paid and Morgan
left the jail in company with Mr. Lawson, joined at
the door by a man who has never since been per-
fectly identified.*
No sooner, however, had the party reached the
*He was called Foster at the time. Mr. John Sheldon of Canan-
daigua was punished in his stead, but doubtless wrongfully.
20
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
street, than Morgan began to struggle with his com-
panions, and being held by them, to cry "Murder."
Half drunk, free from the debt for which he had
been imprisoned, regardless of all pledges made to
those who had released him, his first thought was to
escape. He was, however, constrained by the two
to go a few steps in an easterly direction, by which
time his scruples were removed, and he entered with-
out opposition a coach which had been brought up for
the purpose, and was driven off in a north-westerly
direction, toward Rochester.*
The subsequent movements of the party are
clearly given in the evidence judicially taken of the
coach driver and others: Hiram Hubbard, keeper of
a livery stable in Canandaigua, was engaged by Mr,
Chauncy E. Coe, on the 12th of September, to take a
party to Rochester. He selected a two-horse carriage
and acted in person as driver. He started about
nine o'clock P. M.; took in five persons a short dis-
tance east of the jail, turned round and drove toward
Rochester. He heard no unusual noise, and observed.
no opposition from any of the party upon entering the
coach. Six miles from Canandaigua, at Brace's, he
stopped to water his horses, again at Victor, and
then at Mendon and Pittsford.t
He arrived at Rochester about daylight, and after
remaining a few minutes, went on by request to
Hanford's, three miles north of the town, where his
services ended, and he turned back after discharging
* See Map.
† Ibid.
THE ABDUCTION OF MORGAN.
21
the party near a piece of woods a short distance
beyond the house. He testifies that he heard no
unusual noise, and observed no opposition or desire to
escape or appearance of alarm upon the part of any
one, either upon entering or leaving the coach, or
during the journey.
A carriage from Rochester took up the party at
Hanford's and proceeded west. By nine A. M. they
had reached Clarkson, (fifteen miles,) and the horses
were changed two and a half miles further west, at
Mr. Allen's house. By noon they had reached the vil-
lage of Gaines, and proceeding a mile further west to
the house of Mr. Elihu Mather, the horses were again
changed. Mr. Mather now took the reins and drove
to Morehouse's Tavern. At Ridgeway, Murdock's
Tavern, Mr. Jeremiah Brown put his own horses to
the carriage and drove on. About sundown the
party had reached Wright's Tavern, three and a half
miles north of Lockport, where they were joined by
Mr. Eli Bruce, who accompanied them the rest of the
way. By nine P. M. they had arrived at Molyneux's
Tavern, six miles from Wright's, Mr. Brown still
acting as driver.
Corydon Fox, a resident of Lewiston, lived with
James L. Barton as a stage driver. On the 13th of
September, about ten P. M., he was ordered by Mr.
Barton to go to Youngstown with a hack. Mr. Eli
Bruce got upon the box with him, and they drove to a
back street, where they found a carriage without any
horses attached to it. Several persons were stand-
ing near it, one or two more got out of it, and, with
22
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
Mr. Bruce, got into his hack. He then drove to Col.
King's house at Youngstown, about six miles distant.
He witnessed no coercion as applied to any of his pas-
sengers. Arrived at Col. King's, Mr. Bruce got out
and went into the hall, where Mr. Bruce and Col.
King conversed together. While they were doing so
he heard some one in the carriage ask in a whining
tone for some water, to which Mr. Bruce answered
that he should have some in a moment. Col. King
and Mr. Bruce got into the hack, and he drove the
party to the graveyard, a short mile from King's,
and half a mile from Fort Niagara, where, by Mr.
Bruce's directions, he stopped. Four men got out
and went toward the fort. By Mr. Bruce's orders
he then returned to Lewiston, and arrived before day-
light. The next day he saw Mr. Bruce at Lewiston.
He observed nothing unusual in the manner of any
of the party getting in or out of his hack, or during
the journey.
On the night of September 13th, as detailed, the
party arrived at Lewiston, on the Niagara river, and
the same night to Youngstown, to the mouth of the
river. From thence they went without delay to
Fort Niagara, about a mile below the town, and to
the ferry, kept at the time by Mr. Edward Giddins.
The party crossed the river in the ferry-boat, re-
mained a short time, and returned before daylight.
Morgan was then accompanied to the magazine of
the fort, and detained there under lock and key for
some two or three days; and here closes all authen-
tic information concerning him. His fate is shrouded
THE ABDUCTION OF MORGAN.
23
in impenetrable mystery, nor until the judgment day
will it be more than conjectured what became of
him.
Our own surmise, which, after a careful perusal of
all the testimony, and much questioning of the re-
maining actors in the abduction who still survive, may
perhaps be as good as any other, is that Morgan was
abundantly supplied with money by those who had
expended so much, and run such risks to separate
him from Miller and his confederates, and that he
was assisted to pass into Canada, the scene of his
former adventures, where, among a rough and lawless
border population, he met the end likely to befall a
drunken, boasting fellow, whose pockets were suffi-
ciently well lined to render him a desirable prey.
Certainly, there is no evidence that he was mur-
dered by the Freemasons. The facts that they took
him openly from the jail at Canandaigua, that they
left a broad trail behind them, for more than one
hundred and fifteen miles through a thickly settled
country, and, that so many were admitted into the
secret of the abduction, forbid such a supposition; the
character of all the actors from Mr. N. G. Chesebro,
the earliest, to Col. William King, the latest, forbid it
even more strongly. That the abduction was a con-
summate piece of folly, from first to last, it is easy at
this period to affirm; but, those who affirm it the
most loudly, had they felt the provocations the
brethren of Western New York experienced, might
have committed the same error. In our private notes
of Masonic History since 1846, we find more than
24
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
òne "Morgan case," which was only prevented from
coming to a head by the prudence of a few, who
remembered the dark days of Eli Bruce and Col.
King, and taught discretion to the more rash and
indignant.
THE ANTIMASONIC PARTY.
25
CHAPTER III.
D
THE ANTIMASONIC PARTY.

UR sketch of the rise and progress of the
antimasonic movement must necessarily be
brief. It originated unquestionably in the
best feelings of human nature, but was almost
immediately seized upon and appropriated by
the evil and designing, who, pushing aside
the honest men first moving in it, changed the pur-
pose first avowed-the defense of humanity, into a
general attack upon Masonry, and the political ele-
vation of its opponents. Thus it was that the rescue
of Morgan and the punishment of his abductors were,
in a few months, lost in a purely political move-
ment, in which such men as Solomon Southwick,
and others, came conspicuously to the surface.
September 12th, about four P. M., the day of Mor-
gan's abduction, Mrs. Morgan left Batavia, in com-
pany with Nathan Follet and George Ketchum, on
her way to Canandaigua, to make inquiries respect-
ing her husband. She arrived at about noon the
next day. She took with her the Masonic Exposition
Morgan had prepared, and delivered the papers over
3
26
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
to Mr. Ketchum. At Canandaigua, ascertaining the
departure of her husband the day before, she re-
turned to Batavia. Here her distress of mind and
unprotected situation called forth the kindly offices
of many. An agent was sent to Canandaigua on
her behalf, September 22d, who procured the attes-
tation of Mrs. Hall, the jailer's wife, and various
others, to the circumstances of Morgan's release and
departure from the jail, as we have described them.
Upon this, a public meeting was called at Batavia,
September 25th, and another, more numerously at-
tended, October 4th following, and a notice was
issued "To the Public," as follows:
"On the 11th day of September, William Morgan,
a native of Virginia, who had, for about three years
past, resided in this village, was, under pretext of a
justice's warrant, hurried from his home and fam-
ily, and carried to Canandaigua. The same night he
was examined on a charge of petit larceny, and dis-
charged by the justice. One of the persons who
took him away immediately obtained a warrant
against him in a civil suit for an alleged debt of
two dollars, on which he was committed to the jail
of Ontario county. On the night of the 12th of
September, he was released by a person pretending
to be his friend, but, directly in front of the jail,
notwithstanding his cries of murder, he was gagged,
and secured, and put into a carriage, and, after
traveling all night, he was left (as the driver of the
carriage says) at Hanford's Landing, about sunrise,
on the 13th; since which he has not been heard of.
His distressed wife and two infant children are left
dependent on charity for their sustenance. The cir
THE ANTIMASONIC PARTY.
27
cumstances of the transactions have given rise to the
most violent fears that he has been murdered. It is,
however, hoped by his wife and friends, that he may
be now kept concealed and imprisoned in Canada.
All persons who are willing to serve the cause of
humanity, and assist to remove the distressing appre-
hensions of his unfortunate wife, are earnestly re-
quested to communicate to one of the committee
named below, directed to this place, any facts or
circumstances which have come to their knowledge,
and are calculated to lead to the discovery of his
present situation, or the particulars of his fate, if he
has been murdered.
"BATAVIA, October 4, 1826.
"T. F. TALBOT,
"T. CARY,
"WM. DAVIS,
"T. FITCH,
"E. SOUTHWORTH,
D. E. EVANS,
WM. KEYES,
JON. LAY,
L. D. PRINGLE,
JAMES P. SMITH.
"N. B.-It is hoped that printers throughout the
State, in Canada, and elsewhere, will give the above.
a few insertions, and thus serve the cause of justice
and humanity."
A request was immediately preferred to the Gov-
ernor of New York, (DeWitt Clinton,) desiring his
aid. This was promptly granted, and a proclamation
issued, October 7th, enjoining upon all State officers
and ministers of justice to pursue all proper and effi-
cient measures for the apprehension of the offenders,
and the prevention of future outrages.
On the 26th of October, this was followed by a
second proclamation from the Executive, offering a
28
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
reward of three hundred dollars for the discovery of
the offenders, and one hundred dollars for any and
every one of them; and a further reward of two
hundred dollars for authentic information of the
place to which Morgan had been conveyed.
Meetings were held at Victor, October 7th, LeRoy,
October 17th, and other places, to ascertain the situa-
tion of Morgan, and committees of inquiry and vig-
ilance were appointed in almost every town and vil-
lage in Ontario, Niagara, and adjacent counties.
At the Court of General Sessions for the county.
of Ontario, in November of the same year, held at
Canandaigua, indictments were found by the Grand
Jury against Messrs. N. G. Chesebro, Loton Law-
son, Edward Sawyer, and John Sheldon, each upon
two counts: the first for conspiring to abduct Mor-
gan; the second 'for the abduction itself. Delega-
tions from many of the committees alluded to were
present, and, by their exertions, seven eminent
counsel were employed in aid of the public prosecu-
tor. Nearly one hundred witnesses, duly subpenaed,
were in attendance. Public sentiment was aroused.
to phrensy, and it was scarcely to be expected that
deliberate justice would have a voice there.
Messrs. N. G. Chesebro, Loton Lawson, and
Edward Sawyer pleaded guilty, reserving their right,
however, to move the Court in arrest of judgment.
They acknowledged the act, but pleaded that they
had no criminal design in what they did. Mr. Chese-
bro deposed in his affidavit, made in arrest of judg-
ment, that he had not seen Morgan since the dismis-
!
THE ANTIMASONIC PARTY.
29
sal, by the magistrate, of the suit for larceny, on the
evening of September 11th, and that his exertions to
have Morgan removed from the jail were influenced
by an honest belief that he (Morgan) had consented
to go away. Furthermore, he declared that his only
object was to keep Morgan from falling into the
hands, or under the influence, of David C. Miller,
and remove him to some place where his friends and
acquaintances might endeavor to convince him of
the impropriety of his conduct. Finally, he deposed
that he was not concerned, either directly or indi-
rectly, in using any force in the removal of Morgan
from the jail, and had no concern whatever in any
transactions concerning Morgan since that time, nor
did he then know where Morgan was. The date of
this affidavit is January 5, 1827, on which day judg-
ment was rendered in the case.
Col. Edward Sawyer deposed in his affidavit, the
day following, that he never saw Morgan in his life,
until his examination on the charge of larceny, Sep-
tember 11th, and knew nothing of any attempt to lib-
erate him from the jail. That he had accompanied Mr.
Loton Lawson to the jail, in the evening of Septem-
ber 12th, at Mr. Lawson's request, simply to give the
jailor's wife, Mrs. Hall, his opinion that she might
lawfully release Morgan from imprisonment, should
Mr. Lawson pay her the amount of the execution and
costs. Mr. Sawyer further affirmed, that he verily be-
lieved Morgan was leaving the jail of his own accord,
and, that when he heard Morgan's outcries, he was so
taken by surprise, that he had no time for reflection.
•
30
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
After these pleas and affidavits, the Court pro-
nounced sentence. Judge Throop, the presiding
justice, delivered an address to the prisoners, which,
however it may have been extolled at that period, will
appear to every deliberate reader at the present day,
as turgid and bombastic in style, as in that excited
hour it was extra-judicial and imprudent in senti-
ment. It is easy to apprehend the animus of juries
and judges against Masonry in that fearful time,
when this trial, the first in a long array of judicial
prosecutions that extended over four years, devel-
oped such verdicts from juries, and such inflammatory
speeches from the bench. After a harangue more
appropriate to Judge Lynch than Judge Throop,
Mr. Lawson was sentenced to two years' imprison-
ment in the common jail; Mr. Chesebro, whom the
Judge honestly characterized as a man, "for industry,
honesty, quietness, and moral deportment, without
reproach,” for one year; and Mr. Sawyer, "because
he did not raise a hue and cry, and attempt a rescue,"
for one month. Mr. Sheldon (who, by the judge's
admission, had nearly proved an alibi!) was im-
prisoned for three months, all in the Canandaigua
jail. John C. Spencer was engaged in these trials
for the defense. The accused patiently served out
their respective terms, nor lost any social status by
their sentences.
-
""
Meetings were called, inflammatory appeals were
made, excited men rode from place to place, spread-
ing the most exaggerated rumors, and lashing the
popular mind into madness. At Bloomfield, Decem-
THE ANTIMASONIC PARTY.
31
ber 11th, Rochester, December 14th, and at various
times throughout the infected district, great masses
of people came together, neglecting business and
duty of every character, to inquire, "Where is
Morgan?" and devise new steps to secure an an-
swer. In vain the lodges and other Masonic bodies,
in vain the more sober portion of the press strove to
allay the agitation. In vain the Henrietta Lodge
declared, December 14th, that "they would hold no
fellowship with the parties implicated in Morgan's
abduction ;" and Harmony Lodge, No. 212, on the
same day, that "the act of abduction, was a violent
departure from the principles of true Masonry ;" and
Putneyville Lodge, No. 201, "wholly condemned the
conduct of the abductors." Such declarations had
few to heed among the maddened populace. The
publication of a pamphlet of ninety pages, entitled,
"Illustrations of Masonry," by David C. Miller, pro-
fessing to be the same as the matter contained in
the sheets delivered by Mrs. Morgan to Mr. Ketchum,
added fuel to the flames, although even Southwick
himself, afterward antimasonic candidate for Gov-
ernor, declared of it that "it was not worth a cent."
And so ended the year 1826.
The beginning of the year 1827 found the public
mind in the most plastic condition, and brawlers and
demagogues henceforth had "their day," in giving
it shape. The prudent and discriminating, whose
horror at the mysterious outrage properly inclined
them to use all laudable means for its detection and
punishment, were soon left in the rear by the vig-
}
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
32
orous and unprincipled, who saw honor and profit in
the excitement, and determined to reap them. Then
arose a new generation of politicians in New York.
The rallying cry, "Down with Masonry," became
familiar to every ear, and henceforth to the faithful
craftsmen the contest was morally and Masonically
for life or death. This must be borne in mind by
the reader in forming a correct judgment of the
conduct of Masons during that memorable period
This, too, must serve as the best apology, if any
apology is admissible, for the conduct of those rene-
gades from Masonry, those false craftsmen who re-
nounced the institution in its time of need, and even
of those who denounced it, that in point of numbers,
Masons stood in a fearful minority with respect to
their adversaries, and in the path of a storm that
threatened to sweep away everything that opposed
it. All that was dear to them, for a time-good
name, social standing, domestic happiness-was in
the scale. The odds stood at a frightful figure against
Masonry, and few there were to accept them.
Early in January, as already detailed, Messrs.
Chesebro and others, at Canandaigua, began their
respective terms of imprisonment. Out of their trial
grew a publication described as follows:
"CASE OF MORGAN.
"Just published, and for sale at the Canandaigua
book-store, an account of the trial of the conspira-
tors on an indictment for carrying away William
Morgan from the jail of Ontario county, on the
THE ANTIMASONIC PARTY.
33
evening of the 12th of September, 1826, together
with Judge Throop's address, January 16."
The first public action of the antimasons this year,
was a Convention held at Lewiston, January 25th, by
the several committees previously appointed by the
town and county committees. The result of their
deliberations was the issuing of a Report, entitled :
"A Narrative of the Facts and Circumstances re-
lating to the Kidnapping and presumed Murder of
William Morgan, and of the Attempt to carry off
David C. Miller, and to burn or destroy the Printing
Office of the latter, for the purpose of preventing
the Printing and Publishing of a Book entitled, "Il-
lustrations of Masonry.' Prepared under the direc-
tion of the several Committees appointed at meetings
of the citizens of the counties of Genesee, Living-
ston, Ontario, Monroe, and Niagara, in the State of
New York, with an Appendix containing most of the
Depositions and other Documents, to substantiate the
statements made, and disclosing many particulars of
the transactions not included in the narrative. Ba-
tavia: Printed by D. C. Miller, under the direction
of the Committee, 1827." (8vo, pp. 36, xxxv.)
The Report was signed by the committee from
Genesee county, the Rochester committee, the Vic-
tor committee, the Chili committee, the Wheatland
committec, the Bloomfield committee, and the Lewis-
ton committee. The importance of this "Narra-
tive," in a historical point of view, is that it was
made the basis of all subsequent statements on the
antimasonic side, and enters into the composition of
34
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
every history of the period in question, from humble
tracts to showy cyclopedias. Among the thirty-eight
names appended to it, are seen those of Frederick
Whittlesey, Thurlow Weed, and others of the persons
who rose with the excitement, but, unlike the most of
their fellows, avoided the returning wave.
The slow hand-presses of 1826 to 1830, though
worked night and day, failed to supply the popular
demand for these catchpenny publications.
The ostensible purposes of the Lewiston Conven-
tion, were to "ascertain, arrest, and convict the per-
petrators of this nefarious outrage," but the result of
their labors fell far short of this. They merely
appointed a committee to write out a history of the
transaction in question, and to petition the Executive
to offer larger rewards than he had yet done.
A petition was likewise presented to the Legisla-
ture, praying that a special commissioner should be
appointed to investigate the transactions growing out
of Morgan's abduction. The matter was referred by
the House of Representatives to a select committee,
of which Mr. Francis Granger was chairman.
This committee reported, April 4, that the con-
spiracy to abduct, and perhaps murder William Mor-
gan, extended through several of the western counties,
and was the result of a previously concerted plan, but
that the evidence to sustain their charges is vague
and undefined, and rests mainly upon hearsay. They
proposed, therefore, a series of resolutions, offering
a reward of five thousand dollars for the discovery
of Morgan, if living, and the same amount for the
THE ANTIMASONIC PARTY.
35
apprehension of his murderers, if dead. Also, the
appointment of a joint commission of the two Houses
to visit Western New York, and make inquiry into
all the facts and circumstances connected with the
case. But the resolutions were negatived in the
House, by majorities of seventy-six to twenty-six,
and seventy-four to twenty-three, respectively.
The Lieutenant-Governor of Canada, Sir Peregrine
Maitland, issued a proclamation, January 31st, offer-
ing a reward of $200 "to any person who might be
able to afford any information respecting William
Morgan."
Antimasonic meetings convened, January 13th at
Seneca, January 31st at Canandaigua, and at many
other places, at all of which the same appeals to the
passions were repeated, and the flames of excitement
blown still higher.
The month of February opened with increased
vigor on the part of the antimasons, and it was
thought necessary for the defense to establish a
Masonic Journal, which was done at Batavia, under
the title of the "Masonick Intelligencer," of which
the first issue appeared on Wednesday, February 7th.
It was a small affair, consisting of only four quarto
pages, ten by twelve inches in size, printed weekly
by R. Martin, editor, at twenty-five cents per quarter.
The Grand Royal Arch Chapter of New York, Feb-
ruary 10th, passed resolutions declaring that "individ-
ually, and as a body, they disclaimed all knowledge,
or approval of the proceedings, relative to the abduc-
tion of Morgan, and disapprove of the same."
دو
36
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
At Canandaigua, the entire party who accomplished
the arrest of Morgan in Batavia, and conducted him
upon the writ for larceny to Canandaigua, were put
on trial for "conspiracy to convict William Morgan of
petit larceny," and after a deliberate trial, extending
into the August following, four judges being present,
they were acquitted. Yet the antimasonic meetings
multiplied, and each one endeavored to outdo, in vio-
lence, its predecessor. A second meeting at Canan-
daigua convened February 16th, a large. one in
Niagara county, February 19th, one at West Bloom-
field, February 27th, and many hundreds of others.
·
It is no part of our plan to give in detail the
further doings in these maddened times. Up to July,
1827, the raking and sweeping the bottom of the
Niagara River, and of the lake bed opposite Fort
Niagara, were steadily pursued under the stimulus of
the large rewards offered by the Executive and by
individual zeal. The putrid body of one. Timothy
Monroe having been found about the middle of
October, was eagerly claimed as that of William Mor-
gan, and made to undergo three several exhumations,
before the truth was finally ascertained. A few of
the prominent antimasonic meetings this year are
thus catalogued: at Canandaigua, February 17th;
Middleburg, February 23d; Elba, March 3d; Coving-
ton, March 10th; Vienna, March 12th; Manchester,
March 15th; Farmington, March 16th; Victor, August
2d. A Convention of delegates from three counties,
Milton, September 12th, a religious antimasonic
meeting; Canandaigua, September 19th, a county
THE ANTIMASONIC PARTY.
37
Convention, at which Francis Granger and others
were nominated for the Legislature on the new an-
timasonic ticket; and at Richmond, October 13th.
Earnest attempts were continued by the Masonic
Fraternity at every point, to allay the excitement.
The Genesee Encampment, declared, March 17th,
that "any of its members not using all lawful means
to discover the fate of Morgan, should be expelled."
Lyons Royal Arch Chapter announced, March 15th,
that "Masons acknowledge no laws that contravene
the constitution and laws of their country." A
meeting was held at Rochester, November 3d, in
opposition to the antimasonic efforts, in which it was
declared that "the Antimasonic Committee had for-
feited all claim to public confidence." At Batavia,
June 25th, the Masonic Fraternity held their usual
festival, and in large numbers paraded, at some risk
from the mob, and attended an oration by Mr.
George Hosmer. And thus passed the year 1827.
The death of the Governor of New York, DeWitt
Clinton, which occurred February 11, 1828, was a
gloomy opening to the third year of antimasonry. This
man had so comported himself through a long and
active life, as to win the admiration of almost every
one; and the manifestations of grief at his sudden
decease were touching. In the formation of his
funeral procession, February 14th, appeared "Knights
Templars with their banners; Master Masons; Royal
Arch Masons, with their officers in full dress; the
present and past Grand Officers of the Grand Chap-
ter of New York, in full dress; and members of the
*
38
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
Fraternity to the number of five hundred, with the
insignia of their Order."
We shall make no further allusion here to the move-
ments of the antimasonic party, except to say that at
LeRoy, February 19th and 20th, and July 4th and
5th, 1828, were the first public exhibitions of treason,
on the part of Freemasons themselves. Large "Con-
ventions of Freemasons opposed to secret societies.”
were held at those times, at which addresses were
delivered; the "obligations" of Masonry were dis-
cussed and denounced; the book written by "Cap-
tain" William Morgan, and printed by "Colonel"
David C. Miller, indorsed; a petition to Congress
relative to the improper use of Fort Niagara, by
Morgan's abductors, drafted; and Elder David
Bernard encouraged to prepare a new "Exposition
of Masonry." The whole of this affair forms the
foulest blot upon the escutcheon of Masonry, and
condemns to eternal infamy all who were concerned
in it. March 6, 1828, at the same place, a conven-
tion of delegates from twelve counties was held. A
memorial was forwarded to the Legislature of the
State; the establishment of antimasonic presses rec-
ommended; a State Convention mapped out, and
other new and vigorous measures of self-emolument
devised. March 19th, following, the Lieutenant-Gov-
ernor addressed a message to the Legislature, recom-
mending the appointment of a Special Counsel on
the part of the State, to investigate the Morgan
transaction, and assist the authorities in securing the
conviction of the guilty parties. A bill was accord-
THE ANTIMASONIC PARTY.
39
ingly introduced, and passed, April 12th, and Mr.
John C. Spencer, who had been the counsel of Mr.
N. G. Chesebro, at Canandaigua, in the first trials
for abduction, was appointed to this office. Daniel
Moseley, of Onondaga county, was appointed to the
office. He resigned it a few months afterward, and
was succeeded by Mr. John C. Spencer. Mr. Spencer
was succeeded by Mr. Victor Birdseye. The first
State Antimasonic Convention was held at Utica,
August 4th, 5th, and 6th, following, at which Francis
Granger was nominated for Governor, and John Cary
Lieutenant-Governor of the State. But enough of
the history of the antimasonic faction. We proceed
to that of Eli Bruce.
40
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
CHAPTER IV.
ELI BRUCE, HIS FAULT, TRIAL, AND CONVICTION.

R. ELI BRUCE, the subject of this work,
was born at Templeton, Worcester county,
Massachusetts, November 8, 1793.
M
His
parents were Josiah and Mary Bruce. His
brother, Dr. Silas Bruce, is still living in
Boston, Massachusetts; his widow and three
children at Centralia, Illinois. He received his name.
from Eli Bruce, noted in the history of New England
as the first man in that country who constructed an
organ. The cottage in which he was born, and that
in which his boyhood's years were passed, are both
standing at the present time; an engraving of the lat-
ter is shown on p. 309 of this volume. His father died
in 1804 or 1805, leaving a widow with seven children,
five sons and two daughters, in humble circumstances
of life. Thus it followed that the children were dis-
tributed among relatives and friends, and that Eli,
who was next to the youngest, and then about twelve
years of age, was taken into the family of Mr. Bur-
rage, who reared him as a farmer's boy to the age of
eighteen or nineteen years. The young man then pur-
HIS TRIAL AND
41
CONVICTION.
chased his own time, and becoming thus free, though
not at his majority, removed to Leicester, Massachu-
setts, and entered himself as a student in the Academy
there, but for what period, cannot now be ascertained.
After completing the term, whatever it was, he en-
gaged successfully in the profession of teaching, in
the vicinity of Leicester, in which occupation he con-
tinued for several years; pursuing it after his removal
to Western New York: Many persons at Niagara,
where he practiced teaching for four years, remember
him in that capacity. Among them is General P.
Whitney, who was one of his early patrons, his bonds-
man as sheriff, and a steady friend.
Mr. Whitney
testifies to his many merits as a teacher and a man.
The description given of the appearance and
character of Mr. Bruce by his early associates, marks
him a most interesting and promising young man.
In physical power and endurance, he was remark-
able. He was the strongest among his school-fellows
and associates. His personal appearance was com-
manding. He was above the average hight. His
manners were winning and genial, and he was in all
respects irreproachable. His education was above
mediocrity. Of his meek and amiable disposition,
the copious extracts we shall give from his jail diary
and letters afford abounding evidence.
From the many testimonials in our possession, we
quote such words as these: "Mr. Bruce was a bright
star in Masonry, a devoted husband, a kind and
indulgent father, a warm and constant friend. He
was charitable to the poor, a good nurse, and in the
4
42
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
last years of his life, a skillful physician." "He
was emphatically a nobleman by a patent from
God's hand." "Few men in my acquaintance won
so rapidly upon the esteem of men as Mr. Bruce."
"He was never idle a moment, and always engaged
either in personal improvement, or for the good of
his fellow-men.'
""
Mr. Henry Brown, counselor-at-law at Batavia, New
York, author of a brief narrative of the antimasonic
excitement, attests that "Mr. Bruce was a person of
great activity and vigilance in business, and possessed
of fine, liberal, and social feeling. At the commence-
ment of the unfortunate difficulty, which afterward
occasioned his removal from office, he had become
extremely popular."
E. J. Roberts, editor of the Craftsman, styles
him "as honest a inan as ever breathed."
From Niagara, he removed to Lockport, where, in
the latter part of the year 1825, he was elected
Sheriff of Niagara county for the usual term of three
years. This was an office of eminent trust and respon-
sibility. Here, at the period of the Morgan abduction
he resided with his family and his deputy, Mr. Hiram
B. Hopkins, in furnished apartments in the county
jail buildings. It was said that he was initiated into
Masonry not long before the year 1826, being then
about thirty-three years of age, but upon this sub-
ject we have not been able to procure reliable intel-
ligence. He served as Principal Sojourner of the
Royal Arch Chapter at Lewiston, in his own county,
at the period of the abduction, and his Royal Arch
Medal appears on the next page.
HIS TRIAL AND CONVICTION.
43

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44
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
How far Mr. Bruce was implicated in the abduc-
tion of William Morgan, what was the character of
his offense, and what were his own views of his con-
duct, are best gathered from his observations as they
will be given in this volume, and from his testimony
at various times, which will be inserted in full.
Proceedings were had against Mr. Bruce before
Mr. A. J. Hinman, a justice of the peace at Lock-
port, as early as February, 1827, or earlier, for as-
sisting in the abduction of Morgan, but these resulted
in an acquittal? Complaint was early made to the
Executive, DeWitt Clinton, against Mr. Bruce, who
promptly summoned him to appear before him at
Albany, and show cause why he should not be re-
moved from office. Mr. Bruce employed counsel to
represent him there, who did not, however, satisfy
the Governor's mind upon the subject. He was
therefore deposed from office in October following,
by virtue of the following proclamation :
66
"BY DEWITT CLINTON,
"Governor of the State of New York:
"Whereas, Eli Bruce, Sheriff of the county of
Niagara, has been charged before me with a viola-
tion of his duties as a good citizen and a faithful
officer, in being concerned in the abduction of William
Morgan, and has been heard in his defense; and,
Whereas, in the investigation of the said accusation,
it appeared that it was completely in the power of
the said Eli Bruce, if innocent, to establish his inno-
cence; and, Whereas, in order to afford him that
opportunity, a decision on the complaint has been
suspended for an ample time, and he has given no
HIS TRIAL AND CONVICTION.
45
explanation of his conduct; and, Whereas, it appears
that at a recent trial at Canandaigua, of certain per-
sons charged with the said abduction, the said Eli
Bruce, when called on as a witness, refused to testify
on several material points, on the ground of self-
crimination; from all of which I am persuaded that
he was participant in the said abduction, and there-
by has rendered himself unworthy of the official sta-
tion which he at present occupies: I do, therefore,
pursuant to the powers vested in me by the Constitu-
tion of this State, remove the said Eli Bruce from.
the office of Sheriff of the county of Niagara.
"In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand
and the privy seal of the State, at the city of Albany,
the 1st day of October, A. D. 1827.
SEAL
AL❝(Signed)
DEWITT CLINTON.”
A second proclamation was made immediately after,
ordering an election to supply the vacancy.
The most determined efforts had been made by the
leaders in the new party then forming, to implicate
Mr. Bruce in the Morgan abduction, and to have him
removed from office. These had involved him in
heavy expenses and damage to his business. A state-
ment to this effect was offered to the Grand Lodge of
New York, at its session of June, 1827, and a very
strong appeal made to that body, to extend him pe-
cuniary aid. The Committee on Charity, through
Mr. J. A. Spencer,* its chairman, reported a resolu-
tion "that the sum of one hundred dollars be paid to
The reader will not confound this name with that of the State
prosecutor upon the Morgan trials, Mr. John C. Spencer.
46
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
Bro. Bruce to relieve his necessities," which the
Grand Lodge adopted. This was the only money
donated by the Grand Lodge to persons connected
with the Morgan affair. It is said that considerable
sums were likewise donated to Mr. Bruce by individ-
uals and lodges, but this is more than doubtful.
The trial of Mr. Bruce before the Circuit Court of
Ontario county, sitting at Canandaigua, commenced
August 20th, of the following year, (1828.) The in-
dictment was in the same form as that upon which
Messrs. Chesebro, Turner, Sawyer, and Sheldon had
been convicted, nearly two years before. United
with Mr. Bruce, in the same trial, and upon the same
counts, were Messrs. Orsamus Turner and Jared
Darrow, both of Lockport. The following judges
were present: Hon. Nathaniel W. Howell, Hon. Ches-
ter Loomis, Hon. John Price, and Hon. Samuel Law-
son. For the State, Messrs. Daniel Moseley, Special
Commissioner, appointed a few months previously,
Bowen Whiting, District Attorney of Ontario county,
and Charles Butler, were engaged.
For the defense, appeared Messrs. Dudley Marvin
and Mark H. Sibley, of Canandaigua; William H.
Adams, of Lyon; Vincent Matthews and Ebenezer
Griffin, the two latter of Rochester. The jurors
in the case were Messrs. Hiram Anson, Nathan Cary,
Jasper W. Peet, Levi Smith, Amasa Spencer, John
Stults, Evert Green, Abraham Dodge, Henry Lincoln,
Daniel Short, John Pennal, Jr., and Samuel Reed.
The testimony of the jailor, Mr. Israel R. Hall,
and his wife, was taken, as in the previous trials.
HIS TRIAL AND CONVICTION.
47
Willis Turner testified to the cry of murder, three
times repeated; Hiram Hubbard, to driving the
carriage to Hanford's Landing; and Ezra Platt, of
Rochester, to hiring a carriage to members of the
Royal Arch Chapter, on the 12th or 13th September,
to go to Lewiston. Other witnesses formed a chain
of evidence, tracing Morgan and his abductors from
Canandaigua to Fort Niagara, a distance of about one
hundred and twenty miles.
Some of the details of this trial are gathered from
the files of the Albany Argus. Those relative to
the rejection of the evidence of Giddins, are very
interesting.
"TRIALS FOR THE ABDUCTION OF MORGAN.
Dated "CANANDAIGUA, August 20th.
"To the Editor of the Argus:
"The trial of Bruce, Darrow, and Turner, on the
indictment of kidnapping Morgan, will come on this
morning; the counsel for the people and for the de-
fendants, being as ready as they ever will be. Mr.
Moseley, the State Commissioner, and Messrs. Whit-
ing and Butler are the counsel for the people; and
Messrs. Marvin, Sibley, Adams, and a host of others,
counsel for the defendants. The trial will probably
occupy all the week, and will be highly interesting.
""
“CANANDAIGUA, Thursday, 6 o'clock P. M., August 21st.
"Mr. Moseley moved on the trial of the indict-
ment against Bruce, Turner, and Darrow, yesterday
afternoon at two o'clock. It was resumed this morn-
ing at half-past eight. Nearly twenty witnesses have
been examined, in chief on the part of the people,
and this afternoon Edward Giddins was offered, and
48
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
objected to by the defendants' counsel, on the ground
that Giddins did not entertain such religious opinions
as to render him a competent witness. In support of
the objection, one David Morrison was first called,
who testified that he was intimately acquainted with
Giddins, and had known him since 1820, and
between that and 1825 had frequent conversations
with him, in which he expressed the opinions that
there was no God nothing spiritual superior to
matter, and that the existence of a God was contrary
to philosophy. Morrison produced a letter written to
him by Giddins, dated the 20th of April, 1827, con-
taining such sentiments. Several witnesses have been
examined on this question by the people and defend-
ants, and Mr. Marvin is now engaged in arguing the
question of admissibility to the Court."
"Nine o'clock, P. M.
"After full argument, the Court has decided unani-
mously that Giddins comes within the rule that ex-
cludes a witness on the ground of infidelity. Turner
and Darrow will doubtless be acquitted. The testi-
mony against Bruce is very strong. These trials excite
great interest, and for the first time has there been a
clear and legal history of the abduction of Morgan.
“Canandaigua, Friday, August 22d, 6 o'clock P. M.
""
"The trial of indictment against Bruce, Darrow,
and Turner, was resumed this morning at eight
o'clock. The people having rested, the defendants'
counsel concluded not to call any witnesses. They
moved that Bruce be discharged, on the ground that
this Court had no jurisdiction of the offense; that not
act had been proved against Bruce in the county of
Ontario; that if he was concerned in the conspiracy
to abduct Morgan, he acted in the county of Niagara,
and could only be tried in that county, and not else-
HIS TRIAL AND CONVICTION.
49
where; that the indictment charged a conspiracy to
kidnap Morgan from Canandaigua, in the county of
Ontario, and transport him to foreign parts and
places, and that the prosecution had proved the ab-
duction, and, therefore, the conspiracy was merged
in the consummation of its objects; that there could
not be an indictment for a conspiracy to do an un-
lawful act, the act having been done, the indictment
must be for the act done, and not for the conspiracy.
Gen. Matthews and Mr. Griffin argued it very ably
for the defendant, Bruce; and Mr. Whiting and Mr.
Butler argued in opposition. The counsel for the
people contended that the indictment lay for the
conspiracy; that the overt acts of abduction were
proved in aggravation of the offense; that the gist of
the indictment was the combination or confederacy;
that the conspiracy being formed to commit a mis-
demeanor, the doctrine of merge did not apply; that
the acts of Bruce in Niagara county being in further-
ance of the objects of the conspiracy; that all the
conspirators might be tried in the county in which
the first overt act was done, to wit, where Morgan was
first unlawfully subjected to their power, and where
the conspiracy must have been formed. The Court
overruled the objection, and said the cause must go
to the jury. The cause was summed up by Mr.
Adams, for the defendant, (Bruce,) and Mr. Moseley,
for the people, and was committed to the jury at
eight o'clock P. M.
"The Court advised the jury, that if from the
evidence they were satisfied that Bruce acted in pur-
suance of a conspiracy against Morgan previously
entered into, and to which he was a party, they must
find a verdict of guilty; and if they believed that
Bruce knew nothing of the conspiracy, but first knew
of the transportation of Morgan when he acted, then
they would find him not guilty, because his acts
5
50
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR. ·
would amount to an assault and battery and false
imprisonment in the county of Niagara, for which he
could not be convicted in this county, under this
indictment, which was for a conspiracy to kidnap.
"The Court also advised the jury that they must
be satisfied that Morgan was in the carriage, in
which, and on which, Bruce rode, and that Bruce
knew it; and further, that Morgan was there against
his will, and that Bruce knew that also. Giddins
having been rejected as a witness, there was no tes-
timony against Turner and Darrow, and under the
direction of the Court, and with the full consent of
the public prosecutor, they were acquitted."
وو
"Saturday, 7 A. M.
"The jury returned a verdict of guilty against
Bruce at twelve o'clock last night. The evidence
proved Bruce to have rode with the carriage in which
Morgan was transported from Molyneux's, on the ridge
road, sixteen miles east of Lewiston to Lewiston,
and from thence to Fort Niagara: all within the
county of Niagara. Bruce procured the horses for
the change at Molyneux's, and procured a hack and
horses at Lewiston, and the passengers who came in
the carriage from the east were exchanged in a back
street into the carriage which Bruce procured at
Lewiston. Bruce was at Molyneux's with the carriage
at twelve o'clock on the night of the 13th of Sep-
tember. He was at Lewiston at two o'clock the
same night, and started from Lewiston about that
hour toward the Fort. Morgan was proved to be
confined in the magazine on the morning of the 14th.
One witness heard a voice of a man in the magazine
that morning at eleven o'clock. No person lived in
or occupied any part of the Fort at that time; it
had been closed since June, 1826. Giddins had
the key of the magazine on the 14th of September.
HIS TRIAL AND CONVICTION.
51
The witness who testified to the voice in the maga-
zine, went into the yard of the Fort with Giddins,
and Giddins went to the magazine, opened it, and
the witness heard the noise: thinking that there
was something wrong he turned away from the mag-
azine, and walked off from the Fort as fast as he
could he was a brother-in-law of Giddins, on a visit
at the time, and is an intelligent young man of the
name of John Jackson, residing at Lockport. It was
remarkable that Bruce called no witnesses to explain
his conduct, or in any manner to exculpate himself."
It may be remarked that at these trials no testi-
mony was had from Mr. Bruce's deputy, Hiram B.
Hopkins. This person had kept in his own breast
whatever he knew or surmised in relation to the
Morgan affair, impelled thereto, as he afterward de-
clared, by a sense of his Masonic obligations. After-
ward he was not so restrained, and it was his evi-
dence by which the punishment of his friend and
patron was made excessive.
The sentence of the Court was arrested by an ap-
peal to the Supreme Court, which was not decided
until May, 1829. The points made involved the
right of the Court to try the cause. Upon the sub-
ject of the verdict, the Rochester Daily Advertiser
of August 23d, says:
"It is proper to add that a wrong impression pre-
vailed with some of the jury in relation to the ver-
dict. We have seen the affidavit of one of them,
declaring that he would not have consented to finding
the verdict against Bruce, had it not been impressed
upon him, and on others of his fellows, that if there
52
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
was any error in the verdict, it would be set right by
the Supreme Court. Mr. Bruce has been admitted to
bail."
The decision of the Supreme Court upon the case
of Bruce is here given entire.
"ELI BRUCE AND OTHERS
ads.
THE PEOPLE.
"The only question upon which our advice is re-
quested, is whether Bruce should not be acquitted of
the charge of conspiracy, inasmuch as the evidence
which proves the conspiracy, proves also the abduc-
tion of Morgan? It is not intended to call in ques-
tion the correctness of the verdict of the jury upon
the charge for the conspiracy. It is not necessary,
therefore, that we should give any opinion upon the
question, whether the testimony was sufficient to au-
thorize the conviction.
"We are of opinion that the facts in this case do not
constitute a merger. The offense of conspiracy is a
distinct and separate offense, and not at all necessary
to, or necessarily connected with the false imprison-
ment shown by the evidence. The defendant Bruce
might commit the offense of abduction, or imprison-
ment, without having been guilty of conspiracy.
"It was decided in Lambert's case, in the Court for
the Correction of Errors, that when the indictment
charges a conspiracy, and also the commission of the
unlawful act conspired to be done, it was to be con-
sidered an indictment for the offense itself. This is
not that case, or at least it is not so presented to us.
We advise the Court of General Sessions to give
judgment upon the conviction of the defendant.
JOHN SAVAGE.
66
(Signed).
"May 8th, 1829."
HIS TRIAL AND CONVICTION.
53
A note from Mr. Matthews, one of defendant's
counsel, adds, that the objections made by the de-
fense, were, that the testimony proved that the act
conspired to be committed, (false imprisonment,) was
committed pursuant to the conspiracy, and that the
latter was the offense. This, in fact, was Judge
Savage's opinion, for he says that in Lambert's case,
where the indictment charges a conspiracy, and also
the commission of the unlawful act conspired to be
done, it was to be considered an indictment for the
offense itself, which was conspired to be done.
Now it can make no difference, says Mr. Matthews,
whether the indictment charges the act conspired to
be done, to have been committed, or whether proof
established the commission of the offense conspired
to be committed. The result is the same. The
manner of charging the offense cannot alter the na-
ture of it. The counsel for Bruce had no knowledge
of Lambert's case, when they made up Bruce's case,
but they adapted the latter to the objection made
by them, and if their case had gone up to the Su-
preme Court as they prepared it, the opinion would
unquestionably have been different. But it was al-
tered after it went out of their hands, with the
honest but mistaken purpose of simplifying it, and
so the real objection was not presented to the Court.
at all.
On the 19th of May, 1829, the opinion of the
Supreme Court was read in the Court of General
Sessions, at Canandaigua, but, on motion of defend-
ant's counsel, judgment was suspended until the
54
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
23d. The Special Commissioner of the State, Mr.
John C. Spencer, recently appointed in place of Mr.
Moseley, then produced for a witness Hiram B.
Hopkins, in aggravation of the punishment of Bruce.
Hopkins deposed:
"That in September, 1826, Eli Bruce was sheriff
of the county of Niagara, and that the witness was
his deputy. They both resided in the jail at Lock-
port. Some two or three weeks before the abduction.
of Morgan, he was informed by Bruce and others,
that it was in contemplation to remove Morgan from
Batavia, where he then was, directly across the
country, to Lewiston, to carry him to Fort Niagara,
and ultimately to put him on board a British man-of-
war. On one particular night, six or eight days
before Morgan was carried from Batavia to Canan-
daigua, Bruce called the witness up, from his bed,
and told him that he expected Morgan immediately,
and that witness must prepare a cell in the jail for
his reception. A cell was pointed out for that pur-
pose, which was the most secret and retired in the
jail, and which did not communicate with any other.
The witness prepared this cell accordingly; but Mor-
gan did not arrive.
•
"The witness was at the installation of the Chap-
ter of Royal Arch Masons at Lewiston on the 14th
of September, and was then informed that Morgan
had arrived and was confined in Fort Niagara; this
was generally known among the Masons assembled
there.
A
"In answer to cross-interrogatories by the counsel
for the defendant, he stated that he had not disclosed
the facts to which he had now testified until recently,
when he had communicated them to Mr. Spencer, at
Lockport. That he had considered himself bound
HIS TRIAL AND CONVICTION.
55
by his Masonic obligations not to disclose them
until his own reflections had satisfied him that he had
no right to withhold them. That he had been un-
happy ever since the occurrence, and found no peace
of mind until he had revealed it.'
""
It is proper, however, to state here, that on the
trial of Jewett, June, 1830, Mr. Peter Aikin testified
that Mr. Hopkins stated to him in the summer of
1827, that Mr. Bruce was not implicated in the ab-
duction of Morgan, for if he had been, he (Hopkins)
would have known it.
John Whitney, of Rochester, and James Gillis, of
Lockport, were tried during the week upon the same
counts as Bruce; the former was returned guilty,
and sentenced to imprisonment in the county jail for
one year and three months. In the case of Gillis,
the jury could not agree, and they were discharged.
Upon the trial of Whitney, Mr. Bruce was a wit-
ness, and testified:
"That on the evening of the 13th of September,
1826, he was first apprised that William Morgan
was coming on from Canandaigua, on the ridge road.
He was told this by Burrage Smith and another
person, then living at Lockport. Some six or eight
days previous to this, he had been informed by a
gentleman from Batavia, that Morgan was willing to
go away from Miller, and the witness was requested
to assist in his removal, which he declined. He,
however, had been requested by another person, to
prepare a cell for Morgan in the jail at Lockport, in
contemplation of Morgan's being carried directly
across from Batavia to Lockport, and thence to
theby
56
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
:
Niagara. Smith, and the person who came with him,
told witness that Morgan had come voluntarily, and
was willing to go into Canada; they said he had
come peaceably, and wanted witness to assist in get-
ting him on. Witness declined at first, but finally
agreed to do so, and between nine and ten o'clock
went to the house of Solomon C. Wright, living on
the ridge road, three miles north of Lockport, where
he found the carriage and got into it. William Mor-
gan, or a person called Morgan, was in it, one Hague,
who is now dead, and himself, and no others were in
the carriage. It was driven by a person of his ac-
quaintance. There were several persons at Wright's
who did not belong to the house; and on his way
there, he met some strangers on foot going toward
Lockport. He never saw Lawson, until he saw him.
here in jail. He did not see Whitney, and did not
know him. He afterward stated, that he saw Whit-
ney at the installation at Lewiston.
"He went in the carriage from Wright's to Lewis-
ton, where another carriage and horses were pro-
cured; the same passengers got into that carriage
and drove to the ferry near the fort.
On their way,
they took in another passenger. The testimony of
Corydon Fox is perfectly correct. Witness did not
see Morgan until their arrival at Lewiston, when they
came to the ferry and got out of the carriage. Mor-
gan locked arms with the two who accompanied wit-
ness. Morgan was blindfolded in the carriage, which
was kept perfectly closed, the curtains down, the
windows up, etc.
"Witness and his companions, four besides himself,
crossed the river to Canada, having Morgan in the
boat. Their object was to get Morgan away from
Miller, into the interior of the country in Canada,
and place him on a farm. The expected arrange-
ment for the reception of Morgan in Canada had
HIS TRIAL AND CONVICTION.
57
not been made, and it was thought best to wait a
few days. Morgan was accordingly brought over to
this side of the river, and was put into the magazine
in Fort Niagara, to await the preparations on the
other side to receive him. It was past midnight and
before daylight when they put him into the maga-
zine. He has never seen Morgan from that day to
this; and has never had any communication from any
person respecting what was ultimately done with
him.
"While with Morgan in the carriage, the conver-
sation among them was, that he, Morgan, was going
among his friends; he appeared to be easy and said
nothing. At Lewiston, witness took a sulky and
horse that were there, and drove them to Lockport;
they were to be forwarded on to the East somewhere;
did not know where. Did not learn at Lewiston
that Burrage Smith came on in a sulky; understood
the horse he drove was owned on the ridge some-
where.
"When the carriage with Morgan drove up to
Molyneux's, another person rode up on horseback.
He did not stop there. Witness does not know what
became of him. He says that he supposed Morgan
went voluntarily; Morgan had a handkerchief over
his eyes, and had a hat on. Witness was informed,
and supposed, that the object of putting a handker-
chief on his eyes was, that he should not discover
those who rode with him. On being again interro-
gated, whether upon the oath he had taken, he still
persisted in declaring his belief that Morgan went
voluntarily, he said, he did."
The sentence of Mr. Bruce was in these words:
"That you, Eli Bruce, be confined in close and se-
cure custody in the county jail of the county of
58
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
Ontario, for the term of two years and four months."
Upon this sentence he was committed, May 23,
1829, and remained in custody until its termination,
September 23, 1831. It will be seen, upon a sub-
sequent page, that an additional term of thirty days
charged to him for contempt, in refusing to respond
to certain questions, was not exacted.
In summing up this chapter, we remark that Mr.
Bruce was undeniably in fault for taking any part in
the Morgan proceedings. None of his friends ever
contested this. As a peace officer, burdened with
public responsibility, he should have declined to
listen to any proposition to remove a man privately
from the State, even though agreeable to the will of
the man himself. But the fault was greatly inade-
quate to the long and untiring persecutions that
followed, the damage to his business, the wreck of
his private affairs, and the incarceration which, in
effect, cost him his life. He deserved not the flood
of defamation from the partisan presses of the day.
He was a man, who suffered greatly for a lenient
error, and suffered withal so patiently, and bore his
pains with such manly fortitude, as to ennoble the
very prison and cell where those weary days and
years were passed. He deserved and enjoyed the
friendship of the best men of Canandaigua, Roches-
ter, Lockport, Niagara, and wherever he was known.
His name, and sufferings, and patience, were themes
at many a domestic hearth, and the sympathy of chil-
dren and the prayers of women were wafted toward his
prison. In the few and thinly attended lodge meet-
HIS TRIAL AND CONVICTION.
59
ings of the country, his case was often named, and
many a generous promise was sent him from "the
two or three who were gathered together," promises,
alas! made impossible of fulfillment by the interposi-
tion of an early death.
Mr. Bruce was not criminal in his act of that un-
fortunate night. Those few hours which he spent.
in the covered carriage with Morgan, did not blacken
the heart that had kept itself pure for more than
thirty years. He was not aware that Morgan had
been taken to Canandaigua from Batavia. He knew
nothing of any force employed, if indeed any force
was employed, in conveying him from the jail door
to the coach. He was not informed of any steps in
contemplation, if indeed any were in contemplation,
to end the life of the miserable renegade when borne
beyond the boundary of the State. He had been in-
formed simply that Morgan was willing to be sepa-
rated from Miller, and for a suitable compensation
to destroy the manuscripts he had so wickedly pre-
pared. He learned that Morgan was on the way
from Rochester westward, in pursuance of this con-
tract, and would be at Wright's by a certain hour.
He found him there, sitting in the coach, conversing
cheerfully, a willing traveler from the partner who
had swindled him, and the debts that had oppressed
him, and the community that despised him, and the
Fraternity that abhorred him. He got into the
coach with him, and accompanied him past Molyneux's
and Lewiston, and Youngstown, to the ferry at Fort
Niagara, across the river and back, and to quarters in
60
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
the Fort where he left him, and from that hour he
never had reliable intelligence of that passenger's
fate. This was his fault. Say, O ye censorious, did
ever such a fault receive such a punishment?
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
61
CHAPTER V.
THE FIRST YEAR OF IMPRISONMENT.

ND so the malice of political foes and the
blind animosity of the multitude were sati-
ated, and Bruce, for a venial error, incarcer-
ated in the county prison at Canandaigua.
What were the feelings of the sensitive mind
thus exposed to the scorn and contempt of
the rabble? What were the reflections of the young
and ardent husband and father, doomed to a long
separation from friends so fondly loved? What his
despair of future eminence so desired, so desirable,
to such a spirit as his? The mark of the felon
should be upon him! the shadow of the jail should
becloud him all his days! should follow him when he
journeyed abroad! should embitter his life when he
abode among the people who had so unkindly wrought
against him!—those we may presume were the bitter
fancies that crowded thickly into his cell that night
as he lay and wooed the slumber that would not
come.
But we are not left to conjecture alone. Filled by
his own hand, here lies before us a package of books.
containing his prison life. Commencing the day he
62
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
entered the jail, and evidently prepared for that oc-
casion, these three volumes of his diary discover to
us the thoughts, actions, and desires, which made up
those dreary months of incarceration, and leave but
little room for biographical acuteness, or the neces-
sity of conjecture. The first of these volumes of
memoranda covers the period from May 20 to No-
vember 18, 1829, one hundred and sixty-eight pages,
and has for its motto the couplet:
"A variegated map of human life,
Its fluctuations, harmonies, and strife."
For the most part a page is appropriated to each
day, and for the first year or two, no day is suffered
to pass without its appropriate entries.
The style
譬
​of penmanship is of an angular cast, rapid and care-
less. The ink with which the work is done is pale
and full of acid. Now and then a page is crossed
with red ink, according to the fashion acquired in
the days when letter postage was charged upon each
single piece of paper posted. It is not difficult to
trace the marks of tears that at many a sad hour
were dropped upon the pages. The second volume
of these “Records of Imprisonment " extends from No-
vember 19, 1829, to May 16, 1830; the third from
May 17, 1830, to January 7, 1831. There was a
fourth, now supposed to be irrevocably lost, which
brought the sad story down to the day of his release,
September 23, 1831, which was a short year prior
to his release, September 26, 1832, from the gloomier
prison of his life.
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
63
The style of composition, as in all diaries written
up mainly to while away time, and preserve sugges-
tions of passing thoughts, as well as events, is care-
less, often trifling, yet sometimes profoundly pa-
thetic, and not unfrequently soaring and sublime.
Much of the tender and loving relates to domestic
events, upon which the historian may not touch. The
merely trivial and jocular sprinkled in almost every
page, is sacred to the time, place, and occasion, and
will not be looked for in this biography. The rest,
for the most part, has been faithfully culled out for
the present volume, and will be seen in our pages
as they follow.
The first entry is this:
"Wednesday, May 20, 1829.-Escorted by sheriff,
Mr. Garlinghouse, at 11 o'clock, to my domicile; vis-
ited by my much-respected friend, Mr. Rawson, also
by a man wishing to see my misery, a bum-bailiff.
Felt very heavy. Read Ivanhoe with much atten-
tion. Viewed with much scrutiny the ingratitude of
mankind, and found to my satisfaction that there is
no such principle remaining in the human breast as
disinterested friendship. It is no longer a doubt;
whenever you find a man's interest, you find the
man, saint or sinner, civilian or savage!
Alas, poor prisoner! the bitter "satisfaction!"
Alas, poor exile from human kind! thus so late
to have learned the "ower true" fact. Long a
learning it, often doubting, sometimes suspecting,
now at last "it is no longer a doubt!
In some
verses wrung from his heart at a future day, we
64
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
shall see the same misanthrophic conclusions ex-
pressed.
To this "much respected friend," Mr. P. J. Raw-
son, of Lockport, New York, we find many allusions.
His correspondence is noted under date, May 26th,
of the same year. October 5, 1830, and January
3, 1831, his visits to the prison are particularly
noticed. There was also a Judge M. Rawson spoken.
of further on.
But Eli Bruce lived to change in some measure
these opinions. The prison thoughts were not alto-
gether so gloomy. On the contrary, prison solitude.
was sometimes relieved by such bursts of human
friendship, such rays of benignant light, sometimes
shot into that lonely cell, that poor Bruce was con-
strained even in spite of misanthropic doubts, to be-
lieve that "disinterested friendship" did exist upon.
earth. Even on the day following his incarceration,
Thursday the 21st, after a sleepless night, with his
mind oppressed by the awful solitude of his cell, he
is obliged by the very force of gratitude to say:
"My very kind neighbor, Mrs. Taylor, visited me
on her return home; was very feeling and sympa-
thetic; gave good advice; professed much friendship;
shook hands cordially; kissed and left me. Miss
Hopkins and cousin, and Miss Wilder visited and
stayed till sunset; had a pleasant interview; time
went off tolerably.”
シー
​This estimable lady is still living at Ionia, Michi-
gan, with her husband, Mr. L. Taylor, in a green
old age. Their son, Mr. P. H. Taylor, is a Mason
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
65
of much poetical ability, which he has displayed in
the columns of the various journals devoted to the
Craft. A letter from Mr. Bruce to Mr. Taylor will
be found further on.
On the 22d he parted with Cousin Joanna, and
began a letter to James A. Mason, the conclusion of
which he delayed until after the sentence, which was
to be pronounced the next day. Now, in the an-
guish of the moment, he writes:
"I begin to think men all ingrates, save now and
then one whose virtues and fidelity, like the evanes-
cent scintillations of the evening star, are dim and
distant.
>
On the day following, the epochal day of his life,
as it proved, he was conducted into court to receive
his sentence. We give it first in his own words.
66
May 23d, Saturday.-Received several visits from
gentlemen whose deportment bespoke the sensibility
of their hearts. Was called into court as witness.
Answered a variety of questions pro and con. At
half-past ten o'clock was called to receive sentence,
when lo! "two years and four months" sounded
harshly upon my ears! It is a period in my life
which will constitute a blank; an era from whence to
date my disappointed ambition arising from just and
laudable principles.'
""
And here we would call attention to the latter part
of the entry above. This is the secret utterance of
the prisoner's heart in the very hour of his condem-
nation. It was written for his own eye alone, or at
6
66
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
the most, with the hope that after his death, after
malice had exhausted its spite upon him, and the
worm should be busy with him, the pious eyes of
his children would be gladdened by the declaration of
their unhappy father, that these sad results, these
harsh "two years and four months," this blank in
his existence, this era from whence to date disappointed
ambition, arose from just and laudable principles !
Read it, Brother Mason! it is the key to this whole
history. The "Masonic martyr," however mistaken
in some things, and possibly erring in others, was
actuated in his conduct, and sustained in his impris-
onment, by a consciousness of just and laudable prin-
ciples.
The questions "pro and con." to which he alludes
as having answered, are those tending to exonerate
Mr. John Whitney from the charges then hanging
over him. Mr. Bruce's testimony under this head is
given in the last chapter.
And now Mr. Bruce is settled down for his in-
carceration of twenty-eight months. Whatever hopes
of escape he might have entertained, if any, are
all falsified; the penalty is to be exacted to the
utmost, and not until September 23, 1831, does he
again step upon the green sward a freeman. From
the pages of his diary, well described by the motto
already quoted, we shall draw whatever passages of
general interest they contain.
His visitors were many, and of many sorts, as we
shall learn from the record. "Gentlemen of taste
and respectability," he described some: "General
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
67
Marvin;" "Mr. Williams, of Rochester;" "Mr. Bar-
num, assistant editor of the Craftsman," "Mr.
Chesebro and lady;" "E. A. Cooley, from Lock-
port;""Alpheus St. John, and P. G. Richardson,
called on me on their way to New York;" "A
second cousin of the name of Whitcomb;" "L. Tay-
lor;" "John C. Spencer," and many others whose
names will appear in their proper places. We find,
upon a hasty enumeration, that not less than two
hundred persons, male and female, and probably
three times as many, visited Mr. Bruce during the
thirty months of his incarceration.
During the whole course of his jail-life, he exhib-
ited much industry. "I finished two letters, one to
J. F. Mason, and one to cousin Joanna;" "Letters to
E. B. Child and William Hughes;" "Wrote to Mr.
Taylor and Mr. Jackson;" "Wrote four or five
letters;"
""Wrote five letters to send home," etc. By
the aid of the jail physicians and others of the pro-
fession, resident at Canandaigua, he read up a pretty
thorough course of medicine while under bondage,
intending to pursue that as a calling, upon his re-
lease. The diaries are full of notes and reflections
upon Michaux and Wistar, and the other medical
and surgical authors. His tastes were highly es-
thetic. He loved to read of birds and flowers, and
the more tender objects of nature. His sensibilities
were excessive. The sound of music enraptured:
him. The tones of "the church-going bell" filled
his heart, and awakened the tenderest emotions. The
voice of woman had the greatest attraction to his ear.
68
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
His course of reading, though irregular, was ex-
tensive. The first book to which he applied him-
self, upon entering the prison, was Scott's Ivanhoe,
then just issued. The week following, he was en-
gaged upon Cooper's Last of the Mohicans, the
characters of which he conceived to be "admirably
drawn." Next, in course, he perused Darby's View
of the United States, which he pronounces interest-
ing. June 3d, he took up the life of General Jack-
son, characterized as "very interesting." Wistar's
Anatomy, etc., he adopted as the commencement of a
course of medical reading; and in this he was aided
by the use of a skeleton loaned him by a friend.
The Medical Journal was the next work in order.
Bishop Hobart's Sermons formed much of his Sab-
bath reading; he declares "the diction fine, senti-
ments sound, language easy-flowing and with unin-
terrupted velocity, as from a clear and pellucid
fountain." Others will be found in the extracts
following.
Among his correspondents we find his brother,
("my only brother," he styles him,) Silas Bruce,
now of Boston, Massachusetts, D. Washburn,
W. P. Daniels, his cousin Joanna, of Lockport, and
many whose names are not given. His epistolary
labors were unintermitted, and many of his letters
are yet extant. He wrote currente calamo, and
paid little regard to revision. In his letters, his
allusions to bondage, ill-health, the sad condition in
which he had left his family, the blast of public
rumors, etc., are forcible and exceedingly touching.
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
69
-
Every note he touched, however, was manly; there
was no whining or whimpering in his appeals. He
had chosen his own course. He might have betrayed
his friends, as Hopkins, Giddins, and others had
done, and received pardon and compensation, but
such a thought evidently never entered his mind.
He looked forward to the end of his term of imprison-
ment as a period when he could begin life again,
with unblemished honor and unfaltering hopes.
At times, however, and under the influences of
nervous disease, the most gloomy apprehensions pos-
sessed him. The dread of paralyzing sickness, fears
lest his imprisonment should cast a stain upon the
character of his family, especially his dear children;
apprehersions of poverty and its concomitant evils,
were among the forms in which the demon of mel-
ancholy most frequently appeared; such passages
as these abound in his diary: "Griefs of mine own
lie heavy on my heart;" "Rain fell in torrents,
which produced a depression of spirits."
(C
"How hard is my fate, once I freedom enjoyed,
Was as happy as happy could be.'
Thought considerably on domestic felicity—that
its value was not duly appreciated by those whose
privilege it was to enjoy it. Wished very much to
see my darlings;" "Felt rather depressed; thought
much about home;" "Did not sleep much; mind
clouded;" "Felt neglected;" "Dreams unpleasant.
In a paroxysm of misanthropy, June 6th, he writes:
"I find no difference in men ;-'tis sordid interest
""
70
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
guides them all. I am sick of bare-faced professions,
proffered friendships, and plighted, but false fidelity."
But we shall see that such fits were brief and un-
frequent. May 28th, he remarks that "His mind is
growing lighter." The next day "Passed tolerably
well;" "Had a fine interview, (with Chesebro, Bar-
num, and Williams,) was cheered, felt lively;" "How
refreshing is news of family and friends, to a man
in prison!" "All appear to exert themselves to make
me happy;" "Gentlemen of the village were very
friendly." July 18th, "Time begins to move less
heavily;" "In the evening sang and played with
my visitors-all cheerful;" "Between study and
amusement this day passed off tolerably well;"
"Were my dear wife and boy here, I should be
measurably happy, although in prison;" "Felt in
tolerable spirits;" etc. But we now commence our
regular course of extracts, adding in our words of
comment or explanation as we go along.
"May 22, 1829.-Finished Ivanhoe. Think it a
fine tale."
66
May 25.-Visited by many friends, among them
Gen. Marvin. Rain fell in torrents, which produced
a depression of spirits. Wrote letters to E. B.
Child and William Hughes. Read, with some atten-
tion, the doctrine of temperament, and found of the
six classes of temperament, viz.: sanguineous, athle-
tic, bilious, phlegmatic, (alias lympathic,) melancholic,
and nervous, that I possess the latter, although par-
taking largely also of the bilious. My mind is
characterized by extreme sensibility; impressions are
easily made upon it. Mind is somewhat active, fre-
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
71
quently volatile, flying with easy transition from one
subject to another, not, perhaps, from fickleness, but
from a rapidity of associations so much of me
belongs to the nervous. The bilious amalgamates,
as its prominent features are ambition, resolution,
prompt decision, and permanency of enterprise."
•
The Gen. J. F. Marvin alluded to here, was equally
constant as a correspondent and visitor. June 16,
1829, Mr. Bruce styles him "my much respected
friend;" and says, the next day, "had for my bed-
fellow J. F. Marvin, who participated in the gloomi-
ness of my prison with me."
This true friend is now deceased.
"May 27.-Received visits from several gentle-
men. Wrote five letters. Day passed tolerably well.
Read Darby's View of the United States; found it
very interesting. Had a visit from a second cousin.
by the name of Whitcomb."
66
May 28.-Received a few visits. Rather dull.
Felt neglected.
"Tho' mad I appear, to all who come here,
66
Yet search through the town, from the judge to the clown,
All sorts and degrees are as mad, if you please.'
May 29.-Forenoon went off rather heavy, al-
though a good atmosphere. Afternoon had visitors
most of the time. Thought considerably on domes-
tic felicity; thought its worth was not duly appre-
ciated by those who had the privilege of enjoying it.
Wished very much to see my darlings.
""
"May 30, 1829.-Received several visitors, viz.:
Mr. Williams, of Rochester, Mr. Barnum, assistant
editor of the Craftsman, Mr. Chesebro and lady, etc.
Had some fine interviews; was cheered, and felt lively."
72
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
"That cleared the misty spell away,
And turned the mind on livelier things.'
"Heard of the death of Col. William King. Sic
transit gloria mundi.
"O death! among the ravages of thy domain,
Thy conquest's great!'
"Actio personalis moriatur cum persona."
Col. King's history was deeply interesting. His
connection with Morgan's removal has already been
intimated in the testimony of Corydon Fox. He re-
ceived his full share of the opprobrium so abundantly
heaped upon the abductors. Col. King had long
been a resident of Niagara county, and had repre-
sented that county in the State Legislature. Some
years prior to 1826, he had been appointed by the
United States government agent for the military
posts of Niagara, Plattsburg, and Mackinaw. When
these posts were abandoned by government as mil-
itary stations, he sought occupation through his
friend, Governor Clinton, and was appointed, De-
cember 1826, state agent, to transact some business.
at Washington city. There he remained until Feb-
ruary following, when he received an appointment
from the Federal Government as sutler of Canton-
ment Towson, in the western borders of Arkansas.
To this distant point, he started, February 10th, and
arrived April 1st following. It was while there
that he learned, through the press, that his name was
publicly connected with the Morgan affair.
Immediately upon the receipt of this intelligence,
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
73
he set about to arrange his business, and return and
offer himself for trial. While doing so, he discovered
that he was pursued, the sheriff and two deputies.
of Ontario county having set out for Arkansas,
December 13, 1827, and being then in the vicinity,
prepared to take him to New York in irons. This he
would not submit to, but evading them, he concealed
himself until they had departed, and then went alone
to New York, arriving shortly after the officers. On
the 17th of May, 1828, he published the following
notice in the Lockport Journal :
"To Messrs. Garlinghouse and Bates:
"The undersigned asks leave to inform them that
he has returned to the county of Niagara, where he
can be found, and is ready to transact any
that they may have with him.
("Signed)
business
WILLIAM KING."
No one, however, seemed disposed to arrest him.
He went before a magistrate at Lewiston, a few days
after the publication of this notice, and entered him-
self, under bonds, for his appearance at the next
court. May 27, 1828, he published the following
letter, which we give entire, as an important link in
the history of Mr. Bruce, who was intimately asso-
ciated in friendship and Masonry with Col. King.
66
TO THE PUBLIC.
"Fellow-Citizens:-Believing in the disposition of
the generality of my countrymen to do justice to their
fellow-men, and owing to the unwarrantable liberty
taken with my name by individuals of whom I shall
1
7
74
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
not now speak-influenced likewise, by a sense of
duty to my family, my friends, and myself, I have
thought proper to offer for your consideration 、a
detail of circumstances connected with my departure
and subsequent return to this State, leaving for your
candor to determine with what degree of justice I
have been branded as a fugitive from justice.
"A few years since I was doing the business for
three United States posts; viz.: Niagara, Platts-
burgh, and Mackinaw. Within that time these posts
have all been abandoned, and my business was en-
tirely broken up. A family of twelve children had
drawn so largely upon my resources as to prevent
any accumulation of property, and the business of
this part of the country did not offer me, as I was
then without capital, sufficient inducement to remain.
I consequently left for the city of Albany, where I
received an appointment from the late Governor
Clinton, to transact some business for the State at
Washington, to which place I repaired, and re-
mained till the 7th of February, 1827. During my
stay there, I received from the Hon. James Barbour,
Secretary of War, an appointment to do the business
at Cantonment Towson, in the Arkansas Territory,
on the Red River, about twelve hundred miles above
its junction with the Mississippi. I left Baltimore
on the 10th of February, and traveled by the way
of New Orleans and Nachitoches to Cantonment
Towson, where I arrived on the 1st of April, and
established myself in business, which I pursued till
informed by a gentleman who arrived from below,
that my name was in the papers connected with the
Morgan affair, which was the first information I had
ever received to that effect. I replied to him that
I would go home as soon as I could get my business
arranged; and was actually getting on with the ar-
rangement, when, about the middle of February last,
·
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
75
a gentleman informed me that he had overheard a
conversation between three men and Capt. Hyde, by
which he understood that they had come from New
York after me. I instantly replied that I was per-
fectly willing to deliver myself into their custody, if
I was suspected of having violated the laws of my
country; but on being assured that Mr. Garling-
house said that he should be compelled to put me in
irons, etc., I, though willing to return, determined
not to be brought from there to this State in that
way, and concluded to ride to a friend's about ten
miles off, where I remained till I was sure they had
taken their departure-when I returned, put my
business in the best state possible, and started for
this place, a distance of nearly four thousand miles,
traveling all the time nearly, night and day, to ar-
rive here with as little delay as possible.
"I arrived here on Saturday afternoon, the 17th
instant, and on the following Monday went to Lew-
iston, where I entered bail before the first judge for
two thousand dollars, myself in one thousand, and
two sureties in five hundred dollars each. During my
absence I was continually writing to my family and
friends; as for instance, I wrote from Albany, New
York, Baltimore, Washington, Natchitoches, and Can-
tonment Towson. From the latter place I frequently
sent letters, many of which never reached their des-
tination, and especially one mailed on the evening of
the 31st of August last, directed to my family, and
containing three hundred dollars for their support..
"Such are briefly the circumstances connected
with my departure and return, and it is for others to
say whether I have evinced any disposition to escape
the justice of my country, and to judge of the mo-
tives of those who have condemned me unheard, and
branded me to the world as a fugitive from the laws
to which I have now voluntarily surrendered myself.
76
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
And it is proper to add here, that although no
means were left untried to procure a different re-
sult, no indictment could be obtained against me
beyond a misdemeanor.
-
"In conclusion, I ask of my fellow-citizens a sus-
pension of opinion on the prejudicial reports which
have been industriously circulated at my expense:
By submitting voluntarily to the laws, I have given
sufficient evidence of my determination to abide the
issue, to entitle me to a cessation, until I shall have
had my trial, of that rancor with which some indi-
viduals have endeavored to prejudice and forestall
the public mind.
"YOUNSGTOWN, May 27, 1828.”
"WILLIAM KING.
Col. King was never brought to trial, although
constantly courting investigation. In the latter part
of the year 1828, he went West a second time, upon
business, and again returned, remaining among his
old friends until his death, May 28, 1829. He was
buried on the 29th of May, with military honors,
under the direction of the commandant at Fort
Niagara. Col. King was in the expedition against
Little York, Canada, under Gen. Pike, commanding
the troops of the fifteenth regiment. Also, at Four
Mile Creek, where he greatly distinguished himself,
and received a wound.-
-
"May 31, 1829, Sabbath day.-No visitors. Mr.
Chesebro brought me a Bible, Bishop Hobart's Ser-
mons, papers, etc. I read a part of the book of
Job; thought the logic very cogent. My mind dwelt
with considerable emphasis on the latter part of the
fourth chapter. Thought the vision a powerful as-
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
77
sault upon that vanity which exists so profusely in
our nature. It is calculated to awaken the mind to
a due sense of its own worth."
The name of Mr. N. G. Chesebro occurs upon
almost every page of this diary. It will be remem-
bered that at the commencement of these unfortu-
nate troubles, Mr. Chesebro was coroner of Ontario
county, and in that capacity accompanied the party
who went from Canandaigua to Batavia on the 10th
of September, 1826, to arrest William Morgan upon
a writ for larceny. At Morgan's discharge by the
magistrate at Canandaigua, Mr. Chesebro sued out
an execution against him for debt, upon which he
was immediately committed to prison at Canan-
daigua. Mr. Chesebro stood in view of the party
who led Morgan from the jail door to the coach,
after his release from the prison, and for that offense,
such as it was, he suffered twelve months' imprison-
ment in the same jail. His term of sentence, with
that of Col. Sawyer, commenced January 7, 1827.
An application for executive clemency, made in
the spring, being denied, he served out his period
patiently, and upon his release, returned to his busi-
ness at Canandaigua, without any loss of character
on account of his imprisonment. He is still living,
(1860,) at his old residence. During all Mr. Bruce's
imprisonment, Mr. Chesebro and his excellent wife,
(who died December 24, 1853, greatly respected,)
and daughter, were most attentive to his wants.
His meals, for months together, were furnished him.
from the table of Mr. Chesebro, who lived nearly
78
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
opposite the jail. Newspapers and books were free-
ly afforded him from the same quarter. Messages
and greetings from friends, warnings and counsel,
reached him daily through that medium, and it is
not too much to say that much of his sufferings was
made tolerable through the unwearying friendship
of Mr. Chesebro and his family.
“June 1st.-0, how changed is the scene, when
I take a retrospect of two years past! I fancy
myself in some foreign clime, far from society and
home. Morning very clear and tranquil. My mind
was clouded and I did not sleep much. E. A.
Cooley, from Lockport, called and brought me a
packet. Received letters from my dear wife and
eldest daughter-from my only brother one from
D. Washburn, and one from W. P. Daniels.
"O, friendship, thou sweetener of our life,
Thou solace of our joys!'
"'June, thy gay glories may delight the throng,
Whose hearts have never felt keen sorrow's touch,
Whose days glide on with music and with song,
With not a cloud of thought! O, yes, to such
Thou art delightful; but for me, whose breast
With many a care, with many a pang is riven,
Whom joy awaits not here, whom even Heaven
Seems but to punish, such is its behest.'
4 June 2.-Our friends sent me in some of the
good things of life, which made me more cheerful.
I think I will continue this diary, for it may be a
valuable stimulus to the mind, which, if it be toler-
ably fertile, will, like a story, lose nothing by its
continuance. It may become the repertory of a
series of images and thoughts, which, if they are
cumbrous and rambling, and whether facts, thoughts,
or feelings, will salve the mind in future. If a re-
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
79
trospective glance should be taken on this waste
of time, this segment of the circle of my days, this
diary will prove a mirror to the mind. Had my head
showered to remedy an intolerable buzzing in it.
·
"June 3.-But little time for reflection and self-
improvement. If I am called an egotist for the fre-
quency of the repetition of the pronoun I in my own
journal, I can not give credit to the censurer's char-
ity, nor pertinency to the observation. I claim a
right to autobiography, and to spread as much ink
on paper as this eventful interim permits. To absorb
time during this period, and not utterly waste it, is
my chief aim. The recollections of liberty dwell
pertinaciously, like the lingering twilight of a sum-
mer's eve, and, endeavoring to be an optimist, the
mind struggles involuntarily, like the flutterings of a
bird unused to be pent up in a cage. Read the Life
of General Jackson nearly through;, very interest-
ing.
"June 4.-I began the study of anatomy. Found
that my memory was very treacherous. Technical
terms perplex me. Endeavored to recall memory to
her empire and consolidate my thoughts; but my
mind proved refractory, almost uncontrollable. I
perused and re-perused, yet I could not retain it.
Visited by a number of ladies, who requested of me
a song, accompanied by the viol, with which I com-
plied, by giving them Home, sweet Home. But I
thought of the passage: How shall I sing a song
in a strange land? They that took me captive re-
quired of me a song, and they that carried me away,
required of me mirth.'"
The Bible furnished him by his trusty friend, Mr.
Chesebro, seems often to have been his solace, and a
source of quotation. It was a happy thought when
--
80
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
that lovely group left his cell to turn to the 137th
Psalm, and read:
"By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down,
yea, we wept when we remembered Zion.
We
hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst
thereof. For there they that carried us away cap-
tive required of us a song; and they that wasted us
required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the
songs of Zion. How shall we sing the LORD'S song
in a strange land? If I forget thee, O Jerusalem,
let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not
remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of
my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief
joy.'
→
•
"June 5.—Mr. L. Taylor called for an hour, bring-
ing news from family and friends. How refreshing
to one in prison! 'Tis balsam to the heart. The
countenance of a friend maketh the heart glad.'.
Were true friends duly appreciated, what murmurs
would be spared, what woes shunned, what acrimony
avoided, what vituperations lost in the current of
concord and harmony, mingled with patience, for-
bearance, and all the sister graces! Friendship is
the wine of life; it does not inebriate or leave the
feelings in a cold and torpid state, but continent
in all the evolutions of the mind. 'Judge before
friendship, then confide till death,' said the good
doctor.
oner.
We have already spoken of the kindness extended
by Mr. L. Taylor, and his wife, to the forlorn pris-
Much correspondence passed between them,
which displays the generosity of that family in a
brilliant light. Mr. Bruce was ever profuse in his
gratitude to them, and trusted to them to see that
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
81
his wife and children should not come to want. The
residences of the Bruce and Taylor families were
contiguous at Lockport; and it is no compromise of
delicacy to say, that but for the one the distresses
of the other would have been far more poignant than
they were.
Among the visits paid Mr. Bruce by Mrs. Taylor,
one is described under date May 7, 1830, when she
came, very unexpectedly, with his youngest daughter,
and another, May 20th, when she called to take
her home.
“June 6, 1829.-Busy in arranging books brought
yesterday by Mr. Taylor. Lectured considerably,
(in his letter-writing.) Thought from the manner in
which some people deal with one who is shut up in
prison, unable to see to his own business, that there
is very little reliance to be placed in any one.
I
find no difference between saint or sinner, professor
or infidel. "T is sordid interest guides them all. I
am sick of barefaced professions, proffered friend-
ships, and plighted but false fidelity;
"And this makes friends such miracles below.'
"June 7, 1829-Sabbath.-Mr. John C. Spencer
visited me and rehearsed past events. He became
warm on the subject; talked much about duty to
one's country, and apologized for harsh treatment.
He set some spring-traps very eloquently, and, in
vivid colors portrayed the good that would arise
from exposing all that I was in possession of relative
to the devilish M affair. He was told that the
obligation I owed to the preservation, comfort, peace,
and prosperity of my family, was more than para-
mount to all legal injunctions, human or Divine.
82
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
The last epithet I might have omitted, as it involves
or embraces my notions of probity. I was apprised
that I should be taken upon a habeas corpus to Bata-
via as a witness. O, when will they have done with
this cursed affair?
"Whither wilt thou lead me?
I'll go no further.'
This celebrated visit to Mr. Bruce by the special
counsel was much talked of at the time, and, in a
shape more or less true, went the rounds of the
press.
The account given of it in The Craftsman of June
23, 1828, is full of interest, and, though seasoned
with the severity common to both sides in that un-
happy quarrel, is too valuable to be omitted here:
"It has been announced in several papers in this
quarter, that, at the recent session of the Grand Jury
of Genesee county, Eli Bruce, whom a concatenation
of circumstances has compelled to take up a resi-
dence of two years and eight months in the county
jail of Ontario, was taken therefrom on a writ of
habeas corpus, and brought before them to testify
further in relation to the Morgan affair, and that
having declared he knew nothing more than he had
already testified, he refused to be made the toy for
John C. Spencer to play with.
"There is a circumstance in relation to this affair,
the particulars of which have come to our knowledge,
and which we deem it a duty to make public, both
in regard to the unbending character of the incor-
ruptible though suffering Bruce, and to show to the
people some slight evidence of the means and plans
of the special counsel to foment new feuds and ex-
tend the fire of persecution which is now raging
around us.
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
83
"On the Sunday evening of the departure of Mr.
John C. Spencer for Batavia, he had the honor of
visiting an honest man's cell in the Canandaigua
jail, for the purpose, as he avowed, of advising Mr.
Bruce upon the course it would be proper for him to
pursue. He portrayed in vivid colors the advantages
which would arise from a further disclosure of the
Morgan affair. He spoke with much feeling and
pathos on the duties which Mr. Bruce owed to his
country, and to his individual character, in that re-
spect, and urged that if his advice, in this state of
the affair, could influence him, he might, when he
should again mingle with the community, go forth
from his prison as an HONEST MAN. Some other
conversation took place on the insult thus offered to a
condemned and imprisoned man, when the special
counsel asked Mr. Bruce if an honest course would
not insure protection to him as well as to GIDDINS!
The meaning of this honest course' it is impossible
to misconstrue. Mr. Bruce remarked here, that he
would thank the honorable counsel not to class him
with that wretch; that their cases were not analo-
gous or similar in any one point, and that Giddins's
course had been marked with dishonor and meanness
throughout.
"Here the honorable special counsel again begged
pardon, and did not wish to weigh Mr. Bruce in the
same scales with Giddins, but said the public would
be generous to the family of Mr. Bruce, if he would
pursue an honest course! Mr. Bruce quaintly ob-
served, that his family would starve on the generosity
of the Antis! that their faith and generosity were
parallel; that the persecution he had undergone had
taken all he had; that he was compelled to ask a
gentleman in Lockport to lend him his name to go
on with his business; that he had purchased some
stock and tools, which still remained on his hands in
84
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
consequence of the abrupt treatment he had received
from the honorable the special counsel,* and that
he had thus involved his friend more than one hun-
dred dollars.
"The honorable the special counsel then re-
marked, that if the friend of Mr. Bruce wanted
money to relieve him on account of Mr. Bruce, he
would loan him some on his own individual responsi-
bility, and that the community would see that the
family of Bruce did not suffer, if Mr. Bruce would
take an honest course. And he did not doubt that
the Executive would be induced from such a course,
at the instance of the antimasonic party, to release
him before the expiration of his term.
"To all this, Bruce replied, that he was shut
up. That his honesty had done him injury, as well
as his friends, and he knew it. And all he asked
now, was to be let alone, rather than be entreated
dishonorably to poison the minds of the friends who
had to support his family. To this the honorable
the special counsel only remarked that Mr. Bruce's
notions of honor carried him too far, and that he
went beyond his duty. Mr. Bruce having replied he
should be his own judge in that matter, the honorable
John C. Spencer, the State's traveling special attor-
ney, took his leave by wishing Mr. Bruce to think
seriously, and concur in the views he had expressed.
"These are the facts as they occurred, and the
substance of the conversation during their inquisi-
torial visit. We defer a volume of comments upon
them until another season, rather leaving them to
the natural comments of every good and virtuous
man's bosom. We merely remark, that when Mr.
Spencer endeavors again to induce the unfortunate
Referring, we suppose, to the fact, that Mr. Bruce was arrested
while at table in his own house.-Ed..
#
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
85
Bruce to dishonor his own good name, the only thing
of which persecution had not bereft him, (unless
indeed it may be the respect of his fellow-citizens
and the commiseration of his friends,) we trust he
will have the kindness to carry with him neither a
rack nor a thumbscrew.”
"June 8th.-Busy with Wistar on Anatomy. Was
watched very narrowly lest communications should
pass to and fro. Ah, there is a passage through the
air that mortals do not always see; a language
though silent, that speaks volumes which all can
not understand. Silence itself is eloquent; looks
are orations; absence is bulletins of weighty import.
Some friends were denied a pass to us; none were
admitted without an attendant. Began this day to
board with my fellow-sufferer, participator, and par-
ticular friend, Mr. John Whitney."
The history of Mr. John Whitney is so closely
connected with that of Mr. Bruce, especially in their
prison lives, that we take a few pages here to it.
This venerable gentleman is still (1860) alive, and
resides at Chicago, Illinois, greatly respected.
Mr. Whitney was indicted at the same session,
and upon the same counts, as Mr. Bruce; but his
trial was postponed until after the verdict in Mr.
Bruce's case was rendered. At the May term 1829,
he was put on trial with James Gillis, the latter,
however, not being present. Mr. Spencer's special
counsel, and Mr. Bowen Whiting, district attorney,
prosecuted; Gen. Vincent Matthews, Ebenezer Grif-
fin, Dudly Marvin, and M. H. Sibley, defended. The
same evidence traced Morgan and his party from the
jail at Canandaigua to Hanford's Landing as in the
86
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
*
previous trials; but a witness was now found to
testify that Mr. Chesebro put a handkerchief to
Morgan's mouth to stop his outcries, while the
driver, (Hiram Hubbard,) testified that the party in
the coach evinced no anxiety or haste to get on. It
was proved that Mr. Whitney was in Canandaigua on
the day of Morgan's abduction, (September 12th,) in
search of a workman, he being a stone-cutter, but it
could not be ascertained by what conveyance he re-
turned to Rochester. This seemed to prove his con-
nection with the company who were in the coach
with Morgan. Mrs. Hanford, at Hanford's Landing,
testified that one of the persons, who called about
daylight, September 13th, declared that he was
d-d glad to get out of jail at first, and this was
supposed to be Morgan himself. It was proved like-
wise, that Mr. Whitney was at an installation of the
Royal Arch Chapter, September 14th, at Lewiston,
and that he did not go to that place from Rochester
on the steamboat, as many of the Rochester delega-
tion did. This seemed to imply that he accompanied
the Morgan party all the way from Canandaigua to
Lewiston.
·
At the present day the whole tissue of testimony
upon which Mr. Whitney was convicted appears but
circumstantial, and too slight for judicial purposes.
Even the presiding judge, (Howell,) is known to
have declared, while the jury were deliberating upon
a verdict, that the evidence was insufficient to con-
*Falsely.-Ed.
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
87
vict, and in any but the most excited times it would
be. Woe to the accused when the populace cry, "To
the lions!" for some one must act the victim. The
jury found Mr. Whitney guilty, but could not agree
relative to Mr. Gillis. Mr. Whitney was sentenced
to an imprisonment of one year and four months.
His term expired 1830.
We give in this place a letter of Mr. Whitney,
written in answer to the outrageous attacks made
upon him by the antimasonic press:
me.
"CANANDAIGUA, July 12, 1829.
"To the Editors of the Ontario Messenger:
"GENTLEMEN-Your paper of the 1st inst., con-
taining some remarks on my trial, has been shown
As I hope you would not willfully propagate a
falsehood, I take the liberty, (relying on that sense
of justice and honor which should ever govern the
editors of public prints,) to request the insertion of
a few lines contradictory of the fact of your state-
ment, that the refutation may be as extensively cir-
culated as the charge. Your observations on me
are concluded by these remarks: 'It may not be
improper to add, as a matter of every day street
conversation, that John Whitney has repeatedly
stated since his conviction, that he rode in the car-
riage with William Morgan from Canandaigua to
Victor.' My situation carries with it enough to
harass my feelings, without being the subject of
false accusation. Whether the proof against me
was, or was not sufficient to justify a conviction, the
public, who are in possession of the proof, are left to
determine. My purpose is not now to controvert
the decision of the jury. I have merely to say, that
the assertion in the paragraph above quoted from
'88
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
your paper of the 1st inst., is wholly unfounded. I
never said nor intimated to any one whatever, since
my conviction, that I rode in the carriage with Wil-
liam Morgan when on his journey from Canandaigua
to Rochester, or anywhere else. As you have
charged me with uttering repeatedly such declara-
tions, for the purpose, it would seem, of justifying
the verdict of the jury against me, I think common
justice entitles me to repel the charge through the
medium which gave it publicity.
-66
(Signed)
"MESSRS. DAY AND MORSE."
JOHN WHITNEY.
It is proper here to add, as Mr. Whitney was for
so long a time the companion and room-mate of
Mr. Bruce, and shared in his feelings and sentiments,
that the most manly and touching defense of his
private character, and the most earnest protest
against the iniquitous verdict under which he was
sentenced, were published in the Craftsman, under
date of June 23d following his conviction. The
editor, Mr. E. J. Roberts, says:
"We have deferred, for some weeks, a notice of
this persecuted and much-abused citizen, partly that
the people might be better prepared to join with us
in condemning and regretting that decision, which,
under the semblance of justice, has immured an
honest, innocent, and reputable man within the walls
of a prison, deprived society of one of its most act-
ive and useful members, destroyed the citizenship
of one of the most faithful sons of the Republic,
whose life, honor, and interest would have been
pledged for its preservation, and left an amiable,
virtuous, and in all respects reputable family, with-
out its prop and support, the husband and the father,
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
89
its comfort in the hour of prosperity, and its stay in
the day of adversity.
"Of the character of John Whitney, it is almost
irrelevant to speak; for the voice of this community,*
and the testimony of every man within it, is lifted
up in his praise. He was the useful citizen, who in
all the walks of life performed his duties faithfully
and humbly. He was the kind neighbor, the gen-
erous friend, the industrious mechanic, the faithful
husband, and the fond father.
"It was not enough that he was driven from his
home by the machinations of the very men who are
now profiting by his misfortunes, and the stigma
they have brought upon his character; it was not
enough that he was pursued and hunted like a male-
factor; it was not enough that his name was the
burden of hireling presses for more than two years,
and was rung in all the changes of murderer, kid-
napper, and fugitive from justice; it was not enough
that he was followed by infatuated emissaries, to
escape whom and the ignominy of chains and public
exposure for more than fifteen hundred miles, he
was obliged to leave unfinished business, and be pe-
cunarily injured in a large amount-all these per-
secutions were not sufficient to satisfy the insatiate
spirit of antimasonry, and it was decreed that he
should be deprived of his liberty as a man for a
period; and forever, however long and useful his
life may be hereafter, rest under the stigma thus
attached to his name; be held up as having been a
condemned and imprisoned malefactor, compelled to
leave the said heritage to his children. And why
has this been done? That the verdict of a jury
deeply imbued with the fanaticism, bigotry, and the
f
*The Craftsman was published at Rochester, the home of Mr.
Whitney.
8
90
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
unrelenting political prejudice of the times, is prima
facie evidence of the guilt of the accused. In all
the mass of testimony elicited during a patient ex-
amination of two days and a half, there was not one
single line directly implicating him in the abduction
of Morgan. The only testimony, which was the
imperfect recollection of a bar-keeper in Victor, who
had been roused from his sleep-whose testimony
would have been refused by the impartial and able
Judge Howell, had not this enlightened jurist been
overruled by the decision of his associates-only
went to show that Whitney was there in company
with Gillis, against whom no verdict was found!
"Was John Whitney a conspirator! his business
at Canandaigua was abundantly proved.
He was
unknown, as Chesebro unequivocally swears, to those
who released Morgan from the jail. He took tea
alone, and certainly in the incipient stages of this
transaction was free from all guilt. He was at the
installation at Lewiston, and Bruce positively testi-
fies to his ignorance of him in regard to the closing
part of the transaction. There was not testimony
enough to convict a man of any crime whatever, or
to cast even a suspicion upon his character before
an enlightened, unprejudiced, and impartial jury.
"We do not hesitate to aver our belief, that Mr.
Whitney has been immolated on the altar of a per-
secuting faction. He had been stigmatized so loud
and long as a conspirator, a murderer, kidnap-
per, etc., that his sacrifice had become an essential
aliment to the craving appetites of those who had
feasted their imaginations on the enormities of such
men as Bruce and Whitney. Had either been de-
clared innocent, where would the Morgan committee
have hid themselves from the indignation of an out-
raged community? And even now, admitting all
they claim to be true in regard to a neighbor and a
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
91
or
fellow-citizen, whom even in his misfortunes they
respect, how can they sleep upon their pillows,
smile in the family circle, when they think upon the
weeping household they have made, and the injuries
they have inflicted on an honest and an innocent
man? We leave them to their own sense of feeling;
to their own sense of the guilt there is in depriving
society of an ornament and community of a member;
to the idea of unmerited obloquy, and to their own
fears, that the people will, in the end, visit upon
them that measure of mercy they have dealt out to
others."
"June 9.-The embargo continues, though some
sails come in under good pilots. Preparing to go to
Batavia. At two P. M., set off in company with
mine host, (the jailer,) Mr. Wheeler. Went as far
as Avon. Very unwell. Drank of the spring water
there and got relief. Much depressed in spirits, and
gave way to tears. Heard unpleasant suggestions
relative to Col. King's death from some of the anti-
masons. When will slander and malice cease
rage? Could Col. King return from his sepulchral
abode, he would declare that his God had called him,
and he had obeyed the summons; but
"Close shuts the grave, nor tells one single tale.” ”
to
It was a favorite subject with the antimasonic press,
in allusion to the sudden death of DeWitt Clinton
and Col. King, to charge them with suffering the
vengeance of God for their participation in Masonic
events. Many did not hesitate to attribute Col.
King's death to suicide, and some hinted the same
in relation to Gov. Clinton. The rapid decease of
Elisha Adams, Burrage Smith, Eli Bruce, and others,
whose names had received such notoriety in connec-
92
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
tion with the Morgan affair, gave grounds for an
unprincipled press to charge them with self-murder,
death by grief, or Divine judgment. In later times,
a better light is given us. The poverty and neglect in
which such men as Allyn and others died; in which
such men as Giddins and Miller yet live; the dis-
grace which attaches to such names as Bernard, Mer-
rick, Thatcher, and others, and the general obloquy
and contempt which now attach to all who took the
lead in antimasonry, give a side to the picture which
the writers of 1826 to 1836 could not see.
J
In relation to Col. King's death, and the charge of
suicide which Mr. Bruce deprecates so feelingly, the
Craftsman of June 9, 1829, says:
"We last week noticed the death and burial of
this individual, and in doing so we hoped the re-
mains of calumny's sad victim would be permitted to
rest in the silent tomb undisturbed by the demoniac
yell of antimasonry. That hope was as transient as
the moment which gave it birth. The soldier who
had confronted the enemies of his country, and been
seen in the midst of blood and carnage contending,
hilt to hilt, for the preservation of our rights-who
fought and bled in defense of the very hearths and
firesides, wives and children, of these same antima-
sons; the legislator who honored their names in the
State halls; the citizen revered and respected by the
wise and good, is, by these callous-hearted wretches,
without a trial, without a hearing, ignominiously
condemned, and his fame and his honors sought to
be covered with infamy and disgrace, while he lies
enshrouded in the cold grave. What must be the
agony of the wife of his bosom, and his twelve or-
phan children, on reading the heartless remarks of
the cut-throat editors of this wretched party?
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
93
6
"One of them wishes that the name of King might
be buried in oblivion-says: Alas, is covered with
an everlasting stigma!' Another regrets that he
has escaped from the hands of justice.
A third be-
lieves it alla Masonic mystery,' and that he is not
dead, but 'the ceremonies attending his funeral are
a mere cover to an escape.' A fourth exultingly
exclaims that the murderer is dead,' and so on,
with few exceptions from the antimasonic camp.
6
"Col. King was a victim of antimasonic malice.
He was a man of sensitive mind, and as such, keenly
felt the force of their persecutions. He was followed
with unrelenting fury wherever his business called
him, and when he was found ready and willing to
surrender himself to the civil authorities, 'excepting
these bonds,' which the faithful guardians of the
law were willing to impose upon him, his character
was assailed in the most vindictive manner in all
quarters of the antimasonic hemisphere. He was stig-
matized as the murderer of the sainted Morgan, and
his own heart as well as those of worthy companions.
and offspring, were made to bleed over their villain-
ous imputations. His fate deserves and will receive
the unfeigned commiseration of an honorable and
virtuous community. The public in his death have
not only lost a worthy member of society, but his
family have lost their only remaining hope, and are
reduced by proscription and persecution to the verge
of despair.
"We would ask, Who has suffered most, the family
of Morgan or that of the ill-fated King? The former
was a notorious drunkard, swindler, and common
vagabond, as the public well know. He would never
have been singled from the lowest grade of citizens,
while Col. King, from his high standing as a member
of the great commonwealth, demanded, and would
have received the respect and homage of his patriotic
94
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
fellow-men. The former, if left to that course which
subsequent acts prove to have been congenial with a
natural disposition to disturb the harmony of society,
would have sunk into insignificance, while the latter,
if not assailed by the contaminating breath of anti-
masonic calumny, would have left a name without
reproach, and a family in the peaceful occupancy of
domestic peace and quietude.
To this the Buffalo Journal, of about the same
date, adds the following pungent remarks:
"COLONEL KING.
"The corpse of this individual was scarcely depos-
ited in its grave, when the antimasonic party assert-
ed that he was not dead. The story they tell is, that
Masons induced him to abscond; after which, to save
his bail, the friends assembled and buried an empty
coffin. These men talk of respect for religion and
domestic happiness, yet they have no scruples in
asserting that the widow of Colonel King and his
twelve orphan children have followed, with all the
mockery of woe, an empty coffin to the habita-
tions of the dead; that the tears on that occasion,
which were shed for the husband and father, were
evidences only of affected grief assumed in defense
of the Masonic institution. What are the people
prepared to think of a combination of men who can
thus, with the cry of religion in their mouths, vio-
late the sanctity of the grave, scoff at the tears of
bereaved relations, and brand with the charge of
hypocrisy, the wailing of the orphans, whose tender
years and unfeigned sorrow are blazoned to the
world as evidences of crime? For what,' it will be
asked, is this done?' To promote the views of a
political party. No better motive can be found. It
is the work of those who, aspiring to power and
.6
+
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
95
place, labor constantly to promote suspicion and
distrust in society to advance their political views.
Without dwelling longer upon the relentless deprav-
ity of the act under consideration, let us spend a
moment contemplating the effects of such wicked-
ness. This will be the best done by assuming at
case. We learn that a culprit was convicted last
week at our County Court of grand larceny, and
when remanded to prison to await his sentence, was
placed in the debtor's apartment. Here, during the
night, he forced open the outer door with an ax, and
escaped. These, we believe, are the facts.
"Now, our jailer, sheriff, and district attorney are
all antimasons, and although we have not the least
suspicion that either of these officers, or any one
else, was accessory to the escape, yet we might
readily create suspicion, and raise up a party in the
country to act upon it. We might pursue the sub-
ject until no act of these officers should be fairly or
honestly construed, and, without invading the solem-
nity of a funeral procession, we might render, in the
opinion of honest and worthy men, their whole lives.
disreputable by implications. This is but a single
case, nor is it marked by any peculiarity, by per-
verse intentions and untiring efforts. Suspicion may
be made to invade every walk in life, and attach to
every station in community. What the situation of
society would be under such a state of things, we
need not describe, nor need we comment further
upon the motives of those who can charge bereaved
relatives with concealing sinister designs under the
funeral rites performed over the mortal remains of
one whom, in life, they had loved."
"June 10, 1829.-Set off from Avon at half-past
eight, A. M., in stage, for Batavia. The contrast
between my late prison and the face of nature in
96
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
all her gay attire, after four weeks' absence and dep-
rivation from the view, awakened sensations highly
agreeable; yet, mingled with thoughts of my melan-
choly fate, it gave a gloomy aspect to the horizon
of my mind. At Stafford, was met by a bum-bailiff,
with orders from headquarters, Mr. Spencer direct-
ing, to be taken, sans ceremonie, before eighteen or
twenty antis as Grand Jurors. I thought matters
rather forced, and refused to say much until I had
dusted, washed, and dined. Now to the sanctum
sanctorum of anti reveries. Was asked to be sworn;
refused. Was dismissed from the august assembly,
but retained in durance vile. Saw a few of my
friends, and should have seen more, but for jealousy.
Left Batavia at three P. M., and reached Avon at
eight.
"O, wad some power the giftie gie 'em
To see themselves as others see 'em ;
'It wad fra monie a blunder free 'em
'And foolish notion!'
"June 11.-A restless night. In my dreams saw
much of home. Awoke disappointed, vexed, grieved.
I raved and cursed my cruel fate. Turned on my
sleepless couch till morning in restless reflection and
bitter disappointment. After rising, I mused upon
the disparity of condition among those around me
and my own. Yet all appear to exert themselves to
make me happy. My thanks are due to Mr. Nowland
and Mr. Comstock for their politeness and attention.
At half-past eight, am set off for home, if the word
is not a profanation-jail I should have said-in
company with Mr. Seymour, of Ithica, and two
gentlemen from Chenango county; all friends, no
antis. Arrived, at noon, at the vestibule of my stone
apartment,
"Shut to my door and locked fair daylight out.'
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.'
97
"June 12.-Mr. and Mrs. Williams, of Rochester,
visited me; also Col. Bissel and D. C. West, of the
same place. They were very friendly, and their ex-
pressions were full of sympathy. I looked atten-
tively at the pursuits of mankind, and thought that
in the great theater of human events it mattered not
what became of an individual. If the sole pursuits.
of life were venal, no bonds but passion, no ties of
consanguinity, no attractive charms hightened by the
excellences of virtue, no darling cherubs twined in
the very fibers of life, no dear consort, the common
sharer of weal and woe, then life would resolve itself
into an undistinguishable current, and man were but
the sport of nature.
“June 13.—Mr. Williams and lady, Drs. Wells
and Lockey, and others, called. Was much dis-
tressed about the time of night's dim noon."
6
Sabbath, June 14, 1829.—No clanking of bars and
chains until a late hour. I was awakened by the
snapping of a string of my bass viol. Alas, my harp
is on the willows hung! As I write, the church bells
are ringing, and the streets are lined with the multi-
tudes moving to church. If the motive be to wor-
ship a God of spotless purity; a Being whose omnis-
cient eye, whose omnific presence, sees and fills all
time and place, then to such there is a foretaste of
heaven on earth. Yes, a happy prelibation of trans-
cendent joys derived from the presence of Him who
sees all and is in all. But if hearts were as visible
as pretty faces, I fear we should see far less at
church. Visitors, Capt. S. P. Allen and S. R.
Hathaway."
The second visit of Mr. Allen is chronicled July
6th following, and that of Mr. Hathaway, July 25th
following.
9
98
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
Mr. Bruce's poetic sensibility, as has already been
remarked, was very tender. The sound of the church
bell is often alluded to in this diary, as awakening
a train of pensive and sad thought. The following
poem, written by him for the Craftsman, was pub-
lished in that journal, January 19, 1830, with the
following editorial preface:
"ON HEARING THE CHURCH BELL.
["We have had the following on hand for a week or
two, and if we can ask the forgiveness of the author,
the reader will hardly accord his to us for withhold-
ing it from him so long. To ourselves, it has an
interest apart from the common rhyming of the road,
and it may therefore possess to us an interest which
others may not discover, but we think no one can
read it without being moved at the deep feeling which
pervades it. It is from the pen of Eli Bruce:]
"Yes, oft I hear thy shrill and chiming sounds,
Sonorous, breaking on my grated cell,—
Awakening transports oft in memory's round
Of joy, thou pleasing, sacred, solemn bell.
Thy tones are heard where saints their pæans raise,
In fond ascriptions to the God they love,
While sinners, trembling, bowed; and infants' praise,
Was incense sweet, where all harmonious move.
"From the rich mine of memory's pleasing train,
And through the vista of departed years,
I trace the happy steps of youth's domain,
Those roseate shades and scenes all reft of fears.
"Yes, while. I count the lingering lapse of time,
While fond affection's chained from fondest sight,
Thy notes are music, with my feelings chime,
And soothe me in this crucible of night.
"Oft thy lone notes with measured distance tell,
Of some whose spirit from its clay has fled ;
Of sorrow wailing at the narrow cell
Where sleep the honored and unhonored dead.
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
99
"In morn of life I pass my silent hours,
Where recollection forms the busy train:
Persuasive she, mute eloquence her powers,
No fault or fears within, without are vain.
"Does wealth's enchantment hold the boon of life
Abstract from pain, from trouble, or from care?
Do beauty, fashion, or the flatterer's strife,
With deeds of charity or love compare?
"When in the palsied hand of want we press
The mite, and see the beggar's smile arise;
When from our scanty wardrobes pale distress
Hath walked with thankful hearts and tearful eyes;
"Then life was life—its being's end and aim;
No jarring sound the tranquil hours foresee;
'Twas duty, now 't is peace or this acclaim,
'Tis thus, and 'Ye have done it unto me.'
"CANANDAIGUA, January 3d, 1830."
“June 15th.-Heard the solemn sound. of the bell,
and learned that an infant had shut its eyes upon
things terrestial. Well it might do so, and make a
happy exchange. Conscious innocence can never
blush nor be afraid in that land from whose bourne
no traveler returns.'
"Death is the gate to endless bliss,
To let eternal glories in.'
"The closing scene of these little ones can be but
the joy of grief. Visitors, several gentlemen of the
city, who were very friendly.
-
"June 16th.-Finished reading Wistar on the
Bones. Visitors, William Beall and Mr. Beach, of
Victor, and my much respected friend J. F. Marvin,
of Lockport, who brought my second daughter. Ah,
who can paint the feelings, who describe the conflict-
ing emotions, the poignancy of grief, the burst of
paternal affliction in such a place, under such cir-
cumstances. Innocence was before me in all its
heaven-born loveliness, its godlike lineaments! Ye
who are devoid of sentiment, laugh at my calamity!
100. ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
Ye in whose bosom no spark of virtue dwells,
whistle a discordant air and grin a devilish smile.
"June 17.-Had for my bedfellow J. F. Marvin,
who shared the gloominess of my prison with me.
'A friend in need's a friend indeed, and such is he.
Visitors, two valued friends, William Beall and A. W.
Douglas.
“June 18.—Was visited by some who came to espy
our liberty of misery. Did not thank them for their
insolence or idle curiosity. Mr. H. Scranton, a
young gentleman of talent and feeling, called. How
the quicksilver of friendship falls or rises as fortune
prospers or blasts our affairs. Some seem bound to
admit, that the tailor makes the man,' so often does
the little circumstance of an elegant hat or a costly
suit bestow the air of consequence, while the ther-
mometer of feeling toward genuine merit sinks below
zero."
6
--
Mr. Scranton, of whom Mr. Bruce formed so favor-
able an opinion, is noted as a visitor, December 3d,
following.
“June 19, 1829.-Am puzzling myself over Wis-
tar's Muscles. My memory is very deficient. 'Tis
a sad reflection that this intricate heaven-wrought
structure (the body) seems to have but poorly an-
swered the purposes for which it was designed. It is
certain that nothing short of infinite knowledge and
consummate wisdom could have formed a structure
so delicate, so admirably adapted for motion and the
enjoyment of every sense, as the human system. If
rightly viewed, it can not fail to awaken every latent
expression of gratitude, and arouse every devoted
heart to overflow with heartiest ascriptions of praise
and adoration to that Omnipotent Power who made
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
101
it. Visitor, Mr. Church, from Henrietta, who made
many hearty expressions of friendship.
“June 20.—Two Yankees called with eager curi-
osity to see those Mn characters. I happened
to be in the yard, and played with their impertinent
curiosity for some time. They asked me if I was in
for debt; I told them, yes! Thought much of the
changes in human affairs. Time has its own elo-
quence, though not observed by all; for the votaries
of pleasure seldom listen. To them a vacant hour
brings but the return of sad reflections of misspent
time and idle efforts to gratify what?-their taste, a
mere chimera! A small stock of good-nature and
understanding will preserve a man, if he avoids the
sphere of opulence and fashion, from that insupport-
able vacuum experienced by the unhappy being whose
mind is an unprofitable waste, in which nothing has
been sown but the seeds of vanity, avarice, and
vicious indulgences. Even though a man be shut
out from the busy hum of life, he may acquire the
means of amusement both rational and permanent,
from those intimacies and endearing relations, sure
pledges of felicity, which grow out of the domestic
tie: Philosophy, if genuine, will silence or soothe
all discordant passions and restless, impertinent ideas,
that intrude into the mind with mutinous and imper-
tinent curiosity. Religion and morality-the one is
the zenith of all our intellectual enjoyments; the
other, the nadir of calm and mutual benefits.
"Sabbath, June 21, 1829.-From between my iron.
lattice, saw the waving grain, the growing corn and
grass, the beautiful foliage of a rich and picturesque
landscape. For a moment, I was uneasy, but quickly
threw the grapples of philosophy on the mutinous
passion, and all was calm. Visitors, my cousin
Whitcomb and five or six friends.'
102
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
On this day he wrote a long and feeling letter to
his wife, from which a few extracts will be permitted:
"He who has hitherto sustained us will, I trust,
be present to you, and afford you that assistance you
so much require. . . . Send me from my books the
Grammar of Chemistry, Campbell's Poems, and the
Brief Remarks. Also, the True Monitor. . . . O time,
how heavily it drags! It seems as if I had been from
home a year, and yet only four weeks last Saturday
of my time has elapsed. My head is not so bad
as it was before I went to Batavia; the ride did me
much good. I stayed at Avon Springs two nights;
was showered once. It appears to me, if I had not
got some relief, I should have been crazed. The people
around me try to make me as comfortable as possible,
and Mr. Wheeler, the jailer, is very kind as yet. Any
indulgence I ask for I have, but yet it is a jail. .
Were you and the children with me I should be
happy, though in prison."
To his daughter Ann he wrote, under the same
date:
"Misfortunes have placed me beyond the reach.
and power of conversing with you face to face, there-
fore I am compelled to do it through the medium
of my pen.
How much devolves on you to do in
the absence of your father! Forget not, my dear
daughter, the precepts taught you from the holy
Bible: 'Honor thy father and thy mother,' is a Divine
command. Patience, love, faithfulness, and obedience,
are anong its first principles. If these are cherished
and cultivated, you will store your mind with useful
maxims and sentiments. I charge you, my daughter,
by the love I bear to you, by everything that is dear
to you, to be obedient to your dear mother."
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
103
·
A few days later, he wrote to his daughter as
follows:
"If, my daughter, your conduct will comport with
your improvement, and evince modesty, gentleness,
mildness, and a sacred regard for truth, accompanied
with love and obedience to your parents, you will
always have friends who will both love and respect
you. I beseech you to cherish a most sacred
regard and love for Him who is the Father of all
mercies, and God of all grace. It is from him we
derive all our comforts, whether they be many or
few. Our comforts do not spring from forms, nor
our happiness arise from ceremonies. To do justly,
love mercy, and walk humbly, is all that our God
requires of us. . . . From the circumstances of your
father's confinement, you should be doubly attentive
and obedient. You see, my dear daughter, it is
utterly out of my power to assist your dear mother,
your sister, or brother, to anything; therefore pru-
dence, economy, and industry, should be always in
view; and to lose sight of these would be ruinous
indeed."
“June 22, 1829.-Mind absent and sluggish; a
total apathy pervades my system. Labored upon
the Muscles of Wistar. Letter from W. L., jr.; good
intelligence from home: the scenes of domestic life
crowd my mind, and leave scanty room for improve-
ment. The bell tolls again that another has gone to
the world of spirits. So one after another,
“Death, the mighty conqueror, earths us all.’
Visitors, several village friends.
"June 23, 1829.-Visitor, my friend Mr. E. J.
Roberts. Writing a letter to my brother, my mind was
called to those childhood scenes on which we so often
delight to dwell. Through the long vista of thirty
104
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
years, which recollection holds in view, the mirror
of reflection presents but few eccentricities to be
regretted, few foibles to have been shunned:
"Yes, at this moment crowd upon my mind,
Scenes of bright days forever left behind;
Bewildering visions of enraptured youth,
When hope and fancy wore the hues of truth.'
The brother alluded to is Dr. Silas Bruce, now
(1860) a resident of Boston, and a veteran Mason.
Frequent correspondence passed between these gen- -
tlemen, and much encouragement and aid were ex-
tended to the prisoner by his more fortunate brother.
Mr. E. J. Roberts, senior editor of the Craftsman,
was a friend to Mr. Bruce "to the backbone." It is
difficult at the present day to see how the current of
antimasonic fury could have been checked short of
murder or exile to all who came in its way, but for
the decision of Mr. Roberts in establishing his Jour-
nal, and his firmness in sustaining it. It was through
the Craftsman chiefly that the public, as well at home
as abroad, were instructed in the various moves
making upon the antimasonic chess-board, when pre-
sided over by such men as Weed, Spencer, etc., and
counter-movements projected.
1
The Craftsman was established at Rochester, New-
York, February 10, 1829, as a weekly journal (issued
every Tuesday) at $3 per annum. Its motto was,
"Light, Liberty, and Truth." It was published by
Marshal & Dean, at No. 9 Exchange-street. The
first volume terminated February 2, 1830. During
its continuance Mr. Roberts was tried and convicted
for libeling the jury which tried John Whitney. We
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
105
have given the article on preceding pages. He was
fined fifty dollars. The second volume commenced
February 16, 1830, and terminated February 16,
1831. It was then advertised to be removed to
Albany, New-York, but our information extends no
further.
Mr. Roberts is still living (1860) at Detroit, Michi-
gan, and is favored in his domestic relations in the
possession of a son who, as a Freemason, and a gen-
tleman of learning and intelligence, is, in all respects,
worthy of his ancestry.
Among the various celebrations of a Masonic char-
acter, we may instance that at Greenville, New-York,
where two hundred of the craft gathered, and a dis-
course was delivered by Rev. Joseph Prentiss, Grand
Chaplain of the Grand Chapter of New-York; Ded-
ham, Massachusetts, where more than three hundred
brethren met; Sandy Bay, Massachusetts, where the
corner-stone of a church was laid; New Hartford,
New-York, where three hundred Masons assembled;
Chepatchet, Rhode Island, where a very brilliant
display of Masonic strength was made; Middleton,
Vermont; Royalton, Vermont; Thetford, Vermont;
Middlebury, Vermont; Louisville, Kentucky, and
elsewhere.
"June 24, 1829.-Felt tolerably well this morning.
Give me but my dear wife and children, my treasures,
my all, and I can still be happy. But these gone, and
all is a blank. Visitors, G. W. Long and Dr.
from Batavia; expressed themselves very feelingly.
Likewise two ladies. The Phoenix man called rather
106
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
sheepishly; said he called (relative) to our potato
patch. Why did not the small man say at once, that
he wished to steal a vision of
Mr. Ward of
this village called. Four new prisoners brought to-
day to our habitation."
This day was celebrated in many portions of the
State with all the usual honors appropriate to the
patron saint of Freemasonry. The situation of Mr.
Bruce formed the subject of discourse in many a
lodge that day, and many a kind wish was wafted by
sympathizing brethren toward his lonely cell. Of this
he was well aware.
Among the topics that interested the Masonic
mind at this period was a letter from Junius to Rev.
Joshua Bradley, then of Louisville, Kentucky, first
published in the Craftsman of June 30th. Bradley,
after speculating upon the Masonic fraternity for
several years, receiving his degrees gratuitously, and
selling Masonic works of his own publication, had
joined the current of opposition, and on the 9th
May, 1829, renounced and denounced the Masonic
institution. The letter of Junius was a scathing one,
and disposed of its subject at a single blow.
A Farewell Sermon, preached at Harpersfield, New-
York, by Rev. Stephen Fenn, A. M., presents some
thoughts that must have been startling to its hearers,
who were not entirely lost to the voice of reason and
justice. This man had preached there for thirty-six
years. He had settled at Harpersfield when it was
a wilderness, and was, in point of age, the patriarch
of the town. Marriages, baptisms, and funerals, he
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
107
-
had performed for an entire generation. In the
poverty of his flock he had labored with his hands for
his own support; in their prosperity he had shared.
He thought to have spent the remainder of his days
there, but it was ordered otherwise. The spirit of
antimasonry had arisen there, and religion had dis-
appeared upon its approach. There was no alter-
native for him but to flee before it, or be overpowered.
by its exterminating spirit. That intolerant spirit
had "leveled all distinction in the character of men,
paralyzed every religious feeling, divided families,
societies, Churches, counties, and states, alienated the
most intimate friends, declared that every one that
would not come into its measures should be pro-
hibited holding any office of any grade in either
State or Church, and that it would not give over its
persecutions until every Mason, and every upholder
and supporter of Masonry should be hurled from his
office, and they snugly planted in his room. Jaco-
binism in France, in the days of Robespierre, was
not so deadly in its influence as the spirit of anti-
masonry." It had
It had produced a moral desolation.
through Western New-York. Everything was a moral
waste there. Churches were divided, refusing fel-
lowship to one another as Churches, filled with the
utmost bitterness one toward another, and the stated
ministrations of the Gospel driven away from them,
societies in ruins, and the morals of the people rap-
idly returning to a mere heathenish degradation.
The venerable preacher saw a dreadful weight of
woe and ruin connected with the antimasonic spirit
108
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
in relation to his flock. He saw the seeds of disso-
lution and final ruin taking deep root. The Church,
prosperous for more than thirty years, was trembling
and panting for existence. Unless a different spirit
was manifested from what had been recently, he
feared their destruction was sealed. In the most
solemn and impressive manner he then bade them
farewell.
An address, delivered June 24, 1829, at Dedham,
Massachusetts, by Nahum Capen, presents some in-
teresting phases of antimasonry at that period, but
our extracts must be limited to the following:
"That a man named William Morgan, a member
of some Masonic society, may have voluntarily sub-
mitted to be removed into a temporary place of con-
cealment, for purposes connected only with his own.
private affairs or plans, is not only possible, but more
than probable. That he is still living, and enjoying
the fruits of one of the most extensive and deep-laid
impositions ever practiced upon an intelligent com-
munity, is what I can not undertake to affirm,
although to me, in the gradual unfolding of future
events, it would not afford matter of extraordinary
astonishment."
And, we may add, this theory has many supporters
in the Northern States even to the present day.
It was on this day that political antimasonry in
Pennsylvania took its birth by the assemblage, at
Harrisburg, of a State Antimasonic
State Antimasonic Convention.
The interest was contemptibly small and unpromis-
ing; but the party afterward became strong enough
to control the State.
1
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
109
"June 25th.-Worked some time in the yard, be--
ing quite indisposed. My stomach is much affected.
Evening, very unwell; spirits low. My chum (Mr.
Whitney) rallied me, but to no effect. I rather say:
"Go! you may call it madness, folly,
You shall not chase my gloom away;
There's such a charm in melancholy,
I would not, if I could, be gay.'
Visitors, several gentlemen of the village.
“June 26th.-Quite ill to-day. Stood long at my
grated window and gazed on busy man.
Saw
"The lowing herds wind slowly o'er the lea.'
Visitors, Mr. Williams, and a lady from Rochester.
"June 27th.-Great lassitude; loitered about.
Sheriff Buel came in with two letters from home;
sorry intelligence:
"Some men there are cold as the winter's snow,
Whose souls were never touched with sorrow's tale.'
Visitors, Gen. Marvin and Squire Hastings, of Gene-
see; a stranger from Saratoga, anonymous, but all
eye, all ear; Miss Whitney and Miss Vantile. These
relieved me somewhat; but, O, Liberty! whither art
thou fled?
66
Sabbath, June 28, 1829.-Inactive and languid.
"Time flies not in a prison; lonely hours,
With sorrow burdened, slowly move; no change
Amuses gloomy thought, whose fettered powers
Can scarce beyond the grated window range.
"I felt it; morning rose, day beamed, night came,
But brought no change of mind, or scene, or place:
Time seemed to stand, all hours appeared the same,
Yet were not blank, for sorrow filled the place!'
"June 29th.-Was informed to-day of the birth of
my son on the 27th.
could scarcely hold me.
Ah, this was a time when bolts
Sensations new, hopes elate,
110
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
fancy all alive, and I confined to this dormitory!
This was the unkindest cut of all, that, after the birth
of five daughters, I could not enjoy the present of an
only son. Cursed ingratitude that chains me here!
After the congratulations of my fellow-sufferer, and
the outburst of my own feelings, I spent the day
agreeably, if the term is suited to a jail. May the
Lord preserve my son, my joy in the midst of sor-
row! Visitor, Mr. Finch, of Batavia. A letter of
friendship from Mr. H. Taylor.
"June 30th.-Studying the arrangement of the
bones by the aid of a skeleton. Visitors, Mr. Wil-
liams, Miss Hitchcock, and a lady from Auburn.
Spent two hours with my cousin at chess. The bell
tolls another death.
“We take no note of time save by its loss.”
"July 1, 1829.-Visitors, Gen. Van Fossen, J.
Clark, Miss Chesebro and her sister, and Miss Whit-
ney. A very fine hour with them, and time hitched
another peg, and then-
"How unenticing, and even insipid, are objects, how
dull and heavy are hours with him whose mind is ab-
sent. Would not such a man, interdicted the enjoy-
ments of life in the open air, incarcerated, made sub-
ject to the abject and puny peltings of a merciless,
unfeeling, irreligious, time-serving, self-aggrandizing,
type-slandering, political faction-would he not bar-
ter all, save life itself, for the enjoyment of the com-
forts and sweets of the domestic fireside.”
Gen. Van Fossen is noted in the Diary as having
made a second visit, December 21st following.
"July 2d.-Busy with anatomy. Again the death-
bell. Who dies now? alas, all must! Well, it is
right, if only ready; and that depends upon the re-
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
111
gard we have for futurity, its purposes and end; for
none returns to tell.
"O, that some courteous ghost would blab it out:
Close shuts the grave nor tells a single tale.'
"July 3d.-Much sluggishness for want of air and
exercise. A present of a bottle of good Madeira for
to-morrow's festival. One gun at sunset announces
the anticipated morn. To hold the birthday of our
beloved country in jail; to be an idle spectator of those
festive scenes; to hear those bursts of hilarity in du-
rance vile, while a whole nation is in glee; to cramp
the noble passion for freedom, and lay a tariff on the
mind!—the juster notions of life revolt from it.
66
July 4th.-At daylight, a noisy four-pounder; at
sunrise, a federal salute. Four bells proclaimed a na-
tion's jubilee, but a sorry jubilee to us.
Is there a
living man whose feelings are ardent, whose heart
glows with patriotism, whose life has been devoted to
usefulness and care for his fellow-men, whose aims of
life were justice without oppression, judgment with-
out partiality, promptness without abuse, cheerfulness
without vanity, friendship without dissimulation, and
gain without extortion, that could stand by the inner
side of iron grates and behold the general burst of
joy, commemorative of the birth of a great republic,
without experiencing mingled emotions of love and
hate, joy and sorrow, respect for his country's law
and contempt for the undue administration of them,
a love of liberty and hatred for those who violate it.
Visitors, Mr. Lodner and Miss H. Reed. The lat-
ter evinced much genuine feeling at our situation.
Friendship in man, but much more in woman, gives
efficacy to the mind, and lightens affliction. It is a
solace in trouble, and even a joy in grief.
"Sabbath, July 5, 1829.-Weak; thought much
of home. My mind was at Lockport (home) most of
112
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
the day. I find that 'Sunday shines no Sabbath day
Spent most of the day with M. Lodner about
home affairs.
to me.
"July 6th.-Rose rather early for a gentleman not
exactly at large. Visitors, S. P. Allen, on his return
from New York, N. G. Chesebro, and C. H. Coe, with
a number of misses; the latter allured, I presume, by
curiosity."
Mr. Chauncey H. Coe, whose visits are often men-
tioned in this diary, and always with gratitude, was
proprietor of the stage line from Canandaigua to
Rochester in September, 1826, and engaged Hiram
Hubbard, at Mr. Chesebro's request, to take the
Morgan party to Rochester. He was not himself in
the least implicated in the abduction. This gentle-
man is now deceased.
"July 7th.-Regulating matters about the prison.
"And such the change the heart displays,
So frail is early friendship's reign;
A month's brief lapse, perhaps a day's,
Will view the mind estranged again.'
But there is a more genuine sentiment:
"Friendship, peculiar boon of heaven,
The noble mind's delight and pride,
To men and angels only given-
To all the lower world denied."
Visitor, J. T. B. Van; interesting and gentlemanly
in deportment, noble in sentiment; he evinces a feel-
ing heart and genuine sensibility.
"July 8th.-Rumors of threatening turmoils and
wars. An embargo on mind and tongue would
scarcely serve. Perhaps elevation in office, the prob-
able acquirement of a little of the root of evil, may
have good effect. I think with the poet:
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
113
"Honest friend, say all you can;
In life still hold the golden rule
That riches make a fool a man,
And poverty, a man a fool.'
"July 9th.-Busy in seeing the prison cleansed.
Visitors, Mr. Perry, from Skeneateles, Joel Dorman,
from Penn Yan, and Lodwick C. Fitch, a pretty
clever anti.
"Ye know the right, and do approve it too,
Condemn the wrong, and yet the wrong pursue."
"July 10th.-Studying. Wistar and the Skeleton.
Visitors, Squire Lobdell, of Victor, Col. E. Sawyer
and lady."
Col. Sawyer will be remembered as one of those
whose part in the Morgan abduction was so slight, if
any, as to stamp the verdict of one month's imprison-
ment, which he suffered, as an infamous outrage upon
justice. His kindness to Mr. Bruce while in jail,
was steady and generous. In company with his wife
he visited him frequently, and afforded him many of
those comforts, without which, his fast declining
health would not have been sustained to the end of
his imprisonment. Col. Sawyer is now living (1860)
at Grand Blanc, Michigan.
66
July 11th.-Letter from home, which excited
some interest. Visitors, Mr. O. Riley, W. Whitney,
and Mr. V. S. Olcott, with a good bottle of wine.
"July 12, 1829, Sabbath.-A very sudden change
of weather, rainy and cool, inclining to ennui. Spent
most of the day in chit-chat. At three P. M., Messrs.
W. and O. set off for Rochester, and left us still
Stemming the torrent of a downward age,' prone
to slander, falsehood, and abuse.
"July 13th.-Received an insulting paper through
10
114
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
the mail, sent doubtless by some anti scoundrel.
Visitors, Mr. O. Riley and J. Bond, from Rochester.
With him I had a feast, an intellectual feast of fat
things like wine on the lees. He took the bass viol
sans ceremonie, and made the air vocal with music.
"July 14th.-Saw the Phoenix; guess he don't
like to see gentlemen call. Is there a being so
mean, so void of feeling, from whose heart the milk
of human kindness ever dropped, much less flowed,
who, with Spanish aim could strike at a wounded
man, and open anew a lacerated wound yet scarcely
bandaged. Visitors, Mrs. R. D from Roches-
→
ter. Two new prisoners brought in."
These frequent allusions to the "Phoenix," of
course excited our curiosity to discover the person's
name, but we were disappointed, and must equally
disappoint our readers. We are equally unable to
supply the name to which the initial D. belongs.
66
July 15th.-Devoted the day mainly to welcom-
ing valued friends. He is a short-sighted man who
looks for friendship. from those who have not found
it in him. Visitors, Major S. Barton, Col. S. B.
Jewett, friend N. G. Chesebro, Mr. Campbell, and
Mr. Chaddock, of LeRoy."
Col. Simeon B. Jewett's second visit is noted July
3d following. This gentleman is at this time (1860)
United States Marshal of the Southern District of
New York.
"July 16th.-Visitors, Col. Jewett, our particular
friend Mr. Phillips, and Squire S. Mott, of Geneva.
All's well that ends well."
His calls are
Mr. Mott was a frequent visitor.
chronicled in the diary under dates January 4th,
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
115
February 17th, and June 9, 1830, and January 3,
1831. He is said to have left "tokens of esteem.'
(6
وو
July 17th.-Time begins to move less heavily.
Visitors, Drs. Lackey and Hill, Mr. Hamblin, Mr.
Blair and lady, and a brother of Dr. Lackey.
66
July 18th.-Wet and gloomy. Parted with my
daughter and R. D, for Rochester. Visitors, P.
Grandin, Mr. Curtis, of Palmyra, and five scholars
from the academy. Mine host (the jailer) gave us
a snap. He is too credulous; will find difficulty if
he listens to every street story. A generous heart
will disregard such trash."
We cannot explain this "street story." It was
probably some silly rumor relative to Mr. Bruce in-
tending to escape by disguising his person.
(6
July 19, 1829, Sabbath.-Read with much atten-
tion in the Medical Journal, and two sermons of
Bishop Hobart. The diction is fine, sentiments
sound, language seems to flow with easy uninter-
rupted volubility, as from a clear and pellucid fount-
ain. Visitors, our worthy friends Wm. R. Thomp-
son, Esq., and Mr. Hall, of Rochester. In the eve
sang and played with Mr. and Miss Wheeler; all
cheerful."
Mr. Thompson's visits are noted under date August
20th, and November 8th, following. Mr. Bruce
writes in relation to him,
"A friend is worth all hazard we can run;
A world in purchase for a friend is gain.”
"July 20th.-Succeeded in setting up my skeleton.
While putting joint to joint and limb to limb, to see
the muscles and sinews play, reminded me of Pol-
116
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
lok's descriptive imagery (Course of Time) of the
Day of Judgment; so forcibly drawn as to leave an
indelible impression. When men, busy mortals, are
in the midst of toils and cares, time is sworn to live
no longer. The blast of Gabriel's trump is heard,
the dead appear, the dying start into life, the living
are changed:
"And as the anatomist with all his band
Of rude disciples,' etc., etc.
Saw through my window a fine evening without.
Surely it is tantalizing to the senses when
"Soft plays the moonlight on the checkered scene.'
Visitors, Mr. Roberts and two other gentlemen.
"July 21st.-Received a very fine letter from C. C.
Baldwin, full of eccentric remarks, trite and pithy
sayings, etc. Sheriff gave us a polite call, in fine spir-
its, gentlemanly. Visitors, three sprightly damsels.
66
July 22d.-We just begin to hear the song of
harvest home. Visitors, Mr. McNutt, N. G. Chese-
bro, Mr. Tillotson of this place, and Mr. Leland, of
New York.
"July 23d.-Very busy with Wistar. Visitors,
Dr. and Mrs. Williams, of this place.
•
"July 24th.-Visitors, my very particular friend,
Miss Fellows, of Lockport, Gen. J. F. Marvin, Mr.
Morris, Mr. Swan, of Rochester, Mr. S. Gillis, Mr.
Scranton, King Lyons, Mrs. Williams, and two young
men, whose appearance indicated them gentlemen.
"July 25th.-A fine day, and finely spent. Vis-
itors, (many and various, male and female: took them
off-hand to be friends: may be disappointed, but hope
not,) S. R. Hathaway, of Lockport, a uniform friend;
Mrs. Williams, and a number of villagers, mostly
young people.
"Sabbath, July 26, 1829.-My chum (Mr. Whit-
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
117
ney) heard the pleasing intelligence of the birth of a
son.
"I hope some persons are in reality what their
sanctimonious. appearance indicates. Don't think
that outward habiliments and gravity of countenance
are a certain index of purity, meekness, holiness,
and godliness, or exactly a safe passport to heaven.
"July 27th.-No wonders wrought to-day. Heard
of the death of S. M. Smith, of Rochester. Heard
that Blossom's vault was an infant's tomb. Do
mothers monsters turn!' Visitors, an esteemed friend,
J. Gray, on his way to Albany, and some village
visitors."
We can not explain the above allusion; but prob-
ably it has reference to some newspaper story.
"July 28th. Between study and amusement, the
day passed off very well. Visitors, J. Gray, Mr.
Colley, of Rochester, King, of this place, the sheriff,
and J. Field, of Rochester.
66
July 29th.-Very busy making some small dis-
sections; day passed finely. Visitors, Phelps, Van
Buskirk, and Holly, of Rochester, J. Gray, and Mr.
Roberts. Letter, with protestations of friendship
from S. B. Conby, of Lockport.
"July 30th.-Busied in cleaning the jail. Visitors,
Gray, Roberts, and J. E. Lashier, from Lockport,
with tidings from my family. All well."
A second visit from Mr. Lashier is noted March
3d, following.
"July 31st.-Felt tolerably. Visitors, Mr. Babbit,
from Worcester, Massachusetts, and Mr. Hutchinson.
“August 1st.-A dreary morning; but little im-
provement to-day. A Mr. Short called with our
118
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
host, (the jailer.) He thinks the world is oddly made,
and everything amiss.
"Sabbath, August 2, 1829.-A fine day; was very
studious; read Kneeland's Translation of the New
Testament, and found it as I read, perfectly consist-
ent. Visitors, Dr. Lackey, and S. P. Alcott.
"August 3d.-Making dissections with Dr. Hill, of
the heart, etc., of a bullock. Visitors, Mr. Alcott,
wife and daughter, Israel R. Hall, Mayhew, Chese-
bro, and Sheriff Buel."
Mr. Hall was the jailer at Canandaigua, in Sep-
tember, 1826, and during Mr. Bruce's imprisonment,
but he was not present at the time of Morgan's
abduction.
66
August 4th.-Busy as yesterday; things go tol-
erably smoothly; mind pretty clear. The death-bell
note announces the flight of another soul to
Visitors, Jennings, Mayhew, and Pixley.
"August 5th.-Busy about nothing at all; mind
sterile, and rather cloudy; thought everything myste-
rious, secret, astonishing, incomprehensible. Deacon
E. Willmarth called on us.
66
August 6th.-Little profited by study to-day:
Think if my dear wife and boy were here I should
be measurably happy, though in prison. Visitors,
Dr. Williams, Mr. Mayhew, Col. Sawyer, and Mr.
Averil.
"August 7th.-A day tolerably spent. Saw some
hypocrisy in the Johnite-man to double baseness
bound. Wonder if the shining dust in the hands of
the broker eclipsed his vision of heaven. Read in
the Masonic Record with some emotion the Moanings
of Varro, a political effusion. The reading of them
excited the following:
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
119
"And Varro's years, (though few, yet gay,)
Like clouds that stain the summer sky,
So tardily have passed away,
Their shadows dark still on him lie!
"Is life a dream, a mere mischance,
A vision of the meteor-kind ?
That wanes ere half its noon's advance,
And leaves no vivid trace behind?
"In fitful gusts, or frenzied hours,
Some mingled shapes of fairy names
Come flitting o'er his slumbering powers,
And smiling, paint a world in flames.
"Are youth and beauty, wealth and ease,
All irksome in the morn of life?
Has life no charm, no power to please,
No pole-star haven, naught but strife?
"Sic transit gloria mundi, seems
A charm to thee, if charms can find
In thee a point in reason's beams,
To lure the current of the mind.
"Vain are such thoughts-such whinings vain,
And ill beseem a man too soon ;
What, but to hush with cold disdain
The social germ of heaven's boon.
"When from the portals of the sky,
On errands kind to mortals sent,
The angel Hope is fluttering by,
Thy looks seem scorn and discontent,
"No wonder that his weary wings
Are perched upon the stormy wave;
And dark despair his fetters flings,
Perchance to hide them in the grave.
"Yet, if that dull, cold apathy,
Be monarch of thy better kind,
And that foul form of lethargy
To oblivion's cave thy powers consigned―
"Sad is thy fate, dreary thy doom;
Thy star will set in endless night;
The milky-way of night's dim noon
May be thy only distant light."
The allusion to the Johnite man is evidently to
some emissary of the special counsel, Mr. John C.
120
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
Spencer, seeking to gain Mr. Bruce's testimony for
the trials then impending.
As the Masonic Record formed one of the mediums
through which the institution was kept alive through
that gloomy period, we remark here that it was first
established at Albany, February 2, 1828, by Mr.
E. B. Child, weekly, at two dollars per annum, and
continued to the close of the fifth volume, March 3,
1832. Although more of a literary than a Masonic
journal, its articles were ever sound, and its blows
at the opponents of Masonry well struck.
Mr. Bruce wrote to Mr. Childs, May 25, 1829,
and February 8th following, received from him what
he styles in his diary "a friendly call."
"August 8th.-Heat extreme; studies neglected;
mind absent, barren, dull. Letter from home; wife
is thinking of paying me a visit. What must be her
feelings and opinion! a jury of our country say I
am guilty of an offense. If so it is prejudice that
has made it. No guilt rests on my skirts. Neither
Judge Howell, nor any other jurist from Blackstone
to him who sentenced me can alter my opinion when
I know I have truth on my side. When jurors carry
prepossession and prejudices with them in their delib
erations, and suffer themselves to be led away by
principles emanating from vindictive feelings, inno-
cence has no protection, equity is merely nominal,
and judges and jurors are but thrashing-machines of
designing demagogues.
""
This was equally the conviction of thousands of
honest men, as well without as within the prison
precincts of Canandaigua.
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
121
"Sabbath, August 9, 1829.-Read Kneeland with
much attention. I think it surpasses the old trans-
lation. Passages that were wholly inexplicable are
read here with ease. I make no question that when
bigotry, superstition, and the policy of priestcraft
shall have vanished, and intelligence and toleration
take their places, this work of Kneeland will be
preferred. But when the minister closes his eye
against the true light, gross darkness will cover the
people. Mr. Newton, from Rochester, called on us.
August 10th.-Wrote a letter to Albany, and
two to Lockport. A letter from my worthy friend
Mr. Stickney. Worth makes the man, and such is
my friend.
"Who does the best his circumstance allows,
Does well, acts nobly; angels could no more.'
"August 12th.-I perceive that the temperature
of my jailer is too much regulated by the favor-
seeking Spencer, the thermometer of whose feelings
is very high in the antimasonic cause just now; his
flat denial to the contrary notwithstanding. Our
smut machine is very anxious to do something, or say
something novel and original; but the quintessence
of Smith's knowledge will never be overrated, for if
no other evidences of worth appear than that exhibited
in his paper, he will never be a giant in the cause
of antimasonry. Turned the Johnite into a case.
"August 13th.-Mind absent and barren; but
little done. Read some of Elder Bernard's false-
hoods about Masonry. It is well this man did not
live in our Savior's time, for the love of filthy lucre
is excited in him to such an astonishing degree that
he would have underbid Judas Iscariot twenty-five
per cent. The love of gain, and the babblings of
this, his world, so eclipse his devotion that the love
of Christ is invisible in any of the walks of life.
11
122
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
"The painted hypocrite is known,
Through the disguise he wears :
Most guilty, villainous, dishonest man!
Wolf in the clothing of a gentle lamb!
Dark traitor in Messiah's holy camp!'
Visitors, Mr. Allen and Mr. Bates, students."
This is no harsh estimate of the man, David Ber-
nard. As such, posterity will judge him.
"August 14th. In tolerable spirits. Visitors,
William H. Childs, of Niagara, very friendly and
feeling, Gen. Vincent Matthews, N. G. Chesebro, R.
Norton, Joel M. Parks, and the sheriff, (Buel.)"
Gen. Matthews was counsel for the defense in
most of the antimasonic prosecutions. He was a
lawyer of much distinction, and enjoyed an unblem-
ished reputation.
"August 15th.-Heard of great adventures in the
antimasonic world; rallying round the pole of po-
litical antimasonry; new acquisitions; new lights;
great zeal; much hypocrisy and sinister views; all
this I learn from the antis only. But I do n't believe
that principles and motives fraught with so much
corruption, falsehood, and disguise, as those which
make up antimasonry, can flourish any longer than
self-interest (a most powerful talisman) operates, and
self-aggrandizement (a strong incentive) urges for-
ward a few reckless, designing men, most of whom
are devoid of principle or integrity. Visitors, Mr.
C. H. Coe, with a gentleman from Oneida, John Bel-
lings, and Mr. Allen, from Victor, a thrifty farmer.
"Sabbath, August 16, 1829.-Begin to hear the
church bells without emotion. Looking through the
vista of by-gone days, I find very little to mar my
mind; some eccentricities of youth, some misjudged
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
123
efforts in manhood arising from want of mature de-
liberation, and these not so exceptionable as to con-
stitute a blank, but rather a parenthesis. Visitors,
Ainsworth, Acker, B. Martin, L. Tucker, and S.
Saxton."
In reading such passages as these, it must be re-
membered that they were written in the solitude of a
jail, in the secrecy of a diary, and for his own eye
alone, or at the most, for those of his children, to be
read after he was gone. They are his honest utter-
ances as between himself and God. To read them,
is like looking into the chamber of the man's heart..
Ever frank, impulsive, and strictly truthful in all his
life, he is here recording in an excess of frankness,
impulse, and truth, his own judgment of himself.
The entry above forms a key to his whole charac-
ter.
"August 17th.-Finished Wistar's Anatomy, read
newspapers and miscellaneous pieces. A thunder
storm. This the Psalmist terms the voice of the Lord;
the voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebanon.
Such a scene recalls the sentiment:
"Man, think of God!
Think of thyself! think of eternity!
Fear God, the thunders said; fear God, the winds,
Fear God, the lightning and the storm replied.'
J. A. Norton, of Palmyra, called; kind in expression,
feeling in sentiment.
((
August 18th.-General Sessions and Common
Pleas commence to-day.
Morganites very busy;
Don't think they'll
try to do much, but effect little.
set the lake on fire this heat. Saw some of Spen-
cer's hirelings. Guess they
want more money.
124
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
'O, yes, Mr. S., glad to come! anything you say,
Mr. S., black or white!' Visitors, J. F. Mason, E.
A. Cooley, and T. Wright, from Lockport, E. Griffin,
Mr. Jarvis, and others.'
Mr. Mason was a correspondent of Mr. Bruce.
His visits are noted under dates February 19th and
20th following.
"August 10th.-High expectations in the antima-
sonic cause; but quails are not caught in gull-traps.
Shares in that company can soon be obtained for less
than what some gentlemen of the bar wished to raise
to secure witnesses with. O tempora! O mores!
Visitors, Seymour Scoville, of Lockport; Hon. H.
Gardner, of Lockport, and a number of gentlemen
from Rochester and Geneva."
Mr. Seymour also visited, under dates February
20th and May 13th following. Mr. Gardner visited
again September 18th following.
"August 20th.-Visitors numerous and respect-
able-Drs. Wells and Williams, Mr. Follet, from
Buffalo, W. R. Thompson, and others.
"A friend is worth all hazards we can run ;
A world in purchase for a friend is gain."
The great difference between real and pretended
friendship is rarely seen till the fogs of misfortune
begin to gather round, and showers of disappoint-
ments fill the cup of bitterness. Then their relative
and intrinsic value is duly appreciated. Pretended
friendship, like the ignis fatuus, still leads into the
bogs of disappointment, or leaves one in the midst of
his wandering; but real friendship-like the true
magnet to the polar star, never varies. Like the
steady beacon, it shines brightest in the darkest night.
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
125
"August 21, 1829.-Between comers and goers,
the taking in and taking out of prisoners, the day
was spent very well. Among the visitors, some
called with our knowledge and some not. Judge
Allen called. Parted with Squire Mason, Griffith,
and Jewett. Wright's trial is put off. Heard of Dr.
Watkins's law race. He runs well; has good wind;
and if he carried the weights of justice with him, he
might have won the race; but he had better keep
away from Ontario county, for his people go the
whole hog, and have swinish propensities. Jurors
here are not famous for doing justice or traversing
testimony with rectitude. Prejudice and misrepre-
sentation are prominent features in their charac-
ters."
The allusion to Watkins is, we believe, to Tobias.
Watkins, whose trial on a government prosecution as
a defaulter occupied much space in the papers of the
day.
“August 22d.-I find that John C. Spencer has,
at last, thrown himself into market to be cheapened
by his own volition; and if I do not mistake or mis-
judge, within six months his attachment to any party
will portend disaster, if not dissolution. Strange
such a talented man should thus unreservedly throw
himself on the wheel of political ambition, and wan-
tonly sacrifice real worth for imaginary greatness.
He has yet to learn that the path to real worth and
true greatness in this enlightened age is not paved.
with falsehood, deceit, corruption, wanton aberration
from rectitude. Visitors, E. J. Roberts and Mr. Van
Ness, from Rochester."
The prediction respecting Mr. Spencer was, in
part, realized. Mr. Spencer resigned his position as
126
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
special counsel ere the time predicted, and his best
friends admitted that it had brought nothing to him
but vexation and discredit.
"Sabbath, August 23, 1829.-To the true Chris-
tian, there has been a day of devotion. To such a
man, piety appears conspicuously yet in unobtrusive
ease in all the varied movements of life, and especi-
ally on the Sabbath he shines in the sublimity of the
Christian character, mingled with meekness, while
he exclaims, in humble adoration and resignation:
'Not my will but thine be done.' His daily walk
is not filled with those things that spot the true spir-
itual character, or obscure his vision from a known
sense of duty. His faith rises above the bereave-
ments and disappointments of life, for he is convinced
that-
"Here is firm footing, here is solid rock;
This can support him: all is sea beside.
His hold on heaven is well described;
His hand the good man fastens on the skies,
And bids earth roll, nor feels her idle whirl.'
“August 24th.-Am reviewing Wistar. Dry, com-
plicated, gnarled, and intricate is Myologia, as well
as Neurologia. My memory is treacherous. Mind
absent and poverty-stricken. Have scarcely courage
to grapple medical science at the age of thirty-five
years, even if the residue of my life is worth a profes-
sion. Visitors, John Gilbert, of Rochester, an old
and esteemed friend; also Johnson, Coe, Chesebro,
and Roberts."
Mr. Gilbert, of whom so grateful a word is said,
is known to have deserved the compliment of a true
and steady friend.
"August 25th.-Heard some good news-good
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
127
because impudence has met with merited contempt.
B. Cook, than whom few are more vindictive, more
bloodthirsty, more vilifying, has now found, from
actual experiment, that he can not palm himself off
as an honest man in a community where knowledge,
law, and liberty are respected. His prurient thirst
for power carries him very far beyond the bounds of
reason and equity. He seems not to be satisfied with
feuds and turmoils at home, in setting families at
variance with their own inmates, creating schisms in
Churches, and discords in neighborhoods; but he
must make a second or third attempt to carry his
discordant views into a neighboring province. He
has been justly treated. Received a letter of condo-
lence from R. Brocket. Visitors, Schuyler, Tillotson,
King, and J. Gilbert. King and Schuyler from Pal-
myra.
66
August 26th.-Visitors, Roberts, Wright, Mr.
Thompson, and Mr. E. Bacon, of Painted Post, Steu-
ben county, both gentlemen in appearance, and pro-
fuse in words of friendship.
66
August 27th.-Read a Review of Abercrombie on
the Diseases of the Stomach, a highly interesting and
valuable work. Dr. J. S. Barber visited me."
Dr. Barber is said, on a subsequent page, to be of
Fairfield, Connecticut. His visits are noted Septem-
ber 23d and September 28th following the above.
"August 28th.-Visited by Mrs. Hall, the hostess
of this fabric, and Mrs. Martin. Mrs. H. presents
the appearance of all that worth and virtue would
seem to require; is feeling, frank, and interesting.
Mrs. Martin is grave, though pleasant and affable;
clad in the habiliments of mourning; showed the
cheek of sorrow, adown which the tear of affliction
128
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
t
had marked channels not to be obliterated by the
hand of time."
See note relative to Mr. Israel Hall, under date
August 3d previous.
"August 29th.-A letter from my venerable and
very dear mother, now sixty-four years of age. It
was fraught with instruction and sentiments of no
ordinary import. A bundle of papers and a sermon
from my new and kind friend, Mrs. Martin. Visit-
ors, Mr. Barnum, assistant editor of the Craftsman,
Drs. Partridge and Dickerson, and Mr. Felt. Heard
at the door the intrusive step of an impertinent, ig-
norant gossip, who came in unceremoniously, and,
with an air of arrogance peculiar to inquisitiveness,
made various absurd interrogatories, such as only fools
would propound. He said, I think, his name was
Gordon."
Mr. Barnum paid visits to Mr. Bruce under date
May 30th previous and March 26th following.
"Sabbath, August 30, 1829, 11 P. M.-All is
dark without, save those twinkling orbs, whose distant
lights, so many tapers, would allure me abroad, were
it not for the intervention of grated windows and
barred doors that interdict it. How roves the mind
in the night of affliction! How the fettered fancy
writhes under this durance vile! Courage droops;
magnanimity reclines a pensive head; vivacity steps
behind the curtain of bygone better days, and ever and
anon catches the glimpse of the passing scenes through
the vista of affliction. Hope, staggering, lingers still,
nor dares to sally forth.
"Where active fancy travels beyond sense,
And pictures things unseen.””
"Cometired nature's sweet restorer.
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
129
Never was prison story told in sadder words.
"August 31st.-H. Howard visited us."
Mr. Howard paid another visit August 9, 1831.
"September 1, 1829.-Mrs. Bruce arrived with my
whole family save one. These are the poor man's
treasures. Here is a triumph few can boast of. Mrs.
Chesebro visited us."
We take this place to insert the letter from Mr.
Bruce to Mr. Levi Taylor, then of Lockport, New
York, now of Ionia, Michigan, to which we alluded
on page 65. The portions omitted relate to domestic
matters.
"CANANDAIGUA, March 3d, 1830.
"FRIEND TAYLOR :-Your friendly and interesting
letters have been duly received. I duly appreciate
your kindness to me and my family. I never ques-
tioned your friendly and honorable feelings toward
me; and permit me to say, I have the most entire
confidence in your friendship. But I have a claim
on your patience, not from any service that I
have rendered you, but in common with the unfor-
tunate.
"It is with the most poignant feelings of regret in
me that your feelings should suffer while you are
rendering services to my family.
Two of
my children are now freed from all the troubles in-
cident to frail human nature, and are enjoying the
beatific presence of Him who has redeemed them from
the thralldom of sin and suffering. Peace to their
ashes! Their father is immured in the cold walls of
a jail. From him their mother can derive no help,
no consolation, but the return of conjugal affection,
and that too made at once livelier and more dis-
130
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
tressing by the cruel distance that parts us.
Our
property all gone-beggared and on the charities.
of those only who are disposed to be charitable—
subject to censure at the least eccentricity, and not
a roof to call her own. I say, under all these, and
many more complicated, mortifying, distressing, and
soul-trying circumstances,
is it strange
that a
woman thus circumstanced (her husband
buried alive) should view, with suspicion and intense
anxiety, any action that should seem like a neglect.
I am aware that many circumstances must
arise which will be unpleasant and trying to you, and
it will be impossible almost to avoid them. But what
can I say?
Can I censure you, Friend
Taylor? In my heart I do not.
All I can say is,
be patient, attentive, and kind, and your reward must
be in another world, for I can not requite you. I
must dismiss the subject, for it is very painful to
me.
"Show this letter to no one but your wife. Do not
forget. My time drags very heavily, and frequently
seems as if I could not stay any longer. All the
comfort I have is when I am asleep, and then I am
at home and in business; but it is doubly vexing to
awake after a pleasant dream, and find myself in
durance vile. I would to God I were out.
"Yours, with esteem,
"BRUCE."
"September 2d.-The visit of my family gives me
mingled pleasure and pain; pleasure, that they are
with me in health and tolerable comfort; pain, that
they see me within the walls of a prison."
A Masonic convention was this day held by dele-
gates from the counties of Madison, Chenango, and
Cortland, at the village of De Ruyter, for the pur-
"
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
131
pose of taking into consideration the prevalent ex-
citement, and to adopt measures best calculated to re-
store peace and harmony to society. The following,
among other appropriate resolutions, were adopted:
(6
Resolved, That, in the opinion of this convention,
it would be inexpedient to take measures to sur-
render Masonic charters, and that we recommend to
all Masonic bodies the propriety of retaining their
charters, and a strict and regular attention to all
Masonic communications, as the strongest testimonials
of their integrity as citizens, and attachment to their
inestimable civil and religious privileges.
"Resolved, That as the principles of Masonry are
opposed to party feuds and political combinations,
we will not, as Masons, unite our influence with any
political party."
66
September 3d.-Heard of great political commo-
tions abroad. The Jackson and Adams' parties about
to amalgamate. This leaves the antis to fight by
themselves, and with their own strength, which they
will find is but weakness. Great efforts making by
J. C. Spencer, to his eternal shame and disgrace.'
It will be appropriate here to explain how it was
that the names of many gentlemen of the highest
respectability, and some who will live in the annals
of the nation, were found associated, at this period,
with the antimasonic party. It was not from per-
sonal feeling against Masonry, but because of the two
great parties of the nation, (Jackson and anti-Jack-
son.) The latter was arrayed, for a short period, under
antimasonic colors, as promising the most successful
results. Thus, John Quincy Adams, William Wirt,
132
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
William Henry Harrison, and Henry Clay, were, at
different periods, spoken of as candidates of this
hybrid party; but Mr. Wirt was finally selected as
the nominee, and severely beaten. Such men as
Millard Fillmore, and the like, were not so much
antimasons as anti-Jackson politicians; and, conse-
quently, for a brief period, antimasonic politicians.
"September 4th. Visitors, Dr. H. Vinton, of
Shrewsbury, Mass., H. Hubbard and wife, Mrs.
Tillotson, and Mrs. Thayer."
Mr. Hubbard will be remembered as the individual
who drove the coach containing the Morgan party
from Canandaigua to Hanford's Landing, on the
night of September 12-13, 1826. No blame accrued
to him for his part in the abduction. Mr. Hubbard
always averred, and stoutly maintained, that Mor-
gan's entrance into the coach was voluntary on his
part, and that he manifested no signs of uneasiness
or desire to escape during the journey of ten hours.
His attentions to Mr. Bruce, while in prison, were
frequent and cordial. He has gone, long since, to
mother earth.
"September 5th.-My much respected and lib-
eral friend, H. Howard, presented me with a fine
cage containing two canaries. Mrs. Sawyer visited.
us.
دو
Of these sweet songsters, the canaries, there are
many entries further on. One of them, not enduring
jail life, died within a week.
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
133
"Sabbath, September 6th.-Very rainy; fine day
for ennui.
66
September 7th.-Saw an advertisement of some
paintings, purporting to be the immolation of Bill
Morgan. Guess most of the Morganites love gain
above patriotism; promotion above principle; self-
aggrandizement above public peace. Visitors, my
tried and much esteemed friend John Hopkins, and
lady, on their way to Pennsylvania. Goodness is in
deeds, not words."
A convention of delegates from several Masonic
bodies in the counties of Madison, Chenango, and
Cortland, was held in the village of De Ruyter, on
the 7th inst., "for the purpose of taking into con-
sideration the unhappy excitement which now exists
against Masonry, and to adopt such measures as were
deemed most expedient to allay the excitement, and
again restore peace and harmony to society." The
editor of the Morrisville (Madison) Observer, who
was not a Mason, attended the convention, and said
it was composed of the most respectable citizens
of all political parties and all denominations of
Christians. The convention resolved that "it would
be inexpedient to take measures for the surrender of
Masonic charters; and that we recommend to all
Masonic bodies the propriety of retaining their
charters, with a strict and regular attention on all
Masonic communications, as the strongest testi-
monials of their integrity as citizens, and attach-
ment to their inestimable civil and religious privi-
leges."
An address to the people was adopted and signed
134
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
by all the delegates present, amounting to one hun-
dred and nine.
The ludicrous exhibitions were multiplied in every
possible form, from the vilest daubs of a country
sign-painter, to elegant designs on copper, steel,
and wood. Our library contains a vast number of
such. Their tone and spirit are evidently borrowed
from the antimasonic almanacs of Edward Giddins,
which exhibit, in the most amusing manner, the fan-
cies of the period. One of these engravings, which
seems to have been done with a rusty nail upon
a hemlock surface, presents the contrast between
Freemasonry in 1826, a burly, beef-fed man, and
Freemasonry in 1830, a wizen-faced, woe-begone cai-
tiff, as sore at conscience as frail in body. Pity the
designer did not live to add a third drawing to his
series, viz., Freemasonry in 1860!
66
September 8th.-Visitors, Esquires Mott and
Noble of Geneva, Mrs. Chesebro, and Mrs. Rich-
mond..
"September 10th.-Read Richeraud's Physiology.
Visitors, Mr. Jones and another gentleman from
Geneva.
66
September 11th.-Sheriff called on us. My little
tip bird died to-day."
An antimasonic event occurred this day, so well
described by a correspondent of Mr. Child's paper,
The Masonic Record, that we copy the article en-
tire:
“We have had a rare exhibition here this day.
It was an antimasonic jubilee; and all the antis, and
•
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
135
•
especially the antiwater drinkers, came flocking in
like sheep without a shepherd. But they soon found
shepherds; for here was Southwick, the bell-wether,
and old Caleb Green, the parson, and that other
parson, who, though he may have a strong arm, has
a weak head. These were the shepherds of this
motley flock. They crowded into the brick church,
all eager to hear the great oracle. But Daddy Green
first got up and made a genuine anti prayer, as long
as an ordinary sermon. He made the sheep believe
that orator Southwick had been raised up by God
for the divine work of putting down Freemasonry;
that is, he thanked God very fervently, and they all
seemed to ejaculate after him, that he had specially
raised up Southwick as the great champion of their
cause; as if Heaven would smile upon such an un-
hallowed clan, and such champions as this parson
and Southwick, and the Northampton apostate, who,
after preaching masonry for years, suddenly deserted
it. Green, to give the d-1 his due, never was a
Mason, and has always been opposed to us; but for
such apostates as Armstrong, and such daring poli-
tical adventurers as Southwick, no honest man can
have any charity. After Green had made a fool of
himself by announcing Southwick as the chosen of
God, and had retired into the back seat, there came
forward a smooth-faced young man, by the name of
Johnson, a printer, who read the antimasonic dec-
laration of independence, with an air of much mod-
esty and no little self-complacency. Next came the
Thunderer, as the antis call him. He began with
quoting the Scripture, as the devil would on a similar
occasion, and then went on with a wild flourish of
defiance to his enemies, and the enemies of the
glorious cause.' He spoke, I must confess, in
thundering style; splashing up and down like a mad
bull in a mud bog, and making the welkin ring with
136
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
his denunciations, not forgetting the ghost of Mor-
gan, and his dear friend Miller, who seems to be
ever uppermost in his thoughts. Mrs. Morgan and
her babies were also brought to view, to the great
edification, no doubt, of the simpleton herd. In
short, if anything would excite surprise in these
times, it would be the fact, that a thousand human,
and ought to be, rational beings, could listen three
hours to the ravings of this thundering' dotard.
But so it is. Alas, poor human nature! O flesh,
how art thou fishified!' The apostate Armstrong
closed by a hypocritical prayer, and the duped mul-
titude dispersed, wondering at the piety of Green,
and the apostates exulting in the wisdom of Solomon,
their crazy leader."
-
"
The 11th and 12th of September being consecrated
by the antimasons to the memory of their martyr,
William Morgan, various meetings like that described
above were held, of which we have abundant record.
At Watertown, New York, sixty-nine persons listened
to an inflammatory speech from Jonathan Steele, and
ended the meeting with a dinner. It was about this
time, too, that the party resolved to disconnect itself
from the two national parties represented thus far
by Jackson and Adams, and form a tertium quid.
"September 12th.-Visitors, C. S. Drown, Mather
K. Hopkins from New Orleans, Mr. Chamberlain,
formerly sheriff of Cattaraugus county, a gentleman
in deed and word, and Luther Hickok, of East
Bloomfield.
"September 13th.-Find, by inspection, that I have
two long years from this day to serve the arrogant
prejudices of an infatuated mobocracy."
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
137
It was his fate to experience a gradual decline in
health through all those long and weary months, and
never again to know an hour of uninterrupted pleas-
ure.
"September 14th.-A day of general parade and
review; great bustle abroad."
The triennial sessions of the General Grand Chap-
ter and the General Grand Encampment occurring
in the city of New York on this day, it is proper
to offer a remark or two here relative to those dis-
tinguished bodies. We make no question that the
existence of these two supreme powers, at that par-
ticular juncture, presented a stronger front against
the attacks of antimasonry than did all the Grand
Lodges in the United States united. There were
much wavering and some timidity, not to say cow-
ardice in most of the Grand Lodges. Few even of
those which were bold enough to act, seemed to
know what course to pursue, and there was no unity
of action or knowledge among them. But in the
General Grand bodies, whose officers were among
the first men of the nation, a front was presented.
against which even an Adams could make no im-
pression. Had it not been for these bodies, we
honestly believe the sacrifices of a Bruce had been
made in vain.
The officers elect of the General Grand Chapter
were as follows: Hon. Edward Livingston, of La.,
G. G. H. P.; Hon. Joel R. Poinsett, of S. Car.,
D. G. G. H. P.; Rev. Paul Dean, of Mass., G. G. K.;
12
138
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
•
Joseph K. Stapleton, of Md., G. G. S.; Lebbeus
Chapman, of N. Y., G. G. Sec.; Peter Grinnell, of
R. I., G. G. Tr.; Rev. Jonathan Nye, of N. H.,
G. G. Chap.; Amos Nourse, of Me., G. G. Mar.
The officers elect of the General Grand Encamp-
ment, were as follows: Rev. Jonathan Nye, of N. H.,
G. G. M.; Ezra S. Crozier, of N. Y., D. G. G. M.;
Joseph Whittaker, of R. I., G. G. Gen.; Jamest
Eyland, of S. C., G. G. C. G.; Ezekiel L. Bascom,
of Mass., G. G. Prel.; Thomas Hubbard, of Ct.,
G. G. S. W.; Isaac W. Hubbard, of Vt., G. G. J. W.;
Peter Grinnell, of R. I., G. G. Tr.; James Herring,
of N. Y., G. G. Rec.; G. W. Haller, of D. C., G.
G. Warder; Alexander C. McConnell, of La., G. G.
St. B.; Ezra Griswold, of O., G. G. Sw. B.
The decease of DeWitt Clinton was appropriately
noticed; and a report made by Samuel L. Knapp, a
Mason of literary fame, adopted and published, which
the Boston Bulletin of that day describes as “a
splendid and finished tribute to his memory." The
following extracts are in place here:
"He was morally as well as physically brave; and
in the generosity of his nature pitied that miserable
flock who, in the mild and peaceful day, turned their
plumage to the sun for brilliant reflections to attract
notice and gain admiration from the world; but who
were not to be found when the elements were troubled.
He poised his eagle wing in the whirlwind, and fear-
lessly breasted the peltings of the storm.
"His enemies, reviewing his life, are silent when
they cast up the amount of his virtues; and his
friends love him the more when they recount the
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
139
deeds he has done. Malice never charged him with
avarice; nor did slander ever whisper that he could
be corrupted by gold. If sometimes disappointed
ambition in a paroxysm, at the loss of office, alleged
that he was partial, in a calmer moment she was
forced to confess that his errors (for he was human,
and could not be free from them) sprung from the
irregular pulsation of too warm a heart, and from
too much confidence in the professions of assimilated
virtue; and even envy, that first wishes and then
believes all ill-owns, since he is gone, that the only
harvest he ever gathered in was glory; and all must
acknowledge that the only estate that he left for his
orphan children is his fame.
66
His exertions were not limited to the temporal
welfare of his fellow-men; for he knew that the ex-
cellency of all knowledge consists in Divine truth,
and he was unremitting in his efforts to disseminate
the sacred writings, believing that in them are the
oracles of God, and the promises of everlasting life.
"His death has been deplored as that of one who
died too early; but if the prominent deeds of men
are so many milestones in the journey of life, his
course can not have been short who has set up so
many monuments as he traveled onward to eternity.
True, all was finished before age had required the
sustaining staff or the helping hand.
"Such was our companion and brother, the late
chief officer of this General Grand Chapter-the pride
of those who lived and acted with them, and an ex-
ample for those who may hereafter arise to take a
distinguished part in the welfare of our country.
"Let learned biographers write his life; let tal-
ented artists chisel his monument, and mold his bust
for an admiring people, while we must content our-
selves with a miniature profile of him, traced in a
single moment, when kneeling at our altars; but there
140
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
is some consolation for us in feeling that this sketch
is made, as it were, upon our jewels, and is to be worn
on our breasts, an emblem, a faint one indeed, of his
image in our hearts."
"September 15th.-Fine day, fine air, fine sun-
all fine save our dolorous situation and want of
health. There is an abstraction of the mind, a want
of the vis vitæ and some catholicon to invigorate the
waning form. Visitors, E. F. Smith and Mrs. Stone,
of Rochester, Mr. Stephen Gooding, of Lockport, and
Holland, of Oneida."
ލ
Mr. Gooding's visits are chronicled under various
subsequent dates, and appear to have been a source
of great pleasure to Mr. Bruce.
66
September 16th.-A rainy day; felt rather bluish.
Disguise it as thou wilt, O! Imprisonment, thou
art still the same: a bitter cup which thousands in all
ages have been made to drink! A thousand name-
less, endearing associations must run through thy
grated windows and barred doors."
The reader will be reminded here of Sterne's feel-
ing apostrophe to imprisonment, which we give en-
tire:
"Disguise thyself as thou wilt, still, Slavery, still
thou art a bitter draught! And though thousands
in all ages have been made to drink of thee, thou art
no less bitter on that account. 'Tis thou, thrice sweet
and gracious goddess (addressing myself to Liberty)
whom all in public or in private worship, whose taste
is grateful, and ever will be so, till Nature herself
shall change.. No tint of words can spot thy snowy
mantle, or chymic power turn thy scepter into iron.
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
141
With thee to smile upon him as he eats his crust, the
swain is happier than his monarch, from whose court
thou art exiled.
"I took a single captive, and having first shut him
up in his dungeon, I then looked through the twilight
of his grated door to take his picture.
"I beheld his body half wasted away with long
expectation and confinement, and felt what kind of
sickness of the heart it was which arises from hope
deferred. Upon looking nearer I saw him pale and.
feverish; in thirty years the western breeze had not
once fanned his blood. He had seen no sun, no moon,
in all that time; nor had the voice of friend or kins-
man breathed through his lattice! His children!-
"But here my heart began to bleed, and I was
forced to go on with another part of the portrait.
"He was sitting upon the ground upon a little
straw, in the furthest corner of his dungeon, which
was alternately his chair and bed. A little calendar
of small sticks were laid at the head, notched all over
with the dismal days and nights he had passed there.
He had one of these little sticks in his hand, and,
with a rusty nail, he was etching another day of
misery to add to the heap. As I darkened the little
light he had, he lifted up a hopeless eye toward the
door, then cast it down, shook his head, and went on
with his work of affliction. I heard his chains upon
his legs, as he turned his body to lay his little stick
upon the bundle. He gave a deep sigh! I saw the
iron enter into his soul! I burst into tears. I could
not sustain the picture of confinement which my fancy
had drawn."
"September 17th.-Used the lancet to-day in open-
ing a vein; was not very successful. So much for
the first trial. Visitors, Judge Rawson and two
brothers, and Elder R. Winchel, from Connecticut.
142
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
"September 18th.-A comfortable day; passed it
tolerably. Visitors, Hon. H. Gardner and lady, Mr.
Bollard, of Rochester, with an anti gentleman.
"Sabbath, September 20, 1829:-A gloomy and low-
ery day. Visitors, Mr. Godard, of Lockport, and W.
C. Wait, of Chenango county.
"Septentber, 21st.-Visitors, Mrs. Van Zuyle and
Mrs. Beach, wife of John Beach, of Parma, Munroe
county.
66
September 22d.-Read Richeraud on Digestion.
Visitors, Mrs. Wilcox and a lady from Rochester.
66
•
September 23d.-Visitors, Col. Swaney, Capt.
Torrence, of Geneva, and Mrs. Williams, of Roches-
ter."
The visits of Capt. Torrence were numerous.
66
September 24th.-Visitors, Mr. Gooding, of
Lockport, Mr. Phillips, Dr. J. S. Barber, and Geo.
Ketchum. Heard of the death of Burrage Smith."
The notice alluded to by Mr. Bruce is in the
Craftsman, of September 29, 1829, as follows:
"We are favored by a friend with the following ex-
tract from a letter, dated Rodney, Miss., August 25,
1829: 'I have this moment received a letter from
New Orleans, which gives the painful intelligence of
the death of Burrage W. Smith, formerly of Roches-
ter, N. Y., on the 17th August, at New Orleans, of
the yellow fever. His wife being at this place, it was
my painful duty to inform her, but could not. Mr.
C. Dart showed her the letter, and a more distressed
person I never saw. You will please have his death
published in the Rochester papers; and inform her
friends who live near that place, that she is among
friends who will protect her. We keep healthy at
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
143
this place, but how long we shall remain so, God only
knows. There are from ninety to one hundred deaths
daily in New Orleans.""
"Sabbath, September 27, 1829.-All silent about our
domicile, and quiet as a jail.
"September 28th.-Amused myself in the yard.
Visitors, Thomas F. Bogue, of Pittsford, Vt.; J. A.
Bogue, of Chittenden, Vt.; Dr. Barber, who took his
leave for Fairfield, Ct.; Mr. Stone, and a number of
ladies.
"September 29th.-Parted with my family; sensi-
bly alive to our unfortunate situation. My wife
bore, with unflinching fortitude, the peltings of the
pitiless storm to which she seems destined to be ex-
posed. With our eldest daughter and infant son, she
took stage for Rochester. Those myrmidons who, in
the reservoirs of their malice, have the stones of envy,
prejudice, and persecution, may, if their whole lives
are void of offense, throw with impunity, and pelt me
without mercy. Said He whose life was so transcend-.
ently virtuous, and the sphere of whose love embraced
all created intelligences, Let him that is without sin
cast the first stone.'
"September 30th.-Spent the day mostly with
Wistar and Richeraud. Thought much of my poor
wife and children; wish they were back with me in
my cloistered retreat, safe from the howling blast and
tedious storm without. O! thou Preserver of men,
protect and feed, comfort and support those helpless
ones in the hour of trial and affliction, in poverty and
trouble. Endue them with patience, humility, and
resignation, and especially with a sincere love of thy
character and attributes, and a competent knowledge
of thy written revelation. And at last may they be
ushered into thy beatific presence, where there is joy
in full fruition to the endless ages."
144
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
"October 1, 1829.-Dr. Holbrook called on his way
to Fairfield.
“October 2d.-A fair day; passed it tolerably.
Some fine music with Mons. Follensby, who visited.
me.
"October 3d.-Visitors, Thomas Waught, J. Smith,
and Dr. Hill, who bade me farewell, for Fairfield.
"October 4th.-Received Mr. J. Martin's papers;
thanks to the good lady.”
This "good lady" is recorded in many a grateful
expression in these diaries, and, we doubt not, in
many a golden letter in the book of life.
་
“October 5th.-Depression of spirits, flatulency,
and nausea. Vomited copiously.
“October 6th.-Ill all night. Lucinda Gooding
and other ladies visited."
On this and the following days the celebrated ap-
peal to the inhabitants of Vermont was published by
the Masons of that jurisdiction, to the number of one
hundred and sixty-eight, in which this masterly pas-
sage occurs.
Of the few yet remaining in the walks
of life, we instance of these appellants, the names of
Philip C. Tucker, now (1860) and for a long period
Grand Master of the State, the venerable Joel Page,
of Westminster, Vt., and others.
"As Masons we hold ourselves guiltless, in any
manner, of the shedding of human blood; guiltless,
in any manner, of conspiring against the liberties or
privileges of the people, or endeavoring to monopo-
lize an unequal portion of the privileges to ourselves,
or to abridge the rights of others; guiltless, in any
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
145
}
manner, of impeding, or retarding, or diverting the
course of justice; guiltless, in any manner, of intru-
sion into the three great departments of our govern-
ment; guiltless, in any manner, of attempting to
identify the subject with politics, or of making the
latter a matter of discussion or remark; guiltless, in
any manner, of performing any act immoral or irre-
ligious; and guiltless, in any manner, of entertain-
ing the remotest suspicion that the life of a fellow-.
being was subject to our control. For the truth of
these declarations, solemnly made, we have given you
the strongest pledge which honest and virtuous men
have it in their power to yield."
:
"October 8th.-Intelligence of the arrival of my
family at home. The ills that becloud life are often
rendered tolerable by viewing man as he passes, and
scanning his being's end and aim. Cool and collected
within himself, he bears the shafts of misfortune with
calmness. Even as he enters the portals of misery,
he is buoyed up by two great pillars amid the wreck
about him the one a just sense of his magnanimity
and love of truth; the other, a due recognition of an
all-powerful GOD, whose beneficence is equal to his
power. These diminish the dread of those awful and
obscure realities, a world to come beyond death and
the grave. The first gives nerve to our conflict here
while a ray of hope lights our path; the other pours
the balm of comfort into the wounds, that time alone
never could heal.”
The Masonic reader will be struck with these
beautiful reflections, growing out of his remembrances
of Masonic instructions enjoyed in the happier days
then forever past.
The infidelity of Giddins, which, by a fair con-
13
146
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
struction of law, was a bar to his testimony upon the
trial of Bruce and others, but which, afterward, was
sanctioned by the State Courts, amounted to this: In
a letter, dated April 10, 1827, written by Giddins
for the express purpose of stating his religious creed
to a friend, he declares that
"God has the same care of a man as an insect, of
an insect as a tree, of a tree as a stone. With him
there can be no difference or distinction between beauty
and deformity, virtue and vice, perfection and imper-
fection. Prayers are but mockery to his name, and
ought not to be encouraged. All that men can do can
not change him. He is not susceptible of persuasion;
and, as relates to man, he is incapable of love or
hatred. This is my notion of virtue and vice, that
they do not refer to any future time, but relate alto-
gether to man in his present state. My views are not
in accordance with the Bible, for that book represents.
the Deity as vindictive, revengeful, and inconsistent."
Now, if the competency of a witness requires a
belief in the Divine cognizance of the acts of his creat-
ures, and that he will punish false swearing-a point
which we suppose established by innumerable deci-
sions, and the uniform and immemorial practice of
courts in every civilized country-then there can be
no question but Edward Giddins was legally and prop-
erly rejected. It is only a sense of moral obligation
and future retribution that can make an oath what it
has been fitly termed, "The adamantine chain which
binds the soul of man to the throne of eternal justice."
It is but fair to say that Mr. Giddins, now (1860)
a resident of Rochester, N. Y., and an old man, affirms
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
147
that his former views upon this fundamental topic
have been much modified.
}
"October 11th.-Very busy in tracing the works
of nature in the formation of our own species. In
following 'nature up to nature's God,' we are led to
admire and adore that infinite wisdom in the admira-
ble formation, the exquisite structure of the human
system. The brain is the seat of wisdom, for God
is there.
“October 17th.—A fine day, and some leisure; was
visited by friends of worth and feeling-among them
were Mr. Rumsay, of Warsaw, Mr. Thompson, Mr.
Clark, and Mr. Hare, of Bennington, Vt.
"October 21st.-Visited by J. Van Tuyke, of Par-
ma, Mrs. Orcott, of Buffalo, and Miss Ann Riter.
"October 23d.-Spent a fine hour with Sheriff
Wilder, of Genessee county, who called, on his way
to Auburn with convicts. Mr. Wright, from Roch-
ester, called.
"October 24th.-Felt an almost total apathy. Lost
part of the day from want of energy to persevere
amid obstructions and difficulties so complicated. If
philosophy alone can sustain a man amid the simul-
taneous attacks of poverty, calumny, prejudice, and
proscription, it were, indeed, a heaven-born virtue.
And then to be compelled to enjoy solitude! Who
has eulogized solitude? Who has panegyrized the
recluse? Were solitude the result of volition, then
its consequence might be happiness. It sometimes
appears as though the love of solitude springs from
chagrin or disappointed ambition, shame, or ridicule.
In such cases, its happiness is in a ratio with its
estimation of virtue and disregard for vicious indul-
gences. If a man can reign over himself, and pos-
sess an affable mind to enjoy himself, then there are
excellences to be found in solitude. But when soli-
148
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
tude is coerced, and one is made thereby to forego
valued friendships, social endearments, and fond at-
tachments, the effort of the mind must equal the for-
mer prejudices and prepossessions. To find enjoy-
ment in solitude, to raise sublimity in the narrow
walls of a cell, to shut out those obtrusive cares,
wonted endearments, would be to form an easy couch
in a compact mass of brambles. Yet it becomes the
more endurable as life has been made the more use-
ful. When I place mankind in perspective, and view
their diversity of characters and pursuits, disparity
of condition and fortune, I find much to soothe the
pertinacious recollections of former pursuits and the
winning recognition of anticipated pleasures. There
is an eminent satisfaction to me, derived from active
principles and studious exertion, to make my own
company pleasurable."
A meeting of citizens of Livingston county was
held this day, to consider the illegal and outrageous
manner in which grand jurors had been selected by
the partisans of antimasonry. It was found, by refer-
ence to the jury list, that some of the persons charged
by law with the selection of grand jurors in that
county, had so far become subservient to their prej-
udices, as wholly to exclude from the panel of grand
jurors, in several towns, a numerous class of citizens
of the highest worth, of unimpeachable character and
long-tried integrity, solely upon the ground of their
being members of the Masonic society. A second
meeting was held on the 28th, four days later, at
which a stirring address to the inhabitants of the
county was adopted, commencing with this trumpet
peal:
1
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
149
"Fellow-Citizens,-A crisis has now arrived in
this hitherto free and happy country, which calls
loudly upon you to awaken to a sense of the danger
which menaces your safety and threatens the destruc-
tion of all which, to freemen, can give a charm to
existence or render life itself tolerable."
The peroration is equally worthy the theme.
"We do not ask you to respect Masonry or any
other institution in particular, either social or relig-
ious, but to respect the equal and just rights of all
men and societies, and unite with us, not in destroy-
ing social rights, but in sustaining the chartered
liberties of freemen, by reforming abuses wherever
they are found to exist."
"Sabbath, October 25, 1829.-Read some religious
papers, and some in Pollok's Course of Time. Passed
the day negligently.
"October 26th.-Visitors, Mr. Cuyler and Esquire
Jones, from Palmyra, Mr. Chesebro and Mr. Cham-
berlain, from Cattaraugus.
We insert here a few facts of a miscellaneous char-
acter, derived from a letter from Mr. N. G. Chesebro
to the editor, of date Canandaigua, N. Y., March
6, 1860:
“The extra imprisonment of thirty days charged
to Mr. Eli Bruce, for his refusal to testify, was not
exacted; he was discharged at the close of the thirty
months first sentenced. My wife, whose kindness to
Mr. Bruce you have alluded to, died, December 24,
1853. The imprisonment of Col. Edward Sawyer
and myself, dated from January 7, 1827; mine was
for one year, his for thirty days. He is still living,
•
150
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
and in good health, at Grand Blanc, Genessee county,
Mich. Chauncey H. Coe, Hiram Hubbard, Loton
Lawson, and Gen. Marvin, of whom you inquire, have
all retired from this world. Col. Simeon Jewett still
survives. He is United States Marshal of the north-
ern district of New York.
“There are no records of the jail extant running
back to the period of Bruce's imprisonment."
"October 28th.-Visited by a gentleman from Wa-
terloo, who seemed sensibly alive to our unfortunate
situation. This awoke a train of thought; for to
think is only to feel, and for me, too sentient, per-
haps, to feel is to exist. The faculty of thought may
be called the basis of pure enjoyment, which runs
parallel with our existence. To me, the memory of
the past buries the present; and the sensibility of
past impressions soothes and moderates present priva-
tions and afflictions. Want, uneasiness, desire, affec-
tion, and a crowd of nameless passions, rush in upon
me, and, for the moment, stagger my present quiet.
But, looking through nature up to nature's God,'
murmurings cease, Discontent, with all her noisy train,
vanishes, and my reason apprehends that 'troubles
do not rise from the ground, nor afflictions spring
from the dust.'
•
6
“October 30th.-Heard from my family-poor,
needy, unprovided for. The will is good, but neither
means nor liberty are within my reach. The timid
hare loves not his woody haunts, nor the fleet deer
his shady grove, more than he who was formed for
social happiness his liberty and his domestic circle.
Ye who are so studious and inventive in killing time,
and who waste your precious moments, come to my
cell and spend but a week, and then say, if you can,
time is irksome. Count the tardy moments, notch
every lingering hour, listen to every passing sound,
:
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
151
wake at the slightest movement about this dreary
abode, and then say, if you can, Liberty, thou art an
empty sound! Visitors, Albert Porter, of Niagara,
Joel M. Parks and John Jackson, of Lockport."
""
Mr. Jackson's attentions upon Mr. Bruce are noted
under a subsequent date.
"November 3, 1829.-Mr. Estes Hill, of Lockport,
called on his way to Mobile; also Mr. Follensby, with
whom I spent an hour musically.
"November 4th.-This is the third day of election,
and knavery and ignorance stalk forth hand in hand.
They that are filthy will, I perceive, be filthy still.
The Ethiopian can not change his skin, nor the leop-
ard his spots.
"Sabbath, November 8th.-My thirty-sixth birth-
day; was so indisposed that I had to be bled, for the
first time in my life. Visitors, W. R. Thompson, Mr.
Chesebro, and Warren, of Rochester.
"November 9th.-Quite unwell; with much labor
read a few pages in Xavier Bichat on General An-
atomy. Visitors, Mr. Wolcot, of Trenton, Oneida
county, Mr. Coe, Col. Sawyer, and Mrs. Dolph."
Mr. Bruce was under many obligations to Mrs.
Dolph, for her kind ministrations.
“November 10th.—Quite off the hooks this morn-
ing.
November 11th.-Arose early; walked some time,
though severely cold. Ice an inch thick. Found the
cold air a good tonic. The vital properties of organ-
ism very much strengthened."
The trial of Elihu F. Mather, charged with com-
plicity in the abduction of Morgan, began to-day, and
152
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
resulted in his acquittal. It was the most protracted
judicial trial ever held in New York, having lasted
from the 11th to the 21st, beginning at 9 A. M. of
each day, and continuing until at 10 at night, Judge
Addison Gardner presiding. The first six days of
the trial were consumed in securing a jury. The
Special Counsel for the State, Mr. John C. Spencer,
assisted by Hon. Albert H. Tracey and J. B. Coles,
Esq., made a desperate attempt to exclude two of the.
panel because they were Masons; but, after a full
argument, the Court decided that the cause was not
sufficient. They were, however, excluded on other
grounds.
As this trial brought the entire panorama, so to
speak, of the Morgan abduction into public view, aided
by the latest and most reliable lights, we think the
reader will desire a reference to it here, the more
especially as Mr. Mather was a friend to Mr. Eli
Bruce, and his frequent visitor while in prison.
Mr. Mather was defended by Gen. Vincent Mat-
thews, Col. D. D. Barnard, and W. H. Adams, Esq.
The trial of the panel, objected to as Masons, elicited
much and curious testimony, particularly interesting
to a Mason who can sift the truth from error. One
of them, Mr. Robert Anderson, gave a sketch of the
obligations as he remembered them, but knew of no
obligation by which one Mason is bound to prefer
another to himself in case of life and death. Said
the professed objects of Masons are charity and be-
nevolence. There is nothing in Masonry which re-
quires a Mason to give a verdict for a brother against.
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
153
law and evidence; but, on the contrary, all obliga-
tions, charges, and lectures, require him to obey the
laws. The feeling of friendship between Masons ex-
tends, in his opinion, no further than between mem-
bers of the same Church.
Another witness, Mr. Isaac W. Averill, a renoun-`
cing Mason, testifies that there is no duty enjoined
in Masonry to protect treason from the law, and no
obligations to preserve each other's secrets, and on
all occasions, any further than those of the lodge.
Dr. J. R. Brown, a renouncing Mason, and an anti-
masonic politician, testifies that
"Men who belong to the same Chapter frequently
belong to different Churches, and different political
parties, and differ as much as other men on philos-
ophy and morality, and have as many lawsuits as
others, as much competition in all relations and busi-
ness of life; and, judging from their conduct, as much
jealousy and rivalry. Understands the nature of the
institution of the Christian Church and religious as-
sociations; there is as much attachment among mem-
bers of the Presbyterian Church as between members
of the Masonic Fraternity, and as much sympathy
and friendship. The same with members of the Bap-
tist denomination; a Baptist would feel as much in-
terest in a brother accused of crime as a Mason. This
bond is equally strong with the Methodists. The object
of the Masonic association is to accomplish the golden
rule."
The results of this protracted and celebrated trial
were triumphant to Masonry. But one of the counsel
of the defense was a Mason; the presiding judge was
a non-Mason, and perfectly acquainted with all the
154
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
D
charges common against the institution; the special
counsel was personally ambitious of a triumph on the
question at issue, and was assisted by one who had
suspended all his political hopes on the success of
antimasonry; therefore the case was esteemed a de-
cisive one, and its results a Waterloo victory. The
developments of the trial bore such strong testimony
to the purity of the Masonic institution, its harmless
character, and the correct principles upon which it
is founded, that they had a powerful tendency to re-
move from the minds of many those prejudices which
had been heaped up by the-flood of slander and abuse
for three years.
Had Mr. Spencer's attempt to exclude Masons from
juries succeeded, it would have produced a revolution
in jurisprudence, if not in politics, which, reacting
upon the antimasonic party, would have swept them
from the page of history.
The argument of Mr. Barnard for the defense, was
one of the most splendid efforts of that gifted mind.
An auditor writes concerning it:
"When he alluded to the situation of things in the
western district, and to the unrelenting demon which
is hunting down and immolating alike the innocent.
and the guilty, casting them indiscriminately into the
seven times heated furnace of popular fury; to the
evil effects of misdirected personal ambition, which
was unscrupulous of its means, if it secured its end;
to the mad fury of the populace, excited as it is by
the unbridled licentiousness of certain presses; and to
the duty which the judiciary owed to their country to
withstand the torrent of desolation, he was eloquence
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
155
itself; the whole court and audience were drenched
in their own tears, and the chains of silence-a breath-
less silence like that of the house of death-hung over
all."
"November 13th.-Superintended the scrub party;
read papers and letters, and wrote.
"Sabbath, November 15, 1829.-I am pleased to
number the weeks thus steadily; once they came too
fast, now with tardy steps. Was busy most of the day
with the American Journal of Medical Science. I
consider it an imperious duty to employ all my time
with a view to improvement. Sunday shines no Sab-
bath day to me;' yet, not forgetting my good old New ·
England habits, my Bible had my care.
6
6
The
" November 16th.-Busied myself with New York
and Albany papers. In New York, things have come
to a strange pass. The fifty-seventh edition all alive;
even the notable and talented Major M. M. Noah, 't is
said, was called to their aid during the heated contest
and effervescence of politics. 'Tis amusing to see what
names the parties assume: The pewter-mug ticket,'
Miss Fanny Wright's working ticket,' etc.
Herald seems to stand forth in manly size, and says
they fought most gloriously. From a bird's-eye view
of the two parties, it would seem that every urchin,
from Bloomingdale to the Battery, was allowed to cry
Fire! proscription! infidelity! as if all bedlam were
let out. Heard of the conflagration of Buffalo. Warm
times among the anti presses; thought they were fire-
proof, as they are certainly void of honesty and truth.
Guess they will cry with with Gov. Southwick, hard
times!
"November 18th.-Good news from home. Mused
much on the various pursuits of mankind; some seek-
ing the bubble reputation one way and some another.
Sam Patch, inspired by vaulting ambition, jumped
156
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
into a watery grave. He was a fair illustration of
human ambition. Not content with a level, he must
be raised twenty-five feet, to sink and rise no more."
The adventures of Sam Patch, of jumping noto-
riety, formed a topic of popular gossip for several
years. After jumping, with impunity, from many
elevations, Niagara Falls among others, he took his
last leap at the Genesee Falls, at Rochester, N. Y.,
November 13, 1829. His leap was from a scaffold,
twenty-five feet in hight, which, added to the hight
of the cliff, made his descent sheer one hundred and
twenty feet. He is supposed to have been killed by
the concussion, as he did not rise to the surface, nor
was his body found until a considerable period had
elapsed.
Here closes the first volume of the diary. The
second, which extends from November 19, 1829, to
May 16, 1830, has this for its motto:
"A daily journal is a mass of life,
With placid lakes and boisterous seas of strife;
Some happy isles are scattered here and there,
Like specks beside vast continents of care.
But real happiness is only known
In one blest region, Virtue's temperate zone."
"November 19th.-Compelled to take medicine to-
day, from a vitiated state of the blood. Visitors, Geo.
Goundry and Geo. Stafford, of Geneva, and Mr. Ware,
of Bloomfield.
"November 20th.-The Grand Jury visited us. The
countenances of some of them bespoke frankness,
freedom, and intelligence; while others displayed a
swinish inquisitiveness, bordering on arrogance, and
allied, in the present state of political affairs in this
country, with a clownish and aristocratic triumph.
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
157
"Sabbath, November 22, 1829.-Busy with my
Bible, and Lee's Sermons, and Hayward's Use of
Prussic Acid. In the afternoon, three men called on
mine host for an interview with me; they were re-
jected promptly; I don't know the cause. My friend,
Mr. Orsamus Turner, called some thirty minutes later,
and was admitted. He tarried all night."
From this date the pages of the diaries begin to
be filled with abstracts from his medical reading, sta-
tistical tables, notes from Wilson's Ornithology, the
Greek Testament, and other works.
"November 23d.-Reading and writing letters. Mr.
Orsamus Turner and Mr. V. Olcott, of Rochester,
called. Felt a slight palpitation of the heart, which
has troubled me at times for more than a year past.
It was induced by the same causes that usually precede
cardiac disease; among which are the turmoils of public
concerns, the multiplied cares of private business, the
mortification of an honest pride, the disappointments
of a laudable ambition, the reverses of fortune, the
ingratitude of friends, the sufferings for ill-requited
favors, the anguish of domestic afflictions, and, so far
as I am concerned, (the climax to my accumulated
trials,) the obloquy and disgrace that many would
gladly heap on me. These frequently serve as vul-
tures to the sensitive heart. Philosophy alone must
be the antidote, the balsam to such a disease."
The attentions of Mr. Olcott were frequent during
Mr. Bruce's imprisonment.
"November 24th.-Visitors, Minry Fisher and Dr.
Bean, sheriff and son.
"November 25th.-Our worthy friend Wm. Buell,
from Rochester, called.
158
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
•
"November 26th.-Letters from my friend Shaw
V. O. Hill, student of Fairfield. E. A. Cooley, of
Lockport, visited me.
"How oft the shades of joys departed pass
Across the scene, while memory holds the glass;
Till spell-bound Fancy thinks the whole is real,
And spreads her arms to clasp a form ideal.'"
Mr. Cooley's visits were frequent, and seemed to
afford Mr. Bruce much pleasure.
"November 27th.-Visitors, Mr. Besançon, of Lock-
port, Col. William Blossom, Chesebro, and Green-
leaf."
Col. Blossom paid much attention to Mr. Bruce
during the whole period of his imprisonment
“November 28th.-Visitors, Col. Sawyer, H. Rich-
mond, and Mrs. Martin."
Very many visits by Mr. Richmond are recorded
in these diaries.
“November 29th.-I have been calculating the
worth and character of my esteemed friend, Mrs.
Martin. Her motives in visiting this place seem to
be the most pure, emanating from real goodness of
heart, abstracted entirely from those sinister motives
of pretended worth, or of extorting praise. Not phar-
isaical in appearance; having no thirst for a wanton
exhibition of those rare qualities so eminently blended
in her mind, she exhibits her charities without os-
tentation, her love without dissimulation, her sense
without vanity, her esteem without flattery, and her
counsel as the happy offspring of undiminished excel-
lence. A Presbyterian, she is not bigoted in the
tenets of her Church. She only seeks to arouse that
love which is the fulfilling of the law.' Bent on her
6
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
15.9
Master's business, she visits our prison, and seeks to
administer comfort and consolation to its unfortunate
inmates; and is our only Samaritan, while many a
graceless zealot, priest-like, passes by on the other
side. Dr. John Beach paid us a visit.
""
t This tribute to the character of a model lady was
so plainly suggested by the drawing of Grand Master
Solomon, that it will be in place here to compare the
two together:
"Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is
far above rubies.
"The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her,
so that he shall have no need of spoil.
"She will do him good and not evil all the days of
her life.
"She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly
with her hands.
"She is like the merchants' ships; she bringeth
her food from afar.
"She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth
meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.
"She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the
fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.
"She girdeth her loins with strength, and strength-
eneth her arms.
"She perceiveth that her merchandise is good:
her candle goeth not out by night.
"She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her
hands hold the distaff.
“She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she
reacheth forth her hands to the needy.
"She is not afraid of the snow for her household:
for all her household are clothed with scarlet.
"She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her
clothing is silk and purple.
160
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
"Her husband is known in the gates, when he sit-
teth among the elders of the land.
"She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and deliver-
eth girdles unto the merchant.
"Strength and honor are her clothing; and she
shall rejoice in time to come.
"She openeth her mouth with wisdom, and in her
tongue is the law of kindness.
"She looketh well to the ways of her household,
and eateth not the bread of idleness.
"Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her
husband also, and he praiseth her.
"Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou
excellest them all.
"Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a
woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.
"Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her
own works praise her in the gates."
"November 30th.-My eyes begin to fail me; can
not read constantly; obliged to loiter from necessity,
not choice. Visitors, Owen G. Warren, of 263 Mott
street, N. Y., and Thomas G. Potter, 342 Bowery,
N. Y."
Mr. Warren is noted as having made frequent calls.
"December 2, 1829.-Wet and cold without; dreary
and dark within. Truly this is the winter of my hopes,
of my joys, past or future.
"How dead the vegetable kingdom lies!
How dumb the tuneful!'
"December 3d.-The day set apart by the Gover-
nor as a day for thanksgiving and prayer. It recalls,
with fond recollections, the scenes of youth, the en-
chanting gayety of adolescence, the sober, calm, and
interesting scenes of manhood. From the poor la-
borer to the churlish miser, one general burst of feel-
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
161
ing, one heart of joyous festivity, mingled with senti-
ments of gratitude for unmerited favors, the choicest
bounties of nature; sense and sentiments like these
were the free-will offerings of the people of my natal
home. In the gayer tones of youthful sensibility, in
the enlivening circles of health, beauty, and compe-
tency, in the willing recognition and fond recollection
of wonted endearments, we are at once transported
back through the long vista of fleety years, and pay
a willing homage to the shrine of virtuous memory.
Presented with a fine thanksgiving dinner by Mrs.
Chesebro; very thankful. Visitors, E. Mather, J. E.
Roberts, H. O. Rily, N. G. Chesebro, O. G. Morrow,
H. Swanton, and two ladies; all very good.
"
"December 4th.-Spent part of the day cheerfully
with my friends. Visitors, Thomas Shepherd, Mr.
L. A. Spaulding, and Mr. M. H. Sebley, for the first
time."
This visit, noted as "the first," was followed by
many others. Mr. Sebley was one of the counsel
of Mr. Bruce, upon his trial, a pleader of great
ability. _
"December 5th.-Received a letter from my only
brother, Silas Bruce; all well. Dr. Otis Williams, of
Rochester, called."
Dr. Williams was a frequent visitor, and, as we
shall see further on, took a rare interest in the case
of Mr. Bruce.
The letters of Dr. Silas Bruce to his brother are,
we believe, all lost; but we have many from him,
written since the inception of this volume, and can
readily conceive how much of consolation such epistles
14
162
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
1
were calculated to impart. In a letter, dated January
11, 1860, he says to us:
}
"How much your illustration brings back sad
memories! O, how much real sorrow brooded over
my spirits during those tedious months of my brother's
confinement! But he rests: now from antimasonic
passion.
"I have been laboring to obtain a miniature of my
deceased brother, and even now there is, perhaps,
some little prospect. I am to see a gentleman this
week in relation to the matter. I suppose my nephew
Albert has given you all the information that I might,
of Eli's early history. He stood a full head higher
than his fellows, and exceedingly strong withal. So
muscular was he, that while pursuing his academic
course, two of the students were engaged in combat,
almost mortal,' he, good-naturedly, caught the larger
one, threw him over the stone fence into a snowbank,
when the lesser ran for the school-door."
We take this place to insert, as a part of the family
history, an account of a second cousin of Eli Bruce,
a most interesting lady, Miss E. W. Bruce, to whose
precious memory a monument was erected not long
since, at Mount Auburn, Mass. Her father, still liv-
ing, is Mr. Abel W. Bruce, ex-treasurer of Cambridge,
Mass., the son of Eli Bruce, sen. The character of
the deceased lady resembles, in so many particulars,
that of the subject of this volume, that there is thought
to be great fitness in inserting the present article from
Dwight's Journal of Music, Boston, May 8, 1858:
"May 3d. A friend has handed me a slip from
the Boston Journal, containing a notice of a monu
ment recently erected in Mount Auburn Cemetery,
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
163
to Miss E. W. Bruce, of Cambridge, who was placed
there last autumn. The following description is copied
from it:
“The monument consists of a plinth, base, die,
and cap-the whole forming a small Grecian temple,
about five feet in hight, and of pure classic form. In
front of the die is a deep niche, in which is inserted
a tablet of statuary marble; on this tablet is sculp-
tured, in bas relief, a figure symbolizing the Geniust
of Music playing on the lyre, with the face turned
heavenward, as if in the act of devotion. A mass of
drapery falls in rich and graceful folds over it. It is
a thing of great beauty of soul rather than of sense,
and forms the principal object of the monument.'
"Miss Bruce was one of the rarest instances of
highly refined taste, and great artistic culture, gained
with no more advantages than are within the reach
of us all here at home, that I have known. The in-
stinctive love of the beautiful was, in her case, very
strong, and gave her an unerring perception of the
true, whether in painting, sculpture, literature, or
music. Her studies, however, were devoted to the
last; and though it was adopted as a profession, and
each day brought its wearying round of the teacher's
duties, her interest and delight in the Divine art never
flagged. Beethoven, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Chopin—
their works were her delight and constant study-her
standards of comparison; and yet she was so catholic
in taste, that whatever was good of its kind, the
simplest song, or the most profound orchestral work,
found in her ready appreciation, and just acknowl-
edgment of its merit. Her facility in reading music at
sight was very uncommon; and during the years that
I knew her, I never saw her at fault but once, and
that was, of all things in the world, upon an arrange-
ment of Handel's overture to the Messiah.'
C
"It was an old arrangement of the last century,
164
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
and so very much opposed to the present style, that,
to her infinite amusement, she was forced to stop after
a few bars, to study out the means of reproducing,
with her skillful fingers, the thin-looking score before
her. In a moment she caught the secret, and hence-
forth there was no difficulty.
"No member of the musical association, to which,
for several years, she belonged, will ever forget the
perfect ease with which she played our accompani-
ments, or how much her steadiness in the time and
rhythm conduced to our success in the cantatas, cho-
ruses, and other music, which was studied.
"But she began young, studied with judicious
teachers, and laid a solid foundation, so that, after-
ward, every step was forward. She had nothing to
unlearn. While acquiring and perfecting her tech-
nical knowledge of the pianoforte, she, at the same
time, neglected no opportunity to add to her knowl-
edge of musical literature; to gain higher and broader
views of the art; to penetrate into the very heart of
music. I had the pleasure of first calling her atten-
tion to the musical essays in the Harbinger, and re-
member well the intense delight with which she read
them. It was not more what she knew of music, than
what she knew about it, that made her superior. She
was, indeed, a rare proof of the value of general musi-
cal culture to the teacher. She was one who showed
her love of the beautiful in everything. Not only in
art and literature; it was equally visible in her love
of flowers and her enjoyment of fine scenery.
"Sometimes she expressed her feelings in composi-
tion; but from a rare modesty-in her case too great
-none but her intimate friends ever heard her own
music, either vocal or for the pianoforte.
"All who knew Elizabeth Bruce will rejoice to
learn, that the respect and love of friends for her has
been shown in the neat and appropriate monument
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
165
above described; and will agree that there are few,
who, engaged constantly in the laborious profession
of teaching, have attained so high a culture in their
art, or by their decease have left so great a vacancy
in the circle in which they moved."
"Sabbath, December 6, 1829.-Eyes weak; did
not read much. In this inclement season thought
much of home. My treasure must suffer, though they
do not starve. Where dwells affection, and where the
pure source of love, but in a parent's breast? Dis-
tance can not sever it; water can not quench, or fire
consume it; death itself can not destroy it. Do the
pent sides of a narrow prison freeze its fountain, or
turn its current? No! the darkest dungeon but warms
and purifies the fount, and the narrow cell makes it
the more ardent. Let the gay pursue their gew-gaw
sports, the vain exhibit their high-wrought notion of
worth and beauty, and the rich count, with painful
care, the treasured heaps; the poor parent is happier
in the embrace of his living treasure, and the com-
pany of his early love, than these with all their fancied
pleasures.
"December 7th.-A letter from Orsamus Turner,
from home; tidings of sickness and poverty; unwel-
come news to a man in jail, the very crucible of suf-
fering and alembic of sorrow. Who shall smooth the
pillow, and make the sick-bed easy to the dear part-
ner of my disappointed hopes? Who shall guide
the darling genius of three innocent and interesting
daughters, and help to rear, with fostering hand, a
cherub son? Charity may wrap herself in her mantle
of white, fold her arms, and stand aloof; faith may
grow cold, and shut her eyes; hope may be supplanted
by despair, yet a parent's love can never diminish.
“December 8th.-What! dunned in jail! I should
think it rather a refuge from duns. I had rather see
166
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
the ugly hop of the printer's devil putting up hand-
bills, than see paper duns. I don't think the antis
the most honorable set of bipeds; too many of them
will lie for a farthing, and cheat for a penny. Were
they as patriotic as they pretend, Hudibras's tocsin
is very applicable to them:
"But my design, and hope, and trust, is
To bring your leading knaves to justice;
Exposed on satire's gibbet high,
To frighten others of the fry.
Thus, when our prudent farmers find
Such demagogues of feathered kind-
Crows, blackbirds,† and rapacious jays,‡
Disposed to plunder fields of maize;
If, haply, they destroy a few
Of such a lawless, plundering crew,
They hang them in conspicuous place,
To terrify the pilfering race!'
“December 10th.-Commenced the Chronicles of
the Canongate. Visitors, Drs. Lackey and Wells;
spent a profitable hour.
"December 11th.-Up at 5 A. M., reading Bichot
on the Medullary System.
“December 12th.-Did some writing for mine host.
Wrote Dr. Hill, at Herkimer. Very anxious to hear
from home; restlessness; impatience. The ways of
God are inscrutable. I can not feel reconciled to the
triumph of vice. His wisdom is far beyond human
sense; his ways are 'past finding out.' Sometimes
the inquiries arise-
"Why God, the just and good,
Omnipotent and wise, should suffer sin
To rise.'
"But in the light of revelation we are taught pa-
tience, meekness, submission, and love. In the due
exercise of these principles we shall
"Accuse ourselves, not God; and put our hands
Upon our mouths, and in the dust adore.'
* Cook and Broughton.
+ Weed and Whittlesey.
i
John C. Spencer.
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
167
"Sabbath, December 13, 1829.-But little better
to-day; mind very absent. This prison-house, 'where
chained felons pine,' may confine the corporeal sub-
stance of this animated system; but that conscious
part, which exists by an unknown union with the body,
can not be chained or confined. Conscious of its dig-
nity and liberty, it traverses the broad expanse of the
heavens with cherub swiftness, runs back to scenes
and places of other times, and leaves the panting clay
unconscious of its being.
"There is a world, the world of mind,
By neither time nor space confined.'
Visitors, Cousin Whitcomb and another gentleman.
"December 14th.-Read the President's Message,
a sound and able document. It exhibits, at one lucid
view, the state of our national affairs at home and
abroad, and all in a plain, unvarnished manner. It
will be found an able document. The scholastic
phraseology and rhetorical flourishes of his predeces-
sor, contrast unfavorably with the beautiful and un-
affected simplicity of style, the easy and familiar flow
of language we see here. Visitors, Chesebro, Tillot-
son, and J. Dawes."
A paragraph in the Message, particularly interest-
ing to Mr. Bruce, related to the recall of Joel R.
Poinsett, a high and distinguished Mason, from Mex-
ico, where he had been accused by his enemies of
using Masonry for political purposes. Of this General
Jackson says:
"It becomes my duty to inform you that prejudice,
long indulged by a portion of the inhabitants of Mex-
ico against the Envoy Extraordinary and Minister
Plenipotentiary of the United States, have had an
unfortunate influence upon the affairs of the two
168
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
countries, and have diminished that usefulness to his
own which was justly to be expected from his talents
and zeal. To this cause, in a great degree, is to be
imputed the failures of the several measures equally
interesting to both parties, but particularly that of
the Mexican government, to ratify a treaty negotiated
and concluded in its own capital and under its own
eye. Under these circumstances, it appeared ex-
pedient to give to Mr. Poinsett the option either to
return or not, as, in his judgment, the interest of his
country might require, and the instructions to that
end were prepared; but before they could be dis-
patched, a communication was received from the
government of Mexico, through its chargé d'affaires
here, requesting the recall of our minister.
was promptly complied with; and a representative
of a rank corresponding with that of the Mexican
diplomatic agent near this government, was appointed.
Our conduct toward that republic has been uniformly
of the most friendly character; and having thus re-
moved the only alleged obstacle to harmonious inter-
course, I can not but hope that an advantageous
change will occur in our affairs.
This
"In justice to Mr. Poinsett it is proper to say,
that my immediate compliance with the application
for his recall, and the appointment of a successor,
are not to be ascribed to any evidence that the im-
putation of an improper interference by him in the
local politics of Mexico was well founded, nor to a
want of confidence in his talents or integrity; and
to add, that the truth of that charge has been affirmed
by the Federal Government of Mexico in its cóm-
munications with this."
“December 15th.-Spent the day tolerably; played
chess with my worthy friend O. G. Warren, of New
York. His gentlemanly deportment, affable manners,
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
169
and equanimity of mind, powerfully predispose one
in his favor. To a highly cultivated mind is added
a communicative turn. He is liberal in sentiment,
yet sound and correct in principle. He interests us
with his urbanity, edifies us with his conversation,
and leaves deep impressions of his worth of charac-
ter and genuine goodness of heart. Friendship is
the wine of life.'
6
"December 16th.-Very busy part of the day writ-
ing; the residue with my Frenchman on the fibrous
system. Was this day frightened with a hideous dun
from
I supposed that account might run
till I could pay, else I would have begged.
""" If I owe
You any debts at all, then you must know
I am indebted still. If nothing be
Due unto you, why do you trouble me?'
"December 17th.-Letter from home. Complaint.
is useless; to sigh is vain; to rage and vituperate is
folly. Without my treasure, earth is a listless her-
mitage, life a valueless toy. Visitors, Putnam and
another gentleman."
Surely never was sketch of prison life more plaint-
ive than this of Bruce.
“December 18th.-Visitors, Chauncey H. Coe and
Colonel Bunnel.
"December 19th.-Read a portion of the Revised
Statutes. Amused myself with the kaleidoscope; its
variety of figures and combinations is wondorful. Mr.
Wood, of Rochester, called.
“Sabbath, December 20, 1829.-After an absence
of several weeks my muse paid me a visit. Although
on the Sabbath day, I indulged in a few lines on the
Village Bells. Under any circumstances, however
afflicting, industry tends to a happy life, protecting
15
170
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
8
us against its various contingences and diseases. By
employing the attention, it calls us off from those
perplexities and anxieties that so depress and disturb.
The ingredients of happiness are exercise of the mind.
and body, temperance, and virtue."
We have given this beautiful poem on page 98. It
is one of his happiest efforts.
“ December 21st.—Our sheriff spent an agreeable
hour in my room; and although he differs from me
on the subject of Masonry, yet he evinces a gener-
ous disposition, a feeling heart, an honest mind, and
a sound judgment-qualities rare, very rare, among
antimasons. There are honest antis; but the assump-
tion political is far from honest, for it opens the flood-
gates of political ambition and self-aggrandizement to
an ignorant, recreant, unprincipled, designing throng,
the tools of party, the panders of passion.
'Nor spleen, nor envy, nor the love of gold,
Infects one comma of the course I hold.'
Visitors, Ebenezer Mix, of Batavia, Wm. R. Thomp-
son, Gen. Van Fossen, and Mrs. Dolph."
The sterling integrity, sound attainments, and zeal-
ous advocacy of Freemasonry, which make up the char-
acter of the now veteran Ebenezer Mix, of Batavia,
New York, demand more than this brief paragraph in
his praise. No man stood higher in the days that
tried Masons' souls, and no man will be more fondly
remembered when the flowers bloom above him. To
his printed papers and manuscripts, and unwritten
recollections, we have been indebted almost from the
inception of this volume to its completion. His con-
tributions upon Masonic and mathematical subjects
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
171
to the Voice of Masonry, constitute one of its most
valuable features.
A. M. to my studies,
The death-bell again;
"December 22d.-Up at 5
with Dr. Thomas on Fevers.
some one exchanges worlds. My books would afford
me a sufficient amusement and stimulus, if my mind
were more susceptible to calmness, and could more
passively submit to the powers that be. Mr. Daven-
port, from New York, called, on business.
"December 23d.-Saw the announcement of the
death of Samuel Washburn, a man of worth and re-
spectability. Let his epitaph be written: 'Here lies
an honest man.' Sages could speak no more. 'Tis
the highest eulogy.
"Death holds the bright and golden key
Which opes the door of endless life;
From earth's dark prison sets us free,
This scene of passion, pain, and strife.'
"December 24th.-Christmas eve; and I suppose
that joy and hilarity characterize its celebration
among a great portion of our favored people. But
I have been musing on the vicissitudes of time. In
taking this retrospect I am led to this conclusion, as
I chide follies and applaud virtuous actions, that those
labyrinths of trouble and shoals of vexation might
have been shunned. Could I again traverse the same
sphere of life, I should make wonderful improve-
ments. It has been said that man resolves, and re-
resolves, yet dies the same;' but I have come to the
conclusion, that whatever is is right; and as fate
seems to be interwoven very intimately with the web
of life, it behooves me to bear its ills, whether the
offspring of fate or folly, blind stupidity or unavoid-
able contingences, wanton credulity, or the interposi-
tion of unforeseen events. And this not with cynical
stupor and gravity, but with Christian cheerfulness,
6
172
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
philosophical patience, so deport myself as not to
split twice on the same rock; not to slip twice from
the same stand.
6
“December 25th.-Christmas day; many people
passing the streets in fine spirits. Gaping visitors
many, yet I constrained myself to a tolerable temper.
How few of all I saw, if any, could tell why it was
called Christmas, or why the anniversary was cele-
brated at all. More than eighteen hundred years have
rolled away since the angels, hovering over Bethle-
hem, revealed to mortal eyes the joyful tidings of the
advent of the long-expected Shiloh. The angelic host
shouted their joyous acclamations: Glory to God in
the highest, peace on earth, and good-will to men!'
Yes, the meek and lowly Jesus came, not in the efful-
gence of supernal glory; not in the dazzling robes
of earthly grandeur, nor the costly livery of a princely
train, but condescended (O! what an infinite stoop!)
to be cradled in the dumb ox-crib! to be heir to all
the sufferings that life or death could yield, or hell
invent! How ardent, then, ought our devotions to
be! How serious our thankfulness, and how sincere
our rejoicings! Not the giddy round of wanton mirth,
nor idle pleasure of licentious joy, bespeak the call-
ings of this anniversary. Pleasures should be devo-
tional, and merriments chaste. This joyous occasion,
and the season of the year, afford to those into whose
lap Providence has scattered the rich rarities of the
good things of life a season of the sincerest pleasure,
by imparting, with cheerfulness, to the more needy
part of the community a part of their goods. Before
this manifestation of the Man of sorrows, we hear
the leathern-girt herald crying: Prepare ye the way
of the Lord, and make his paths straight. The heav-
enly dove; the bright cloud; his all-healing power,
are but so many tokens of his divinity and love; and
in Gethsemane his agonizing trials, with a betraying
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
173
kiss; and on Calvary, the crisis of the suffering God,
leave no doubt behind.”
In relation to the kindly testimonials of respect
sent to Mr. Bruce, on occasions like this, we copy the
following from one of the antimasonic organs of the
day, whose mission it was to torture everything good
and wholesome into an evil form:
"KIDNAPPERS AND OYSTERS!
"A keg of oysters arrived here yesterday, from
Albany, directed to Eli Bruce and Job Whitney, who
are now undergoing the penalty of the law, in the
Canandaigua jail, for a participation in the abduction of
Morgan. This is the way Masonry rewards her devoted
children. Bruce and Whitney obeyed her mandate;
and since the laws of their country have doomed them
to imprisonment for the act, she cheers up their droop-
ing spirits by feeding them with oysters and the like!
Have they a human skull to eat them out of?"
"
"December 26th.-A letter from which vexed
and grieved me. Slander, that 'foulest whelp of sin,'
is busy. Both they who mind their own affairs, and
they who are busy with the affairs of others, must
needs suffer from jealousy (the many-headed mon-
ster) of happiness of which they can not possess them-
selves, or from the wish to prevent its enjoyment in
others. Visitors, Dr. Williams, Tillotson, and H.
Hubbard."
We can not explain the rumor to which Mr. Bruce
alludes.
“December 27th.-Spent most of the day writing
to mother, wife, and daughter.
"December 29th.-Drafted some, and read papers.
174
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
There are friends who will accompany us while all is
clear, but when the clouds gather they are gone. The
only friendship is that which is stronger than death;
the only friends are they whose fortunes are embarked
in the same vessel, and who are resolved to sink or
swim together. Mr. Jesse Hawley called."
Subsequent visits by Mr. Hawley are noted.
"December 30th.-In the evening my base-viol was
accompanied with violin, flute, and clarionet. Col.
Sawyer and H. Richmond called.
•
"December 31st.-The close of the year. How
carelessly we note time, or little we improve it.
"Hark! 'tis the requiem of the closing year;
The hollow dirge of autumn's reign has sped;
Loud howls the tempest to the startled ear,
Deep moans the blast o'er summer's beauty fled.'
Visitors, Squire Putney and Judge Howell."
Mr. Putney was not an unfrequent visitor. Judge
Howell called often; but whether officially or as a
matter of friendship, the record does not show. It
will be remembered that this gentleman presided on
the bench at Whitney's trial, and expressed his opinion,
extra-judicially, that the evidence was insufficient to
convict him.
,
"January 1, 1830.-Slept poorly; up at 43 A. M.
Not a happy New Year to me or mine; 1829 has not
left me as it found me. It found me with my earthly
treasure, in the midst of domestic felicity, without
the aid of wealth; yes, in the enjoyment of-
626 Loves, friendships, hopes, and dear remembrances,
The kind embracings of the heart, and hours
Of holy thought;
These were the rays that light me through the gloom
Of mortal life-wells of the wilderness.'
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
175
But it has left me-
"In prison-house, where chained felons pine,'
afar from all that makes life, dear, and, thanks to
Heaven, for no crime! Visitors, Sawyer, Hammon,
Chesebro, Wright, and Mrs. Martin.
""
January 2d.—Mr. Spencer's statute relative to
jailers seems to have taken effect; although, in my
case, it must operate as ex post facto. Such is the
hue and cry about antimasonry, that justice and hu-
manity are invisible. Illiberal and vindictive must
that man be who, when in his power, can add to the
severity of the penal laws, merely to gratify an inter-
minable hatred against a particular society, and to
have the weight of his ire fall upon particular mem-
bers. Had the previous regulations been defective or
insufficient for the intended penalties, no fault could
be found. Alexander Howell visited us..
"January 4th.-My fellow-sufferer (Whitney) was
taken violently ill; a bilious attack. Robert Harvey
is in the last stage of consumption; the pangs of
death upon him. Circuit Court is in session, Judge
Moseley presiding. The superintendents of prisons
and poor-houses called; also E. J. Roberts, S. Mott,
and Welcome Esbrech, Esq., of Albany.
"January 5th.-A tedious night with the sick. I
begin to think the ills of life may better be borne
with patience than fought or struggled against. The
mind turns traitor to happiness when wishing for
objects that can not be obtained. By coveting the
pleasures of others we are constantly tantalized with
ideal enjoyments. If the mind can span or measure
its sphere, and graduate its force and velocity to its
circle, then happiness, or, at least, contentment, is
within its reach.
"But say, without our trials and our tears,
Without our triumphs o'er our wildest years, .
176
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
Without the charm to crush temptations down,
Who would be worthy of the victor's crown ?’
Mr. W. Whitney and his brother called; also a gap-
ing anti, who came to gaze.”
Mr. Whitney is recorded as a frequent and wel-
come visitor.
"January 6th.-The care of the sick mostly en-
grossed the day. Visitors, M. S. Jennings, Brock-
way, Barnum.
"January 7th.-Still in fatigue with the sick.
Papers and miscellaneous books occupied most of the
day."
This was the day on which the trial of Mr. E. J.
Roberts, editor and publisher of The Craftsman, com-
menced at Canandaigua. He was prosecuted by the
State for the publication of some strictures relative
to the infamous conviction of John Whitney, which
we have given on page 88. In his behalf Messrs.
George Hosmer, Ebenezer Griffin, and Daniel D. Bar-
nard were united; while for the prosecution appeared
Messrs. John C. Spencer, Dudley Marvin, and Bowen
Whiting. The case was continued for three days, and
the jury discharged, on their declaration that they
never could agree. They were equally divided in
opinion. One passage from the opening speech for
the defense, by Mr. Griffin, is given here:
"The doctrine advanced by the leaders of the anti-
masonic party is, that no Mason is fit for any office
of honor or profit; that no Mason is competent to
serve on juries; that no Mason is a competent wit-
ness in a court of justice; in short, that no Mason
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
177
is entitled to the rights of an American citizen; that
they are all murderers and cut-throats; and are to
be hunted down as victims by such misguided zealots
as Solomon Southwick and his followers.'
"January 8th.-Visitors, Mr. Morgan Morse, from
Lockport, Čuyler, and another gentleman from Pal-
myra. Spent the day between the sick and books."
Mr. Morse made many visits, which are duly
chronicled.
"January 9th.-Up most of the night with Har-
vey. At midnight he was seized with the agonies of
death, and continued to pant till 11 A. M., when the
vital spark fled to Him that gave it. Whether Chris-
tian or pagan, he evinced the most lamb-like patience
of all the sick-bed sufferers that ever I witnessed.
Whether his life had been one of folly, and he viewed
his confinement and sickness as the retributive jus-
tice of Heaven, and so stifled his complaint by deem-
ing his punishment just; or whether his faith in
Israel's Shepherd was so full, and his love for Him
who is all loveliness, so superabounded as to afford
a staff and support down to the very chambers of
death, I am at a loss to determine. The vale of
death seemed to have no terror, his sting no torment.
He gave no positive evidence of a change of heart,
and only from his deportment in his sickness could
I have drawn such a conclusion. Calm and collected.
to the very last, he met the grim messenger almost
without a groan. His age was thirty-two. He was
committed on a charge of petit larceny; but before
the trial came on he was summoned to a higher tri-
bunal.
"I was called into court at 111, as witness for
David Fisher. Was glad to breathe the air in com-
178
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
mon with my fellow-men. In the evening Judge
Rawson and Spencer Chapin called."
Judge Rawson is noted as a frequent visitor; but
there are five of this name in the diaries, viz.: Judge
Rawson, M. Rawson, P. J. Rawson, a correspondent,
P. R. Rawson, of Lockport, and Joseph Rawson, and
some confusion has grown out of the variety. Each
of them is noted as a friend, and all alike are wel-
comed by the prisoner.
We are unable to give the details of the case of
David Fisher, in which Mr. Bruce was subpenaed as
a witness...!
6
“Sabbath, January 10, 1830.-At 9 A. M. the
sexton came for poor Harvey. I was invited by mine
host to the hall door, it being the utmost verge of
liberty or tolerance, to hear the prayer of Parson
Eddy. He was tolerably hearty in his prayer, but
was mistaken in his expression, the house of death;'
rather, this is the house of bondage.' I find a man
can meet death with as much composure in the narrow
walls of a prison, on a bed of straw, as on the downy
couch in the spacious apartments of the wealthy. Mr.
E. Griffin, from Rochester, called."
6
+
Mr. Griffin, one of the counsel of Mr. Bruce, is
noted as making frequent visits. He was an able,
eloquent, and most excellent man.
"January 11th.-My mail brought the Statesman,
Albany Gazette, Lockport Journal, and Buffalo Jour-
nal, of mammoth size. Sheriff, with Colonel Sawyer,
called, and beguiled the last hour and a half of the
day.
"January 12th.-Devoted much of the day to my
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
179
muse. How unaccountable and truly lamentable, that
when we are endowed with a competent knowledge
of right and wrong, with comprehensive faculties, and
so many facilities for doing right, we wantonly do.
wrong! How vast must be the moral turpitude of
the heart! How vitiated the affections! How read-
ily the judgment must yield to vicious indulgences!
If this is a fault of our nature, how pitiable our situa-
tion how deplorable our faculties! But if it is
voluntary on our part, being induced by boisterous
passions, which are obedient to the will, how much
we deserve the displeasure of an all-beneficent Being,
who has scattered his blessings so profusely in our
paths! L. P. Thrall and Mr. Seely, of Lockport,
called.
"January 13th.-Reviewed and corrected the pro-
duction of yesterday. Paid considerable attention to
Dr. Thomas. Joseph Rawson and daughter, Dr. Ball
and wife visited; also some
"A fertile mind and a vivid imagination can always
find new objects of attraction and various methods of
amusement, all tending to improvement. But when
the mind is stung with a sense of maltreatment, neg-
lect, persecution, that poignancy, like the touch of
the torpedo, paralyzes the mind; or, rather, it creates.
such acrimony, that the temper, although not abso-
lutely sour, is no longer sweet; it is occasionally testy
and extremely irritable, peevish at small disturbances,
unduly annoyed at petty trifles. Give it its tone, and
its vibrations will be sonorous, perhaps chiming harsh
discord, but occasionally smooth and serene.
“January 14th.-Vanity is more or less woven
into our very natures. Having transmitted to the
editor of the Morning Carrier, a daily paper in Roch-
ester, some of my lugubrious lucubrations, I had the
pleasure of seeing them out in to-day's paper. I said
pleasure; well, it was so. Qui non proficit, deficit.
3
180
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
"January 15th.-My wife and darling boy came
to me to-day.
"When fortune frowns and friendships fail,
When tempest-tost amid the gale
Of penury and woe,
Thy smiles, Maria, can impart
A ray of sunshine to my heart,
And make a heaven below.'
"January 16th.-Wrote part of the day. Spent
considerable time dandling my boy. Yes, Imprison-
ment, cruel as thou art, here is a joy thou canst not
poison here a bliss thou canst not destroy! Like
the sun amid parting clouds, which makes its rays
more genial, so the soft affection and the pure tone
of feeling are the more ardent, and burn with purer
flame as the objects of our dearest love are occasion-
ally eclipsed. He that never has had a child to give
his feelings a tone, but, like the Egyptians, for want.
of a current of his own natural feelings, worships
dogs, cats, or monkeys, can never know, by experi-
ence, the ultimate object and ecstasies of that heaven-
born gift, Love.
66
January 17th.-Spent most of the day playing
with my child. Read and wrote the residue. Who
knows the extent of woman's love? In prosperity
the mind may revel in pleasures, not in indulgences,
or float smoothly along the tide of life's eventful
stream, without any extraordinary development of
conjugal attachment:
"But change the scene: In this lone, dreary cell
Her youthful husband is condemned to dwell:
Yet here affection leads her; here she flies
To soothe my sorrows and suppress my sighs.
She cheers my dungeon, tries, by every art,
To quell the anguish of my troubled heart.""
These testimonies to the affection and fidelity of
Mrs. Bruce's character are so thoroughly deserved,
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
181
and form so important a part of this biography, that
they can not, with propriety, be omitted.
"January 18th.-Devoted much time looking over
Webster's (large) Dictionary. Mrs. Bruce spent the
day with me. We talked much of the varieties of
fortune-from ease to penury; from gayety to sad-
ness; from freedom to imprisonment; and that she
must soon return to Lockport. And then to part?
O, no!
66
"There are two souls whose equal flow
In gentle streams so calmly run,
That when they part-they part? ah, no!
They can not part-those souls are one !'
January 19th.—The sheriff and Mr. McGregory
called.
"January 21st.-Viewing Bell's Anatomy, with
plates, loaned me by Dr. Ball. Painfully exercised
with my foot; extracted a portion of the nail. Drs.
Beach and Ball visited me.
66
January 22d.-V. S. Alcott, Dr. Partridge, and
Mr. Dean called. Foot very painful. Wrote my
eldest daughter. Wife, boy, and books consumed the
day.
"This little loved one, clothed in rosy health,
Is joy to us, contentment, rapture, wealth.'
"January 23d.-Don't feel lively. Tonsils very
tender. System feels strange. Great apathy and
weariness. Read my medical books.
"January 27th.-The interim from the 23d has
been filled up with restless nights and painful days.
An attack of cynanche maligna renders me very weak.
On the 25th was visited by the superintendents of the
jail, with Judge Howell; Dr. Hill also called.
"January 28th.-My family left me to-day, for
182
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
Lockport, and left me in jail! Yes, dull and alone
a void that nothing can fill.
"The treasures of the deep are not so precious
As the concealed comforts of a man
Locked up in woman's love.'.
Sola nobilitas virtus.
"January 29th.-Much people to-day gaping about
this abode of human wretchedness. Was presented
by Col. Sawyer's wife with The Token of 1830. Dr.
Maxwell and lady, from Lockport, called."
Dr. Maxwell's attentions are more than once noted
in terms of gratitudé.
"January 30th.-Wrote considerable; read as much
as my eyes would bear. Tried the amusement of chess,
but could not control my mind to progress with much
profit. Sometimes I am almost persuaded that my
mind is impaired, or has undergone some evil change,
or that it was always flickering and volatile. H. B.
Williams and lady called."
A debate of a singular character occurred this day
in the Pennsylvania Legislature, on a resolution of
Mr. Mitchell for instructing the library committee to
inquire into the expediency of placing in the library,
for the use of members, the following books: Mor-
gan's Illustrations of Masonry; Report of the Le Roy
Convention; Bernard's Light on Masonry; Webb's
Monitor; Hardy's Masonic Guide; (?) Southwick's
Solemn Warning; Report of the Lewiston Committee;
Abbé Barruel's Freemasonry; Second Advent of an
American Layman; and such other books in Ma-
sonry as the library committee shall think proper.
The resolution was lost.
3
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
183
"Sabbath, January 31, 1830.-Read most of the
day the North American Review and The Token for
1830. Do not see wherein our own authors fail in
excelling the transatlantic. The profound knowledge
of Johnson, the chaste, easy, and versatile flow of
Addison, and the smooth philosophy of Blair, all have
their rivals here if not their superiors.
“February 1, 1830.-Most of the day with books;
much amused with The Captain's Lady, in The Token.
The author was a humorous erudite, and living in
single blessedness, could, with impunity, satirize and
give his humor any latitude. Captain Darrow paid.
me a visit; also the sheriff of Livingston county.
This made the evening pass very happily, if the ex-
pression is allowable in jail."
The visit of Captain Darrow was subsequently re-
peated, much to the gratification of their recipient.
He appears to have been a true friend to Mr. Bruce.
(6
February 2d.-Pretty steady at books, but not
much the better. If I could lay an embargo on the
outgoes of the mind, and a tariff on every foreign
thought, memory would be rich and the mind fertile.
Relieved from those obtrusive cares that thrust them-
selves, uncalled for, full into the face and eyes of
business and duty, I could pursue systems of studies.
with satisfaction and profit.
"February 3d.-Steady at books, but often my
mind would fly off at a tangent, and then I had to
summon the whole posse of my few, weak faculties
to force back my roving imagination. Having chosen
the most secluded room in this house of bondage, I
can not see those gay parties of pleasure, whose jing-
ling sleigh-bells so often salute my ears.
66
February 6th.-So disturbed with one of the in-
mates, a devil incarnate, that my mind is thrown from
184
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
}
its balance. It is an old man, seventy-three years of
age, committed as a disorderly person. Added to his
most daring blasphemy, his conversation is obscene,
filthy, and ridiculous. I almost doubt whether he has
that indescribable, heaven-born principle called a soul.
If he is happy, then the devils may be amid their
fires. Visited by Mr. Hurlburt, W. Whitney, and his
three very interesting daughters.
66
Sabbath, February 7, 1830.-But little sleep last
night, owing to the maniac (Monair) who was bedeviled
all night, thumping, dancing, praying, and blasphem-
ing. If more devils were ever herded in mortal be-
fore, they must have been by legions.
66
February 8th.-Having compelled the devil to go
slip-shod, and tethered his inner door, I slept tolera-
bly well. Was awakened about 5 A. M. by the cry
of fire. Did not know but what our domicile was in
a friendly blaze, but soon discovered that we were
perfectly safe in jail. S. Ward and E. B. Child, of
Albany,
, gave us a friendly call. When friendship is
the offspring of a good heart, it is balsam to the soul,
and gives a pleasing tone to the faculties, both physi-
cal and intellectual. Even in. the sad condition of
confinement, and the severe distress of judicial inter-
diction, its development cheers and illuminates like
the sun."
Mr. Ward's visits have been noted before. Mr.
Child was editor of the Masonic Record, of which we
have spoken in a preceding page.
"February 9th.-Still annoyed by the clamor and
blasphemy of our 'legion' man. Sheriff Wilder, of
Genesee county, called; spent a fine hour with him.
Should think him a zealous anti, but a sound man."
It will serve as a good comment upon this passage,
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
185
relative to antimasonic sheriffs, to give a portion of
the State expenses relative to the Morgan affair. The
list comprises but a small part of the public outlay,
but will give an idea of what antimasonry accom-
plished for New York:
October 30th, 1827.
TO JOSEPH GARLINGHOUSE, Sheriff of Ontario County,
for pursuing JOHN WHITNEY and BURRAGE SMITH
into Kentucky,…………………….
$373 00
May 9th, 1828.
TO JOSEPH GARLINGHOUSE and PHINEAS P. Bates, of
the County of Ontario, for pursuing WILLIAM
KING, BURRAGE SMITH, and JOHN WHITNEY,...... 2,096 82
August 22d, 1828.
TO THURLOW WEED for pursuing ELISHA ADAMS to
Vermont, and bringing him back to this State,
February 19th, 1829.
TO ORSON BENJAMIN, as the discoverer of one of the
abductors of MORGAN, pursuant to the first proc-
lamation of Gov. CLINTON,..
193 55
100 00
February 3d, 1830.
TO THURLOW WEED for pursuing to Vermont and
apprehending ORSON PARKHURST,..
150 82
To DANIEL MOSELEY for disbursements as Special
Counsel,
383 59
1,000 00
For services and expenses as Special Counsel,........
TO JOHN C. SPENCER for disbursements as Special
Counsel,..
961 62
For services and expenses as Special Counsel,...... 2,330 00
$7,589 40
"February 10th.-A letter from home; all in
health and poverty. My dear wife writes that her
16
186
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR..
return to Lockport seemed more like going from a
graveyard than returning from a visit..
"Much happier they, the happiest of our kind,
Whom gentler stars unite, and, in one fate,
Their hearts, their fortunes, and their beings blend.'
Visitors, Mr. Hubbard and Mrs. Alcott, of Roches-
ter.
“ February 11th.-Visitors, Mr. Taylor, of Lewis-
ton, and Mr. Hallock. Loitered part of the day with
a novel. In no spirits for study. Copied some
music.
"February 12th.-To-day I was more of a novel-
ist than anything else. Gave loose to the wild ideas.
of enchanting fiction. A mere, skeleton, a tale of
probability, a series of accidents incident to life, and
a happy termination-these are the characteristics of
a novel. Our good friend Mrs. Martin visited us.
"February 13th.-Paid some attention to Prof.
Gregory's work on Pneumonia, Chronic Bronchitis,
and Consumption.
Sabbath, February 14, 1830.-Am almost sick
of my species. Conversation and occurrences to-day
among the miserable inmates of this jail; the place
is but one remove from hell! What depravity and
obduracy of heart! What licentious and callous feel-
ings! They are some degrees below the brute crea-
tion.
"February 15th.-Much disturbed by the bellow-
ing of our bedlamite. Assisted, in the absence of
mine host, to chain him to the floor. Thought much
of my family; very impatient to be with them. Time
moves with tardy steps.
"Could I forget
What I have been, I might the better bear
What I am destined to. I'm not the first
Who has been wretched; but to think how much
I have been happier l'
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
187
Mr. Rawson, from Geneva, and Mr. Lawson's son
Francis called.
February 16th.-Wrote and copied some music.
That science is a grand panacea to the mind, a per-
petual resource against ennui; for while it delights
the ear, it soothes the heart. Like charity, it has a
twofold blessing, imparting and receiving. The harp
of David could dissipate the infernal gloom from the
mind of Saul. A Zillah could soothe, with her sweet
voice, the turbulent and irascible temper of her un-
charitable father."
These observations accord so nearly with the def-
inition of music in the Freemason's Monitor, with which
Mr. Bruce was familiar, that we think proper to in-
sert it here:
"Music teaches the art of forming concords so as
to compose delightful harmony by a proportional ar-
rangement of acute, grave, and mixed sounds. This
art, by a series of experiments, is reduced to a science
with respect to tones and the intervals of sound only.
It inquires into the nature of concords and discords,
and enables us to find out the proportion between
them by numbers."--Preston.
In the Craftsman of this date (February 16, 1830)
appear various articles, prize tales, and poems, from
one of which, as Mr. Bruce took a deep personal
interest in the matter, we make here some extracts,
more especially as it presents a good synopsis of the
Morgan question. The editor, Mr. E. J. Roberts,
had offered premiums "for the best Address to the
People of the United States on the subject of Pop-
ular Commotions, based upon the prevailing excite-
188
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR."
ment in the Western District of New York; for the
best and second best tales; and for the best and
second best poems."
The committee appointed to examine the various
papers presented in competition for the first prize,
consisted of Messrs. Vincent Matthews, Isaac Hills,
Simeon Ford, George Hosmer, Elisha B. Strong, Ash-
ley Sampson, and W. B. Rochester. They adjudged
the prize to an anonymous piece of great merit, from
which we make the following excerpts:
In
"Like most other parties and combinations, which
rely more upon popular prejudice and credulity to
sustain themselves, than upon the principles of right
and wrong, it owes its birth to a slight cause.
the autumn of 1826 a few misguided individuals were
seduced into a course of conduct which, unfortunately,
resulted in the abduction of an individual by the name
of Morgan. Many of them, we have reason to believe,
were drawn into it with the full understanding that no
act should be committed which would, in any manner,
infringe upon the laws of the country, or in the least
compromise their characters as men, as citizens, or as
Masons. The legal investigations which have since
taken place warrant this conclusion, as well as that
most of the persons concerned in the abduction believed
that the individual, whose name has since that period
incessantly jarred upon the public ear, was cognizant
of the proceedings, and submitted to them voluntarily.
The result of the whole matter was one of the most
mysterious occurrences of which record has been
made. Neither the activity of party zeal, the scrutiny
of public functionaries, nor the untiring efforts of those
whose characters have been made unjustly to suffer,
have yet unraveled the mystery, or threaded this
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
189
labyrinth, more intricate than that of Crete, further
than to a certain point, where the unfortunate indi-
vidual alluded to was left in the custody of one who
has since claimed the clemency of the country by de-
nouncing his associates-beyond which all is darkness.
and doubt, a cloud alike impenetrable to the visions
of one party as the other.
"It is not to be supposed that an occurrence thus
marked would have been suffered to sleep unmolested.
No one in the least acquainted with the character of
the citizens of this country-a people more prompt to
redress a public wrong than a private injury-could,
for a moment, believe that a transaction thus outwardly
characterized as was the abduction of Morgan by crim-
inality, would remain hidden in the bosom of mystery
and darkness, without an effort to bring to light the
whole scheme of iniquity, and its authors. The Amer-
ican people, chivalrous and daring to a fault, would
have thundered at the gates of heaven itself to ascer-
tain the fate of a fellow-citizen; they would have
thought light of the fabled journey of the son of Ulys-
ses to the Elysian fields and the shades of Pluto, to
have gathered the truth; and, agreeably to the dictates.
of a feeling which does them honor, in the instance
of which we are speaking, every effort was made to
procure evidence, and fix upon the guilty the stigma
of the crime, and the punishment due to their guilt.
The counties more immediately interested in vindicat-
ing the violated laws, arose with one accord; meet-
ings were held in various parts, and, in their delibera-
tions and proceedings, the members of the Masonie
Fraternity took an active and zealous part; many of
them, from a feeling additional to that incumbent
upon them as citizens, inasmuch as the credit and
character of an order they esteemed, and knew to be
innocent, were partially involved.
"But this healthy state of public feeling was not
190
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
•
destined long to continue. Individuals, swayed not
by elevated patriotism, but by degrading selfishness,
whose only object was personal preferment, and who
merged, in their selfish views, all regard for the peace
of the community or the good of the country, threw
themselves at once into the arena, and usurped the
privilege of conducting the investigations which were
going on. With a ready, wit, they imagined that an
opportunity presented itself for lighting the fires of
discord throughout the country. The political situa-
tion of the country was partially fitted for their ad-
venture. Old party lines had been, in a great meas-
ure, defaced; and the whole people of the country
- thought and acted alike upon all public questions,
however much they might differ about the merits of
individuals. No question of general importance
divided them; the Constitution had been tried and
found efficient; the days of the embargo, and the ex-
citement which that measure gave rise to, had long
since been numbered with those beyond the flood;
and the country had arisen with new vigor and glory
from the depression consequent upon the war of 1812.
In fact, such was the happy state of the people, that
the farmer sat quiet by his winter fireside, with a mind
untroubled by Kirk and State affairs; the mechanic
busied himself with his employment, secure in the
protection afforded by a just and wise administration
of the public concerns; and the merchant met with
no public calamity to mar the success of his trade.
It was at a time of such general quiet and peace, that
the restless spirits, who have since taken the lead of
the antimasonic excitement, ventured upon the ex-
periment of forming a new party, and calling into
being new principles of political action. They saw,
or thought they saw, the kindling of a flame which,
by judicious feeding, would sweep over this fair land;
and although in its progress it might destroy temples
6
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
191
devoted to wisdom and science, and drive from their
homes some of the worthiest of the land, they were
content if, in the end, they could remain masters of
the burnt and blackened field. Instead of endeav-
oring to extinguish the first flames which arose, by
judicious and calm reasoning, they poured the oil of
falsehood upon the flame, and the element raged the
more madly. Fanaticism was invited to light her
torch, and it was not long before the altars of the
Church of Christ were blackened by the fire of dis-
cord. Prejudice took the brand from the pile, and
lighted the flame in families and neighborhoods, and
burned in twain the kindred cord that bound the father
to the son, and the wife to the husband, while over
the whole presided the demon of unhallowed ambi-
tion.
66
Proscription became the order of the day; and
every man who was at the same time a Mason, was
held up as accessory to murder, and his name branded
with the vilest epithets. It was immaterial how ex-
emplary had been his life, how exalted his patriotism,
or how cheerful his personal sacrifices in the hour of
his country's danger, his condemnation was pronounced
if he could not, like the mass of disturbed spirits in
the Western District, discover iniquity where there was
none, or evil designs in an institution whose only ob-
ject was benevolence. Were he the pastor of a Church,
fanaticism offered him the alternative either to de-
nounce that as evil which he knew to be good; or,
under the reign of error, to forsake his calling and
the service of his Divine master. Were he a public
officer, a re-election was denied him if he would not
forsake his faith. Were he a son, the blessings of a
misguided father were withheld if he would not join
the mendacious band. Were he a father, he was
doomed to see his children carried away by the prej-
udices of the hour. All the charities of life were for-
192
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
saken, and the fountains of good feeling in the heart
broken up. Distrust reigned triumphant. In an early
stage of the excitement, the evil spirits who had thus
placed themselves at the head of this projected rev-
olution, procured the establishment of a newspaper
devoted to their interests, and which weekly teemed
with the most inflammatory articles, calculated still
more to excite the public mind and gratify the vitiated
tastes and the malignant feelings which were becom-
ing predominant. Contributions were levied upon the
votaries of this new party, to sustain their publica-
tions, and, as the excitement spread, established others,
until they formed a phalanx of prostituted presses,
lost to every sense of the courtesies of life, and urging
the people onward to the hight of madness and folly.
"The excitement became more general, and spread
with more celerity, no doubt, from the very nature of
the community in which it arose. The people of West-
ern New York are second to none, in this wide-spread-
ing republic, for patriotism and public spirit; and if
they have a peculiar characteristic, it is that they are,
one and all, alive to every question that agitates the
public mind. Many of them are of that class of citizens
who made their home in the wilderness, and sought,
amid the pathless forest, a resting-place; who, by un-
wearied exertions through hardships and fatigue, have
made a garden where rude nature triumphed in her
glory of wood and wild; and the roar of the water-
fall, which then resounded in solitude, is now echoed
by the cheering hum of industry, arising from the
thousand occupations of man. They have passed the
difficulties incident to an uncultivated country, ex-
perienced the miseries of a frontier district in a vin-
dictive war, and, upon all occasions, have manfully
stood up for their rights as citizens, and their country
as men. Bound together by an indissoluble tie, a
common interest, and a common feeling, their voice
-
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
193
is the voice of one man. Enterprising in their char-
acter, from the very fact that their adventurous spirit
has led them to populate a country far from the homes
of their childhood and the friends of their youth, they
act together with a kindred feeling on all questions
of common and public interest. Always holding the
balance of political power, they have seldom failed to
exercise it with a due regard for the public good;
and now grown up in strength and manhood, were
they united as they were wont to be, the destinies of
the State would be in their hands. Upon the fearful
question which now agitates them, their usual unan-
imity was manifest; as far as the punishment of those
concerned in the outrage upon Morgan elicited hos-
tility to Masonry, there was but one voice, and that
was for the sovereignty of the laws and the triumph
of justice. It was at this point that the natural prej-
udice and credulity of men was made to aid the designs
of faction. The institution of Freemasonry, like all
societies the least exclusive in their character, was,
naturally, the subject of jealousy in the minds of those
who did not belong to it, and they were easily excited
against it by the clamors of those who had been re-
fused admission to its privileges, and the seasonable
misrepresentation of interested demagogues. PREJ-
UDICE having thus prepared the way, CREDULITY gave
admission to the most absurd tales; and it required
some fortitude for any man, who was not a Mason, to
believe that the design of the institution was not to
subvert the liberties of the country, and that its an-
nals were not blackened by the foulest crimes and
most specious deceptions. But when the views of the
faction, which has made such efficient use of the
abduction, were developed, and they found that the
sympathy of many of them extended no farther than
to create disturbance in the community, and build up
their own fortunes amid a public excitement, the people
17
194
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
paused; and when they remembered that the purity
of the institution was guaranteed by the names of the
greatest and best men who ever lived-a Washington,
Warren, Franklin, and Lafayette, a Tompkins and a
Clinton, and perceived that the proper authorities,
although many of them were Masons, were prompt
in the discharge of their duty, they began slowly, but
surely, to return to their accustomed equanimity,
leaving factions to fight for themselves, and the guilty
to their punishment.
"It is not easy for an individual living out of the
region of the excitement, to imagine the diseased state
of the public feeling during the two years succeeding
the event which gave rise to it. The people, in mass,
were ready to believe the most absurd tales; they
were filled with ideal stories of blood and murder.
Fictions which, in an hour of calmness, when reason
ruled the mind, would have carried their own refuta-
tion by their very absurdity, were readily received as
truth; and the consent of many of the public men
who, in the Western District generally, make a merit
of adopting the opinions of the multitude to the course
which was taking, gave additional weight to the asser-
tions of that party who were determined to immolate
upon the altar of prejudice and credulity the fame
and good name of every individual who dared ques-
tion the infallibility of the leaders of antimasonry, or
refuse to acknowledge that their principles were the
only true test of a man's religion and piety, as well
as political orthodoxy.
"Relying upon the infatuation which was so general
around them, and believing that the delusion was des-
tined to spread throughout the land, a body of men,
who have since been widely known, placed themselves
at the head of the new party, and dispensed offices
and rewards to their followers with an assurance truly
astonishing. These men looked forward with a certain
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
195
expectation of obtaining, in a little time, the control
of the whole nation. They could not content them-
selves with tyrannizing over a simple country or a
senate district; their political stomachs possessed the
digestive powers of the ostrich, and nothing save the
sovereignty of the State and nation would satiate their
inordinate hunger. Accordingly, they laid their plans
for a State and national party, and looked forward
with all the acuteness which vivid hope could give to
the unlimited sway of the republic; when an aspiring
demagogue should control the foreign and domestic
relations of the country; when a scheming printer
should introduce the tactics of the New York lobby
into the hall of the capitol of the nation; or a true
descendant of Cleon, of Athens, should preside over
the finances of the country, and fill the station which
has been graced by a Hamilton and a Dallas.
"Visions of glory, spare my aching sight!'
6
“Their minds thus expanded, and their ambition
thus exalted, they began to think that the mere story
of the abduction of Morgan, which had been doled
forth from their presses, in all the variety of a gal-
lows melody, must begin to pall upon the public ear,
or, at least, would be wanting in effect upon that class
of citizens whose reading and whose minds were
above the catch-penny publications, the last words
and dying speeches,' which emanate from the scaffold,
where some culprit has expiated his crimes by his
life; and that to give their party strength, and extend
its arms, a higher and more important bearing must
be attached to it. They, therefore, began in various.
ways to develop their creed, until it finally settled
down into a plain determination to effect a REVOLU-
TION. So far have they worked upon the prejudice
and credulity of their followers, that the majority of
them believe that-
A
196
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
"1st. A member of the Masonic Fraternity is un-
qualified for an American citizen; and that, therefore,
every Mason should be deprived of the common right
of holding office under the government, either in a
representative, judicial, or executive capacity.
"2d. That in consequence of being a Mason, he is
utterly unqualified for acting as a juror upon any
occasion, or of being accredited as a witness.
"3d. That as antimasons, they are bound by their
duty to God, their country, and themselves, to urge
their doctrines to a complete fulfillment of their pur-
poses, without the least compromise or shadow of
turning.
"Such is the creed of antimasonry. Can their
object ever be effected in this country? And if it be
possible to bring about so extraordinary a revolution,
can it be accomplished without bloodshed? Are the
rights of freemen less dear, or the enjoyment of liberty
and the institutions of justice less worth preserving
now than they ever have been?
C
"There is now no need of holding back opinions;
an active, vigorous, and wily enemy is eating its way
into the very vitals of the republic, and it is time
that every man decide which of the two to choose,'
the preservation of the free Constitution of our country
and our republican institutions, or a contest which.
must, necessarily, possess all the rancor of the civil
wars of Rome and Britain, and the infatuation and
licentiousness of the French Revolution. It will-be
a struggle of right against might-of the friends
of equal laws and equal privileges against those who
would limit the protection of the government to a
fanatical party. Nothing short of the goal we have
set for antimasonry will satisfy its devotees. They
make no secret of the point they aim at; and not
even the abolition of the institution of Masonry,
or the destruction of the splendid temples of benev-
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
197
olence and virtue which its enterprise and munifi-
cence have erected throughout the land, will satisfy
them, unless is added to these calamities the com
plete annihilation of the political rights of the mem-
bers of the Fraternity. The question is becoming
serious and alarming, and one which interests every
lover of liberty. It involves questions upon which
depend the prosperity and happiness of thousands of
men who are now free; and more than all, it involves
the character of the republic and the stability of its
government. For, in the one instance, it will clearly
evince that our population is the only one where, in
these days of light and knowledge, designing men
can practice upon the prejudice and credulity of the
people; while, in the other, the ark upon which we
rest will be cut from its moorings, and left at the
mercy of the turbulent waves of faction. May God
in his infinite mercy, avert such evils, and preserve
unbroken the bond, the only bond which can bind us
together, a veneration for the sacred institutions which
our fathers have left us, and a respect for the rights
and privileges of each other!"
"February 17th.-More company to-day than usual.
Some
; some visited for friendship's sake,
who could look at me not with the clownish gaze of
idle curiosity, but with an eye of kindlier feelings.
Such possess the heart devoted to friendship. Among
my visitors were Dr. Isaac Smith, from Lockport, Dr.
Dorris, two gentlemen from Lockville, Warren county,
S. Mott, Col. Frost, and Dr. Fuller. I find that many
are
"The firmest friends where interest forms the tie,
And bitterest foes where rival interests vie.'
But all are not so.
February 18th.-But little work to-day, being
afflicted with the blue devils or some other class of
198
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
colored and ill-disposed genii. The Court of Com-
mon Pleas being now in session, I was visited by the
Grand-Jury. Some of these, but not the majority,
seemed pleased to see me here. Of some I formed a
favorable opinion.
"If to my share some human errors fall,
Think on this place, and then forget them all.'
I am not disposed to wrangle with Dame Fortune so
much as with some of my own species. The latter
are a strange, fickle, mutable set of bipeds.
❤
"February 19th.-Not much progress in study;
reading miscellaneous books. Among the visitors
with whom I whiled away two or three hours, were
J. F. Mason, Major S. Barton, from Niagara county,
V. S. Olcott, of Rochester, Mr. Owen, from Phelps,
and Dr. Williams, of this village. The latter gentle-
man, a happy septuagenary, retains much information
of the healing art, and relates some interesting cases
and anecdotes. He retains much of the man, and
delights to exhibit his scholastic abilities, not yet
paralyzed under the frosts of seventy winters. He
reads and translates Greek and Latin with facility.
"February 20th.-To-day passed less irksome than
many have done since my incarceration. Whether it
is owing to the vivifying principle of friendship, as
manifested in the countenances of some visitors to-
day, or whether that parti-colored, soul-disturbing,
peace-haunting, jail-visiting, and infernal-born spirit,
styled blue-devils, has left me for a while to recruit for
a fresh attack, I know not, but, probably, both had
their influence. My much respected friends S. Sco-
ville and lady, L. A. Spaulding, and J. F. Mason,
came in to see me. It is not the least among the
triumphs of injured feelings and conscious honor that
the expressions of these men, without any effort to
extort it from them, indicated that there was no dim-
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
199
inution of honor or respect. This is not egotism or
self-praise; it is the truth, (I at least hope so,) and
what is in justice due me.
">
Poor prisoner, it was a triumph to know this! And
within the year now passing a high order of Masonry
being established at Lockport, where he died and was
buried, no name was found so suitable for it as that
of BRUCE COUNCIL OF ROYAL AND SELECT MASTERS.
For the testimony of this we offer the following
letter:
"LOCKPORT, N. Y., January 18, 1860.
"ROB MORRIS, Esq. :-On the 13th January 'Bruce
Council of Royal and Select Masters' was instituted
in this place, by virtue of letters of dispensation,
issued by N. O. Benjamin, Esq., Most Puissant Grand
Master of the Most Puissant Grand Council of Royal
and Select Masters of the State of New York: where-
in Rev. Comp. Charles H. Platt was named Th.. Ill..
Master; Comp. Charles Craig, R.. Ill.. Master; and
Comp. Daniel A. Knapp, Ill.-. H. Con. of the Works.
This council is named in honor and memory of the
martyr Eli Bruce, one of the victims of antimasonry.
It opens under favorable auspices, and is destined to
radiate Cryptic light over this once benighted re-
gion."
Nor is this all. The writer of this volume, who, at
the youthful age of eighteen, passed westward within
sight of his grave, September 23, 1836, and heard
there the story of antimasonic, triumph over truth,
justice, and a life then but four years ended, now,
with head thickly frosted with time, puts these last
touches to a work which shall show, it is hoped, to
1
200
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
·
loving Masons, Bruce's sorrows, sufferings, and splen-
did conquest over self. This, too, poor prisoner, "is,
in justice, due him.”
"Sabbath, February 21, 1830.—Read Sterne most
of the day; read a little in the Remember Me; fine
diction and sound sentiments in its pages. This is
termed the Christian. Sabbath; I fear it is more the
hypocrite's Sabbath than that of the humble and meek
follower of the lowly Nazarene. But He that 'seeth
not as man seeth,' can best judge. Although pros-
perity may appear to attend the efforts, and prudence.
seem to sit in the councils of the whited sepulchers,'
yet the hope of the hypocrite shall perish.'
(
“February 22d.-Busy with Prof. Gregory's work
on Apoplexy, etc. This is the birthday of our im-
mortal Washington.
"February 23d.-Much amused with Mr. Hayne's
speech in reply to Webster; he is rather too many
guns for the Yankee gentleman. The man of the
South is really a musico-political genius; he touches
the high-toned harp of political feeling with a mas-
terly hand.
February 24th.-Dr. Wells, physician of the
prison, not happening to be an antimason, has been
removed, and to-day Dr. Carr, who has the place,
called upon me; has the appearance of a gentleman.'
>7
This is a practical illustration of the proscription
which accompanied the antimasonic rule. The tend-
ency of their government was-
"To separate father and son, pastor and people,
husband and wife, partner senior and partner junior,
the upper and lower millstone, the antagonistic blades
of scissors, and all other separable things upon the
question of Masonry."-Tales of Masonic Life, p. 84.
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
201
The ill health and rapid decline of Mr. Bruce, con-
sequent upon his imprisonment, may be partly attri-
buted to the unhealthiness of his cell. As this was
charged at the time by his friends, and strenuously
denied by others, we give a memorandum upon the
subject, penned by Mr. Bruce himself, under date
September 21, 1826, which gives, with startling dis-
tinctness, what he calls "a phenomenon of startling
character," as illustrating the dangerous humidity of
the jail:
"At 11 A. M. I discovered two of the large door
cells of hewn stone to be in a high state of perspira-
tion. They were very moist, so much so, that I ob-
served to one of the prisoners he was filthy, supposing
it was excess of saliva, but found to the contrary.
At 4 P. M. found the upper hall, especially its side,
covered very thickly with small particles of water.
The globules varied very much in size; some were
the size of common pigeon-shot, others dwindled down
to the merest molecules. At 9 P. M. many of the
large particles had conglobed, and began to run, in-
creasing to a very considerable drop ere it touched
the floor. On presenting a lighted candle to the wall,
the view was highly interesting and brilliant. The
radiated light, as it reflected from the numerous glob-
ules, varying in size, converged so admirably as to
offer to the view a whited plane, not unlike a smooth
surface, thickly set with small diamonds; and as the
motion of the candle would vary their relative radiative
positions, the candle being the focus, it was luminous
and very pleasing. The walls are two feet thick,
plastered and whitewashed, which improved the ap-
pearance of the phenomenon. Not only the walls and
door sills had the appearance of much dampness, but
202
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
the stairway as well as the iron doors partook largely
of the moisture. At 9 the rain fell in torrents. The
taste of the watery globules was quite saltish."
"February 27th.-Forced, whether willing or not,
to play the tune' Away with melancholy."
"To bear the ills of disappointment well,
Restrain my passions when they would rebel,'
is full as much as can be performed in jail without
the aid of metaphysics. Whether metaphysician or
philosopher, however, few moments shall pass by
without an effort at something to spice my time as
it passes. And like the busy bee, extracting from
noxious flowers the sweets of life, I will draw from
the pangs of a prison-house the pleasure of govern-
ing and amusing myself.
"'Tis greatly wise to talk with our past hours,
And ask them what report they bore to heaven?'
“Sabbath, February 28, 1830.
66
LINES TO THE SABBATH.
"I hail thee, holy morn of heavenly rest!
Emblem of future life among the blest!
Thy rays are greeted by the contrite ones
By fervent prayer, devotion's lively tones.
Where, from the fount of reason's frail abode,
Shall true devotion rise to please our God!
Shall nature's self her vital powers impart,
Perform her peans, and not touch the heart?
Shall songs of diapason's sweetest powers
Be warbled forth to chant the solemn hours?
Can looks or forms, can melody or prayer,
Be incense unto God, save LOVE be there ?
Except the fount of LovE be opened free,
And we the willing suppliant subjects be;.
Like famed Bethesda's pure and limpid wave,
Touched by the heavenly visitant, to save
The halt, the maimed, and sickly, from the grave,
We raise our song in vain, our prayers are found
Like brass and tinkling cymbals, empty sound.'
"March 1, 1830.-Busied myself for mine host in
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
203
preparing a schedule of all the debtors committed in
the year passed; its review affords a striking proof
of the inutility of the present code to enforce pay-
ment. Mr. Coe, with my much-esteemed friend S. K.
Grosvener, of Buffalo, came in.
"March 3d.-Yesterday I was still at work on my
list of debtors. It affords a melancholy spectacle of
the sacrifice, the wanton waste, of money, for some
one to pay, and of time squandered worse than use-
lessly. In many suits, the costs are greater than
the debts. J. E. Lashier and John Hill, of Niagara
county, called."
{
Mr. Lashier's visits were subsequently repeated.
"March 4th.-Finished the schedule of debtors; a
sorry, shameful list. There seems, in this county, a
strong disposition for oppression. Thomas Robson,
a stern old Scotchman, visited me, and Miss Bough-
ton, with my hostess."
As an illustration of the difficulties the writer has
surmounted in gathering reliable intelligence relative
to Mr. Bruce, we append here extracts from two let-
ters, written us under dates March 31 and April 2,
1860, by the veteran William Bryant, now of Nor-
ton's Mills, N. Y. :
"In answer to the inquiries contained in yours,
I
did not know Eli Bruce until after the year 1826.
The first I knew of him was when he was brought
to this county for trial. I saw him frequently while
in jail. I do not remember where he told me he
moved from when he went to Lockport, Niagara
county, N. Y. That place is about sixty miles from
me.
I knew he was sheriff of that county about the
time that Morgan disappeared from Canandaigua, but
204
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
I have no means of knowing what office he held in
our order.
"Mr. Eli Bruce, while at Canandaigua, studied
medicine; and when he left he went back to Lock-
port, practiced it there, until he died with cholera, in
1832. He was said to be a fine physician."
―
"I had written you a few lines, since which I have
come across an old list of officers, elected in 1826-
27, of our chapter at Canandaigua. Some time be-
tween 1830 and 1836 our building, used by chap-
ter and lodge, was burned, together with furniture,
clothing, tools, and records-all were destroyed. At
the time of these two elections, I happened to take
a copy. I have tried to find some copies, but can
not. I send you a copy that you may know who
there was about at that time.
"List of officers, elected December, 1826, of Ontario
Temple Chapter, No. 66, of Royal Arch Masons,
at Canandaigua:
"Stephen L. Maltby, H. P.; John W. Beals, K.;
Joseph Wells, S.; Sterling Parkhurst, C. H.; Mali-
cah Loveland, P. S. J.; John Vooris, R. A. C.;
Samuel Gillis, 1st V.; William Bryant, 2d V.; Asa
Spalding, 3d V.; Richard Wells, Sec.; Horace Rich-
mond, Treas.; Burton H. Heacox, Chap. ; Vincent
G. Barney, Steward; James Lakey, Steward; James
Eaton, Tyler.'
"List of officers, elected December, 1827, of Ontario
Temple Chapter, No. 66, of Royal Arch Masons,
at Canandaigua :
66.6
Henry Howard, H. P.; Asa Stanley, K.; Rich-
ard Well, Sec.; Moses Roberts, C. H.; Malicah
Loveland, P. S. J.; William Bryant, R. A. C.;
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
205
1
Dennie Chapman, M. 1st V.; Laman Gales, M. 2d
V.; Asa Spalding, M. 3d V.; Samuel C. Ward, Sec.;
Ebenezer S. Cobb, Treas.; Oliver Ackley, Chap. ;
James Lakey, Steward; Horace Rukmond, Steward;
Justin Wells, Tyler.'"
6
"March 5th.-Dr. Williams, of this village, came
in with a small budget in hand, and said: Bruce,
I have come to sojourn with you.
Affairs abroad are
gloomy; I choose the peace of your apartment to
the clamorous and trying scenes without.' I thought
I perceived some mental aberration, yet he was per-
fectly sane on common topics, his recollection dis-
tinct, his remarks pertinent; he seemed blossoming
in autumnal youth. Although in second childhood,
he is not feeble or fatuous, but buoyant and vigor-
ous. J. Rouse, of Niagara, called to see me."
This curious case of self-incarceration formed a
pleasing episode in the jail-life of Bruce.
"March 6th.-Spent most of the day amusing Dr.
Williams. He related many extraordinary phenomena
and exhibitions in obstetrics, also historical anecdotes,
bon mots, etc. He sang many old tunes, such as he
used to sing fifty years since; and when he sung one
of which his son was fond, (his son died but two years
since; he was his Joseph!) tears ran copiously down
his furrowed cheeks, and the paternal sigh burst forth
in the most tender affection.
"March 7th.-Devoted most of the day to the
amusement of Dr. Williams.
"March 8th.-Took up the Greek Testament, and,
if I have patience, I think I will pursue it till I can
at least read enough to call technical terms in my
studies. Webster's second speech against Hayne;
he must have good bottom, as well as wind.
206
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
"March 9th.-Poring over Greek, but with little
progress; memory being much deficient. To be
brayed in the mortar of antimasonry, and beat with
the pestle of political jargon, is enough to license a
man to indulge in language of any sort with impu-
nity.
"A critic's fame should not from this arise
To find where fault of prisoned author lies;
But homeward wit should share his honest praise,
And find in him the patron of her lays.'
The death-bell's solemn sound is heard; Mr. Chapin
was buried to-day.
“March 10th.—Studying Greek with Dr. Williams.
My pets (the fox and coon) becoming mischievous,
have been banished from the jail. Would that those
made and heavy doors were likewise open to me!
Then-
"Quick would I quit this drear abode, where felons pine,
And seek my treasured ones so dearly, doubly mine.'
"March 11th.-Visited by Col. Stout, a venerable
old man, apparently worthy and respectable.
7.
"March 12th.-Letter from home. My dear part-
ner in trouble is patient in her affliction, stems the
torrent of misfortune with fortitude, and meekly sub-
mits to the lash of poverty.
"My business in this place, it would appear,
Made me a looker-on in prison here,
Where I have seen corruption boil and bubble
Till it o'errun the stem, and gave me trouble.'
"March 13th.-My good friend Mrs. Martin sent
me a periodical. Thanks to the kind-hearted lady;
hope she will go to heaven.
!
"Clear and transparent, like a crystal vase,
The female mind its real worth displays;
Whether its hue, or praise or censure win,
It takes its color from the store within.'
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT
207
Sabbath, March 14, 1830.
"In spite of fate, that man is truly blest
Who does his duty, and refers the rest
To Him, whose eye beholds a sparrow's fall,
And with unerring wisdom governs all.’
"An entire confidence in the Supreme Being, and
a willing obedience to all the Divine requisitions, to-
gether with a heart overflowing with love, which is
'the fulfilling of the law,' make a heaven upon earth.
But the high temperament of our constitutions, and
a wrong bias, often prove insuperable barriers between
conscious duty and a hasty disposition. Those obtru-
sive passions, with which our nature is so highly sea-
soned, prevent our better judgment, and, ere we are
aware, our intellectual vision becomes dimmed, and we
often swerve, if not lose our way.
6
"March 15th.-Dr. Lackey visited us, and gave us
the flying news. I must say with the ancient, I have
lost a day!'
"March 16th.-Busy with medical books. Mr.
Bliss, with Mr. Gould, of Pitfield, Mass., came in;
also Mr. Clark; and with my two viols we made our
gloomy walls echo with music.
"March 17th.-Visitors, A. Howell, our sheriff, and
Mr. Collins, of Lockport. Read Dr. Thomas on Colic.
"March 18th.-Slept but little last night, as my
bedfellow, Dr. Williams, is restless, wakeful, and
talkative. Spirits are rather placid; however, I kept
busy with Dr. Thomas. Col. Cuyler, of Rochester,
called.
"March 19th.-There is some sort of goodness in
things evil, would men observingly distill it out; and
that should teach us
"There's a Divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough hew them how we will!'
"Who knows but the great munificent Author of
}
208
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
our enjoyments has wisely suffered all my sore ca-
lamities to fall upon me for my ultimate benefit and
good?
-
"I feel more easy in my mind to-day than I have
for some time. Concluded that if duty to my country
and obedience to its mandates and laws demand my
passive acquiescence in its harsh inquisitions, so be
it. Amen!
-
"Heard a blue-bird for the first time this spring."
These observations agree well with those of Mr.
E. J. Roberts, in relation to the establishment of his
Craftsman, amid the hottest fire of antimasonry. He
says:
"It was an experiment of no ordinary cast, to
adventure in the midst of the excitement, and the
hotbed of infatuation, the publication of a public
journal, devoted with its powers to an unvarying op-
position to the faction which reigned with unlimited
sway in the region where it was located; and it re-
quired no common exertion to give it a character,
which should command the respect of the public, the
friendship of those in whose behalf it fearlessly took
up the gauntlet, and the attention and animadversion
of its opponents; and it was only by keeping up a
vigorous and unremitting fire upon its adversaries,
and an intent upon a solitary question, which could
enable it to effect the object contemplated in its com-
mencement: the restoration of the public mind to its
wonted serenity, and to the friends of toleration and
equal rights, giving firmness in behalf of themselves.
and persecuted brethren, and courage to sustain the
assaults of their enemies and defend the principles.
they held, and the opinions they were not ashamed
to avow upon all occasions, whether public or private.
The attempt has proved successful; confidence is
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
209
restored to those who had been so long compelled to
bend beneath the burden of unmerited opprobrium ;
and instead of submitting to the decrees of the Mor-
gan committee, the people freely canvass the merits
of the men who have assumed the dictation of public
affairs in this section of the State; and progress is
evidently making toward a correct decision, that will
ultimately enable the friends of equal and exact jus-
tice to triumph over those who have contemplated
the establishment of a tyrannical dynasty over the
republic.'
“March 20th.—“Long life to those literary drudges!'
exclaimed the captain, 'for we can sit at ease in our
closets and enjoy all the fruits of their labor.' Al-
though mine is a closet not of my own choosing, and
my ease and seclusion not of my own seeking, yet
Scott and Cooper can be devoured with as good a
relish here, I fancy, as in some of the more liberal
walks of life. Saw a robin, for the first time this
spring.
"Sabbath, March 21, 1830.-Air fine; sky clear;
church bells inviting. Nothing but my unhappy in-
carceration hinders me from enjoying them all. My
mind reverts with pleasure to those scenes of the
past, when hope was all alive and fortune smiled.
Could I but appreciate the importance of the follow-
ing distich, it would ease life of half its load:
"O, be a man! and let proud Reason tread
In triumph on each rebel passion's head!'
"March 22d.-A good hour with the nineteenth
chapter of Revelation in Greek.
guage is very pleasing to my ear.'
""
Its sonorous lan-
We can not forbear calling the reader's attention
to this Scriptural selection, (Rev. xix,) the first chosen
18
210
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
by Mr. Bruce for his Greek studies. There was rich
consolation to the heart, as well as melody to the
ear, in such words as these:
"And after these things, I heard a great voice of
much people in heaven, saying, Allelulia: Salvation,
and glory, and honor, and power unto the Lord our
God:
"For true and righteous are his judgments.
"And a voice came out of the throne, saying,
Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear
him, both small and great.
"And I heard as it were the voice of a great mul-
titude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the
voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for
the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.'
""
"March 23d.-Mrs. Tillotson, Hubbard, Dolph,
and Miss Murray called.
"March 24th.-This day was not entirely wasted,
yet not much better. Mused, and read, and wrote
some; yet lounged more.
"AN ACROSTIC.
"Exalted in beauty above vile aspersion,
Sits Virtue, the goddess of bliss and of joy;
Truth is her attendant, and meek-eyed Compassion,
Heaven her bright home, which time can not destroy.
Envy and slander no more shall be heard,
Reproach shall be silent and malice unfeared;
Rich in herself, the germ of perfection,
Around her bright altar true greatness appears;
Wealth is no incentive to win her affection,
She courts not the great, though she's hoary with years,
Obedience to her counsel she strictly requires,
Nor half of the heart she ever desires.
"March 25th.-When we give loose rein to jeal-
ousy, the 'green-eyed monster,' it jars both past and
present enjoyments, and makes the future look du-
bious. It benumbs and stupefies those finer feelings.
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
211
which we term friendship, and frequently gives rise
to
"
a quarrel about and about,
Who shall be in and who shall be out.'
But how devoutly to be wished is the possession of
those principles which make for peace, and that char-
ity which has a supernal characteristic above all the
Christian graces!
“ March 26th.—My fellow-sufferer quite ill. E. J.
Roberts and Mr. Barnum called.
"Sunday, March 28, 1830.-Read most of the
forenoon. In the afternoon my muse visited me in
rather lugubrious diction. However, I indulged her,
lest she might desert me.
"How dull the mind when fancy hides her light!
How sad the hour when hope is out of sight!
How tardy time in sad affliction's reign!
How tongueless, too, is grief in mental pain!
What void so vast, what heathy waste so drear,
When hope and friends shut out, and all that's dear,
And patience lost in idle hours of woe!
When life's a lifeless, useless, senseless show.
Where soft affection holds her fond retreat;
Where love meets love, embrace embraces meet;
Where early vows at Virtue's altar rear
The pledges of connubial bliss so dear;-
There dwells the soul, the magnet of the mind;
There are the springs of life, the charms that bind.
Fled are the happy hours that gave a zest
To life's eventful course, as on it pressed;
Spiced every latent pain that might intrude
The hallowed lap of pleasure's solitude;
Lulled every restive thought that would invade
The blessed retreat of a domestic shade;
Where sounds of melody were often heard,
With voice and harp in unison prepared.
Faint are the sounds o' the voice that blithely sung,
And the lone harp is on the willows hung;
The social converse lost 'mid hours of pain,
For moody silence locks the mind's domain,
Spreads her dark cloud o'er every present view,
And interdicts the joy when spoken to.
Like the fell simoon o'er the arid sand
Of Afric's burning zone or desert land,
Obsequious to her mandate, here the mind:
Yields to her law and sickens unconfined.."
212
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
:
Where dwell the soft effusions of the soul,
But in a joyous sphere beyond control?
Where dwells the heavenly gift of charity,
Save in the ample round of liberty?
Sheds yon bright orb of day his lucid light
On him with joy when freedom's out of sight?
Can he whose lingering hours are doomed to dwell
In cloistered silence in the narrow cell,
Contemplate nature's beauties with a smile?
"March 29th.-Very busy studying Motherby on
Parturition. Kept good hours. Felt in tolerable
spirits; talked some, and thought more.
"'Tis night; and save the wind that shrieks
Through my dark window, with a sound
Of hollow calmness, silence wreaks
Her gloomy strength on all around..
"And in that gloom my bosom feels
A power that spurns the noisy strife
Of truant reason, and reveals
The speechless poetry of life.
"March 30th.-Miss Sarah Barlow, Lucinda Wil-
liams, and Lucinda Rutis called; also Mr. Benjamin
Hallock, wife, and sister."
Mr. Hallock's visits are noted subsequently, and
always with pleasure.
“March 31st.-Four clownish, gaping gossips came
into my office and inquired for
•
I don't
think 'tis of much utility to be kept for show; the
sensation is in no wise grateful to my mind. Our
'Legion' disturbed us again, last night; he is now,
however, in irons.
66
April 1, 1830.-Mind much clouded to-day;
patience tired; spirits at a low ebb. Profited little
from books, though received an addition to my stock
of medical works through Dr. H. S. Wheeler, of
Niagara county, who favored me with Darwin's Zoön-
omia, by the hand of A. R. Benedict. R. S. Hath-
away and H. Howard also called.
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
213
"Received a letter from my friend S. B. Cowley,
and one from Abijah H. Morse, requesting a recon-
ciliation with Judas H, alias H. B. Hopkins. I
think the request altogether unreasonable, and does
not comport with my present frame of mind to write
him in the assassin-like character. Shall the viper
sting me to the heart, and I be asked if it hurt me?"
We have been quite unable to trace up the career
of Mr. Hopkins to its close. He was deputy-sheriff
under Mr. Bruce, and it will be recollected was the
man who went forward after Mr. Bruce's conviction,
and gave in certain testimony (flatly contradicted by
his previous statements) which aggravated the impris-
onment of his former benefactor twofold. That he
was largely rewarded for this treachery to friendship,
was, we believe, never doubted by those who knew
him.
"April 2d.-About midday my mental gloom of
yesterday cleared off, and considering my place of
abode, I felt cheerful.
66
"The strange vicissitudes of human fate
Still altering, never in a steady state;
Good after ill, and after pure delight,
Alternate like the scenes of day and night.
April 3d. I have done so little to-day that the
least said is soonest mended.
"'dark
As midnight storms, the scenes of human things
Appear before me.'
"April 4th.-Spent much time in the yard. The
air and sun were so inviting, they seemed to chal-
lenge my spirits to be cheerful.
"April 6th.-Town-meeting to-day.
Anti-ism,
}
214
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
though waning, is on the alert. No great efforts in
this town.
(C
6
April 7th.-A fine present, to-day, of a pot of
flowers, heart's-ease, with this label: Heart's-ease, in
return for Mr. Bruce's poetry. Although heart's-
ease, it did not ease my heart. A very rich and fine
cake was also brought me by Mrs. Sibley and Mrs.
Gorham, elegantly decorated. In the center was
placed a glass, containing geraniums and daffodils.
66
"Women want the ways
To praise their deeds, but men want deeds to praise.'
Visitors, Miss Jane Murray, with a lady of a
highly cultivated mind, Mr. W. Wood, Mrs. Howard,
Mrs. Sibley, and Mrs. Gorham.
66
April 8th.-Rather unsteady to-day; did not
husband my time to the best of advantage. Sheriff
paid me a visit; also Solomon Crosby, of Niagara
county, Drs. Carr and Warner.
66
April 11th.-Torrents of rain until 10 A. M.;
then the sun appeared, and many of the spring birds
were heard warbling forth the divinity of nature.
Being asked by Miss Lucinda Williams to write some-
thing in her album, I indited the following:
"I saw a rose in all the bloom
Of Flora's choicest hue,
'T was lovely in its happy noon,
Dear lady, it was you!
"The rose of health, though e'er so fair,
The charms that chain the sense
May withered be, and often are,
Ere half the joys commence.
"Then seek, in life's eventful course,
A clime of happier day;
If treasured in that happy source,
Your joys will ne'er decay.
"April 12th.-Paid much attention to Dr. Wil-
liams, who is severely afflicted with jaundice. Dr.
Birch called. Received a letter from my worthy friend,
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
215
O. G. W., of N. Y. Heard the twittering of a swal-
low, and on casting my eyes upward, saw him sporting
at leisure, and at liberty.
"April 14th. Still in the dust of a prison. Spent
most of the day cleansing my room.
66
April 15th.-Reading Wilson's Ornithology. I
have observed many times that Europeans were very
sanguine, as respects the music of the feathered tribe,
that their birds of music far exceed, both in melody
and plumage, the birds of our continent. An extract
from the much-admired ornithologist, Mr. Wilson, will
be considered as authority for a different opinion.
'I, who a thousand times have listened to the mel-
ody of both, can not admit such an opinion to be
correct. We can not, with fairness, draw a compar-
ison between the depth of the forest in America and
the cultivated fields of England, because it is a well-
known fact that singing-birds seldom frequent the
former in any country. But let the latter places be
compared with the like situations in the United States,
and the superiority of song, I am fully persuaded,
would belong to the Western continent. Our inim-
itable mocking-bird, wood-thrush, brown thrush or
thrasher, are fully equal to the celebrated nightingale
of Europe.'
މ މ
The Legislature passed an act of this date, contin-
uing the office of special counsel for another year,
but reducing the compensation of the person so em-
ployed to "
a sum not to exceed one thousand dollars
beyond his necessary expenses." This led, as will
be seen, to the speedy resignation of the post by Mr.
John C. Spencer.
"April 16th.-Busy most of the day with Wilson's
Ornithology. Labored with my muse; not very com-
216
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
mendatory. The following is to a young lady who
requested me to write in her album:
"ACROSTIC.
List, list! gentle fair one, the spring now appears,
Unfolds its rich beauties, enchants as it cheers,
Calls from the warm climes the gay Handels of song,
In transports they sport the green meadows along.
No discord is heard from the thousands that pour
Devotion to Him whose kind care and whose power
Alike are imparted; and can he do more?
"Ay, now in the season of purest desires,
Neglect not those duties that Heaven requires;
Till life's feeble lamp shall grow dim and expire.
In virtue be bold, from vain follies retire;
Safe, then, is your portion, 't is all your desire.
April 17th.-Miscellaneous reading. Some vis-
itors, among whom Mr. W. Hunt, of Lockport, G.
Wilson, and Thaddeus Chapin, and Miss L. B. Wil-
liams.
“Sabbath, April 18, 1830.--Spent most of the
morning construing the fourth chapter of John from
the Greek. Tedious, yet pleasing.
"April 19th.-News by mail from all quarters.
Mr. C. P. Turner, from Washington, called. Com-
menced Bewell's Bandelocque. The light winds, fine
air, and clear sun seemed inviting. The Handels of
the forest were pouring forth their mellow songs,
the gentle breeze wafting the fainter notes of the
little songsters to my drear abode. All was alive,
´all cheerful, all seemed happy.
66
"E'en in this lonely vault,
My dark and narrow world, oft do I hear
The crowing of the cock so near my walls,
And sadly think how small a space divides me
From all this fair creation.
April 21st.—Attended to various sick persons in
the prison. Commenced the third volume of Wilson's
Ornithology.
(6
·April 22d.-A fine day; in tolerable spirits.
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
217
Drs. Birch and Carr, Sheriff Buell, and H. Norton
called; also three "roses of flesh," viz.: young ladies.
"In response to the gift made me April 7th, by
Mrs. Sibley, Mrs. Gorham, and Hubbard, I wrote
the following:
66
"There is a charm that chains the sense,
And there are chains that charm;
There is a ray, the light from whence
Is rapturous, pure, and warm;
"Tis charity, of sisters three
The brightest, noblest grace;
Nor want, nor jails, nor penury
Forbids her smiling face.
"Then thanks, fair ladies, for your boon,
To cheer my cheerless hours;
May joys pervade your happy noon
Like this, bedecked with flowers.
April 23d.-Reading Bandelocque and Wilson.
Visitors, Mrs. Wilson, Mrs. Bennett, Miss Antis, and
Miss Alexander, the roses of flesh.'
66.
C
· April 24th.-Unusually sour; ennui, blue devils,
or horrors-an indescribable, heart-aching, peace-
destroying, world-sickening, health-breaking, revolt-
ing sensation.
Read a letter from Judas H to a man in
Vermont. The sainted hypocrite would fain make
believe he was born for heaven; but his antimasonic
lies will bar him from that felicity.
"Go, viper, go,
Though thou hast stung the hand that gave thee meat.'"
The testimony of Hopkins upon the trial of Ezekiel
Jewett, June, 1830, is important in this connection.
We extract it from the Craftsman of July 3d, of that
year:
"Hiram B. Hopkins resided in this village (Lock-
port) September, 1826; was deputy-sheriff under
Bruce; was at installation at Lewiston; previous to
19
218
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
that had heard of William Morgan, between the mid-
dle of August and the first of September; and pre-
vious to that he had been alluded to, but not by name.
Witness was made a Royal Arch Mason previous to
1st September, 1826; thinks, but not certain, at a
regular communication; difference between a regular
communication and special communication, regular
every month.
"He was then told that a man by the name of
William Morgan, at Batavia, was writing a book on
Masonry, from Entered Apprentice to Royal Arch
degree, and was said to be perfectly correct, and
measures were to be taken to suppress it, and 'you,'
that is, he, and another that was that evening exalted,
must act accordingly.'
"Defendant (Ezekiel Jewett) objected to any tes-
timony of the acts and declarations of Bruce concern-
ing preparing a place here for Morgan, on his way
from Batavia to Niagara, especially acts and declara-
tions previous to what the prosecution has shown to
have been the commencement of the conspiracy at
Batavia.
"This objection overruled, and exception taken.
"Defendant also objected to any declarations of
Bruce not accompanying an act of conspiracy.
"Did you receive directions from Bruce to pre-
pare a cell for the confinement of William Morgan ?"
"Question objected to, overruled, and exceptions
taken.
"Witness says he did prepare it by removing
things, and Bruce assisted; he thinks ten o'clock in
the evening; when he received these directions to
prepare the cell, he said he expected Morgan there.
that night, on his way to Fort Niagara; this cell was
prepared from six to eight days before the installa-
tion at Lewiston; Bruce did not mention any plan;
said he was informed he would be here. It was the
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
219
cell under the office; was at Lewiston; did not see
Jewett.
"Cross-examined.-Will swear it was in August;
he was made a Royal Arch Mason about the middle,
or between that and the 1st of September; as early
as that heard the installation talked of; confident it
was as much as two weeks from his exaltation he
prepared the cell; it was generally reported at that
time that Morgan was at Batavia, publishing his book.
Clark Munger, Z. B. Bond, H. W. Campbell, Bruce,
Judge Gardner, Mr. Rounds, Dr. Maxwell, (thinks,)
were all present in the chapter when Bruce told him.
and his companions there of Morgan's coming, and
what must be done by them. This was while the
chapter was open and the officers in their places.
Bruce was Principal Sojourner, but it was no part of
his business to give charges or directions; this was
added by way of codicil to the charge; it was imme-
diately after the charge, and they were standing at
the altar; particular officer, High Priest, gives the
charge; understood from Bruce that the project of
bringing Morgan here had been abandoned. He
never came here.
"Cross-examined.-Bruce added nothing else."
The latter portion of this incredible statement is
positively contradicted by every one who was in the
chapter that night, and will indeed appear too absurd .
for credence to any one familiar with the "works and
ways" of such a body of Masons as a Royal Arch
Chapter.
"Sabbath, April 25, 1830.-Translating the nine-
teenth chapter of Revelation from the Greek. The
boldness of the diction and sublimity of the expres-
sion are very striking. The sixth verse is highly
220
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
66
sonorous, as well as sublime; the variations of the
word òvap, thrice expressed, are like the voice of
many waters and mighty thunderings. In the eighth
verse are beauties hid from the common eye. The
Bride was clad in 'fine linen, clean and white,' for
the fine linen is the righteousness of the chosen one.
April 26th.-The same dull round; the same
jargon of bolts and iron doors; the same filthy,
fiend-like conversation of the inmates below. The
beauties of spring are shut out; the melodies of na-
ture's Handels are forbidden me; forced to forego
the pleasures of society, and, worst of all, that of my
own bosom friend and helpless children.
"April 27th.-Usual pursuits and feelings. Vis-
itors, Mr. G. W. Rogers, V. Spaulding, Mrs. Wilson
and little daughter, Mr. F. Granger's little daughter,
and Miss Baldwin.
66
April 28th.-Completed the fourth volume of
Wilson's Ornithology. Mrs. B. called and sung
'Home, Sweet Home,' with me; also Mr. Rawson,
from Lockport.
"April 29th.-Construing the fourteenth chapter
of Romans from the Greek; very difficult. Visitors,
William Gooding and nephew, and Mr. J. Maker,
from Royalton.
66.
April 30th.-Not very pleasant within doors,
though very fair without. A soft answer turneth
away wrath,' says the wise man, but grievous words.
stir up strife. Man has many foibles, and he who
runs not upon the sandbars of folly or the snags
of
passion will avoid most of the miseries incident to
life.
6
Sabbath, May 2, 1830.-The contrast between
yesterday and to-day is admirable. Yesterday He
who rides upon the storm' spoke in mighty thun-
derings and a fearful tempest, and 'He did ride upon
the wings of the wind.' To-day all is fair; nature
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
221.
smiles again. The forest, so recently a leafless scene,
presents a green and varied dress, while in the rich
variety of Flora's kingdom the humbler family pre-
sent their attractive charms. The inimitable peach,
the varied apple, the pure white cherry-tree, charm
the eye and charm the sense. They bespeak the
divinity of nature. They tell His wisdom, mercy,
and love, which pervade all his works, and leave us
but to love, admire, and adore.
<<
May 3d.—Not much done to-day save bagatelles."
This day witnessed the resignation of Mr. John
C. Spencer of the office of special counsel in the
Morgan trials. In a letter to the Executive, Gov-
ernor Throop, he complains that that official has
disappointed his reasonable expectations of support
and countenance; that positive aid, beyond the formal
duties from which there was no escape, had, in no
instance, been rendered him by Governor Throop; and
that in the place of expected countenance and sup-
port, he had actually been suffered to stand alone,
an isolated individual, to carry on those most labo-
rious and difficult prosecutions, as if they were pri-
vate suits brought by himself. That the governor
had failed to notice, in his communications to the
Legislature, his (Mr. Spencer's) suggestions upon the
business he was engaged upon, and that his private
official communications had been divulged, so as to
defeat his measures, and bring undeserved reproach.
upon him.
"These communications," he avers, “re-
lated to the means of discovering evidence of the
fact of William Morgan's death. They were not only
in their nature strictly confidential, but the success
222
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
of the measures suggested depended entirely upon
their being unknown to the parties and their friends.
Yet they became known to a counsel of the persons
implicated in the offenses upon William Morgan !"
Summing up his reasons, he therefore resigns the
office, and Mr. Victor Birdseye was appointed in his
stead. It is but fair to say, in justice to Governor
Throop, whose ridiculous charge, while judge, upon
the trials of Chesebro and others, we have already
had occasion to show up, that he denied the state-
ments of Mr. Spencer, implicating him in divulging
secret official correspondence; the fault was afterward
pretty nearly pinned down upon Mr. Spencer himself,
who is said to have been deluded out of his secret
by a Delilah in the shape of a bottle of wine.
·
"May 4th.-Busy in translating the eleventh chap-
ter of Matthew.
66
"May 5th.-Busy till noon in Greek. Books,
birds, and men swallowed up the residue of the day.
May 6th.-Wrote my eldest daughter. Caught
an antimason with the dead carcass of my pet fox,
which had been thrown over the wall. I found it in
the yard, with a label attached, Morganized by
Masonry! Removing this, I wrote, Good bait to
catch antimasons,' and threw it back!
66
6
'May 7th.-Mrs. Taylor, from Lockport, with my
youngest daughter, called very unexpectedly.
66
66
May 8th.-Mr. George King visited us.
May 10th.-Mr. Lewis and lady, from Victor,
called.
"May 13th.-The most interesting morning of the
spring. The meadows and fields, so far as I can see,
(which is but little,) are one grand aviary of nature.
THE FIRST YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
223
From my window I distinctly heard the notes of six-
teen species of birds. All seemed exquisitely happy.
Their music was incessant, and to me melodious with-
out a single discord.
"Mrs. Martin and her sister, Mrs. Reynolds, of
Niagara county, and S. Scovill, of Lockport, called.
"May 15th.-Few weeks of my imprisonment have
appeared so little irksome to me as the last. My
time has been divided between the pleasurable com-
panionship of my youngest daughter and the prepara-
tion of some trivial tokens of affection for my family.
"Sabbath, May 16, 1830.-All I can say is, I've
passed the Sabbath day."
Here the second volume of the Diary closes. The
third has for a motto, "Actus, me invita factus, non
est meus actus!" This volume extends from May 17,
1830, to January 7, 1831.
66
May 18th.-Visited by the jail superintendents;
presume their inspection was satisfactory. Although
prisoners, we are clean and hearty.
"May 19th.-Bandelocque occupied considerable.
time; my daughter, birds, and Greek the remainder.
Spring, with its gayety, has come. With all that
is inviting, cheering, admirable, it regales the senses
with the rich variety of animated nature. Looking
'through nature up to nature's God,' we can but ad-
mire and adore the munificent hand of Him who
'rules over all, God, blessed for evermore.'
"May 20th.—More visitors than usual, viz.: Sheriff
and lady, Sheriff Austin and son, from Livingston
county; Mr. Conly and Mr. Morse, from Lockport;
Mrs. W. Whitney, from Rochester; Mr. Whitney, from
Parma; Mr. Warner and brother, from Lima; and
Squire Hastings and another guest from Geneva.
Passed the day tolerably.
224
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
"May 21st.-Mrs. Taylor called to convey my
daughter back to Lockport. The little innocent has
diverted me much with her infantile prattlings, and
now there is a vacuum here, which neither viols nor
books can fill.
Sabbath, May 23, 1830.-Spent the morning
translating the sixth chapter of Revelation; difficult,
but very sublime.
"This day ends a year of dreary captivity and
doleful confinement. A host of sad forebodings, a
thousand nameless associations, a mingled train of
hopes, fears, wants, cares, and passions of every name,
rush upon my mind and 'picture things unseen.
From the sad vista of the past year I must form the
features of the ensuing, and calculate, with moderate
nicety, while ill at ease,' the deductions from the
happiness and comforts of life, the waste of time, the
sacrifice of feeling, the deprivations and distress of
my dear family, and the diminution of good and char-
itable feelings toward my own species, or at least a
portion of them."
THE SECOND YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
225
CHAPTER VI.
THE SECOND YEAR. OF IMPRISONMENT.

M
AY 25, 1830.-Spent much of the day
reading The Peep at the Pilgrims, and
an Exposition of the Pulse, by Dr. S.
Jackson."
From the Craftsman, of May 11th, we
copy the following lines, bearing the well-
known signature B****.
"THE SABBATH.
"I hail thee, holy morn of heavenly rest!
Emblem of future life among the blest!
Thy rays are greeted by the contrite ones
In fervent prayer, devotion's lively tones.
Where, from the fount of reason's frail abode,
Shall true devotion rise to please our God !
Shall nature's self her vital powers impart,
Perform her pæans, and not touch the heart?.
Shall songs of diapason's sweetest powers
Be warbled forth to chant the solemn hours?
Can looks or forms, can melody or prayer,
Be incense to our God, save Love be there?
Except the fount of Love be opened free,
And we the urgent, willing suppliants be,
Like famed Bethesda's pure and limpid wave,
Touched by the heavenly visitant, to save
The halt, the maimed, and sickly, from the grave,
We raise our songs in vain, our prayers are found
Like brass and tinkling cymbals, empty sound."
It was at this time that Mr. J. G. Brooks, of New
York, connected himself with the Craftsman, much
226
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
•
to its general improvement in tone and quality. The
connection was continued until December 28, 1830,
when the financial embarrassments of the establish-
ment compelled him to withdraw and return to New
York. Mr. Brooks was a fast friend of Mr. Bruce,
often visiting him when "sick and in prison," and
comforting him.
The celebrated appeal, by Robert G. Harper and
twenty-two others of the Masonic Fraternity of
Adams county, Pennsylvania, was published May
24th, and deserves a more extended notice than we
can give it. It is an indignant rebuke of the spirit
of intolerance then so rife, which held up the Ma-
sonic fraternity as murderers and defenders of crime;
as plotters against government and the rights of their
fellow-citizens; as impious and profane, and unworthy
of communion with pious and holy men. In a let-
ter from Mr. Robert G. Harper to ourselves, dated
April 4, 1860, he gives some interesting explanations.
He says:
"That appeal was written by me, and signed by
the Masons who were then in our neighborhood.
"You are, no doubt, aware that the 'Morgan
affair' raged in Pennsylvania to a very great extent.
Our county (Adams) was among the first that took
hold of it, having here one of, and probably the most
energetic antimason-the Hon. Thaddeus Stevens,
then a leading lawyer and politician, since removed
to Lancaster, and now a representative in Congress
from that district. He was talented, bold, daring,
and never quailed in anything he undertook. He
was to me a personal friend; and, when I reasoned
THE SECOND YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
227
with him as to starting an antimasonic party here, he
said he felt for me, but he must go ahead' in what
he had started, just having returned from a visit to
the East. He persisted in his course, and, by his
boldness and energy, he brought over almost entirely
the whole Federal party (as it was then termed) to
his views. The Masons had many personal friends,
of course, many of whom would not attach themselves
to that party; for a time held aloof from politics;
some went over to the Democracy; others have, since
the death of antimasonry, acted with those of kindred
political feeling under another name.
"Good Samaritan Lodge,' No. 200, was consti-
tuted in Gettysburg, Pa., on the 1st of January,
1825, (A. L. 5825,) by Bro. T. Hartley Crawford,
D. D. G. M., (then of Chambersburg, now Hon. Judge
of the Criminal Court of Washington City, D. C.,) a
bright Mason, and a noble and excellent friend and
brother. Col. S. S. King was the W. M. named in
the charter. (He was an officer of the army of 1812;
was severely wounded at the battle of Chippewa,
being shot through the body, his thigh fractured, etc.,
which, during his life, gave him much uneasiness.
He was a practicing lawyer of our place, justice of
peace, etc.) I was the S. W.; Bro. T. C. Reed,
J. W.; Gen. Miller, S. D.; F. Leas, J. D. After the
first year, Bro. King desired to be relieved from the
office of W. M., as he could not, as he fancied, fill the
situation to his satisfaction. I was elected W. M. in
December, 1825, and was re-elected every year as
long as the lodge had an existence.
"In the fall of 1829, Thaddeus Stevens started
the antimasonic movement in our county by a call for
a public meeting. I endeavored to reason him out
of the matter, from political motives; but he, fancy-
ing it was the very thing to break down Democracy,
by creating new issues, and probably from other per-
228
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
sonal feelings, persisted in his course. The meeting
was held, and all the anti-Democratic feeling (Adams
county being very strongly Federal) was brought out
by his indomitable energy. At that meeting the
strongest resolutions were adopted against Masonry,
and a personal one against the editor of the Adams
Sentinel,' because he refused to pander to the wishes.
of the leader, threatening him with the establishment
of another press to crush him, etc.
C
"To those resolutions I replied, in a determined
though respectful style. In my reply, I made an
allusion to Mr. Stevens by name. This drew from
him a ferocious letter, addressed to me, with a request
to publish. I did so, and replied to it at length.
Both were published in the 'Sentinel' of September
9, 1829.
༡
"At their meeting in 1829, (September,) they
passed a resolution pledging themselves, as soon as
the Masons would surrender their charters, mingle
with their fellow-citizens, and become like other men,'
to withdraw their opposition. This the Masons.did
not choose to do, at the command of any men or set
of men. The persecution, however, became so great,
from the firm and manly course of the few Masons
here, (for they were comparatively few,) that it was
thought advisable that an appeal should be made to
the thinking portion of the community upon the sub-
ject, hoping it might do good. I then drew up the
Appeal,' which you have seen. It was signed by
all the members of our lodge, as well as by others
who were not, but Masons. It had a little effect,
and, I think, made a kindlier feeling for Masons than
had existed previously. We were all known, and our
words were taken as the words of honest and true
men.
"The antimasons, under the lead and direction of
Mr. Stevens, established a paper in opposition to
THE SECOND YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
229
•
mine, (they having addressed me an official notice,
through the secretaries of their meeting, asking me
to publish an antimasonic paper, which I indignantly
rejected,) and for a time swept everything before
them. I, of course, suffered severely in a pecuniary
point of view, my old party having gone over to the
new, both being in opposition to the Democracy. I
still, however, maintained my personal, pecuniary,
and Masonic integrity, never yielding an inch to the
persecuting hordes.
"The antimasonic party, by dint of perseverance
and operation upon the masses, became, for the time
being, the dominant party, in the fall of 1835, elect-
ing their candidate, Mr. Ritner, as Governor. During
the session of 1835–36, Mr. Stevens had resolutions
passed by the Legislature, (he being a member,) direct-
ing an investigation of all secret societies, Masonry in
particular. He was the chairman of the committee.
He summoned the leading Masons from different
counties in the State, and had the sergeant-at-arms
employed for a month or two engaged in the duty.
Gen. Thomas C. Miller and myself were called for
by him from this section. I can not enumerate all,
but I remember I met many there under the same
process; among whom I can name Gov. Wolf, Gov.
Shunk, Mr. Dallas, and a host of others I need not
name, of the élite. I, as did my comrade, Gen. Miller,
protested against their authority to make us testify,
and sent in a written protest. I found directly that
Gov. Wolf and Gov. Shunk pursued the same course.
Other leading Masons followed our course, and their
investigation was a failure!
"From the day I drew up my protest, which my
friend Gen. Miller adopted, and the failure at Har-
risburg to imprison us for contempt, (as Mr. Stevens
warmly urged the Legislature to do,) antimasonry has
been on the decline. It is not now named.
Since
230
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
that time various societies have sprung up in our
midst Odd-Fellows, Red-Men, etc., etc. I find, how-
ever, that there is quite a warm feeling toward 'the
mystic tie,' and I think we shall soon have quite a
genteel and respected lodge."
"May 26th.-Much pleased to-day with my visit-
ors, viz.: Drake and Loucks, of Albany; J. Phillips,
of Lockport; H. Sibley, and my cousin Whitcomb.
The urbane manners and kind expressions of the first
three gave me strong predilections in their favor, and
assured me that they belong to the higher order of
our species. The merits of the others are too well
admitted to need comment. I labored very hard this
morning with Revelation, ninth chapter, in Greek.
"May 27th.-Spent the day tolerably well, for a
jail. A greater variety of people as visitors than
usual. My worthy cousin, J. H-; my friend
Daniels, and Elias Ransom, Jr., both from Lockport;
and two gentlemen from Geneseo. Letters from J.
F. Marvin and my eldest daughter.
"May 28th.-Visitors, O. P. Turner and E. Math-
er, of Royalton, and a gentleman from Rochester.
66
May 29th.-Not in very good spirits to-day; a
great want of energy. Saw a great abundance of
vanity, and what appeared like vexation of spirit, in
tolerable habiliments. To be sure, they had the fe-
male form, but not all that was lovely, interesting,
and amiable. They had that prying curiosity, that
feminine inquisitiveness, the Eve-like propensity to
see all. They would come in at all hazards.
"Sabbath, May 30, 1830.-Spent the forenoon
with Greek and other books, the afternoon with the
American Journal of Medical Sciences. Feel rest-
less and impatient. It will be ex necessitate rei that
disposes me as I am, for it was dies infaustas that
brought me here.
3
THE SECOND YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
231
"June 5th. My worthy friend, E. Mix, called ;
also Capt. Torrence, of Geneva, and Squire Penfield,
who had previously sent us, in token of his respect,
a basket of apples and some books."
In connection with this "worthy friend," we may
add, that his friendship for Mr. Bruce has been con-
tinued to his biographer, as almost every page of this
volume evinces. Early in its preparation we received
the following hopeful indication of interest in the
work:
"Ebenezer Mix, E 71, Past Master of Batavia
Lodge No. 210, Past High Priest of Western Star
Chapter No. 31, Past Grand Commander of Genesee
Encampment No. 10, (eight years,) and Past Grand
Captain-General of the Grand Encampment of
Knights Templars of the State of New York, will
cheerfully correspond with Bro. Rob. Morris, and
communicate to him any information which he may
possess, when requested.
"EBENEZER MIX.
"BATAVIA, GENESEE COUNTY, N. Y., March 1, A. L. 5859.”
The Grand Lodge of New York, assembled at New
York, elected this day the following as its officers for
the ensuing year:
Morgan Lewis, (Major-General and Ex-Governor,)
Grand Master; Hon. Mordecai Myers, Deputy Grand
Master; Ezra S. Crozier, Senior Grand Warden;
Welcome Esleeck, Junior Grand Warden; James V.
Benschoten, Grand Treasurer; James Herring, Grand
Secretary.
Of these, Messrs. Myers and Herring are still
232
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
living. See biographical sketch of the former in the
Voice of Masonry, June 1, 1860.
Gen. Lewis delivered some remarks, upon his in-
stallation, which have so direct a bearing upon the
Morgan case, that we insert them :
"The confidence with which you have honored me,
manifested by placing me in this chair, inspires sen-
timents more easily conceived than expressed; which,
while they excite the most grateful feelings, impose
as a duty, to which I trust inclination will ever re-
spond, such a discharge of the trust reposed in me,
as shall not disappoint your most flattering expecta-
tions.
"Circumstances, beyond control, having for many
years obstructed a regular association with the lodge
of which I was last a member, it will not surprise
you should the ceremonials of the order have escaped
my memory. This can not, however, be the case with
its principles and obligations, which are too deeply
impressed on my mind ever to be removed.
The circumstances alluded to by the very respect-
able brother who has kindly officiated at this inaugu-
ration, is one to be contemplated more in pity than in
anger, except, perhaps, as it regards those who cer-
tainly had the power, and whose duty it was, rather
to stifle than to fan the embers of discord, until they
had blown them into a flame of persecution, better
adapted to the darkness of the middle ages than to
the enlightened period of the present day. When we
behold these men connecting the excitement (which,
if they did not create, they have certainly cherished
and increased) with political party views, the conclu-
sion is irresistible, that they have been actuated by
sinister and selfish, not by virtuous and laudable mo-
tives.
THE SECOND YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
233
"The circumstances to which this excitement, in its
origin, is referable, must, in candor, be allowed to
have been of an aggravated nature; and, as far as the
immediate perpetrators of the offense are concerned,
merits the most exemplary punishment. But to visit
the sins of a few worthless individuals on the whole
body of an institution founded in benevolence, char-
ity, and the purest philanthropy, which has subsisted
for ages with unblemished reputation, enrolling within
its pale countless numbers of the best of patriots,
statesmen, sages, and divines, must meet the repro-
bation of the virtuous and disinterested. If Masonry,
a human institution, is to be anathematized for having
furnished a few enthusiasts and fanatics, what shall
we say to those deemed of Divine origin? Has not
every religion which history records been obnoxious
to similar objections? And among them none, per-
haps, has shed more blood than that which we pro-
fess. Shall we, therefore, discard it? Shall we
deprive suffering humanity of its best, its surest con-
solation, under the chastening afflictions of Divine
dispensations? I say, God forbid.
"But we have been told (as falsely as insidiously)
that Masonry has a certain aptitude to demoralization.
Might not the same be said with equal justice of the
sacred writings? Has not the religious fanatic, as
well under the Jewish as Christian dispensations, in-
variably justified his lawless shedding of blood on
those revealed but misconceived truths we hold Divine.
"But we have our mysteries; so has our holy re-
ligion. The writings of our patron saint are full of
them; we shall not, therefore, I trust, discard the one
or the other.
"Our forms have also been made the subject of
ridicule. A sufficient answer to this is, that forms
are essential to the existence of all societies; as they
are arbitrary, they will sometimes give scope to the
20
234
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
carpings of the too fastidious; but they never can
with justice be held to derogate from the fundamental
principles of any institution. I have been a member
of this useful and honorable fraternity for more than
half a century, and never till now heard the calumny
uttered, that its obligations, under any circumstances,
impugned the ordinances of civil or religious society.
On the contrary, we hold ourselves bound to render
unto Cæsar the things which are Cæsar's, and unto
God the things which are God's; and I can with truth
affirm, that I never knew a man who became a Mason,
and whose practice conformed to the precepts it in-
culcates, who did not become a better man than he
had been heretofore.
>
"On the whole, believing, as I do, that no favora-
ble result can be expected from reasoning with men
during the paroxysms of a feverish imagination, stim-
ulated, in many instances, by the hope of personal
advantage, I exhort the brethren to follow the exam-
ple of their fathers; like them, regardless of the
slanders and revilings of their enemies, to pursue the
steady tenor of their way, deviating neither to the
right hand nor the left, but like Sterne's monk, look-
ing straight forward to something beyond this world."
“June 7th.-Court of Oyer and Terminer sits to-
day. People crowd in to see men in trouble.
"Juné 8th.-A variety of visitors, from Mr. Chap-
man, of three feet seven inches in hight, to Gen.
Marvin, of six feet four; also my good friend, Joel
Adams.
Poverty
"June 9th.-Letters from home.
is a misfortune to which many are born, yet few know
how to endure without complaint. S. Mott, Esq.,
and three young gentlemen from Geneva, called and
left testimonials of esteem."
Those who brought Mr. Bruce to poverty and its
THE SECOND YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT..
235
concomitant evils, were at that time on the high flood
of success. Their labors had gained them fame and
profit. Their names were in every man's mouth, and
their prosperity promised to be perpetual. Yet it
was all baseless. One by one, with few exceptions,
they came to naught, and the cup they put to the
mouth of the patient father and husband, they were
made themselves to drink. As one of the cases in
point, we insert the following letter, of April 14,
1860, from a correspondent, Mr. C. T. Morley, of
Willoughby, Ohio. It relates to that arch-conspira-
tor, David Cade Miller, partner of William Morgan,
and the chief kindler of the strife:
"If it would be of interest to you, I will state that
some three years since I became acquainted with the
circumstances of the notorious D. C. Miller, who
published Morgan's Exposé of Freemasonry. He
lived at that time in Bristolville, Trumbull county,
Ohio. He was a poor, miserable, besotted wretch,
maintaining a miserable existence by keeping a dram-
shop, which, in the spring of 1858 was abated by the
citizens as a nuisance. Originally a man of talent,
and possessed of a sufficient competency to command
many of the luxuries of life, he has sunk to the lowest
depths of degradation to which a drunkard and pauper
can fall.
And the institution he sought to destroy
still lives, the pride and comfort of thousands of
honest-hearted Masons, and a shield to all worthy,
distressed brothers, their widows and orphans.' This
is a powerful witness to the fact that
6
"Truth, [though] crushed to earth, shall rise again.'
"June 10th.-At 10 A. M., Sheriff Buel entered
my domicile, and, in a hurried tone, bid me prepare
236
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.:
•
1
myself for Lockport, by virtue of a habeas corpus:
At 2.30 P. M., set off with Sheriff Buel, B. Whiting,
(the district attorney,) E. J. Roberts, G. Brooks, E.
Bryant, Lieut. Harris, (a recruiting officer at Roches-
ter,) Mr. Kenyan, and John Whitney, my fellow-
sufferer. At 7.30 P. M., alighted at the Clinton
House, Rochester. Met many warm and respected
friends. Soon after tea came in one of the imps or
satellites of antimasonry, in hopes to gain special
charge of me, but our good friend, Sheriff Buel, would
not relinquish his charge. This satellite has a name
synonymous with his office, P-e; a mere lackey, a
panderer of party, and tool of the higher-toned anti
passion.'
""
A communication from that veteran Mason and
high-toned gentleman, Killian H. Van Rensellaer,
then a resident of Rochester, now (1860) of Cam-
bridge, Ohio, throws light upon this episode, and upon
other scenes in Mr. Bruce's jail history, of which we
have made use in the proper places. Mr. Van Ren-
sellaer was one of the few in Rochester and vicinity
who refused to yield to the fanaticism of the day.
He saw the door of Mr. Bruce's prison close upon
him, and did a full part to make his thirty months
stay in those gloomy precincts tolerable. From him,
as from Mr. Ebenezer Mix, we learn that Mr. Jere-
miah Brown, whose part in the Morgan trials was
conspicuous, is at this time (1860) a resident of Ridge-
way, Orleans county, New York.
The second trial of E. J. Roberts, editor of the
Craftsman, for a libel upon the jury which convicted
John Whitney, in May, 1829, came off at Canandai-
gua to-day, and resulted in a fine of fifty dollars.
THE SECOND YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
237
Judge Mosely presided, as admitted by all, in a cour-
teous and impartial manner. In pronouncing sen
tence, the judge remarked, that although the Court
unanimously considered the matter libelous, yet they
believed the defendant's motives were honorable, and
that his action was done through rashness and excited
feeling. The libelous article itself will be found on
preceding pages.
"June 11th. At 6 A. M. set off in the stage for
Lockport; at 4 P. M. arrived at the Lockport House,
and was most cordially welcomed by all. In the bel-
ligerent rage of party, the whirlwind of passion and
prejudice, it would be but rational to suppose that I
should meet some men frosted over with prejudice
and soured by party feeling. But I saw none of it
to-day; alike complaisant and hearty were the antis
with my friends. If there was deception, it was their
own.
"From the Lockport House I went on foot to the
home of my little family. I can not portray the feel-
ings that pervaded my breast. Ere I arrived at my
own door, I was most heartily saluted by Mrs. Sco-
vill, Mrs. Gordon, Mrs. Gardner, Edna Smith, Mrs.
Parks, Mrs. Taylor, Mrs. Southworth, and Mrs. Per-
sons, whose warm expressions were the offspring of
generous hearts and virtuous minds. My darlings
met me at the gate, and then
“June 12th.—A singular association of ideas filling
my mind; a prisoner, and yet with my family. I
could not enjoy the one for the sting of the other.
Overjoyed to see my treasures, yet my mind be-
clouded, my joy eclipsed by the remembrance of cap-
tivity past and future. Emerged from prison, and in
the custody of the sheriff while in the bosom of my
family, the embraces of the one brought little joy
238
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
while the other held me in durance vile. The numer-
ous and respectable visitors who crowded my house,
made these bewildering associations more lively. My
position would have been ecstasy itself, but for the
thought of returning.. Sheriff Buel very kind, indul-
gent, and gentlemanly.
Sabbath, June 13, 1830.-Although it is Sabbath,
yet I had many calls.
1
"June 14th.-Still a crowd calling, which left me
scarcely time to eat or rest. It is hardly to be cred-
ited that all who visit me are friends, yet all seem
glad to see me, and speak friendly greetings. Saw
the court go in, having sat just one week, and done
nothing. Proceeded to make a jury. An expression
of a previous opinion had barred some, who were
consequently rejected. Made some calls; found the
warmest reception, and most hearty expressions of
friendship.
'Lockport, with all thy faults, I love thee still!'
"June 16th.-Had many calls, and from some who,
I would have supposed, should have kept away for
conscience' sake; or, even if they have no conscience,
vox et preterea nihil!
"June 17th.-Went into court; saw great insub-
ordination and want of energy in the management.
People going in and out without the least reference
to business. Yet the windows were filled, and the
sheriff almost trodden on. Saw Judas Hopkins in
court, and thought,
"If thou be he, but 0, how fallen!'
"Was visited by Elder, alias Judas W-1; saw
much of his hypocritical affectation, his Pharisaical
actions.
"June 18th.-Went again into court; a great want
of order. Had notice of coming on the stand. At
THE SECOND YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
239
11 A. M. was called; refused to be sworn; was sen-
tenced to thirty days' imprisonment in Ontario county
jail. If the people wish my services, they must first
unloose me. At 3 P. M. the sheriff gave notice of a
speedy departure. I left-yes, I left all!
We took our exodus in the packet-boat, after taking
a coach to the lower town. The politeness of several
gentlemen here contributed much to lessen my bur-
den, and chase away the clouds that hung thickly
over me.
"Dear, damned, distracted town, farewell !'"
A minute account of the celebrated trials of Jew-
ett, Brown, and Wright, is given in letters from E.
J. Roberts, senior editor of the Craftsman, under
dates June 16, 1829, and following. The special
court appointed by the Legislature for this purpose,
commenced its sessions at Lockport, June 7th, for the
trial of indictments against persons implicated in the
abduction of William Morgan, nearly four years be-
fore. Judge William Marcy presided, and the trial
of Ezekiel Jewett opened the proceedings. The first
four days were consumed in impanneling a jury, out
of one hundred who had been summoned. On the fifth
day, June 11th, the court adjourned to Monday, June
14th, in consequence of the absence of material wit-
nesses. Victor Birdseye, the successor of John C.
Spenser, special counsel of the State, conducted the
prosecution, assisted by Bowen Whiting, Esq. The
defense was conducted by Gen. Matthews, Col. Bar-
nard, Ebenezer Griffin, James F. Mason, and H.
White, Esqrs. The first jury impanneled was for the
trial of Col. E. Jewett. A great degree of interest
240
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
had been excited in the public mind, and the court-
room was crowded with spectators, through the entire
fortnight.
Among the more exciting scenes connected with
this trial, that of the recusancy of Mr. Orsamus Tur-
ner was prominent. A question was propounded to
him on Wednesday, which he declined answering,
until he could consult with his counsel. Time being
allowed him for this, he then declined to reply, on
the ground of self-crimination. For this he was sen-
tenced to thirty days' imprisonment, and to a fine of
$250. A second question, of nearly the same im-
port, was then asked, which he likewise declined to
answer, and was sentenced to thirty days' further
imprisonment and a second fine of $250. A third
and fourth sentence of the same character was pro-
nounced, and he was then committed to prison as
contumacious. His deportment and language through
these trying scenes were mild and respectful, but
firm and decided.
The next witness called was Mr. Eli Bruce, who
refused to be sworn at all, for reasons amply given in
his diary, and he was sentenced to thirty days' im-
prisonment in the jail of Ontario. This penalty,
however, was never exacted.
Various persons were called to repeat the Masonic
obligations as they remembered them. Judge Marcy's
comment upon the effort of the prosecution to exclude
Mr. Ayres from the jury, merely upon the ground
of his being a Mason, is excellent, and worthy of
publication. He remarked that no man can take an
THE SECOND YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
241
extra-judicial oath which will interfere with his civil
duties; for the law deemed the oath void whenever it
came into competition with or conflicted with a civil
oath. The engagement made by Masons to keep a
secret, he thought should be taken in connection with
the charges which accompany the obligation, from
which (charges) it does not appear that such secrets
are to be kept when public justice requires their dis-
closure; and he did not believe the Order intended
any of its obligations to interfere with the duties of
its members as citizens. Those points of the obliga-
tions which forbid fraud, violation of chastity, and
slanderous speaking, as rehearsed by the witnesses,
he thought highly commendable, as thereby the moral
obligation due to society might be strengthened, and
society itself benefited. Assuming, then, that the
witnesses had correctly rehearsed the Masonic obli-
gations in their testimony, Judge Marcy decided that
those obligations enjoin acts in accordance with high
moral duties, and all of them, he thought, apply to
acts which do not necessarily conflict with the laws
of the State, or any duty enjoined by those laws.
The whole of this judicial decision is finely expressed,
and was as a thunderbolt in the ears of the antima-
sons present.
Mr. John Whitney, who had also been brought from
the Canandaigua jail and called as a witness, refused
to be sworn, saying that he was not in the enjoyment
of any of the rights and privileges of a citizen; and
that as his body was kept in confinement, he pre-
ferred confining his mind also. The Court ordered
21
242
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
him to be imprisoned thirty days in the jail of On-
tario, and to pay a fine of $250. James L. Barton
called as a witness, was waived for the present, in
consequence of there being an indictment then pend-
ing over him.
The witnesses generally were the same as in the
Bruce trials and others, beginning with Mrs. Hall,
the jailer's wife. The cause was summed up on the
part of the defendant by Messrs. White and Barnard,
and on the part of the people by Messrs. Whiting
and Birdseye. The jury, after an absence of fifteen
minutes, returned into court with a verdict of not
guilty. In the cases of Solomon C. Wright and Jer-
emiah Brown, which immediately followed, nearly the
same evidence being again brought to bear, the jury
were out thirty-six hours, and returned a verdict of
not guilty.
As corroborating the judicial opinion of Mr. Marcy
upon the Masonic obligation, we add here what Rev.
Joseph Prentiss, Grand Chaplain of the Grand Chap-
ter of New York, and Rector of St. Luke's Church,
Catskill, and Trinity Church, Athens, in an address
before the Grand Chapter at Albany, February 2,
1830, testifies relative to the moral, lawful, and inno-
cent character of the Masonic obligations:
"I have passed, in regular succession, most of the
degrees of Masonry, in neither of which have I taken
any obligation or heard inculcated any sentiment inim-
ical to peace, to patriotism, or to pure religion. Nor
have I any reason to suspect that there is any differ-
ence of principle maintained by the various branches.
THE SECOND YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
243
of the fraternity in this country. I have conferred
with individuals extensively acquainted with Masonic
practice, and of high standing in the confidence of
the political and religious public, who assure me, that
although the moral character of the fraternity may
vary in different sections according to the adminis-
tration of official trust and discipline, yet that no
object or enterprise foreign to its fundamental princi-
ples has been adopted or countenanced by Masonry."
“June 18th.-Slept but little, in consequence of
the unusual noise of the boat; arose rather pouty.
At Rochester was warmly met by many friends. At
9 A. M. took stage for Canandaigua; weather fine,
but mind cloudy. Drove direct to the jail; and now
all the gloom of dreary walls, boding poverty and
disappointed ambition, pervades my mind, and leaves
but the wish to be! Fifteen months must yet elapse,
if life still lasts, ere I can say I am free.
"Sabbath, June 20, 1830.-A poor place to spend
the Sabbath in. Reading has little charms, writing
is less engaging, and thinking is wholly out of the
question. Since returning from my Western tour, I
merely sit and gaze, like a listless idiot, for want of
thought, or sleep the precious hours away.
“June 21st.-Took a lesson in Greek with tolera-
ble ease.
Mind abstracted and feeble. Saw Mr.
Spencer's extra sheet. He seems to think he can
turn a somersault into the ranks of the antis; a last
resort for his falling greatness. O tempora, O mores!
He has forgotten the bottle of wine and the subject
on which it was drank! His cat's-paw has scratched
him! It was only a lapsus linguæ."
We have elsewhere explained this allusion. It was
a happy instance of "the engineer hoist with his own
petard."
244
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
"June 22d.-Much anxiety about my afflicted ones
in Niagara county..
"June 23d.-Truly antimasonic times. Small-
pox, floods of rain, Morgan trials, and no convic-
tions! canal in ruins, wheat prostrate, corn deluged,
and J. C. Spencer most unsparingly assailed! That
isolated individual,' worse for mending, washed to
fouler stains," after using the rack and thumb-screws,
has justice dealt to himself at last, in long meter!
(
"Had some visitors, not of the vulgar sort, but
kindred spirits. Three letters from Lockport. One
from Orsamus Turner, commencing, 'I am well and
in jail, and hope these few lines will find you enjoy-
ing the same blessing! Received some comfortables
from Buffalo."
It is a source of steady regret to the biographer
that all this precious correspondence is lost.
"June 24th.-St. John's day. In spite of anti-ism,
there are many celebrations in this State.
• And my
reward is with me to give every man according as
his work shall be.'-Rev. xxii: 12.*
"Read Pope's Dunciad, and recited a Greek les-
son. Took a saline draught. Felt an intolerable
sinking of spirits, but now (10.30 P. M.) am better."
Among the many festivals held this day in all parts
of the United States, as indicative of the persistence
of the craft in the maintenance of their rights, we
instance that in Providence, Rhode Island, which
was brilliantly attended. Among the toasts, the fol-
lowing is at this time (1860) especially worthy of
*Quoted in Greek letters.
THE SECOND YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
245
remark, as the fame of Mr. Webb is reviving through
the land:
"By Moses Richardson-The memory of one who
was first among Masons, the friend of virtue and
science-THOMAS SMITH WEBB."
The veteran Richardson deceased in 1859.
"June 25th.-Reading Darwin's Zoonomia; very
amusing, as well as instructive. Mr. Field, of Lock-
port, called.
Darwin's theory is very finely spun,
yet not too highly wrought to be understood, or too
tedious to be engaging. He lays down principles as
the result of practice, and establishes a system of
practice from the most minute and lucid physiological
as well as anatomical investigations, the only sure
basis on which to build the fame of a Galen of the
healing art.
6
"June 26th.-Very flimsy; made the best of my
way through the day. Read the latter part of the
Vicar of Wakefield with more satisfaction than ever
before. His confinement was unjust, the result of
persecution; but his religion and philosophy, mostly
the former, buoyed him up under a heavy load of
afflictions. The consolations of philosophy are very
amusing, but often fallacious.' It tells that life is
filled with comforts, if we will enjoy them. Its mis-
eries are often made tolerable by the certainty of
speedy relief. And although the grim tyrant Death
may appear frightful on his first approach, yet a little
reflection establishes him as an angel of peace to our
miseries here."
How many, before and since, have drawn these
consolations from that charming book!
"June 27th.- Miserable from extreme nausea;
some debility
246
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
"June 28th.-Very miserable to-day. Should be
sick, were I at liberty. My journey to Lockport has
been an injury to my health. Wrote two letters, but
with some exertion.
"June 29th.-Very flimsy. Dr. Wells, H. Rich-
mond, Mrs. W. Whitney, and Mrs. Williams, of Ro-
chester, called. Occupied my time with my birds,
papers, and Greek lessons.
The
"June 30th.-Wrote A. Smith, of North Adams,
Massachusetts. Find in the papers that Judge Marcy
ordered the district attorney to prefer charges against
me, and indict me for refusing to be sworn.
judge appears rather small. Not satisfied with what
he did, he let his political feelings loose to the wild yell
of antimasonry. He had better turn informer him-
self, or go home and inform his master. Lounged and
idled away the day, as ease and inclination prompted.
July 1, 1830.—A worthless day to me, and those
around me. My fingers too lame to write.
66
"July 3d.-Much languor. Col. Jewett, J. Gan-
son, Miss Coe, and Miss Rawson came in. My index
finger alarmingly sore.
"July 4th.-Quite discouraged to-day.
grows worse; otherwise very ill.
My hand
"Sorrow's drear morn to this sad heart returns,
And exiled Hope her blighted garland mourns;
O'er spring's green vales cold Disappointment throws
Her icy arm, and sheds untimely snows;
On the dark wing of storm and tempest borne,
Each bud is scattered and each blossom torn-
Torn from the shady bowers of social ease,
And whelmed beneath affliction's swelling seas.
"July 5th.-In great pain and depression.
"ADDRESS TO AN INGRATE, H. B. H.
"O, is there in the human breast,
'Mongst numbered passions boding there,
A term so vile, a stain so deep,
As that which marks the INGRATE's air!
THE SECOND YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
247
"The home of peace, the bosom warm,
And more than common bounty shares;
At friendship's altar low he kneels,
Yet affectation's robe he wears.
"Was sordid wealth thine only God?
And didst thou kneel at Mammon's shrine?
Delusion all; nor gods nor men
Embrace a perfidy like thine.
"Hypocrisy, with devilish art,
Some heavenly livery might have stole,
And lured thee thus to infamy,
Beyond reclaim, beyond control.
"And then 't will bear thee with a pang
Unfelt, untold, unlike before;
Prometheus-like, it tortures there,
With fiend-like fury, sad and sore.
"For this fell upas of the mind
Both reddens, deepens, cankers all;
Torpedo-like, its touch is stone,
Its only cloak is treachery's pall.
"I saw the treacherous peccant knave,
All leprous with ingratitude,
And ‘Et tu Brute,' then I cried,
And hid me from a sight so rude."
The reader will be lenient to this lacerated heart,
if, in hours of sickness and solitude, the thoughts of
what he had borne from Hopkins aroused him to fury.
The name of Hopkins seemed to him a synonym of
Arnold and Judas; and so it appears to us who,
thirty years later, have contemplated his hideous
treason.
"July 8th.-Last three days in great pain, from
my inflamed hand. System enfeebled; great languor.
Mine host is very sullen.
"July 9th.-Kept my bed most of the day. Fin-
ger very bad. Miss Baldwin, of this village, and
Misses Rodney and Gibbs, of Geneva, called. 10
P. M.-Am easier than I have been for some days.
248
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
"July 10th.-Mine host begins to develop the
cloven foot of antimasonry more than at any other
period of my confinement. His acetous temper dis-
plays some strange properties. If they are his own
and innate, I pity him; if the results of political
feelings, let the anathemas of all honest men fall
upon him. Something better to-day, but can do no
business.
"July 11th.-Better decidedly.
"LINES ON THE DEATH OF A CANARY.
(( IMITATION OF THE SCOTCH DIALECT.
"Poor bird! my heart is full of wae,
Forlorn to see thee lifeless sae,
Where naething was thy mortal fae,
Or harm intended;
My donsie haun it did thee slay,
Though not offended.
"Ofttimes thou'd hap frae side to side,
Then in thy nest sac sleekit hide;
I'd tak thee in my room, where wide
Thou'd skip wi' skyte;
But, ah, 't was fatal to thy pride!
'T was I to wyte.
"My bonnie bird had twa weeks seen,
Was taken pert, and jonkey green,
Ane o' the nest the noblest mien,
His notes were cantie;
Had mony a prank, had mony a frien',
Had I been tentie.
"Thy hapless fate I maun deplore,
Na pranks, na plumage see na more,
Thine een are dim, and a' is o'er;
Sic is thy fate;
I'll leave thee at the big ha' door,
To fatten Kate."
These lines were inserted in the Masonic Record
of April 16, 1831, over the signature of "Recluse."
66
July 12th.-Yesterday and to-day better. Miss
•
THE SECOND YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
249
Burnam, from Massachusetts, E. J. Roberts, and N.
G. Chesebro, called.
"July 14th.-Yesterday and to-day improving, but
unable to do anything. Dr. Lackey, Col. William
Blossom, and Mr. Bogue called.
"July 15th.-Visitors, Gen. P. Whitney, N. G.
Chesebro, and P. B. Porter, of Buffalo.
"July 16th.-Gen. P. Whitney and Mr. Gideon,
from New York, called.
"Sabbath, July 18, 1830.-Not much improvement.
V. Marcy Balcomb, of Chatauque county, called.
Mine host is a mutable creature. What next?
"Sunday shines no Sabbath day to me.'
"July 19th.-Able to play the viol a little. Two
roses came in and sang 'Begone, dull care,' with
me. Improving in health and spirits.
"July 20th.-Read twelfth chapter of St. John, in
Greek; attended Dr. Williams, who is sick.. Misses
Murray and Bostwick called. Was called up at 2
A. M. by mine host, to see his sick daughter; looked
out in the front, and gazed with admiration upon the
twinkling hosts of heaven. I saw Jupiter, largest of
all the wanderers, glimmering in his whirling course.
"Night opes the noblest scenes, and sheds an awe
Which gives those venerable scenes full weight
And deep reception in the tendered heart.
What gorgeous apparatus! what display
Of power creative!
•
One sun by day, by night ten thousand shine!'
"To the equatorial inhabitants of this noble planet
there is one eternal summer. As there is no incli-
nation of its axis, which is perpendicular to its orbit,
of course the length of its days and nights does not
vary. It has four moons, which revolve about it at
different distances, and make revolutions at different
periods of time. What a splendid display of grand-
250
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
eur to its inhabitants do they present, sometimes
rising one after another, sometimes all gleaming to-
gether, making a midday glory in the place of night.
I gazed first on this noble planet, then cast my eyes
eastward, upon Venus, just peeping over the hills,
"Fair morning star,
That leads on dawning day to yonder world,
The seat of man!'
This beautiful planet was shining in all her nightly
splendor. I returned to my room, and was led to
contemplate on the scene with admiration and adora-
tion of Him who hung out all the stars, and calleth.
them by name.
"July 21st.-Visitors, Doctors Carr and Warner,
and Mrs. Townsend. Considerable headache to-day.
Finger very painful.
"July 22d.-An uncomfortable day; an erysipe-
latous affection of the head; much uneasiness at the
stomach. S. R. Grosvenor and Capt. Buel called.
"July 23d.-Too ill for business. Mrs. Baldwin
and Misses Pierce and Pound came in. Head heavy
and painful.
"July 24th.-Sat sad and sick; a very miserable
day. Mr. Schuyler, of Palmyra, and a gentleman
from Europe called.
"Sabbath, July 25, 1830.-Was let a pint and a
half of blood, and felt somewhat relieved. Read
two chapters in Greek with Dr. Williams, and two in
St. John by myself. Saw two humming-birds, as I
walked in the yard.
"Minutest of the feathered kind,
Possessing every charm combined,
Nature, in forming thee, designed
That thou shouldst be
A proof, within how little space
She can compose such perfect grace,
Rendering thy lovely fairy race
Beauty's epitome.'
THE SECOND YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
251
"July 26th.-The bleeding of yesterday has been
of no essential benefit. Prison inspectors called to
see me. This house has a cold front! Being very
warm, I felt languid.
Read
"July 28th.-Touched the viol slightly.
seventh chapter of Revelation and seventeenth of St.
John. It must have been consolatory in an eminent
degree to the disciples of Jesus, amid the perils and
the persecutions to which they were subjected, to hear
him, with that godlike expression, say, 'Because I
live ye
shall live also.' How could a Peter deny or
a Judas betray him? But it was so, that the great
plan of salvation might be accomplished. But when
he says, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the light,'
what could they have asked more? Visitors, H. M.
Bennett, of Albany; C. Bailhaupt, of South Carolina;
Joseph B. Heart and Henry Erben, of New York.
"July 29th.-Tolerably lively in the morning;
busy with my books. In the afternoon my head very
troublesome; can not define the ailment. Mr. Blos-
som sent in an owl for my amusement. His nightly
owlship was very passive about his induction into the
drear abode.
66
July 30th.-Yesterday and to-day much out of
sorts. A miserable place for a sick person. If this
is but the vestibule of affliction, what must it be in
the main? I have no desire to knock at any other
of its doors. Greek with Dr. Williams.
"August 2, 1830.-Three miserable days. A sorry
place for the sick. Kept my bed most of the time.
“August 6th.-Mrs. Bruce, with our infant child,
unexpectedly arrived, and found me exceedingly ill.
“August 9th.-Day made tolerable by visitors;
Mr. Whitney, from Detroit, Cousin Whitcomb, and
Mr. H. Howard.
"August, 10th.-Better than for four weeks.
Wrote to E. J. Roberts.
252
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
"August 11th.-Mrs. Bruce set off for Avon
Springs with my hostess. Quite feeble and restless.
“August 14th.-This day my fellow-sufferer, John
Whitney, completed his term of imprisonment, and
left me.
Would to God my incarceration were ended
likewise!
"August 20th.-Since the 14th, I have been mostly
confined to my bed, having been unintentionally sal-
ivated. Much pain and languor, and little courage.
Yet I have enjoyed some consoling circumstances and
reflections, even in this night of affliction. Relying
upon it that He who called me into existence, metes
out all my troubles in His wisdom, and that the
machinations of designing men can affect me no fur-
ther than His wisdom deems fit, I am less inclined
to murmur. The patience and sufferings of his own
dear Son ought to suffice to hush every restive
thought.'
وو.
These sentiments are equally affecting and sublime.
66
•
·August 21st.—Mrs. Bruce returned. All the in-
mates of the jail save six were discharged. I begin
to feel some better.
66
Sabbath, August 22, 1830.-Considerably im-
proved. Read Greek and the American Journal of
Medical Sciences. Mrs. McNutt and Leland called.
Their visit seemed the prompting of friendship, tem-
pered by purest kindness. Their countenances were
balsam to my heart.
August 23d. My dear wife and darling boy left
me for Lockport.
66
August 24th.-The Misses Ripley and two other
ladies called. My front folks seem more rational
than for some weeks.
"August 25th.-Heigh ho! Made up the day in
a very busy style about nothing at all! An addition
THE SECOND YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
253
of strength. Visitors, the Sheriff, Dr. Carr, N. G.
Chesebro, Col. Blossom, H. Richmond, and Squire
Putney.'
""
The chief exploits of one Avery Allyn, a seceder
from Masonry, and a publisher of a well-known book
styled Allyn's Ritual of Freemasonry, occurred about
this time, and demand a paragraph. Allyn was a
man of much shrewdness, had been a lecturer for,
and was now a lecturer against, the Masonic institu-
tion. After exciting considerable attention in the
latter capacity, (especially in New England,) and
making considerable money by his public exhibitions,
he came West, fell into disreputable habits, sank into
poverty, and died in Ohio, a pauper, supported and
buried at the last by the charity of Masons. A pas-
sage in the Fairfield (Connecticut) County Republican
alludes to him in the following severe but merited
terms:
"We hope never to see the time when the anti-
masonic faction shall sway the empire of the land.
The disorganizing effects of their system have already
been sufficiently felt, and the result of their proceed-
ings has evinced that if they triumph it will be the
triumph of anything and everything except morality,
virtue, and good order. If the men who are prowl-
ing about the country in the shape of antimasonic
lecturers, sundering the dearest ties of society, and
traducing the characters of the best citizens, can find
no better employment, it would be well to teach them
a lesson in the tread-mill. If the good sense of the
community does not put a stop to their unhallowed
career, Heaven only knows to what lengths discord
will be carried."
254
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
In April, 1831, the New England Galaxy, edited
by Frederick S. Hill, at Boston, Massachusetts, pub-
lished a severe article of the same tenor, for which
an indictment was prosecuted against Mr. Hill,`at
the June term of the Municipal Court; but, upon a
preliminary discussion of the case between the gov-
ernment and defendant's counsel, a nolle prosequi
was entered.
“August 26, 1830.
"I have no thought, no feeling-none:
Among these stones I am a stone!
There are no stars, no-earth, no time,
No check, no change, no good, no crime,
But silence and a stirless breath,
Which neither is of life nor death !'
"Such is my melancholy hap. Such am I to the
world and the world to me. If the design of the
penal code, in inflicting penalties, as regards the per-
son accused, is to reform him, why put him in jail, to
be associate with bawds and felons, and the d-dest
rascals in the country? Why thrust him into the
very sink of iniquity, in the hope that he will come
out purer and love community better. Folly! folly!
folly!
-
"August 27th.-Read Paul Clifford most of the
day. The author must, at some period of his life,
have experienced some of these changes, to describe
them with such graphic art, such tasteful nicety. An
assumption of characters supported with ease and
maintained with untiring perseverance, characterizes
this admirable production. Audacity of mind and
boldness of character are the chief traits of the hero.
The author's system of love is the most artless, his
mode of revenge the noblest and most generous.
THE SECOND YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
255
His style is lively and piquant, of classical purity
and elegance.
"August 28th.-Mr. V. Balcomb came in from
Massachusetts, and handed me a letter from my dear
mother. It was with emotions of the sincerest pleas-
ure that I perused it, though in jail.
"Her noble mind does not cower, though in soli-
tude and poverty. With her, philosophy does much,
but religion far more, to sustain her in the down-hill
of life, animating her to bear the frowns of fortune
with Christian meekness and humility. Her sands
are almost run; soon she will be gathered as a shock
of corn, fully ripe, to the assembly of the Church of
the first-born, whose names are written in the Lamb's
book of life.
-
"Sabbath, August 29, 1830.-Had much satisfac-
tion in writing a reply to my mother's letter, and
telling her my feelings; and while the copious tears
moistened the sheet, my heart overflowed with filial
love. I felt that I only wanted the opportunity to
comfort and support her declining years. But my
lot forbade !
"August 30th.-Overtaken, for the fourth time in
five weeks, by a spontaneous ptyalism. Have taken
no calomel by the mouth; but the amount of a grain
and a half, put in my sore finger five or six weeks
since, was absorbed, and this affects me.
Reviewed
"August 31st.--Mr. Moses, from Rochester, and
Mr. Brown, from Stockbridge, Mass.
Bichot on the Nervous System.
6
"September 1, 1830.-Miserably ill to-day. John
Whitney, my former partner in this safety fund,'
visited me. Had some water from Avon Springs sent
in to me.
((
September 2d.-Mostly in bed. Great distress
in my head.
66
September 6th.-Much of the last six days in bed;
256
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
As
head greatly distressed. Mine host left for down
East; gone, I think, to prop a sinking cause.
a satellite of antimasonry, he must keep moving.'
Heard of the Revolution in France.
"September 7th.-Letter from home; wife disheart-
ened and children homeless. A long and interesting
converse with my old and venerable friend, Dr. Wil-
liams. Solved some hard and rusty sentences in
Greek.
#
"September 8th.-Worried through the day tedi-
ously. A new turnkey. William H. Child and an-
other gentleman, from Niagara, called.
"September 10th.-Mr. Samuel Lyons and C. H.
Coe called. Very uneasy. Tired of confinement.
No amusement.
"September 11th.-Cousin Whitcomb and George
Thompson called. Dr. Williams came in, and we
sat down to a feast in Greek. Read several chap-
ters."
This day the first antimasonic convention which
assumed the name and character of national, assem-
bled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the district
court-room. Joseph Ritner, of Pennsylvania, was
appointed temporary chairman, and John Clark, of
Pennsylvania, secretary. Ninety-nine delegates were
present, representing ten states and one territory.
Francis Granger was elected president of the conven-
tion; Joseph Ritner, of Pennsylvania, Abner Phelps,
of Massachusetts, Robert Hanna, of Ohio, and Sam-
uel Dexter, of Michigan, vice presidents; John Clark,
of Pennsylvania, and Noble B. Strong, of Connecti-
cut, secretaries. Fourteen committees were appointed
upon so many topics appropriate to the purposes of
THE SECOND YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
257
the convention. Their reports, which appeared in
suspiciously prompt time, were collected and pub-
lished, with the entire proceedings, in a volume which
was disseminated broadcast in enormous quantities.
Among the more active members of this "self-con-
stituted congress, convoked together for the purpose
of sealing the doom of Freemasonry," were William
H. Seward, Thaddeus Stevens, Myron Holley, Francis
Granger, Henry Dana Ward, Frederick Whittlesey,
Pliny Merrick, William Slade, and Peter Thatcher.
We presume such of them as are still alive would
give much could this page in their political career be
forever erased.
66
September 13th.-Great lassitude and depression
of spirits. When the head is pained and the heart
sick, there is little in life to charm. But what boots
it! He that throws away his arms before they are
taken from him by a superior force, is a coward, and
deserves no quarter.
66
September 14th.-Passed the day tolerably, but
in considerable pain. Visited by two men who had
the appearance of gentlemen, but seemed to be incog.
I suppose they came to see B., and for no other
reason. Did not learn their names or residences.
Was visited by the amiable Miss Williams, who seems
the paragon of innocence and goodness. She left
with me her organ, for my amusement."
The following testimonial to Mr. Bruce was pub-.
lished in the Masonic Record (Albany, New York)
March 13, 1830. We do not know its author.
22
P
258
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
"LINES
"ADDRESSED TO ELI BRUCE, BY HIS FRIEND, 0. G. W.
"There is no power in bolts or bars to hold
The wandering thought, unconquerably bold;
There is no power in prison walls to bind
In painful thralldom the immortal mind;
There is no skill, there is no human art,
To rend contentment from a virtuous heart;
And gentle Hope will in the breast remain,
Where man had bid her never come again.
"The dull, dark hour that lingers in the cell,
The thronging mem'rics on the mind that swell,
And coming fancies thickly gathering o'er
The fevered brow that fain would throb no more;
And the sick anguish on the bosom laid,
By the heart's tonging and its hopes delayed;
These, these are thine, my friend, unless there be
No wish remaining in thee to be free;
Unless thy buoyancy of spirit give
Life to thy thoughts, and bid thy hopes still live.
"Well dost thou know man can not snatch from thee
Thy self-approving conscience, that will be
Whatever Heaven may send in sorrow here,
A bliss than even liberty more dear.
And who shall bid thee now no longer soar,
And seem to traverse scenes of gladness o'er !
Clasp the warm hand thou long hast left unpress'd,
Fold in fond transport to thy throbbing breast
The wife, the children, and the bosom friend,
And feel that all thy woes were at an end!”
"September 15th.-Received from Squire Penfield
a package of 'tracts for prisoners.' Pleasant visits
from James Duncan and P. Buell, two interesting
young men.
"September 16th.-Very feeble. An uncomfort-
able day. Mr. Wright, of Lockport, and Metter, of
Canandaigua, called. Wrote to J. F. M.
66
September 17th-Various visitors, among them
Dr. Fuller, Mr. and Mrs. Hubbard, Mrs. Tillotson,
Mrs. Church, etc. Communion with people of sense
and feeling is a balm to the prisoner's heart. Con-
verse with persons alive to friendship, and who truly
K
THE SECOND YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
259
estimate merit wherever found, blunts the severity of
confinement.
"September 22d.-Since the 17th, quite ill. A let-
ter from friend Whitney. O for patience to endure
sickness and imprisonment. The union of the two is
more than such a temperature as mine can endure. It
needs the lamb-like spirit of Him who, when he was
reviled, reviled not again, when he suffered, threat-
ened not, but bore the spittings, buffetings, scandals,
indignities, and, finally, death itself, for the love he
bore to man. O, how it ought to silence my com-
plaints, and raise my mind to a superior tone, even
that of thanksgiving, humility, and prayer! A pat-
tern of all patterns, but who can imitate?
66
September 24th.-A trifle better. Mr. Ball, the
turnkey, obligingly brought a horse within the walls,
and for the first time in cighteen months, I mounted.
Capt. Darrow, lady, and son called, on their way to
Lockport.
'September 25th.-Somewhat relieved. Mr. H.
K. Wright and F. Northum called.
66
September 26th.-Improving. Mr. Campbell and
Taylor called; very grateful to my feelings.
66
September 27th.-Blisters on my neck. Got but
little sleep. The turnkey, Mr. Ball, attends me; he
has my hearty acknowledgments for his assiduous
attentions to me since his coming here.
66
September 30th.-Much distress in my head for
several days. Two visitors, who gave me great sat-
isfaction; Dr. Reynolds, of Michigan, and Mr. Ewers,
of Ohio.
"October 2d.-Considerable pain. H. Richmond
and N. G. Chesebro called. Read a little in Greek.
"October 4th.-My strength diminishes; with some
exertion I got down and up the stairs. Saw from
my window a man borne to the home appointed for
all. Who next? It may be myself.
260
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
"October 5th.-Many visitors.
Mr. P. Rawson,
from Lockport, brought letters from home. Mine
host returned, bringing James L. Gillis with him.
Something better than yesterday."
The eccentric but earnest evangelist and Freema-
son, Lorenzo Dow, delivered a discourse of a religious
character at Columbus, Ohio, this day. "Although
Time had evidently laid his hand upon him, his voice
is still strong and clear, and the language in which his
ideas are clothed is tolerably chaste and perspicuous.
His outward appearance seems to indicate that he
has been but indifferently provided for for some time
past, and that although his labors are abundant, his
temporal gains are of little value."
Many good things are told of the Masonic attach-
ment of Mr. Dow through the Morgan times. In
New York, Massachusetts, Indiana, Rhode Island,
Ohio, and elsewhere, in all his eccentric wanderings,
he was ever faithful to the Masonic call, as well as
to what he deemed the higher service of his Master.
Some of his Masonic discourses are yet extant.
"October 6th.-Pain greatly mitigated by the com-
pany of James L. Gillis, John Whitney, Philander
and Philo Rawson. Sheriff Buel called; also Drs.
Wells and Hill. Read the Chronicles of the City of
Gotham.
"October 7th.-Did some writing for John Rice,
constable of Geneva, who generously gave me a two-
dollar note. Thanks to the generous man. Volney
Spaulding, of Lockport, called. The charity and
native humanity of mine host are so evanescent that
I sometimes doubt if he possesses any. If so, they
THE SECOND YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
261
lie smothered in the rubbish of trash and Popish
barbarity.
"October 8th.-A little better. Managed to keep
busy with a mere bagatelle. Mr. E. Reynale, of
Michigan, and his lady, called."
A most singular, and, in some respects, ridiculous
affair, was made the subject of judicial investigation
before Hon. Slade D. Brown, a magistrate of Wash-
ington county, New York, commencing this day. It
was the complaint of Elder George Witherill, of Hart-
ford, New York, against Alonzo Hyde, for an alleged
attempt upon his life, and was professedly connected
with the Masonic investigations of the day. Mrs.
Witherill testified that her house was entered at night,
on the 27th of September last, and in her husband's
absence, by two persons, armed with deadly weapons,
who sought Mr. Witherill to slay him. The elder
himself swore that he had had his fears with respect
to Masons, because he had violated his Masonic obli-
gations. The whole affair was a stupendous humbug,
but not too gigantic to be swallowed by antimasonic
credulity.
"October 9th. Still comfortable, and hope increas-
ing. A general muster, to-day, of soldiery. Visitors,
James L. Gillis, Col. E. Sawyer, Squire Saunders,
and Benjamin Hallock.
“October 12th.-The learned Dr. Young says:
"To the same life I now e'en twice awake.
This is not my case. I awake not to enjoy life, but
to endure pain; not to meet my beloved wife and
262
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
children, but felons and the dregs of human misery
and profligacy; not to hear the pleasing sounds of
domestic calls, but the clanking of bolts and massive.
doors. M. H. Tucker and Mr. Frazers called.
"October 13th.-A miserable day; could not read.
Nothing pleasurable or inviting to the mind to dwell
upon, nothing to feed my hopes or satisfy my desires.
Desires may rage, hope may hunger, fancy may range,
and imagination put on her airs, all in vain in this
place.
“October 14th.-Occupied myself in making a bird
cage, which, by giving me employment, afforded me
some relief. Not a visitor to-day.
"October 16th.-Head considerably pained. Lu-
ther Skinner, a schoolmate, whom I had not seen
since 1810, called; also J. G. Brooks, Lieut. Harris,
United States Army, R. Norton, Mr. Hubbard, Mrs.
Chesebro and sister, and the Rev. Mr. Carney, whose
gentlemanly deportment, easy, affable conversation,
and godly advice, interested me very much.
66
Sabbath, October 17, 1830.-Very sore this morn-
ing, from the effects of blisters. Mr. Stone, from
Rochester, called. Construed most of the thirteenth
chapter of Luke from the Greek.
"October 18th.- Blisters very troublesome, but
passed the day much more comfortably. Amused
myself with cages for a while. Visitors, Judge Bates,
J. G. Brooks, and E. J. Roberts, from Rochester;
also Lieut. S. C. Ward and G. Thompson.'
""
A magnificent Masonic fête was held in Paris,
France, this day, to commemorate the accession to
the throne of a citizen king and Mason, Louis Phil-
ippe. More than five hundred Masons, comprising
the finest talent and position of France, participated
in the affair. [See American Freemason, 1853, for a
THE SECOND YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
263
detailed account, translated from the French by Hon.
Albert Pike.]
"October 19th.-Somewhat better. Learned of the
probability of Mr. Granger's election. If so, there
will be a strange development of antimasonic wisdom
and jurisprudence. Mr. Spencer will have the mouths.
of all honest men twisted up with seaweed. Bates
Cooke will extinguish the dog-star, and dog-days will
be out of date. He will move in the aërial regions.
"He'll ride upon the dog-star,
And then pursue the morning,
And chase the moon,
Till it be noon,
To make her quit her horning !'
The mariner's compass, in future, will point west in-
stead of north. The aurora borealis will only exhibit
its luminous and radiated coruscations on the eye of
September 11th, yearly, after the antimasonic constitu-
tion shall have been read, and it is to appear between
the points of due west, and four points W. N. W.!"
These queer phenomena, we need not say, failed
to occur, as Mr. Granger was very decidedly beaten.
at the State elections of November 1st.
"October 20th.-Still improving in health; head
very painful. Read but little. Construed the fifth
chapter of John from the Greek. Mine host surly.
There is in him a strange medley of feeling, for- I
call it not sentiment, of a charitable nature. It savors
much of feudal usurpation of power, where merit was
not called in to its aid. I have seen, or thought I
saw, in his mind, the genial feelings of humanity
struggling for birth, but it seems that the fell mon-
ster of party smothered the infant before it could
show its native form.
264
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
"October 21st.-Think I have passed the crisis of
my disease, and health is in store for me yet. The
clanking of chains announces the arrival of fresh
troops; Sheriff Wilder, of Geneva, going to Auburn
with convicts.
"October 22d.-Pain in the head, heaviness, and
languor. If humility of heart were more abundant,
there would be less complaining and restlessness, but
more thankfulness and resignation, in the depths of
affliction. Afflictions may be compared to diseases;
for while disease is preying upon the system, solids
wasting, fluids changing, absorption active, circulation
in a sthenic or æsthenic condition, with all the fright-
ful phenomena of approaching dissolution, we look
upon ourselves as mutable, meager, helpless, and
loathsome objects; so affliction, when severe, drives.
our sensibilities into a modest contempt of our own
‚worth, and, if duly appreciated, clears the mind of
much dross, and fits it for its native element.
"October 23d.-Passed the day uncomfortably;
vesy restless. Read a little. Were my mind as fer-
tile, and genius as inventive and imaginative as Os-
sian's, when, amid barren heaths and rocky wastes,
he could charm by the sprightliness of his fancy, and
invent from the redundancy of his thought, I, too,
might amuse, amid the jarring bolts, grating hinges,
and solitary walls of my dormitory. I suppose there
have been moralists in every age who could make
themselves happy under any circumstances and under
the frowns of fortune; yes, even in mine, unpleasant
as it is.
"For happiness is in no place confined,
But still is found in the contented mind.'
"October 24th.-No improvement of mind to-day,
either in reading or reflection. A sorry cognovit this!
"October 25th.-A tedious day; neck very trouble-
THE SECOND YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
265
some, from unhealed blister-sores. J. Jackson, of
Lockport, and Pomeroy Buel called.
"October 26th.-A letter from home; the knowl-
edge of distress there increases distress here. I have
no way to obviate either. Poverty inevitable, hope
hopeless, patience exhausted, health declining, family
suffering. Who can view such a picture and not feel?
"October 27th.-A tolerable day; only a few inter-
vals of pain. Mr. Ball, of Victor, and Dr. Ball's
wife called. Received a letter from William Land-
rum, Jr., and so heard from home.
“October 28th.-Great weakness in the knee-joints,
which renders it difficult to ascend and descend the
stairs. Made the best shift I could to pass away the
time. Dr. Young says:
"Time destroyed
Is suicide, where more than blood is spilt.'
If so, I commit suicide daily, and from necessity.
Read a little of the news of these political times. A
great war of words. One party is endeavoring to
retain favor, the other to obtain it; and would resort
to any means to obtain, even to the sacrifice of truth
and honesty.
"Get wealth and place, if possible, with grace,
If not, by any means get wealth and place.'
"October 29th.-A tolerable day. Busy with my
little flock of birds and squirrels.
“Sabbath, October 31, 1830.—Passed the day with
but little distress. My disease is cynanche tonsillaris.
Read some Greek and Bishop Hobart's sermon on
Justification.
“November 1, 1830.-So our days and months
pass; he must be miserable, indeed, to whom time
passes more irksomely than to me. In addition to
my accumulated afflictions, I have, to-day, an attack
23
266
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
of hemorrhoids. A cabinet-maker who called on me
found me so changed, that he remarked he verily
thought he would have to make me a coffin before
my term of confinement expires!"
The state elections of New York came off this day,
and resulted in the election of Throop (of Chesebro
trial notoriety) as governor, over Francis Granger,
by a majority of about eight thousand. A calcula-
tion by a distinguished statistician of New York gives
the number of antimasonic presses in the State at
this period at forty-six. There were two hundred
and thirty-four papers published in the state.
“November 2d.-Find I am improving in health
and strength, although my head is much disordered.
Having had six or eight days of very fine weather,
it is very congenial to my constitution.
"November 3d.-Passed the day tolerably. Suf-
fered not much till evening, when my head became
somewhat painful.
“November 4th.-Had a fall, owing to the weak-
ness in my knees. The election returns in this
county show it to be anti throughout. Of course my
friend J. C. Spencer is elected!
"A man so various that he seemed to be
Not one, but all mankind's epitome;
Stiff in opinion, always in the wrong,
Was everything by starts, and nothing long.'
"Received a letter from J. G. Brooks. Mr. Davis,
from Lockport, called.
“November 5th.-Not so much pain in my head as
yesterday. Had a
Had a long talk with the father of the
Smith, (Joseph Smith,) who, according to the old
man's account, is the particular favorite of Heaven!
Sta
THE SECOND YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
267
To him Heaven has vouchsafed to reveal its mysteries;
he is the herald of the latter-day glory. The old man
avers that he is commissioned by God to baptize and
preach this new doctrine. He says that our Bible is
much abridged and deficient; that soon the Divine
will is to be made known to all, as written in the new
Bible, or Book of Mormon.
"November 6, 1830.
"The noblest motive is the public good.'
The majority of politicians in the late elections have
looked less to public good, I apprehend, than to pri-
vate advancement.
"Please not thyself the flattering crowd to hear,
'T is fulsome stuff to please thy itching ear;
Survey thy soul, not what thou dost appear,
But what thou art!'
"November 7th.-Think I am improving in health
Construed forty verses of Matthew, fifth chapter.
Wrote letters to my wife and mother. Could not
read much, for reading induces pain in the head. I
can not think or meditate here to any improvement
of the mind.
"November 8, 1830.
"Thou Guardian of my early youth,
Shall I to thee no tribute pay;
Who formed my soul to love and truth,
And hung thy lamp to cheer my way.
"O yes, my raptured heart shall pour
Unnumbered praises to thy name;
Though in affliction's deepest hour,
Thy hand supports my feeble frame.'
"November 11th.-My wife and darling son have
come to spend some time in this vicinity. My feel-
ings can be judged and weighed only by those who
have tasted the bitter cup of affliction, and eaten the
268
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
bread of sorrow. Let those censure me who know
no sin!
"Sabbath, November 14, 1830.-A relapse is threat-
ened. Mr. Leland, lady, and Mrs. McNutt called.
"November 15th. More visitors than usual. Mrs.
Davis and two Quaker ladies, Mr. Gillis and two
nieces, etc.
“November 16th.—Court sitting to-day; much ado`
about nothing. J. L. Gillis on trial; great exertions
by the antis to convict him, right or wrong. A box
of comfortables, received from friends in Rochester.
Visitors, E. Griffin, Miss Gillis, John Whitney, H.
Haywood, and half a dozen antis.
"November 17th.-Considerable pain in my head.
John Whitney and Mr. Alcott called; also Gen. Mat-
thews, who talked of things that may be, and several
gentlemen from Vienna, Mr. Boughton, Mr. Root, and
others.
"November 18th.-Arose somewhat discouraged.
Gillis's trial progressing. Visitors, Miss Gillis and
her brother, R. Ainsworth, and two other gentlemen,
from Rochester."
The trial of James L. Gillis for participation in
the Morgan abduction, commenced this day, and ter-
minated on the 20th, with the verdict of not guilty.
It will be remembered that he was tried in May,
1829, with John Whitney; but the jury disagreed as
to Gillis, and were discharged. Judge Howell pre-
sided. The jury was empanneled with but little dif-
ficulty or delay, and was composed of honorable and
intelligent men. As to the result it was observed,
"that a fair sun was again breaking upon the be-
nighted inhabitants of Western New York, and that
THE SECOND YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
269
-
the desolating waves of delusion were ceasing their
upheavings."
It appeared, from the testimony upon this trial,
that Mr. Gillis was, at the time of the abduction of
Morgan, a resident of the State of Pennsylvania, but
at this period was on a visit to his relatives in Victor,
one of the towns through which the Morgan carriage
passed; that he was an active business man; and on
the day Morgan was taken from the Canandaigua jail,
was at that place negotiating a draft on Philadelphia
with Mr. Wells, the cashier of one of the banks; and
that on the succeeding day, one of the citizens of
Victor met him returning from Rochester, where, it
appears, about that time, he had disposed of a quan-
tity of wheat, and bargained for mill-irons and plows
with Alcott, Watts & Langworthy, which he was to
take with him to Pennsylvania. It likewise appeared,
that when he heard, at his residence in Pennsylvania,
of his indictment, he started for Canandaigua, to
confront his accusers; that he was formally arrested
in the stage, as he arrived in that village, and put
under bonds to appear at a future court; that he did
afterward come from Pennsylvania no less than
seven times, with witnesses, prepared for trial, but
the public prosecutor had never thought proper, or
was not prepared, to bring the cause on until now,
except the time when he was tried with Whitney,
when he was absent, on a stipulation with his counsel
and the public prosecutor, that he was to be served
with notice when they were prepared, which did not
reach him; and it likewise appeared, notwithstanding
270
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
the agreement on the part of the public prosecutor
to notify the counsel of Mr. Gillis when he should be
wanted for trial, that he had not done so since the
former trial, but that a sheriff had been sent, and
Mr. Gillis formally apprehended a second time.
-
The testimony of Mr. John Whitney, upon the trial
of Gillis, affords so important a link in the history
of the Morgan abduction, that we give it here:
"He started from Rochester for Canandaigua on
the 11th September, 1826, in company with Burrage
Smith, for the purpose of collecting a bill due to him
at Victor, and to get a stone-cutter at Canandaigua;
which was his only business, and the only object he
had in view; and that he did not then know that
Morgan was to be taken away. That he was imper-
fectly acquainted with the defendant at that time.
He got on to the box of the carriage containing
Morgan about a mile out of Canandaigua. James
L. Gillis was not in the carriage, to his knowledge.
He did not know Morgan at that time. Rode in the
carriage to Beach's tavern, at Victor, where he left
it, when watering at the trough, and got a horse of
Dr. Beach, to go to Rochester. He did not see the
carriage after he left it to go into Beach's, until he
saw it at the Reservoir, at Rochester. When he
waked them up at Beach's, he went round to the
kitchen door, and from thence into the bar-room,
where he saw two or three persons, among whom
was one of the Gillis's, he thinks Enos, with whom
he drank; was there, in all, twenty minutes or half
an hour; did not see James L. Gillis there, nor on
the road to Rochester, nor at Hanford's Landing,
where he was present when they changed carriages,
and he could not have been there without his knowing
THE SECOND YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
271
it. Gillis did not ride out with him, nor did he see
him, to his knowledge, at any place, or anywhere
on the road; no man of that name accompanied him,
nor did he see any one of that name on the road.
He knew of no restraint upon Morgan. He did not
hear him threatened; he was not gagged, nor blinded,
nor, to his knowledge, was he intoxicated. He heard
some fault found with Morgan about the course he
had pursued. Morgan manifested regret, and he
(witness) understood from the company, and from
Morgan, that Morgan was going West, secretly, for
the purpose of preventing Miller and his associates
from knowing where he did go, with the object in
view to stop the publication of the book they were
about to publish, and he (witness) verily believed this
was the real object. Morgan complained of Miller
and his associates; said they had led him astray, and
he was sorry for it. He appeared perfectly satisfied
in going off, and spoke of an arrangement to go. On
the ridge road they stopped at two public houses,
and at an orchard they got out, gathered and eat
apples, Morgan among the others, each walking about
at pleasure. There was no jug of liquor in the car-
riage, but there was some once brought into it in a
tumbler. Witness took supper at Wright's, and went
on with the carriage to within about ten miles of
Lewiston. Witness does not know that Morgan was
carried out of the state, nor what became of him.
The carriage was not closed all the time. He had
no conversation with the Gillis whom he saw at
Beach's, on the subject of Morgan. James L. Gillis
did not ride in the carriage with Smith and himself
from Victor to Canandaigua. Witness did not take
tea at Acker's, nor was he about the post-office that
day or night, except in coming in and going out from
Canandaigua. The persons in the carriage were ad-
dressed by their correct names. He informed, or
1
272
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
23
engaged to inform those who were going to the in-
stallation at Lewiston, that this carriage was on its
way, and he expected to go himself with them. It
was told to Morgan that he should be as well taken
care of as though he published the book, if he did
as he agreed. He does not remember of hearing
any reason for putting Morgan into the carriage by
force, but Morgan admitted that he had agreed to
go with Loton Lawson, and appeared to apologize at
the jail as not knowing what the arrangements were
at the jail. Witness thoroughly understood that the
only object was to keep Morgan from Miller and his
associates, and stop the publication of the book.
Burrage Smith was in the carriage, but neither he
nor any one else except himself, got out at Beach's,
to his knowledge. He did not see Smith there."
"November 20th.-J. L. Gillis's trial ends. The
jury, after a few minutes, deliberately brought in a
verdict of Not guilty.
Sabbath, November 21, 1830.-An uncomfortable
day; head very painful.
"When urgent pain the suffering head assails,
And life's warm current throbbing through each pass,
When heart and hope betrayed, and spirit fails '
“November 22d.-Heard some favorable intima-
tions concerning my release. Hope the news may
prove true.
وو
The efforts made, by friends of both parties, to
shorten his term of imprisonment, were based upon
his fast-failing health. It is to the discredit of Gov.
Throop that they failed.
"November 23d.-Gen. D. Marvin came in, with
the papers recommending my release, signed by Drs.
Carr and Wells, and recommended by four judges.
THE SECOND YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
273
They are to be forwarded to the Governor for a par-
don. Prospects seem fair. Judges Price, Loomis,
and Rawson called to see me."
The marriage of Mrs. Lucinda Morgan, wife of the
abducted William Morgan, occurred this day, at Ba-
tavia. Mr. George W. Harris, a Freemason, was the
bridegroom. They were divorced in 1853 or 1854,
in one of the Western States, (Iowa, we believe,)
upon serious charges against her. Mrs. Morgan
(Harris) died at Memphis, Tennessee, in the Female
Asylum, in 1860.
“November 25th.-Hope seems breaking through
the dark mist of affliction, and gives me comfort in
the depths of disease and distress. If the Governor
listens to my petition, I shall be free. This will add
new energies to my system. By invigorating the
mind it will give a tone to the stomach. Applied
two blisters to my head, hoping it may be the last
needed in this cage of unclean spirits.
“November 26th.-Read Mr. Maynard and Fred.
Whittlesey's report to the Antimasonic Convention at
Philadelphia. Vox et preterea nihil. Time will de-
velop all things. People ere long will see that these
factionists have more of self in view than public weal.
It needs only time
"To drive and scatter all their brood of lies,
And chase each varying falsehood as it flies;
The long arrears of ridicule to pay
"?
And bring neglected virtue back to day.'
Never was a truer vaticination, or one more promptly
realized.
Charges having been made by the antimasonic
press, that the Masonic Fraternity arranged their
electioneering operations in the late elections in the
274
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
secrecy of the lodge-room, the following letter, which
was indorsed by every member of the institution who
saw it, was published under this date in the Albany
Daily Advertiser:
"STEPHENTOWN, NEW YORK, Nov. 26, 1830.
"DEAR SIR-I have just received yours of the
24th inst., and yesterday, for the first time, I saw the
article in the Commercial Advertiser to which it refers.
I do not know whether I felt more of indignation or
surprise at reading the charges which that article
contains. And in reply to your questions, I answer,
distinctly and positively, that as applying to your
lodge, it is totally untrue, and that the subject of the
election was never, in any way, mentioned or alluded
to in any meeting of our lodge.
"As individuals, the Freemasons of Stephentown
will exercise their right of supporting such candidates
for office as they may think proper, but as Freemasons,
they never have had, and never will have anything to
do with politics. The door of the lodge shuts out all
political discussions. I have been a member of
Friendship Lodge for more than seventeen years, and
in that time have been Master six or seven years. I
have attended every lodge meeting for three years
past, and in all the time that I have belonged to the
lodge, I never heard the most remote allusion in
lodge meetings to any political subject. I have also
attended frequently the Grand Lodge of this State
and Grand Chapter, and many subordinate lodges
and Chapters in this State and elsewhere. I think I
know something of Masons and Masonry, and I should
be as much surprised to hear a political discussion in
a Lodge of Freemasons as I should to see a clergyman
dancing in the aisle of a church.
"I am, sirs, yours, respectfully,
"NATHAN HOWARD."
THE SECOND YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
275
“November 28th.-Heard that the papers soliciting
my release are still in town; if so all is not right.
The eldest son of the late Col. King called on me;
also H. Richmond, N. G. Chesbro, and J. T. Gillis.
“November 29th.-Have toiled through the day be-
tween hope and fear. A sad dilemma.
"November 30th.-Mr. Howard and Mr. Leland
called. Have passed a tolerable day.
"December 5th.-A tolerably tranquil day. E. J.
Roberts called.
“December 6th.-H. Sibley and John C. Spencer
called to examine me relative to a sale made in 1828.
Was examined by Sibley, cross-examined by Spencer
for four and a half hours; quite wearied.
“December 9th.-This is the day set apart by the
governor as a day of public thanksgiving and prayer;
that we should most devoutly and humbly acknowledge
our dependence upon the great Author of all things,
and with grateful hearts most sincerely thank Him for
his abundant goodness toward us. Notwithstanding
our undeservedness of his mercies and forgetfulness
of our dependence upon his goodness, yet his bounties
flow in an endless stream, and his goodness like a
mighty river.
"December 13th.-My uncle, P. Warren, recently
from Templeton, Mass., called. Brings accounts of
relatives; many dead.
"December 16th. Thus far in this month and no
returns from papers which ought to have been trans-
mitted to the Executive; two weeks given. Surely
my health and liberty, and the deplorable situation of
my family, must be of little importance in the minds
of those from whom I expect greater promptitude.
Mr. S. Lyon called.
3
“December 14th.-Have passed this day tolerably.
Received President's message and read it. It con-
tains a plain and unvarnished statement of our foreign
276
*ཝཱ
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
and domestic and national affairs, and is a very lumi-
nous and able State paper. Posterity will adjudge it
a document bearing the impress of a sound head, an
honest heart, and an independent mind.
"December 15, 1830.
"Look round the habitable world, how few
Know their own good, or knowing it, pursue!'-Dryden.
"I have thought much on the above quotation, and
looking to the number of our inmates, I am forcibly
led to the opinion that people frequently wantonly
shut their eyes against their better judgment.
"December 17th.-Have made an effort to-day at
composition; the muse has labored. Subject-The
Vision of Eliphaz, from the Book of Job, upon which I
made thirty lines. Visited again by Rev. Mr. Carney,
who with much warmth and feeling urged the accep-
tation of proffered mercy by the hand of the Well-
Beloved of God, whose surety was salvation indeed.”
In the Masonic Record, of February 26th, 1831,
we find this production, signed Recluse. It is, like
his Bells, a talented piece:
"THE VISION OF ELIPHAZ.
In Job, fourth chapter, and some eight or ten verses from the
last of the chapter, will be found the subject of the following:
"'T was night's high noon; the brilliant orb of day
Had lowered beyond the Western blue, and all
Was hushed in nature's lap; all sought repose;
The glimmering lamps of heaven hung out their lights
In silence o'er interminable plains:
The moping bird of night was still, and still
The savage beasts of prey in covert hid..
•
All sought repose from Morpheus' leaden hand
Save Eliphaz: his troubled spirit's roused
By logic's round of words in converse with
The afflicted man of Uz. Fine metaphors
And allegories, terse hyberboles,
Shrewd irony, amplification just,
Had vexed his manly soul, and sleep had fled.
THE SECOND YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
277
Thus in deep reveries of thought he lay,
While thoughts sublime and heavenly filled his soul
With intellectual panoply to meet
The sober man of wordy arguments.
When lo before his visual orbs a form,
Unmentionable, from the etherial realms,
Passed near his sleepless couch; and there it staid.
Affright he silent views the chilling scene,
Which tongue nor pen could there describe it right.
A tremor seized his manly frame, and palsied
Every limb; the quaking muscles shake.
His firmest bone, each tense and sinewy cord
Act without volition. Spasms so dread
Distort his beetling brow, his hair erect
Stood out like filaments of frost or ice-
For fear had seized and chained his inmost soul.
The painful silence then was broke-a voice
Distinct, unearthly, breaks upon his ear:
'Shall mortal man be more upright than God?
Shall man be purer than his Maker is?
Yon sons of light, who hymn his praise both eve
And morn, and strike their golden harps in soft
Symphonious strains, deserve from him no trust-
Angels of brighter name, who joyful stand
Around the Source of love, of light, of truth;
And in his beatific presence wait
His dread behests, are charged with folly too-
Then how much less, let thy small wisdom know,
Shall feeble dust, the shadow of a shade,
Tenants in clay presume perfection's hights
To reach, and meet Omnipotence by thine
Own standard of thy proud excellency.
Thine intermingling dust and clay is crushed
Before the moth-hence thy proud origin.
Say where is thy pre-eminence in life,
And from what font is thy Utopian wisdom?
Let this suffice; learn hence humility:
Man's but an ephemeral flower, comes forth,
Is gone, alas! and without Wisdom dies !'"
"December 18th.-Not so well to-day; another
blister to my neck. Visitors, the sheriff, A. Howell,
Col. Sawyer, H. Richmond, and Mr. Baldwin.
"December 20th.-Yesterday, owing to much in-
disposition, I neither read or wrote a word. Gen.
Wisner, from Niagara county, called.
"December 21st.-Much disappointed to-day to
hear that the governor refused to release me on the
petition of the judges and certificate of Drs. Carr
278
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
and Wells. He must be very skeptical, or fearful
of political tumults. He appears to be a man of
shadows, without stamina. Dr. Carr and the sheriff
called, and appeared to feel manly and charitably
relative to my case with the governor.
"December 23d.-Comfortable as could be ex-
pected; busied with the Medico-Chirurgical Review,
favored to me by Mr. Ward, whose kindness toward
me has been such as becomes a gentleman and a firm
friend still further characterized by true nobility of
mind.
December 25th.-Christmas abroad, but filth, vice,
and disgust within this place. Mrs. Martin, Mrs.
Barlow visited me, with N. G. Chesebro and Mr.
Grundy.
6
December 26th.-While reading the sixth chapter
of Matthew this morning I was sensibly impressed,
and my attention was forcibly arrested when I came
to the ninth verse, 'After this manner therefore pray
ye,' etc. In this great pattern of all prayers, Our
Father, which art in heaven,' how condescending the
Savior in his instructions! how familiar his language!
What nearness is implied in the phraseology! it is
as a child to a common parent.
Here we are not
instructed to toil whole days and nights for studied
expressions and learned phrases. OUR FATHER will
deign to hear us! This the more surprises me when
I take into consideration the awful disparity between
the finite and Infinitude; between impotency and
Omnipotency; between us whose vision is bounded by
a wall or sides of a room in which we sit, and Him
whose sleepless eye sees at once the fall of a spar-
row and the whirling of the earth in its vast orbit..
“December 28th.-Reading F. Thomas on Temper-
ament. Visitors, Silas. Starke, Erastus Congdon, and
Morgan Morse..
"December 30th.-Quite unwell; dread of those
THE SECOND YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
279
fearful symptoms perplex me. A. H. Millard, J.
Wilson, and Dr. Williams called.
·
"January 1st, 1831.-There are few traits in the
characters of reflecting and intelligent beings more
extraordinary than that of indifference as to the im-
portance of time. The present, the past, and the
future, appear alike indifferent to many, but to me
not so. Another year has past, and it has been a
sorry vacuum to me. And now a long farewell to
the year just gone, charged in this memorandum-
book with many sorrows, pains, and sad forebodings,
and with very few joys. But errors in duty and de-
votion are so many accounts to be rendered before
the throne of the great, immutable Father of time.
Reflection forces itself upon the mind that there
is no return of the probationary seasons which are
forever past; that although the budding promise of
spring, the blooming beauty of summer, the golden
fruits of autumn, and the silvery sheen of winter
may come again, yet there is no yielding back the
years that have been swept from our grasp; no re-
calling the moments past, whether ill or well spent.
"January 3d.-Considerably cheerful; strong
hopes that this will be the last of my imprisonment.
N. G. Chesebro and H. R called.
(6
January 4th.-Uncommonly smart to-day. S.
Mott and P. R. Rawson called.
"January 5th.-Too much tumult and noise in
our bedlam, for improvement either in reading or in
meditation.
66
January 7th.-Passed a tolerable day, free from
pain. Mrs. B. came in with our son, and I extracted
two of his incisors from the upper maxillary in con-
Bled one of
sequence of decay and tumefaction.
our fleshy inmates. Two rose-buds visited me."
Here ends the diary. The fourth volume, which,
280
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
to the inexpressible regret of the narrator, has been
mislaid in the hands of the Bruce family, brought
up the record, it is said, to September 15, 1831, the
day of his release. It would have been a grateful
task to have culled from this portion of his diary.
The certainty of freedom drawing nigher day by day,
the congratulations of friends, the anticipations of
domestic happiness, the brightening sky of friend-
ship-all these must have made his pen fly nimbly
over the closing pages, although his pains and debil-
ity had been far worse than during the period we
have scanned.
The valedictory of Mr. E. J. Roberts as editor and
publisher of the Craftsman, appears under this date.
The pecuniary embarrassment of the paper, resulting
from the credit system, compelled its discontinuance
for a time, and final removal to Albany, although
more than five thousand dollars for subscriptions ap-
peared due on the books of the office; we have no
files of the Craftsman subsequent to this date, al-
though we know it was published for a considerable
period afterward. The valedictory is well written,
as the following extract will show.
"The Craftsman was established on broad philan-
thropical principles; it was not to be, and has not
been confined to the narrow circle of political party,
or alone to the defense of the injured and wolf-
hunted members of a single institution. Its province
has been as wide as the world, and its columns as
free as the ocean wave, endeavoring to spread light,
to add new vigor to liberty, and to inculcate truth
where darkness, anarchy, and falsehood were intwin-
-
A
THE SECOND YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
281
ing their poisonous folds and embittering the cup of
human misery. It took grounds as the advocate of
the Constitution, of equal rights and privileges, of
universal education, of true and undefiled religion, as
the defender of the persecuted of whatever society
or denomination, and as the protector of American
genius and worth, found in whatever political circle;
and it declared itself the open enemy of proscriptive
and intolerable principles, the opponent of political
antimasonry, of the union of Church and State, and
of fanaticism in religion. Those principles has it
advocated; these dogmas has it opposed. Its columns
have been open to all; closed against none.
the ordinary press, it has admitted the proceedings
and arguments offered to it against the principles
for which it was contending, defending its own
opinions, but not debarring others from a free ex-
pression of theirs, because they failed to agree in
sentiment, or through fear that some few subscribers
might be unreasonable enough to withdraw their pat-
ronage."
Unlike
February 21, 1831.-The trial of Elisha Adams,
Parkhurst Whitney, Noah Beach, Samuel M. Chub-
buck, Timothy Shaw, and William Miller, for partici-
pation in the Morgan abduction, began at Lockport
this day, Judge Samuel Nelson presiding. Counsel
for the people, Victor Birdseye, special advocate, and
E. Ransom, Jr.; for the defendants, Vincent Mat-
thews, Ebenezer Griffin, William H. Adams, and J.
F. Mason. The testimony of Edward Giddins being
called, relative to the competency of a proposed juror,
objections were offered, on the ground of religious
skepticism, and overruled by the Court.
He was
admitted, but with the charge from the Court that
24
282
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
the jury were still to be the judges of his compe-
tency. The case of Elisha Adams occupied the en-
tire of the first week, and the jury, being unable to
agree, were discharged. Mr. Adams died on the 9th
of May following.
On the 28th February, the other five were put on
trial together. The indictment contained four counts,
viz.:
1st. For assault and battery upon one William
Morgan, and for falsely imprisoning him.
2d. A conspiracy to falsely imprison William Mor-
gan.
3d. A conspiracy to assault, imprison, and trans-
port the said William Morgan, and carry him to parts
unknown.
4th. And also for the false imprisonment and ab-
duction of William Morgan.
Among the witnesses in these trials, were Eli
Bruce, John Whitney, and Loton Lawson. The lat-
ter testified that Morgan confessed to him, in the
Canandaigua jail, that "he had got into a scrape in
publishing an Exposition of Masonry, in connection
with David C. Miller, and that he wanted to get out
of it; that Miller had not done as he agreed, and
he wanted to get rid of him."
The testimony of Mr. Bruce is very interesting,
and has been reserved for this place near the close
of our volume. The verity of Mr. Bruce's statements
is unimpeachable, and there is no question but what
his entire participation in the affair of Morgan is here
recorded:
THE SECOND YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
283
"Eli Bruce called.-Resided in Lockport in 1826;
heard the evening before the installation that a man
by the name of Morgan was coming on from Canan-
daigua; was described to him as a man who wanted
to get away from Miller and go West; made inquiry
whether he was coming peaceably, or whether there
was a fuss; the answer was, that he was coming
peaceably; asked him if he was disposed to ride;
said he was; witness went to Wright's, on the ridge
road, eight or nine o'clock P. M.; the carriage stood
before the shed ready to go on; went into the house
before he got into the carriage, and got something to
drink; Morgan was in the carriage; two other per-
sons were in the carriage; did not sit with Morgan
at all, as he recollects; knew the other man in the
carriage; presume they were strangers to Morgan;
a part of the time witness rode on the inside, and a
part of the time on the outside; between Wright's
and Molyneux's, (about twenty-five miles from Nia-
gara,) asked Morgan where he was going; said from
Rochester to Niagara; stopped in Lewiston; changed
carriages; drove down to Youngstown, and then down
near the fort; called up the ferryman (Giddins) and
went across the river; four men went across; Mor-
gan was not landed; the man whom he called up at
Youngstown (not Giddins) went up to the town, (New-
ark;) talked with some persons about taking Morgan;
they objected, as arrangements were not yet made;
they all then returned; heard nothing about a signal,
or about pushing off into the river, (as mentioned by
Giddins ;) went up to the magazine; believes Morgan
was put in; did not go in the magazine; near Moly-
neux's discovered that Morgan had a handkerchief
thrown over his face; the purpose of the handker-
chief was, that he should not know those who had
charge of him; his arms were not tied, (as sworn by
Giddins ;) is confident of it; must have known it if
284
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
they had been; thinks they were not tied at the fer-
ry; a man asked Morgan, 'Do you know those who
are with you?' answered, 'No.' Some person told
witness it was best not to have much conversation
with him; this was at Wright's. [Counsel for de-
fendants objects to the public prosecutor's showing.
the acts or declaration of any other persons engaged
in the abduction, until he connects the defendants
with the conspiracy. Court overruled the objection.
Defendants except.] Did not inquire into the minu-
tiæ of the affair; heard nothing said about fastening
the magazine; went to Lewiston next day; heard
something about a man's making a noise in the mag-
azine; the man who went down with witness from
Wright's the day before, intimated that all was not
right in the fort; it was not in the presence of either
of these defendants; do n't recollect of having any
conversation with either of them upon the subject,
or of hearing any other persons; Gen. Whitney was
one of the officers at the installation; do n't recollect
of seeing either of the others there.
"Cross-examined by Adams.—Understood and be-
lieved that Morgan was coming peaceably, or he
would not have got into the carriage with him; had
some suspicions when he saw the handkerchief over
his face, but was satisfied on being told that it was
for the purpose of preventing his being known, that
Miller might not be able to trace him; is sure he
was not tied in any manner; when they went down
to the ferry, left Morgan in company with the man
who came with him from Wright's, and went to wake
up the ferryman; saw no restraint; it was light
enough to see, if he had been pinioned; saw no pis-
tols, heard no threats to keep Morgan still, (as sworn
by Giddins ;) did not see any one lift the handkerchief
and look in his face; he talked freely and answered
readily; he asked what is this? was told it was a
THE SECOND YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
285
boat; asked if it was secure or safe? was told it was;
when they came back, and were going to the fort, he
did not ask where he was going; was about an hour
on the Canada shore.
66
By the Court. The objections to receiving him
in Canada was, that the place where he was to reside
had not yet been designated; had heard it said that
he was to go back somewhere on a farm; it was
thought best to wait a day or two, till some arrange-
ments could be made; did not express any fears of
incurring responsibility as a reason for not receiving
him; the man who staid in the magazine was to stay
as a companion with him; he was to stay till the
arrangements on the other side were consummated;
did not know when he started from Wright's that the
magazine was prepared for him; it was said that a
man would go back with him into the country in
Canada; he (witness) expected, when he was put into
the magazine, that he would still go into Canada;
don't know that the reasons for returning from Can-
ada were communicated to Morgan; do n't know
whether Morgan was asked if he would go into the
magazine; do n't recollect that any lantern or other
light was present when he was put into the magazine;
witness did not go in himself; when he heard at
Lewiston that Morgan was uneasy, he had some mis.
givings, but supposed from the character of the men
who were with him, that nothing dishonorable would
be done, or anything that would affect his (witness's)
character and standing; the last he ever heard on
the subject (except rumor) was that Morgan was
quieted and contented; witness hoped for the best.
and said nothing, as he (witness) was a public officer;
heard no expression from any one that Morgan had
forfeited his life; thinks that the gentleman who got
into the carriage at Youngstown was the one who
286
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
first suggested the idea of putting him into the mag-
azine.
"By Birdseye. On the way over to Canada, the
man who got in at Youngstown observed, that the
fellow had made a dd fuss, alluding to his pub-
lishing the book; did not know that defendants were
suspected until they were indicted."
We also copy the testimony of Mr. John Whitney,
as reported at the trial:
"John Whitney called.-Came on in the carriage
spoken of by Lawson, from Hanford's to Wright's;
got there after sundown; staid at Wright's about half
an hour, and got something to eat; Morgan did not
go in; then came to Lockport.
"Cross-examined by Adams.-Saw Morgan, for the
first time, at or near Hanford's; came with him from
Canandaigua to Victor, but it was in the night, and
could not tell him from the rest of the company;
rode on the outside; understood Morgan was in the
carriage; a man who was along told witness that
Morgan was going voluntarily, and arrangements
were made with him to that effect; got in again at
Rochester; came from Victor there on horseback; it
was daylight when we got to Hanford's; went about
one hundred rods before we got out; three or four
got out; then first recognized Morgan; was not
bound or blindfolded; went on voluntarily; was not
intoxicated or stupefied; had drank liquor like the
rest of the company; nothing was administered to
him to produce drowsiness; when they got out at
Hanford's they soon got into another; do n't recollect .
that any one had hold of Morgan when they got out
of one carriage into the other; got out and in like
the rest; no scuffle or any force used; had a talk
THE SECOND YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
287
a;
with Morgan on the road; expressed a willingness
to go, if his situation could be made to suit him, and
he was assured it should be so; the object of keep-
ing him secret was, that Miller, and those with whom
he had been engaged in printing the book, should
not know where he was gone, so as to follow him
said Miller had misused him, and he did not want
he should know where he had gone; appeared as
anxious as any one to keep his journey secret; saw
no bandage over his eyes, nor vail; no threats used;
was told he could not expect friends unless he used
his friends well; said he had done wrong, and was
willing to get out of the scrape; he knew they were
going to Lewiston; it was the understanding that the
arrangements that were to be made for him were to
be as good, in a pecuniary point of view, as the
speculation with Miller in publishing the book; noth-
ing definite, however, had yet been agreed on."
-
The testimony closed, on both sides, on Saturday
evening, March 5th. On Monday, March 7th, it was
committed to the jury, a little before midnight, and
on the next morning, March 8th, two of the defend-
ants, Timothy Shaw and William Miller, were re-
ported not guilty, and the jury being unable to agree
as to the others, a new trial became necessary.
The following extracts from a letter of March 21,
1831, of Eli Bruce to his brother, Silas Bruce, at
West Boylston, Massachusetts, are pertinent to this
episode:
66
"CANANDAIGUA, March 21, 1831.
Sensibly near to me are all those
who are related to me by the ties of consanguinity.
Since I wrote you, I have passed many sad, sick,
and trying hours. Till within a few days, I have not
288
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
C
seen a well day since June 25th last. I was left
merely the shadow of a shade.' My time has passed
like a reverie. Such has been my disorder, (chiefly
of the head,) that my memory has suffered much.
Events which have occurred during some months
past can only be recalled by my diary, which I have
sedulously kept since my introduction into this bed-
lam. On looking it over, I find it filled with sad,
monotonous repetitions of pains, aches, and sad fore-
bodings. Till of late, I thought the antimasons would
have had a Te Deum over my imprisoned remains,
and I should be huddled to mother Earth sans cere-
monie. But, thanks be to God! I begin to feel my
usual flow of spirits. The genial glow of returning
health is creeping through my weakened frame.
"Disease made such havoc with my form and feat-
ures, that my wife, when she visited me, started and
said, 'This can not be Eli!' Even my friends would
come in and inquire of me where Bruce was, and
stare when they saw my wreck.
"I have recently returned from Lockport, whither
I was taken as a witness, on a habeas corpus. The
journey was of material benefit to my health. I was
absent twenty days; and although I suffered much
from fatigue, being so very weak, yet my constitution
brought me through triumphantly.
"The time of my incarceration will expire Sep-
tember 15th, next, and, if I live, I shall once more
see liberty, which few know how to prize, and then,
Richard's himself again!' Tell your wife that I
was fearful she would become disgusted with the
name of Bruce; but tell her that, although circum-
stances of rather a novel nature have got me into
limbo, yet I have the warmest sympathies and the
most ardent and cordial feelings of friendship fol-
lowing me here, by that class of community, too, in
THE SECOND YEAR'S IMPRISONMENT.
289
whose companionship I am justly proud to find my-
self a welcome associate.
There is great stir here, as well in the religious
as the political world. Changes of the most import-
ant character are occurring, and principles truly
alarming are gaining considerable ground. I allude
more particularly to a set of people styled Mormon-
ites, who claim to be the particular favorites of
Heaven by immediate revelation.
"(Signed)
ELI BRUCE."
March 13, 1831.-A large public meeting of the
Freemasons, in the town of Manlius, New York, and
vicinity, was held, and an address to the citizens
adopted, bearing the signature of fifty-three of the
Craft.
May 9, 1831.-The animus of the antimasonic
press, at this period, may be conceived by the fol-
lowing extract from the Lockport Courier, published
by J. M. Cadwallader, of Tuesday, May 24, 1831:
"Elisha Adams, the only person who could have
revealed who the actual murderers of Morgan were,
died at Youngstown on the 9th. Nature has thus
entered a nolle prosequi in the case of this miserable
man.'
""
This is but a single specimen of the furious and
outrageous attacks upon private character with which
that paper, and many others of its class, abounded.
And such was the state of public feeling, that no
Mason, however injured in his reputation by such
calumnies, could get a verdict in his favor.
25
290
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
CHAPTER VII.
THE CLOSE OF HIS LIFE.
*

E regret most keenly, that of the period of
Mr. Bruce's life from June, 1831, to Sep-
tember, 1832, we have such scanty illustra-
tions. Yet we can not attribute this bar-
renness to any want of industry or research
in ourselves. If epistolary correspondence
by the thousand; if active, almost bloodhound, pursuit
of the few remaining participants in the scenes of
Bruce's closing career deserve reward, we have
merited it; but our efforts, as the reader will per-
ceive, have failed. We can only give what we have,
scanty though it be.
July 22, 1831.-The connection of Mr. John
Quincy Adams with the antimasonic excitement
(which continued until the decadence of the party)
may be said to have commenced this day. His ini-
tial step of a public character was the issue of a
letter of this date, in which the character of the
Masonic institution was vilified, his father's (John
Adams's) non-participation in the institution strenu-
ously argued, and the action of the Craft in the
Morgan trials rebuked. Mr. Adams entered into the
THE CLOSE OF HIS LIFE.
291
crusade with all the zeal natural to his excitable
character; wrote a series of letters to William L.
Stone, a seceding Mason of New York, which were
largely published, and for five years devoted talent
and learning worthy of a better cause to the vain
attempt to overturn Masonry. He lived to be very
much ashamed of his course, and his biographers find
but little in this stage of his career worthy of note.
Mr. John H. Sheppard, of Boston, Mass., still
(1860) a Mason of rare zeal and learning, gave the
ex-president a public reply, which remains on the
records as a model of polished severity.
August 1st.-A letter was written this day by Mr.
Bruce to Mr. E. J. Roberts, editor of the Craftsman,
of which the following extracts were published:
"Feeling indignant at some remarks made by Mr.
Weed in the Albany Evening Journal, together with
articles from the Onondaga Republican and the New
York Spectator, I wrote Mr. Weed a letter, of which
the following is a copy:
"August 1st, 1831.
"MR. WEED:-I saw some articles this morning,
copied in your paper of the 29th ult., as well as your
own remarks, calculated to mislead public opinion;
and as I am the subject of remark, I feel indubitably
bound to correct them, as one whose feelings are still
alive to public sentiment. I take the liberty to ask
the correction through the same source that gave it
publicity.
"The Grand Lodge did not then, (1827,) nor at
any subsequent period, loan me money. So the
remarks of the Onondaga Republican, and those of
Col. Stone, as well as your own, viz.: "This testimony
292
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
is of that direct character so important in making out
the case of participation in the Morgan outrage
against the Grand Lodge," must fall to the ground.
"ELI BRUCE.'"
September 15, 1831, was, according to his letter to
his brother just given, the day of his release. The
following extracts from another to the same, formʼan
imperfect connection of biographical events:
"LOCKPORT, November 21st, 1831.
"DEAR BROTHER-I am now at home with my
family, and in the practice of medicine. However
novel it may appear to you, such is the fact, that from:
my prison I am in the very lap of friendship, and
home of content. It will take some time to repair my
broken fortune, but as for loss of friends, I have
sustained none. Antimasonry is on the decline.
There is a redeeming spirit abroad, and that political
fanaticism must soon retire with shame and contempt.
I hazard nothing in saying that anti-ism will soon
smell most foul. My health is improving.
ELI BRUCE.”
"(Signed)
The next letter remaining of those written to his
brother, Silas Bruce, is of date Lockport, February
26th, 1832, of which the following gives some extracts :
"It is devoutly to be wished, at my time of life,"
that I should be established in some avocation for
the downhill of life, to which I seem rapidly strid-
ing. Since the receipt of your letter of January
14th, I have been very busy, both among the well
and the sick. The small-pox has been among us, and
created no little alarm and distress. Some ten-or
fifteen have fallen victims to it, and nothing but the
THE CLOSE OF HIS LIFE.
293
intense cold weather prevented its spread to a most
dreadful extent. The cholera of India is a very
comfortable complaint compared with this disease
when it puts on its malignant form. Added to the
effects of the small-pox, we are yet afflicted with
the remains of the Cholera-Morgan! I am again
indicted and held to bail for contumacy before Judge
Marcy, a year ago last June. The trial troubles
me very little. The antis are mad because I
would n't swear five or six clever fellows into jail.
I'd see them in Davy Jones's locker first, and then I
would n't! I go the entire pork for my principle, and
they may do their best.
"I intend to get my Diploma of M. D. next June,
if possible, but perhaps I shall be obliged to take
another degree in jail before then; time only can
develop the profound sagacity of anti-ism. I am still
gaining in health, though I think I shall never be as
active as before my confinement. My misfortunes
have operated more against my purse than my char-
acter. I care not a twopence about the stigma, or
injury done to character, but I do about my property
lost and spent.
"(Signed)
ELI BRUCE."
The notice of Mr. Bruce's death, as published in
the Lockport Courier of Tuesday, September 25th,
1832, is as follows:
"DIED,
"Yesterday afternoon, in this village, of cholera,
Mr. Eli Bruce, formerly high sheriff of this county.
Mr. Bruce had been laboring under the effects of this
disease for about a fortnight."
""
The above would fix the time of his death, Mon-
day afternoon, September 24th, 1832.
294
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
Thus passed away the amiable, the gifted, the
unfortunate Bruce. All is ended now. The do-
mestic affections so keen, the love of friends so
sincere, the industrious habits so constant, the abil-
ity to endure so indomitable, the Masonic fidelity
so exquisite-all ended now. The hope, might it
but please God, that he should see the darkness of
antimasonry pass from that distracted land-lost now.
All is gone, and in a lonely graveyard, now aban-
doned, and in a grave not now to be found, though
sought long and often, the prisoner just released from
his cell, sleeps until the resurrection day. He sleeps
well. The years of suffering taught him patience.
Resignation to the will of God, which had found him
in the prison, followed him to the grave. The mer-
ciful One, whose eye had so often looked down upon
him through his grated window at midnight hours,
had pity on him-can we doubt it ?-and the victim
of antimasonry sleeps well. Let him rest quietly in
that abandoned graveyard, assured that his lost grave
will be found, and the crumbled remains gathered
again when the Son of man cometh.
+
But let his story live! Let his name be given as
the names of Clinton, Lafayette, and Washington
are given, to those congregations styled lodges, and
chapters, and councils, and commanderies, in which
white-aproned men work with implements upon ma-
terials after designs which Bruce loved well. Tell
it, brethren of this generation, to the youth who, with
upturned eye and wondering face, drink in from your
knees the lessons that are to fit them for the gener-
THE CLOSE OF HIS LIFE.
295
ation to come. Tell it to the suffering for conscience'
sake; he will learn the better how to suffer and to
endure. Tell it to the ardent devotee of Masonry; he
will the more ardently cling to the good old cause.
when he learns at what price of human wrong, and
outrage, and endurance, the institution has been sus-
tained. Tell it as a portion of history of which every
American may justly be proud. And should evil days
again occur to our Craft; should the wondrous
errors in material, errors in framing, errors in
cementing, and errors in disciplining, with which the
present workings of Masonry are so frightfully
clogged, bring again the just judgment of an offended
Deity upon us, then, in the hour of trial, let the few
who under all circumstances will adhere to the cause,
invigorate their needed courage by the name of ELI
BRICE, THE MASONIC MARTYR.
:
APPENDIX.
APPENDIX.

INCE the completion of the foregoing, we have
received from Dr. Silas Bruce, of Boston,
Mass., a letter from which we make the fol-
lowing extracts. The reader will easily mark
its proper place in the volume.
"ALBANY, 15th of February, 1829.
"Well Silas, tempus fugit. So we go up and down
in the scales of life--prospects rising, vanishing-
coming, receding. Success was almost within my
grasp, was just visible through the long vista of civil,
religious, and political thralldom. I came here on
Thursday, and my business will prolong my stay
until next Thursday or Friday. I have business with
the Supreme Court, also with the commissioner of
land office, and the Court of Exchequer. With the
two latter I have some moneyed accounts, while the
former has some business with me.
"I heard last night that the Supreme Court had
decided the question which had been referred to
(299)
300
APPENDIX.
them on my trial at Canandaigua, in my favor. I
presume it is so. It is right in the nature of things.
I believe I wrote you the case at length some time
last fall. Nothing could have been more just and
plain, and I shall realize what I expected. But I
presume new persecutions will arise at our next
Court of Oyer and Terminer in our county. The antis
are (if I may use the broad expression) h-ll bent
on my conviction. Pardon the severity of the term.
They have done so much, and made out nothing,
that they are ready to bite off the end of their
tongues for disappointment. The Senate yesterday
made a bill to introduce to the Lower House, propos-
ing to debar all Masons from sitting as jurors. Noth-
ing could be more disgusting, nothing more pusillan-
imous. It originated, too, in that body which is
termed honorable. It will meet with deserved con-
tempt in the Lower House. One of the members,
not a Mason, rooms with me here. I have got
hardened to affliction so that I am quite happy and
contented. Squalls and earthquakes, simoons and
siroccos, are all one to me! I can get a living spite
the worst of anti-ism. A depression of spirits, a
desertion of business, a tippling habit, and a want of
energy, are what my enemies look for in me, but they
can find none of these things in or about me.
"(Signed)
"ELI BRUCE."

HARLEY-DEL. 71.
BRICHER RUSSELL
THE HOMESTEAD OF ELI BRUCE, SENIOR, UNCLE OF ELI BRUCE, THE SUBJECT OF THIS VOLUME,
AT TEMPLETON, MASS.
APPENDIX.
303
More than half a century since, three brothers,
Roger, Joseph, and Samuel Bruce, met at this house.
They were descendants of the royal line of Bruce,
whose heraldic device is given on another page. Lord
Elgin, formerly Lord Bruce, is of the same race. Mr.
Eli Bruce, the proprietor of this mansion, was noted
as the earliest organ builder in New England.
From this family sprang Mr. Abel W. Bruce, now
of Cambridge, Mass., whose daughter, Miss E. W.
Bruce, of Cambridge, Mass., deceased, was in her
brief day one of the finest musical geniuses of New
England. A sketch of her will be found on another
page.
The following is an extract taken from an article
entitled, "Biographical Memoir of William M. Good-
rich," printed in the January number, 1834, of the
New England Magazine; published by J. T. Buck-
ingham.
"There was then (1805) and is still living in Tem-
pleton, a very ingenious mechanic, Mr. Eli Bruce,
now nearly seventy years of age. He was bred
a cooper, but he taught himself several other me-
chanical arts. He was an excellent mason, cleaned
clocks and watches, and made good clocks of brass.
He has also invented and made several useful ma-
chines. Mr. Bruce had been employed, on account of
his ingenuity, to assist Dr. Josiah Leavitt, of Sterling,
}
304
APPENDIX.
in constructing a small organ, with wooden pipes.
After his return to Templeton, he constructed a similar
instrument for himself. While employed in building
it, he was frequently visited by Mr. Goodrich, then a
young man, whose curiosity was naturally excited,
as well by the novelty as the nature of the instru-
ment. It was probably from the impulse thus given
to the mind of Mr. Goodrich, followed by other col-
lateral circumstances, that he afterward undertook
the same business, which has been so important in
its results. The occupation of Mr. Bruce, as a clock
maker, might also have suggested to a mind natu-
rally inclined to ingenious mechanism, like that of
Mr. Goodrich, the employment of cleaning and re-
pairing clocks and watches."
In the same work for March, same year, we find the
following. The article is entitled, "Organ Building
in New England."
"Mr. Eli Bruce, who has been mentioned, assisted
Dr. Leavitt in building his first organ, was an inge-
nious mechanic of Templeton, in this State. He was
bred a cooper with his father; but he taught him-
self several other mechanic arts. He was an excel-
lent mason, and paid particular attention to the
construction and alteration of chimneys and fire-
places, so that they should carry smoke well. He
was also a clock maker, and cleaned and repaired
watches. He constructed machinery, and invented
several useful machines. Among these, was one for
{
APPENDIX.
305
making pins, and another for forming and cutting
card teeth.
ress.
/
"While Mr. Bruce was employed with Dr. Leavitt,
in 1786, he took the scales and dimensions of the
organ they were making, and, on his return home,
commenced the construction of one similar to it. In
this, he was discouraged, not only by Leavitt, but
also by his own friends and acquaintances, and every
possible obstacle was thrown in the way of his prog-
He succeeded so far, however, in the course
of a few months, that one or two stops could be
played; but he did not proceed any further at that
time. Some years after, he was again employed by
Dr. Leavitt in repairing the Cambridge organ. On
his return to Templeton, he undertook to complete
his own organ, and engaged a friend of his, a Mr.
Howe, of Marlborough, to assist him, on condition
that Mr. Bruce should afterward assist Mr. Howe
in building a similar instrument. They finished the
former, and had made great progress in completing
the latter, when the death of Mr. Howe arrested their
labors. The unfinished instrument was afterward sold
to another Mr. Howe, of Princeton.
"The organ built by Mr. Bruce contained four
stops, which, according to the best recollection of a
son* of his, now residing near Boston, were, stops
diapason and principal, both of wood, and twelfth
and fifteenth, part wood and part metal. It is prob-
able that Leavitt's first organ was similar to this.
* Abel W. Bruce, Esquire, now residing at Cambridge, Mass..
26
306
APPENDIX.
"Mr. Bruce, himself, never made any other organ.
The Congregational Society in Templeton, two or
three years since, separated into two societies, Or-
thodox and Unitarian. The latter procured an organ,
in 1832, of the late Mr. Goodrich; and, about the
same time, Mr. Bruce's organ was set up in the Or-
thodox Church, where it still remains. Mr. Bruce
is now living in Templeton, at the age of nearly
seventy."
THE COAT OF ARMS OF THE BRUCE FAMILY.
FUIMUS

NOT
AND
DOUB
THIS engraving is from the Boston Heraldry Office, where trans-
fers are found of all the genealogical and heraldic tables, etc., from
Great Britain, duly certified.

-
t
TAYLOR-ACAMS, BOSTON.
THE HOUSE OF MR. BURRAGE, AT TEMPLETON, MASS., WHERE THE EARLY DAYS OF ELI BRUCE WERE PASSED.
APPENDIX.
311
SKETCH OF MISS E. W. BRUCE,
NIECE OF ELI BRUCE.
A SKETCH of this lamented lady is here introduced
to illustrate the musical and poetical gift which seems
to pervade the entire family of Bruce, and was pe-
culiarly manifested in him whose biography we have
endeavored to portray. We copy from Dwight's
Journal of Music, May 8, 1858.
"Miss Bruce was one of the rarest instances of
highly refined taste and great artistic culture, gained
with no more advantages than are within the reach
of us all here at home, that I have known. The in-
stinctive love of the beautiful was in her case very
strong, and gave her an unerring perception of the
true, whether in painting, sculpture, literature, or
music. Her studies, however, were devoted to the
last, and though it was adopted as a profession, and
each day brought its wearying round of the teacher's
duties, her interest and delight in the divine art never
flagged. Beethoven, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Chopin-
their works were her delight and constant study-her
standards of comparison; and yet she was so cath-
olic in taste, that whatever was good of its kind, the
312
APPENDIX. '.”
simplest song, or the most profound orchestral work,
found in her ready appreciation, and just acknowl-
edgment of its merit. Her facility in reading music at
sight was very uncommon, and during the years that
I knew her, I never saw her at fault but once, and
that was of all things in the world-upon an
arrangement of Handel's overture to the Messiah."
"No member of the musical association to which
for several years she belonged, will ever forget the
perfect ease with which she played our accompani-
ments, or how much her steadiness in the time and
rhythm conduced to our success in the cantatas,
choruses, and other music, which was studied."
On the 19th of June, 1858, a monument at Mount
Auburn, near Boston, Mass., was consecrated to her
memory. It consists of a plinth, base, die, and cap,
the whole forming a small Grecian temple, about five
feet in hight, and of pure classic form. In front of
the die is a deep niche, in which is inserted a tablet
of statuary marble; on this tablet is sculptured, in
bass-relief, a figure symbolizing the Genius of Music
playing on the lyre, with the face turned heaven-
ward, as if in the act of devotion. A mass of
drapery falls in rich and graceful folds over it. It
is a thing of great beauty of soul rather than of
sense, and forms the principal object of the monu-
ment. The only inscription is on the base, in raised
letters-"To the Memory of Elizabeth W. Bruce."
•
4
ご
​APPENDIX,
313
In this simple and graceful production, the artist
has been true to the character it would commemorate,
and met the feelings of those who craved some emblem-
atic expression of their esteem and love for one
whose beauty, genius, and goodness are among the
cherished memories of their hearts.
314
APPENDIX.
LIST
OF THE
PRINCIPAL BOOKS AND PERIODICALS
CONSULTED IN THE COMPILATION OF THIS WORK, CONSTITUTING A
PART OF THE MASONIC COLLECTION OF ROB MORRIS, LL. D.,
AT LA GRANGE, KENTUCKY.
MASONIC MIRROR AND MECHANICKS' INTELLIGENCER. Boston,
Mass., Moore & Prowse. Vol. 2, Nos. 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10,
and 11, January to March, 1826.
ANTIMASONIC REVIEW. New York, Henry Dana Ward. Vol.
1, 1828.
MASONIC MIRROR. Boston, Mass., Moore & Sevey. Vol. 1,
1829-30; vol. 2, 1830-31; vol. 3, 1831-32; vol. 4, No.
12, September, 1832.
THE CRAFTSMAN. Rochester, N. Y., E. J. Roberts. Vols. 1
and 2, February, 1829, to February, 1831.
MASONIC INTELLIGENCER. Batavia, N. Y., R. Martin. Vol. 1,
1827.
ESCRETOIR. Albany, N. Y., E. B. Childs.
Vol. 1, 1826-7.
This work then merged into the following:
MASONIC RECORD. Albany, N. Y., E. B. Childs. Vols. 1 to
5, 1828-32.
AMARANTH. Boston, Mass., C. W. Moore. Vol. 1, 1828-29;
vol. 2, 1829–30.
HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY. Louisville, Ky., 1859, Rob Morris.
(This work has a complete Bibliographia Masonica of
the author's collection.)
Extensive files of political papers of Western New York,
1825 to 1835; furnished by the courtesy of Mr. George W.
Bemis, Canandaigua, N. Y., and many others.
DESCRIPTION
OF THE
JAIL AT CANANDAIGUA, NEW YORK,
IN WHICH
WILLIAM MORGAN, ELI BRUCE, EDW. SAWYER, N. G. CHESEBRO,
and LOTON LAWSON were severally confined.
EXCELLENT PHOTOGRAPHS OF THIS EDIFICE, EXPRESSLY MADE
TO ACCOMPANY THIS VOLUME, ARE FOR SALE BY
MORRIS & MONSARRAT, LOUISVILLE, KY.
THEY ARE DONE ON VERY HEAVY BRISTOL BOARD, AND SENT TO
ANY ADDRESS, FREE OF POSTAGE, AT
TWO DOLLARS EACH.
This Edifice stands, with small alterations, as it did in
1829-31. The four upper windows, as seen in the photo-
graph, open into the rooms occupied by Whitney, Bruce, and
Chesebro. Mr. Chesebro says there were two rooms in the
upper part where now there is but one.
The external appear-
ance remains as it was thirty years ago. The old well, so
often alluded to in the Morgan Trials, is still there, but the
old-fashioned curb and sweep pole are taken away, and a chain
pump substituted. The street in front of the jail, as seen in
the engraving, runs east and west; it is termed Jail Street.
The old Blossom Hotel was about sixty rods west of the Jail.
The Jail is on the north side of the street, and about forty
rods west of the Court House on Main Street.
(315)
BOOKS
FOR
FREEMASONS.
{
Under this title we have commenced a series of Masonic
Works, to be extended to about twenty or twenty-five vol-
umes, of which
ELI BRUCE, THE MASONIC MARTYR,
Is the second; the "TALES OF MASONIC LIFE" being the first.
They will all be the average size of 350 pages, and uniform
in binding, color of covers, etc., etc.
Their contents, like the two now issued, will be entirely
original and practical, and replete with animated life. Price
for each volume, post-paid, $1.
The third volume is now in press. It is
THE FREEMASON ABROAD;
Being the travels of Bro. ELISHA D. COOKE, 32°, into England,
Scotland, and Ireland, 1859-60, compiled by Roв MORRIS,
from the copious notes, memoranda, and correspondence of
Bro. CookE in his investigations into Masonry in those coun-
tries. Bro. COOKE was sent to Europe by Bro. MORRIS, for
the express purpose of Masonic observation, and devoted him-
self exclusively to his work, with an ardor, industry, and in-
telligence without parallel. The volume is one of the most
valuable works ever issued upon Masonry.
The other numbers of the series will be continued at inter-
vals of three months; and the whole will form an "elegant,
practical set of twenty to twenty-five Masonic works, suitable
to all classes of readers, both Masons and non-Masons.
}
MORRIS & MONSARRAT,
LOUISVILLE, Kr.
(316)

366.
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