Anti-Masonic apron - Print, Library of Congress collection

An attack on the Antimasonic party, produced shortly after their September national convention in Baltimore. The "apron" symbolically contrasts the Masons with the Antimasons. On the right is a "Rock of Ages" on which stands a pyramid with steps labelled (from the bottom upwards): Free Masonry, Peace & Plenty, Equal Rights, Science, Sincerity, Fortitude, Charity, Patriotism, Honour, Fidelity, Virtue, Order, Law, and U.S. On the top sits an eagle with a streamer inscribed "Victory" and a staff with liberty cap and flag with the masonic device of a compass and right angle with the words "Just & True." Around the liberty cap is an aureole of "Perfect Light." On the left is a three-headed "Hydra of Antimasonry," and a pile of broken timbers resting on a "sandy foundation." From two of the hydra's mouths issue "Blackness of Darkness" and a list of evils, including Persecution, Intolerance, Hypocrisy, Slavery, Anarchy, Filth, etc. The timbers are marked: Baseless Fabric, Arnold, Bernard, Stramonium, and Judas. The whole design is enclosed in an apron-shaped border.

The Library's impression was deposited for copyright on November 1, 1831.
Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1831-3.