A Letter on Speculative Free Masonry; By Charles Pinckney Sumner, Sheriff of Suffolk County, Being an Answer to a Letter Addressed to Him on that Subject by the Suffolk Committee

Charles Pinckney Sumner (1776—1839) was an American attorney, abolitionist, and politician who served as Sheriff of Suffolk County, Massachusetts from 1825 to 1838. He was an early proponent of racially integrated schools and shocked 19th-century Boston by opposing anti-miscegenation laws.In this letter, Sumner refers to the 1826 disappearance of William Morgan, a resident of Batavia, New York. After Morgan announced his intention to publish a book exposing Freemasonry's secrets, he was arrested on trumped-up charges and disappeared soon after. He was widely believed to have been kidnapped and killed by Masons from western New York. Sumner himself believes that Masons are responsible for Morgan's disappearance (p. 9). He also argues that, although Freemasonry may do little harm, it does very little good. In fact, men should be at home with their wives and children, "the first of social duties" (p. 14). His wit and candor are highly entertaining - unless the reader is a Freemason with no sense of humour.