You may know more about context back then. As in , were Masons even slightly interested in association with published newspaper stories. (Or if story is offending to some , account of the Beale excursion).
When invites went out some years back in a local town I got to wondering if there were folks fallen away, or disgruntled , or just suspicious and never went in a lodge... That would try to publish something to negatively reflect on Masons.
(All that thought inspired back then due to Beale and the mention of Masons at the time those invites went out...)
The "journey" ,discovery and return ;suit a pamphlet to get some folks in Virginia excited.
Once scrutiny and pursuit of nuance and allegory come into play too much.... Shovels get abandon. Or at least sharpened.
How dull was life for some in the area of the author(s)? Were other such "events" published in competing papers? (No , E.C.S. I'm not leaning towards nickel/dime novels . A similar scale of intent maybe.. But better effort involved.)
Did the author(s) need money as in Cotton or others?
Or was there entertainment value in a wild goose chase to stir up the populace? And excitement enough to keep a papers customers subscribing/buying "us" vs the competition?
Logic is a funny thing. The story gets bumpy in logic if tried too hard. Not exclusive to just the Beale account but unrelated ones too.
I'll spare the reader examples too much. Yet even with R.L.Stevenson I get stuck on something discovered the umteenth time reading it , that I know is simply a story , so logic need not apply. But is so flawed , it don't fit.
IF the papers were written to enjoy , (and it's hidden wealth that might not have been recovered after all, what's not to enjoy at the prospect , or citizens fevered wonderings if it might just be true being enjoyed by the writer(s) ) then it's a case of read once , and carry on with what's next. The story gives the area. Re-reading it over and over won't narrow it down. Heck , even the author let us know he's already exhausted the trying to ferret out more.
We might not have our own personal gold rush , but grab a shovel , we might have treasure!
A smear on an organization or individual seems less likely , but not out of the realm of possibility.
Bringing me back to Reb..
Did Masons have detractors, competition ,or enemies that would try to credit them with involvement in a scheme during that era?
Or as has been referred to often , merely an author(s) with some knowledge of Masons?
Masons wouldn't seem to need or desire such a publication. (?)
