LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 GIFT OF 
 
 MRS. MARY WOLFSOHN 
 
 IN MEMORY OF 
 
 HENRY WOLFSOHN 
 
 EKlKfc^Jfcr^r^r^aPa^E 
 


ft)?- Altj+inJiiiZ Washington J,i 
 
WASHINGTON 
 
 AND HIS 
 
 MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 BY 
 
 SIDNEY IIAYDEN, 
 
 PAST MASTER OF HT7RAL AMITY LODGE, NO. 70, PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 XUustratetJ toftj) a copij of a $aasonfc $ortraft 
 
 PAINTED FROM LITE, NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED, 
 
 WITH NUMEROUS OTHER ENGRAVINGS. 
 
 " The memory of a brother is precious ; ^^^^f^M^Y 
 I will write it here." 
 
 NEW YORK : 
 MASONIC PUBLISHING AND MANUFACTURING CO. 
 
 432 BROOME STREET. 
 1869. 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S66, 
 
 BY SIDNEY IlAYUtN, 
 
 It the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States lor the Western 
 District of Pennsylvania. 
 
TO THE 
 
 HON. JOHN L. LEWIS', 
 
 PAST GRAND MASTER AND PAST GRAND HIGH PRIEST OF NEW YORK, 
 
 II E. GENERAL GRAND HIGH PRIEST OF THE GENERAL GRAND CHAPTER OF 
 
 THE UNITED STATES, ETC., 
 
 & I) i s o o h 
 
 IS FRATERNALLY DEDICATED, 
 
 AS A SLIGHT TESTIMONIAL OF RESPECT FOR AN EMINENT MASON AND 
 
 DISTINGUISHED FELLOW-LABORER IN THE QUARRIES OF 
 
 AMERICAN MASONIC HISTORY, 
 
 BY HIS 
 SINCERE FHIEXD AND MASONIC HROTHER, 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 

PREFACE. 
 
 BIOGRAPHIES of WASHINGTON, and the most eminent of our 
 countrymen who were conte'mporary with him, have been 
 often written so far as relates to their public acts, and in 
 many of them we have also a portraiture of their personal 
 and domestic history. Such delineations, interwoven with 
 their memoirs, give us a truer estimate of the character 
 of the individual, and enable us to weigh with more ex- 
 actness the impulses and influences that have impelled or 
 retarded him in his public career. 
 
 Ancestry and kindred, domestic and social scenes 
 in youth, mental, moral, and religious training, are 
 the germs of character ; and after stepping from the 
 threshold of youth upon the platform of manhood, each 
 foot-print in the onward path of life bears some impress of 
 past and passing associations. These are therefore a 
 part of ever} r individual's true history, and his biography 
 is imperfect without them. History is but a compound 
 of these influences and actions, and each is a lamp to 
 enlighten its pages. Extinguish it, and a shadow falls on 
 some line of truth. 
 
6 PREFACE. 
 
 Our historians and biographers feeldom mention a Fra- 
 ternity which has existed in this country from its early 
 colonial existence, and embraced in its membership a large 
 number of our countrymen whose names are inscribed on 
 our literary, civil, and military rolls of honor. Has this 
 arisen from a prejudice against the institution of Masonry, 
 or from a belief that its influences are unimportant ? 
 
 The virtues which ennoble human character, are taught 
 and cultivated in the lodge-room ; and the mystic labors 
 of the Master and his Craftsmen when convened, are such 
 as fit men for the domestic relations of life and the highest 
 duties of citizenship. WASHINGTON, with a full knowledge 
 of the subject, wrote : " Being persuaded that a just appli- 
 cation of the principles on which the Masonic Fraternity is 
 founded, must be promotive of virtue and public prosperity, 
 I shall always be happy to advance the interest of the Society, 
 and be considered by them a deserving brother." 
 
 As this part of WASHINGTON'S history has been entirely 
 omitted by his biographers, and studiously misrepresented 
 by pamphleteers, the author of these sketches has made a 
 diligent research in veritable records and documents of the 
 last century for information on the subject. He has grate- 
 fully to acknowledge the assistance of many eminent Ma- 
 sons in this labor. Every Grand Master who was applied 
 to, gave a cheering commendation and assent for a full 
 examination of all records in his jurisdiction ; and officers 
 and members of lodges were ever ready to render all the 
 aid in their power. 
 
PREFACE. 7 
 
 The brevity of many early Masonic records, and the 
 entire loss of others, have left some parts of our work ap- 
 parently unfinished in leading facts ; and time has silenced 
 every tongue that a half century ago might have given 
 interesting details of incidents, to which existing records 
 sometimes barely allude. The unrecorded incidents in the 
 Masonic life of WASHINGTON, which his compeers used to 
 relate with so much satisfaction, are now, in the eye of 
 history, among the uncertain traditions of the past, and we 
 have given few of them a place in our sketch of his Ma- 
 sonic life. We have preferred the broken fragments of 
 veritable records, to traditions, however pleasing, and 
 apparently reliable. 
 
 WASHINGTON'S Masonic history might have been given by 
 his contemporaries, in all its proportions, with fulness of 
 detail. Now, it is like a beautiful column in ruins, its. 
 parts broken, scattered, and moss-grown. We have labored 
 industriously to collect these Parian fragments, and only 
 wish some hand more skilful than our own, might have 
 given each its due place and polish in the most beautiful 
 pillar of the temple of American Masonry. We have faith- 
 fully used the gavel, the square, and the trowel in our 
 work, and confidently submit to the Overseers all which 
 pertains to their use. With the mallet and engraver's 
 -chisel we are less skilled, and the Masonic connoisseur will 
 perhaps find in this part of our work little to admire. We 
 have not presumed to engrave any lines of beauty of our 
 own, but hope the eye will not look in vain for them in the 
 
8 PREFACE. 
 
 memorial stones we present, which were wrought by the 
 hands of WASHINGTON and his Masonic Compeers. 
 
 Of the Compeers, we have not written labored sketches. 
 We have only given such Masonic facts as came under our 
 observation in our researches in the Masonic history of 
 WASHINGTON ; but in each case, they are from veritable 
 records. While they establish the Masonic brotherhood of 
 the individual, wo hope they may throw some light on his 
 character, and make his memory more dear to our Ameri- 
 can brethren. 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 DEDICATION 3 
 
 PREFACE 5 
 
 WASHINGTON 13 
 
 PART II. 
 MAJOR HENRY PRICE. 
 
 PORTRAIT 
 
 First Grand Master in New England 233 
 
 SIR WILLIAM JOHNSON. 
 
 PORTRAIT. 
 
 Superintendent of Indian Affairs in New York, and first Master 
 of St. Patrick's Lodge, on the Mohawk 245 
 
 SIR JOHN JOHNSON. 
 
 The last Provincial Grand Master of the first Grand Lodge of 
 New York 254 
 
 PEYTON RANDOLPH. 
 
 PORTRAIT. 
 
 First President of the Continental Congress, and last Provincial 
 Grand Master of Virginia 260 
 
10 CONTENTS. 
 
 EDMUND RANDOLPH. 
 
 Governor of Virginia, and Grand Master of Masons in that 
 Commonwealth 275 
 
 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 
 
 PORTRAIT. 
 
 Master of the first warranted Lodge in Pennsylvania, and Provin 
 
 cial Grand Master of that Province 281 
 
 WILLIAM FRANKLIN. 
 
 PORTRAIT. 
 
 The last of the Royal Governors of New Jersey, and Grand Secre- 
 tary of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania 300 
 
 GENERAL DAVID WOOSTER. 
 
 PORTRAIT. 
 
 An officer of the Revolution, and Master of the first Lodge in 
 Connecticut 312 
 
 PIERPONT EDWARDS, 
 The first Grand Master of Connecticut 318 
 
 JABEZ BO WEN, LL. D., 
 
 Lieutenant-Governor of Rhode Island, and Grand Master of 
 Masons in that State 321 
 
 COLONEL WILLIAM BARTON. 
 
 PORTRAIT. 
 
 The Rhode Island Mason who captured the British General 
 Prescott 324 
 
 JOHN SULLIVAN. 
 
 PORTRAIT. 
 
 Major-General of the Revolution, and first Grand Master of New 
 Hampshire 329 
 
CONTENTS. 11 
 
 GENERAL JAMES JACKSON. 
 
 PORTRAIT. 
 
 Governor and Grand Master of Georgia 340 
 
 WILLIAM RICHARDSON DAVIE. 
 
 PORTRAIT. 
 
 Governor of North Carolina, and Grand Master of that State .... 345 
 
 RICHARD CASWELL, 
 Governor of North Carolina, and Grand Master of that State. . . . 350 
 
 DR. JAMES MILNOR. 
 
 PORTRAIT. 
 
 Grand Master of Pennsylvania 359 
 
 DR. SAMUEL SEABURY. 
 
 PORTRAIT. 
 
 The first Episcopal Bishop in America 868 
 
 GENERAL RUFUS PUTNAM. 
 
 PORTRAIT. 
 
 First Grand Master of Ohio 375 
 
 AARON OGDEN. 
 
 PORTRAIT. 
 
 Governor of New Jersey 885 
 
 GENERAL MORDECAI GIST. 
 
 PORTRAIT. 
 
 An officer of the American Revolution, and Grand Master of 
 South Carolina.. 390 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Frontispiece. Masonic Portrait of Washington. Steel 
 
 Seal of Fredericksburg Lodge 24 
 
 Washington's Masonic Cave 33 
 
 Seal of American Union Lodge 44 
 
 Washington Masonic Medal, 1797 70 
 
 Arms of the Freemasons 71 
 
 Washington's Coat of Arms 72 
 
 Washington's Masonic Apron, presented by Lafayette 105 
 
 Bible on which Washington took the oath of office as President . . 125 
 
 Miniature Likeness of Washington, by Leney 126 
 
 Facsimile Letter of Washington to Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania 164 
 Masonic Procession at laying the Corner-stone of the Capitol at 
 
 Washington, 1793 171 
 
 Masonic Funeral Ceremonies of Washington 202 
 
 Portrait and Autograph of Major Henry Price 233 
 
 Portrait and Autograph of Sir William Johnson 245 
 
 Portrait of Peyton Randolph 260 
 
 Portrait and Autograph of Benjamin Franklin 281 
 
 Portrait and Autograph of William Franklin 300 
 
 Portrait of David Wooster 31& 
 
 Portrait and Autograph of Colonel William Barton 324 
 
 Portrait and Autograph of General John Sullivan 329 
 
 Portrait and Autograph of General James Jackson 340 
 
 Portrait and Autograph of William Richardson Davie 345 
 
 Portrait and Autograph of Rev. Dr. James Milnor 360 
 
 Portrait and Autograph of Dr. Samuel Seabury 368 
 
 Portrait and Autograph of General Ruras Putnam 375 
 
 Portrait and Autograph of Aaron Ogden 385 
 
 Portrait and Autograph of General Mordecai Gist *. 890 
 
PART I. 
 
 WASHINGTON. 
 
WASHINGTON. 
 
 OHAPTEE I. 
 
 , . ^ ;GTON'S birth contemporaneous with introduction of Warranted Lougo 
 
 in America. Date of his birth from family record. Emigration of his 
 ancestors to America. Death of his father. His boyhood. Paternal in- 
 struction. Anecdote of his love of truth. Faithfulness of his mother. 
 His early education. His influence with his youthful associates. Excels 
 in athletic exercises. His brother LAWRENCE an officer under Admiral 
 VERNON. Receives a commission as midshipman in the British navy. 
 Relinquishes it at the wish of his mother. Engages as a land surveyor. 
 His commission as such. An old log-hut in Clarke County. Surveys for 
 Lord FAIRFAX. Illness of his brother. WASHINGTON accompanies him to 
 Barbadoes. His death and will. WASHINGTON becomes possessed of 
 Mount Vernon. Is appointed adjutant-general of Virginia militia. Ap- 
 pearance and general character when he came to manhood. A candidate 
 for Masonry. 
 
 )IJE introduction of Freemasonry into 
 America, and the birth of WASHINGTON, 
 had nearly a contemporaneous date. The 
 annals of the fraternity give no account 
 of regularly organized lodges in this 
 country until the third decade of the eighteenth cen- 
 tury, and in its second year GEORGE WASHINGTON was 
 born. For the record of his natal day, we are indebted 
 to no heraldric college, no public register, but the old 
 family Bible of his ancestors is still preserved, where, 
 
10 WASHINGTON. 
 
 in the handwriting of his mother, as is supposed, the 
 following record is found : 
 
 " GEORGE WASHINGTON, son to AUGUSTINE, and MARY, 
 his wife, was born y e llth day of February, 173, about 
 10 in the morning, and was baptized the 3d of April fol- 
 lowing. Mr. BEVERLY WHITING and Capt. CHRISTOPHER 
 BROOKS, godfathers, and Mrs. MILDRED GREGORY, god- 
 mother." 
 
 This date is according to the old style calendar then 
 in use, and is equivalent to the 22d of February, 1732, 
 new style. 
 
 The ancestors of GEORGE WASHINGTON emigrated to 
 America from the north of England during the protec- 
 torate of OLIVER CROMWELL. His great-grandfather, 
 JOHN WASHINGTON, is said to have inherited the blood 
 of English nobility, both by paternal and maternal 
 descent. He came to America and settled on the bor- 
 ders of the Potomac, Westmoreland County, Virginia, 
 in 1657. From JOHN, first in the line of descent was 
 LAWRENCE ; second, AUGUSTINE ; and third, GEORGE 
 WASHINGTON, who was the third child of AUGUSTINE, and 
 the first by his second marriage. His mother was a 
 daughter of Colonel BALL, of Virginia. * 
 
 His father removed, while he was a child, to the 
 banks of the Bappahannock, opposite Fredericksburg, 
 and died there when GEORGE was but eleven years old. 
 We know but little of the paternal instruction he re 
 ceived in his boyhood, for his early orphanage, and the 
 sparseness of detail relating to the domestic history of 
 the yeomanry of Virginia at that period, leaves a blank 
 in his youthful history, which his future greatness 
 makes us wish were filled with all such incidents as 
 
WASHINGTON. 17 
 
 became the germs of future character. It is said, how- 
 ever, by one of his early biographers, that his father 
 instilled into his mind a noble and generous disposi- 
 tion ; taught him to be kind and amiable to his play- 
 mates, and liberal in sharing with them any presents 
 of fruits or cakes he might receive ; telling him at the 
 same time, that the great and good GOD delights above 
 all things to see children love one another, and that 
 He will assuredly reward all who act an amiable part. 
 
 The story of the cherry-tree and the hatchet has 
 been often told, but the moral heroism of the tale is 
 so characteristic of the man in after-life, and has so 
 often swelled the breasts of youthful listeners to whom 
 it has been related, with resolutions to bravely tell the 
 truth under all circumstances, that we again repeat it, 
 to inculcate that noblest masonic virtue, the love of 
 truth. 
 
 "When GEOKGE was about six years old, he was 
 made the wealthy master of a hatchet, of which, like 
 most boys, he was immoderately fond, and was con- 
 stantly going about chopping every thing that came 
 in his way. One day, in the garden, where he often 
 amused himself hacking his mother's pea-bushes, he 
 unluckily tried the edge of his hatchet on the body of 
 a beautiful young English cherry-tree, which he barked 
 so terribly, that the tree -never got the better of it. 
 The next morning, the old gentleman finding out what 
 had befallen his tree, which, by the by, was a great 
 favorite, came into the house, and with much warmth, 
 asked for the mischievous author, declaring at the same 
 time that he would not have taken five guineas for the 
 tree. Nobody could tell him any thing about it. 
 
18 WASHINGTON. 
 
 Presently GEORGE and his hatchet made their appear- 
 ance. 'GEORGE,' said his father, 'do you know who 
 killed that beautiful little cherry-tree yonder in the garden ?' 
 This was a tough question, and GEORGE staggered under 
 it for a moment; but quickly recovered himself, and 
 looking at his father, the sweet face of youth bright- 
 ened with the inexpressible charm of all-conquering 
 truth, and he bravely cried out, ' / can't tell a lie, Pa ; 
 you know I cant tell a lie. I cut it with my hatchet!' 
 ' Run to my arms, you dearest boy,' cried his father in 
 transports ' run to my arms ! Glad am I, GEORGE, that 
 you killed -my tree, for you have paid me for it a 
 thousand times. Such an act of heroism in my son, is 
 worth more than a thousand trees, though blossomed 
 with silver, and their fruits of purest gold.' 3: 
 
 To WASHINGTON'S mother has been also accorded, 
 and is no doubt due, the credit of so directing the 
 mental, moral, and religious character of his youth, as 
 to give an exalted tone to every action of his after-life. 
 Left, by her husband's death, with the weighty care of 
 five children, she took upon herself the superintendence 
 of their education, and the management of the compli- 
 cated affairs of their estates, and so acquitted herself 
 as to gain the proud satisfaction of seeing them all 
 come forward into active life with fair prospects, and 
 
 her first-born become the most beloved and exalted of 
 
 > 
 
 American citizens. Though inheriting the name, the 
 patrimony, and noble virtues of his father, history has 
 paid its tribute to the faithfulness of his mother, by 
 writing him a ividow's son. 
 
 The schools of the colonies did not afford at that 
 time great advantages for education, and WASHINGTON'S 
 
WASHINGTON. 19 
 
 attainments were comprised within a knowledge of 
 reading, writing, and arithmetic at first ; but he after- 
 wards studied surveying, geography, and history, in 
 the first of which he became proficient. In such pur- 
 suits his early years were spent. Even during his 
 boyhood he is said to have manifested a military taste, 
 and to have exerted a commanding influence over his 
 youthful associates, in all their amusements ; and the 
 well-remembered story of his casting a stone across the 
 Rappahannock, a feat said never to have been accom- 
 plished by another, is proof that he excelled in athletic 
 exercises. It was such scenes that afterwards fitted 
 him to encounter perils, and take pleasure in adven- 
 tures that needed strength of body, perseverance, and 
 confidence in his own powers to insure success. 
 
 WASHINGTON'S eldest brother, LAWRENCE, was an offi- 
 cer in the colonial troops, sent under Admiral YERNON, 
 in the expedition against Carthagena, in South Amer- 
 ica ; and through his influence, and in accordance 
 with his own wishes, a commission as midshipman in 
 a British ship of war, stationed off the coast of Yir- 
 ginia, was procured for him, when he was fifteen years 
 of age ; but in obedience to the wishes of his mother, 
 he was induced to relinquish this commission, which 
 his own desires and those of his brother made him 
 anxious to retain. He engaged soon after as a land 
 surveyor, and made such proficiency, that he soon 
 became skilful in that profession. The records of 
 Culpepper County state that on the 20th of July, 1749 
 (o. s.), " GEORGE WASHINGTON, Gent., produced a com- 
 mission from the President and Master of William and 
 Mary College, appointing him to be surveyor of this 
 
20 WASHINGTON. 
 
 county; which was read, and thereupon he took the 
 usual oaths to his majesty's person and government, 
 and took and subscribed the abjuration oath and test, 
 and then took the oath of surveyor according to law." 
 
 His employments as surveyor often called him into 
 distant parts of the colony ; and there was standing a 
 few years ago, in Clarke County, an old log-hut, 
 which well authenticated tradition states was occupied 
 by him while surveying lands there for Lord FAIRFAX. 
 It was about twelve feet square, and was divided into 
 an upper and a lower room, the upper one of which 
 was used to deposit his instruments. It was at least 
 an interesting memorial of his humble life, before his 
 merits called him to a more public sphere of action. 
 
 WASHINGTON was engaged as a surveyor for Lord 
 FAIRFAX nearly three years, during which the open 
 seasons were spent among the rich, uncultivated val- 
 leys and wild mountains of Virginia, and the winters 
 with his mother at Fredericksburg, and his brother 
 LAWRENCE at Mount Yernon. During the last year 
 his brother becoming an invalid, went to the Bar- 
 badoes for his health, and WASHINGTON accompanied 
 him. He returned in the spring of 1751, and soon after 
 died, leaving his estate at Mount Yernon to his infant 
 daughter, with a provision in his will, that if she died 
 without issue, it should go to his brother GEORGE. She 
 did so die in .1752, and WASHINGTON came into posses- 
 sion of the spot, whose fame has since become im- 
 mortal, not from its bearing the name of an English 
 noble, but from its having been the cherished home 
 and final resting-place of the greatest American cit- 
 izen. WASHINGTON then was nineteen years of age, 
 
WASHINGTON. 21 
 
 and held the position of adjutant-general in the Vir- 
 ginia militia, with the rank of major. He was said by 
 his contemporaries at this period of his life to be grave, 
 silent, and thoughtful, diligent and methodical in busi- 
 ness, dignified in his appearance, strictly honorable in 
 all his actions, and a stranger to dissipation and riot. 
 Such was his early history and character when, in 
 1752, in the twenty-first year of his age, he offered 
 himself to Fredericksburg Lodge as a candidate for 
 the mysteries of Masonry. 
 
OHAPTEE II. 
 
 First introJi.ctbn of Warranted Lodges in America. First in Boston. Phil- 
 adelphia. Charleston. Origin of lodge in Fredericksburg. Its officers 
 in 1752. WASHINGTON'S initiation. Passing. Raising. The Bible and 
 seal of Fredericksburg Lodge. Brevity of early Masonic record*. WASH- 
 INGTON but twenty years old when initiated. Time intervening between 
 that and further degrees. Sent by the governor of Virginia with message 
 to French commander on Ohio. Incidents of his journey. His Indian 
 name. Commencement of French and Indian War. WASHINGTON placed 
 in command of Virginia forces. His capitulation nt Fort Necessity. 
 Joins General BRADDOCK'S expedition. Performs the burial-service of 
 that officer. Unjust distinction towards colonial officers. WASHINGTON 
 visits Boston on the subject. Becomes enamored with Miss PUILLIPSE. 
 Again takes command of the Virginia forces. Participates in the capture 
 of Duquesne. Ketires from military service. Claims of some that he was 
 made a Mason in a British military lodge without foundation. Lodges 
 held under different authorities at this time in America. Lodge of Fred- 
 ericksburg takes a new warrant from Scotland. Washington Masonic 
 Cave. Elected member of House of Burgesses. His first appearance in 
 the assembly. His marriage. His domestic life previous to the Revo- 
 lution. Want of Masonic records in Virginia of this period. 
 
 [AEEANTED Lodges had not been in ex- 
 istence in America twenty years, when 
 "WASHINGTON came to manhood; for we 
 have no record of a regular lodge in this 
 country held under authority of any rec- 
 ognized Grand Lodge previous to his birth. The 
 first regular lodge, whose records exist, was estab- 
 lished in Boston, in 1733, by HENRY PRICE, by virtue 
 
 
WASHINGTON". 23 
 
 of a deputation from the Grand Master of the Grand 
 Lodge of England, appointing him Provincial Grand 
 Master of New England. In the following year, under 
 an extension of his authority over all America, regular 
 warrants were granted to lodges not only in New 
 England, but in Philadelphia and Charleston, S. C. ; so 
 that while WASHINGTON was yet in his swaddling-clothes, 
 the star of American Masonry, which arose in the East 
 about the period of his birth, may be said to have 
 rested over the place where the young child was. 
 
 Before WASHINGTON came to manhood, a lodge had 
 been organized in Fredericksburg, under authority 
 from THOMAS OXNARD, Provincial Grand Master at 
 Boston, whose authority also extended over all the 
 English colonies in America ; and in 1752, when 
 WASHINGTON sought admission in this lodge, its offi- 
 cers were, DANIEL CAMPBELL, Master; JOHN NEILSON, 
 Senior Warden; and Dr. EGBERT HALKERSON, Junior 
 Warden. The records of the few Masonic Lodges in 
 America at that period are very concise, being limited 
 in their details mostly to the election of officers, and 
 the initiating, passing, and raising of members. 
 
 The records of Fredericksburg Lodge show the pres- 
 ence of WASHINGTON, for the first time in the lodge, 
 on the fourth of November, 5752, leaving no doubt 
 that he was initiated on that day, as on the 6th of 
 November, the record continues, "Received of Mr. 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON for his entrance .2:3." 
 
 " March 3d, 5753 GEORGE WASHINGTON passed Fel- 
 low Craft." 
 
 "August 4th, 5753 GEORGE WASHINGTON raised 
 Master Mason." 
 
SEAL OF FREDERICKSBURCH LODGE. 
 
 24 WASHINGTON. 
 
 The old record-book of the lodge is still preserved ; 
 also the Bible on which he was obligated, and the seal 
 of the lodge. The Bible is a small 
 quarto volume, and bears date, 
 " Cambridge, printed by John 
 Field, printer to the University, 
 1688." The seal is beautifully en- 
 graved, having for its principal 
 device a shield crested with a cas- 
 tle, with castles also on each of 
 its points, with compasses in its 
 centre. Below the shield is the motto, " IN THE LORD 
 is ALL OUR TRUST" the whole surrounded with " FRED- 
 ERICKSBURGH LODGE," in a circle. 
 
 Had the lodge at Fredericksburg known how deep 
 an interest would be felt by succeeding generations 
 in all that pertained to WASHINGTON, his Masonic 
 record, even at that period, would probably have been 
 made with more fulness of detail; and yet its very 
 concisenesses confirmatory proof, if such were needed, 
 of the verity of the facts there recorded. The lessons 
 of history are progressive, and none could have known, 
 as he passed through the mystic rites of Masonry in 
 1752, in presence of that chosen band of brethren in 
 Fredericksburg Lodge, that the new-made brother 
 then before them would win, in after-years, a nation's 
 honor, gratitude, and love ; and that when a century 
 had passed, the anniversary of his initiation would 
 be celebrated as a national Masonic jubilee. 
 
 WASHINGTON was initiated into Masonry a few 
 months before he was twenty-one years of age. The 
 lawful age at which a candidate may receive the 
 
WASHINGTON. 25 
 
 mysteries is strictly conventional; while the principle 
 upon vrhich the requirement was founded is a land- 
 mark in Masonry. Different nations have established 
 different periods during which the child shall remain 
 under the pupilage and government of its parents. 
 Masonry supposes each candidate admitted to her 
 mysteries to have the absolute legal control of his own 
 actions, and that the obligations he assumes are such 
 as he can comply with without interference. For this 
 reason clone, a slave, a prisoner, and common soldier 
 in the cirmy in some countries, are under legal re- 
 straints that disqualify them for being candidates for 
 the mysteries of Masonry. 
 
 The custom of French lodges in admitting the sons 
 of Masons at the age of eighteen years as candidates 
 for Masonry, is based upon the supposition that the 
 obligations they assume at that age (they being first 
 approved of as discreet) they will fully comply with 
 011 account of the relation which the father bears to 
 the lodge. 
 
 In WASHINGTON'S admission to the fraternity a few 
 months before he became twenty-one years of age, if 
 the conventional rule in this country and in other 
 English lodges as then existing was not fully complied 
 with, no Masonic principle was thereby violated. 
 Without claiming for him a precocious manhood, we 
 may safely assume from his early history, that at the 
 age of twenty years, his physical, mental, and moral 
 developments fitted him, not only for those active 
 duties of citizenship which he had assumed under the 
 civil laws of Virginia, but also as master of his own ac- 
 tions, for forming relations with a brotherhood that 
 
 2 
 
26 WASHINGTON. 
 
 requires for the admission of its candidates, their fiee, 
 voluntary, and unrestrained devotion to its duties. 
 
 Four months intervened, as the records show, after 
 he was initiated before he became a Fellow Craft Ma- 
 son ; and still four more, before he became a Master 
 Mason. He was soon after employed in important 
 public duties by the governor of Virginia. Political 
 considerations then required that a messenger should 
 be sent to some French military posts on the Ohio, to 
 demand, in the name of the governor of Virginia, who 
 was the British king's representative in the territory 
 of which the French had taken possession, that they 
 should at once depart and cease to intrude on the 
 claimed English domain. It was late in autumn be- 
 fore such a commission was determined on by the 
 governor, and the difficulties incident to the season, 
 and the hazard of encountering, not only French, but 
 Indian hostilities, were sufficient to try the fortitude of 
 the boldest adventurer. WASHINGTON was solicited by 
 the governor to undertake the commission. His reply 
 was, "For my own part, I can answer that I have a con- 
 stitution hardy enough to encounter and undergo the 
 most severe toils, and, I flatter myself, resolution to face 
 what any man dares." Nobly spoken! And yet it 
 was but the reflection of a Masonic lesson he had 
 learned on his admission into Masonry but one year 
 before. What lesson learned in Masonry was ever by 
 him forgotten or unheeded? 
 
 He left Williarnsburg on the 30th of November, 
 1753, taking with him, on his way, a guide and a half- 
 dozen backwoodsmen, and traversing a country little 
 known, held conferences with Indian war-chiefs, and 
 
WASHINGTON. 27 
 
 the French commandant, and returned after months of 
 hardships and dangers, and made his report to the 
 governor. History has told how, in this adventure, he 
 encountered hunger, and cold, and weariness, how the 
 French officer evaded a compliance with his demands, 
 and how the wily Indian lurked around his path. 
 History has told all this, and we need not repeat it 
 here. His report and daily journal during this first 
 public service were published soon after, both in this 
 country and in Europe ; and his prudence and his di- 
 plomacy met with general approbation. The Indians, 
 during this interview with them, gave him the name oi 
 CANOTOCAKIUS. 
 
 The refusal of the French to evacuate the posts on 
 the Ohio, was followed by the contest which is known 
 in history as the French and Indian War. Although 
 no formal declaration of war was made between France 
 and England until May, 175G, yet in 1754 hostilities 
 commenced on the Anglo-American frontiers, and 
 WASHINGTON was offered by the governor of Virginia 
 the first command of troops raised in that colony for 
 its defence. He declined the honor, as a charge too 
 great for his youth and inexperience, but took rank 
 second in command, as lieutenant-colonel. The death 
 of his superior officer, Colonel FEY, however, soon 
 placed him at the head of the Virginia troops ; and his 
 first lessons in active military life were in the school of 
 experience, where he had few to counsel, none to direct 
 him. His campaign was a short one, ending early in 
 July by his capitulation to the French commander at 
 Fort Necessity. It was the only time in his life in 
 which he ever struck his flag to the foe. 
 
"2S WASHINGTON. 
 
 In the following year, WASHINGTON joined General 
 BRADDQCK as a voluntary aid in his unfortunate expedi- 
 tion against Fort Duquesne. History has told of the 
 hardships and dangers of that campaign, how, when 
 BRADDOCK fell upon the battle-field, and most of his 
 officers were wounded or slain, WASHINGTON skilfully 
 conducted the little remnant of the army that remained 
 from the fatal spot ; and when his commander's grave 
 was made, that he piously read by torchlight the 
 prayers of the Church at his midnight burial. 
 
 From this time onward, WASHINGTON was the first 
 colonial officer in Virginia during this war. He was, 
 however, subordinate to officers of lower rank who held 
 British commissions, his being only from the colonial 
 government of Virginia. This unjust distinction was 
 very distasteful to him, and in the winter of 1756 he 
 d Boston, to consult on this point with General 
 SHIRLEY, who had been sent by the British government 
 as the successor of BRADDOCK. He made his journey 
 on horseback, and stopped some time in Philadelphia 
 and New York. History has woven into its pages 
 traditions of his becoming enamored while in New 
 York with a Miss MARY PHILLIPSE, the sister of the wife 
 of his host, Colonel BEVERLY KOBINSON. . She is de- 
 scribed as a lady of rare beauty and accomplishments, 
 and it is said that WASHINGTON was so deeply interested 
 in her charms, that when his military duties called him 
 to Virginia, he intrusted the secret of his heart to a 
 friend, who promised to keep him advised as to the 
 prospect of any rival supplanting him in her esteem. 
 His fears seem to have become a reality, for she soon 
 after married Colonel MORRIS, who had been an asso- 
 
WASHINGTON. 20 
 
 ciate with "WASHINGTON in BEADDOCK'S army. Her 
 husband and her family afterwards adhered to the 
 British interests during the Revolution, and were all 
 proscribed as traitors, and their property confiscated. 
 It is said that many years later, when deprived of her 
 extensive estates on the Hudson, an exile from her 
 early home, a remark was made to one of her family, 
 of the difference to her, between being the wife of an 
 exile or of the hero of the Revolution and chief magis- 
 trate of his country ; to which the reply was naively 
 given, that ""WASHINGTON would not, could not, have 
 been a traitor with such a wife as Aunty MORRIS." 
 With strong faith in woman's charms, we must still bo 
 permitted to doubt whether we owe to cupid's frowns 
 the patriotism of WASHINGTON. Tradition has told, too, 
 of an earlier charmer, a " lowland beauty" of Virginia, 
 who had won the admiration of WASHINGTON in the 
 days of his boyhood. It has been said that he then 
 wrote sentimental verses to soothe his passion; and 
 that in after-years, a son of this first flower that capti- 
 vated his youthful heart became a favorite of his, in 
 the person oL General HENRY LEE. 
 
 Although the ostensible object of the war was the 
 defence and occupancy of the territories on the Ohio, 
 yet its chief aim and final result was to overthrow all 
 French power in America. For this purpose, numer- 
 ous independent expeditions were planned and ex- 
 ecuted by the various commanders against different 
 and widely distant French posts, from Nova Scotia to 
 the Ohio. WASHINGTON was connected with none of 
 these, except such as protected the western border of 
 Virginia, or were directed against Fort Duquesne. The 
 
30 WASHINGTON. 
 
 capture of this post was his darling wish. In this he 
 participated in November of 1758, and having secured 
 its possession, he repaired with his troops to the spot 
 where, three years before, so many of their friends and 
 brethren had been slaughtered on BRADDOCK'S ill-fated 
 field, and gathering their whitened bones, buried them 
 with funeral honors. It was a sad and solemn duty, 
 and that burial-mound was watered with the tears of 
 fathers, brothers, and sons. It was the scene in Koman 
 history repeated, where the soldiers of GERMANICUS 
 gathered up the bones of VARUS and his legions, that 
 had lain in the forests for six years unbufied, and paid 
 the last offices of tenderness to their fallen country- 
 men. WASHINGTON now retired honorably from the 
 army, and became a private citizen at Mount Yernon. 
 
 He had then been for six years a Mason, and the 
 last five had been spent in military campaigns. His 
 attendance on the meetings of his .own lodge during 
 this period could not have been frequent, and no local 
 lodge existed nearer Mount Vernon. Our English 
 biethren have claimed that WASHINGTON was made a 
 Mason during the old French "War, in a British military 
 lodge, holding a warrant from the Grand Lodge of 
 Ireland, granted in 1752. This lodge, called "The 
 Lodge of Social and Military Virtues," was No. 227 on 
 the registry of the Grand Lodge of Ireland, and was 
 held in the forty-sixth British regiment. It still ex- 
 ists, we believe, as "Lodge of Antiquity" in Canada, 
 and claims to have the Bible in its possession on 
 which WASHINGTON was obligated as a Mason. 
 
 If WASHINGTON ever held any Masonic intercourse 
 with that lodge, we believe it must have been during 
 
WASHINGTON. 31 
 
 his visit to Philadelphia, New York, and Boston, in 
 the winter of 1756. Previous to that time, only two 
 British regiments were connected with the American 
 service, and these were the forty-fourth and forty- 
 eighth, which came over the year before with General 
 BEADDOCK ; but we know of no military, lodge-warrant 
 being held by either of these regiments. The forty- 
 sixth regiment was sent to America soon after BEAD- 
 DOCK'S defeat, and it served in the northern campaigns, 
 and not in Virginia, where WASHINGTON held command. 
 If WASHINGTON, therefore, had any connection with 
 the lodge above alluded' to, it must have been during 
 his northern visit ; and as he had been made a Mason, 
 and received his first three degrees more than three 
 years previous to that time, in an American lodge at 
 Fredericksburg, held under authority from the Provin- 
 cial Grand Master of Massachusetts, if he was obli- 
 gated on the Bible .of this British Military Lodge, it 
 must have been an obligation given as a test oath 
 to him. as a visiting brother ; or this lodge may have 
 deemed the authority under which he had been made 
 as insufficient, and have required him to be healed and 
 re-obligated, to entitle him to the privilege of Masonic 
 intercourse with a lodge held under a warrant from 
 the Grand Lodge of Ireland. 
 
 All warranted American lodges, previous to the 
 French War, had worked the rituals and acknowledged 
 the authority of the Grand Lodge of England only 
 (sometimes denominated the Grand Lodge of Mod- 
 erns); but during this war, lodges holding warrants 
 from the Grand Lodges of Scotland, Ireland, and the 
 Ancients of London, were working in America. The} 
 
32 WASHINGTON. 
 
 probably owed their introduction to the military 
 brethren. It is well known that little or no inter- 
 course was held between these lodges and those 
 working under the authority of the Grand Lodge of 
 England ; and it is a significant fact, that in 1758 
 WASHINGTON'S own lodge in Fredericksburg relin- 
 quished its authority from the Provincial Grand 
 Master of Massachusetts, and obtained a warrant from 
 Scotland. These, and many other considerations, ren- 
 der it not improbable that WASHINGTON may, during 
 his visit to the North in 1756, have met with this 
 British Military Lodge, and in it, been re-made, or 
 healed, and re-obligated, as was the custom of that 
 day in admitting to Masonic intercourse Masons made 
 under authority of Masonic bodies whose government 
 and rituals varied from their own. 
 
 Traditions, which no Masonic records of that period 
 now existing either verify or contradict, state that 
 WASHINGTON and his Masonic brethren held military 
 lodges during the old French War ; and there is a cave 
 near Charlestown in Virginia, a few miles from Win- 
 chester, where his headquarters for two years were 
 held, which to this day is called " Washington's Masonic 
 Cave." It is divided into several apartments, one of 
 which is called " The Lodge Room" Tradition says 
 that WASHINGTON and his Masonic brethren held lodges 
 in this cavern. In the spring of 1844 the Masons of 
 that vicinity held a celebration there to commemorate 
 the event. 
 
 WASHINGTON'S military services had not only gained 
 the approbation of his countrymen, but had met with 
 the applause of English officers in the army, so that 
 
WASHINGTON. 
 
 33 
 
 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC CAVE. 
 
 when lie left the command of the Virginia provincuJ.3, 
 he was the most popular American officer in the west- 
 ern military department. But in resigning his military 
 command, he did not retire from the service of his 
 native colony ; for in 1758, while holding his commis- 
 sion as colonel, he was elected by the county of Fred- 
 erick, of which Winchester was the county-seat, as its 
 representative in the House of Burgesses in Yirginia. 
 As the election was a contested one, his expenses as a 
 candidate for the office are thus given : " A hogshead 
 and a barrel of punch, thirty-five gallons of wine, forty- 
 three gallons of strong beer, cider, and dinner for his 
 friends ;" all amounting to " thirty-nine pounds and 
 six shillings, Yirginia currency." He was absent at 
 that time at Fort Cumberland, arid Colonel WARD, 
 
 2* 
 
34 WASHINGTON. 
 
 who sat on the bench and represented him as his 
 friend that day, was carried round the town in the 
 midst of general applause, all huzzaing for Colonel 
 WASHINGTON. If this little episode in his life at the 
 age of twenty-six is distasteful to the admirers of his 
 staid dignity in after-years, they may remember that 
 a century of changes has since passed over Aine 
 society, but still leaving the popular heart bounding 
 as wildly now at success in election contests, as in the 
 settlements of Virginia, one hundred years ago. 
 
 When WASHINGTON made his first appearance in the 
 Colonial Assembly, in January, J 75 ( J, the members of 
 that body unanimously complimented him with a vote 
 of thanks for his previous military services ; and when 
 the speaker communicated to him this vote in the 
 most flattering terms, he rose from his seat to express 
 his acknowledgment of the honor ; and such was his 
 extreme modesty and diffidence in his new situation, 
 that he blushed and stammered, without being able to 
 utter distinctly a word. The speaker relieved him 
 from his embarrassing situation, by saying with a 
 smile, " Sit down, Mr. WASHINGTON ; your modesty is 
 equal to your valor, and that surpasses the power of 
 any language I possess." 
 
 The same month that WASHINGTON took his seat in 
 the Colonial Assembly of Virginia, he married Mrs. 
 MARTHA CUSTIS, a wealthy and accomplished widow, 
 who had captivated his heart just at the close of his 
 military services. She had been left about two years 
 before, by the death of her former husband. Colonel 
 DANIEL PARKE CUSTIS, with an ample fortune, and two 
 lovely children, a son and a daughter. WASHINGTON 
 
WASHINGTON. 35 
 
 met lier by accident at the house of a friend in 1758. 
 during a journey which his military duties called him 
 to make to Williamsburg, and admiration, love, and the 
 conquest of two willing hearts, soon succeeded. The 
 nuptials are described as having been on the grand- 
 est scale, many gentlemen being present in gold-lace, 
 but none ''looking like the man himself." She, too, 
 is said by her contemporaries to have been of rare 
 beauty and loveliness ; and it is not probable that 
 WASHINGTON'S honey-moon was haunted by visions of 
 either MAKY PHILLIPSE, or his " lowland beauty." She 
 was amiable and exemplary through life, and the 
 virtues of both the mother and wife of WASHINGTON 
 have long been enshrined in a nation's heart, and the 
 dust of Virginia is sacred where they rest. 
 
 The succeeding fifteen years of WASHINGTON'S life 
 were spent in domestic retirement, interrupted only by 
 his public duties as member of the Colonial Assembly, in 
 which body he continued his seat. His time was now 
 devoted to agricultural and rural pursuits, but his ample 
 fortune enabled him to maintain a style of living equal 
 to Virginia gentlemen of the first rank in society ; and 
 his home, where all the domestic virtues clustered, 
 became the unrivalled abode of refinement and hos- 
 pitality. Williamsburg and Annapolis were the seats 
 of colonial government of Virginia and Maryland, and 
 during the winter, the elite of society in these colonies 
 were accustomed to spend much of their time in those 
 places, forming brilliant circles at the vice-regal courts 
 of the royal governors. WASHINGTON and his family 
 were stars of the first magnitude in these galaxies of 
 intelligence and fashion. 
 
36 WASHINGTON. 
 
 We look in vain for the record of WASHINGTON'S 
 Masonic life during this period, for few of the annals 
 of Masonry in Virginia at that time now exist. Both 
 records and traditions assert that her most noble sons 
 were Masons, but the lapse of time and the devasta- 
 tions of war have left few memorials of their mystic 
 labors. No general Grand East existed either in Vir- 
 ginia or Maryland, in which the brethren might con- 
 vene ; and the different lodges in these colonies, work- 
 ing under no common authority, and having little in- 
 tercourse with their parent heads, were often remiss 
 in the preservation of their records, leaving us now 
 only the faint footprints of Masonry there from the 
 old French War down to the Revolution. Colonial 
 New England, New York, Pennsylvania, Carolina, and 
 Georgia had at this period each their Provincial 
 Grand Easts, whose master-workmen history has made 
 her own ; and when along the pathway of Masonry in 
 colonial Virginia we see her noblest sons emerging 
 from the obscurity of unrecorded Masonic fellowship, 
 and with hand-grips strong and true greeting brethren 
 from the North, the East, and the South, at the com- 
 mencement of the Be volution, we deeply deplore the 
 loss of records relating to the Mystic Art in that col- 
 ony previous to that period. Enough yet remains to 
 inspire the poet's pen, and a gifted brother has 
 written : 
 
 ; Brave old Virginia proud you well may bo, 
 When you retrace that glorious dynasty 
 Of intellectual giants, who were known 
 AP much the nation's children as your own 
 
WASHINGTON. 37 
 
 Your brilliant jewels, aye, you gave them all, 
 Like Sparta's mother, at your country's call ! 
 The Senate knew their eloquence and power, 
 And the red battle in its wildest hour. 
 Xo matter whence to glory or the grave 
 They shone conspicuous, bravest of the brave. 
 One o'er the bravest and the best bore sway- 
 Bright is his memory in our hearts to-day ! 
 His bosom burned with patriotic fire 
 Virginia's son became his country's sire ; 
 And in those lofty claims we proudly vie, 
 He wa% our brother of tlie Mystic Tie!" 
 
CHAPTEK III. 
 
 Commencement of the Revolution. State of Masonry in the colony at that 
 time. First Congress at Philadelphia. PEYTON RANDOLPH, its president, 
 a Mason. WASHINGTON a member. Second Congress. Death of Mr. 
 RANDOLPH. WASHINGTON appointed corn mander-in -chief of the army. 
 Death of General WAKREN. WASHINGTON takes command of the army. 
 Mrs. WASHINGTON visits the headquarters. Formation of American 
 Union Military Lodge. Seal of this lodge. Origin of its design. St. 
 John's Regimental Lodge. Removal of American Union Lodge to New 
 York. Its disasters at the battle of Long Island. WASHINGTON evacuates 
 New York. Crosses New Jersey, and after the battles of Trenton and 
 Princeton, goes into winter-quarters at Morristowr.. State of Masonry in 
 America at this period. WASHINGTON selected as Grand Master by lodges 
 in Virginia. Campaign of 1777, and winter-quarters at Valley Forge. 
 WASHINGTON at prayer. Statue of him at Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Cam- 
 paign of 1778. WASHINGTON present at Masonic celebration ki Philadel- 
 phia. Dr. SMITH'S sermon. Published, with dedication to WASHINGTON. 
 Colonel PARK'S Masonic Ode. "WASHINGTON," a Masonic toast. ---Cam- 
 paign of 1779. Masonic celebration near West Point. Washington Mili- 
 tary Lodge formed. WASHINGTON'S visits to this lodge. 
 
 commencement of the American He vo- 
 lution was a new era in the Masonic as 
 well as political history of our country. 
 As the biographer of WASHINGTON'S pub- 
 lic history is obliged to trace it along the 
 pathway of current public events, so also his Masonic 
 life, when fully given, must be blended with the Ma- 
 sonic history of the times in which he lived. From the. 
 first introduction of warranted lodges into America 
 
WASHINGTON. 39 
 
 in 1733, until the commencement of the Revolution, 
 Masonry had been in a state of progress in this coun- 
 try, so that in 1774 there were warranted lodges in 
 each of the thirteen colonies, and in seven of them Pro- 
 vincial Grand Lodges. Massachusetts and Pennsyl- 
 vania had then each two grand bodies of this class, 
 making nine supervising Masonic powers in the colo- 
 nies ; and when we add to these the Grand* Lodges of 
 Scotland, Ireland, and the two of England, which 
 each exercised Masonic authority in this country, we 
 find the sources of Masonic power in the colonies then 
 to be thirteen. The number of their subordinate lodges 
 is lost to history, and the roll of the workmen who 
 wrought upon the first temple of American Masonry 
 has passed into the archives of the Grand Lodge 
 above. The foundations of that temple still remain, 
 but 
 
 u Its walls are dust, its trowels rust 
 Its builders with the saints, we trust." 
 
 In 1774, when the clouds of political adversity were 
 gathering thick above our country, and seemed ready 
 to burst upon it with all their complicated gloom, a 
 congress of delegates from the different colonies was 
 convened at Philadelphia, and WASHINGTON was a 
 member from Virginia. There were assembled in that 
 council-chamber men who had never met before. 
 From New England, from the banks of the Hudson, 
 the Delaware, the Susquehanna, and the Potomac, and 
 from far down in the sunny South they came, and all 
 looked kindly on each other then ; for Common dangers 
 and a common weakness bespoke the necessity of a 
 
40 WASHINGTON. 
 
 unity of action. Many brothers of the mystic tie were 
 members of that body, and over its deliberations 
 PEYTON RANDOLPH, the Provincial Grand Master of Vir- 
 ginia, was selected from the bright roll of master 
 workmen, to preside. Mr. ADAMS said it was a collec- 
 tion of the greatest men upon this continent, in point 
 of abilities, virtues, and fortunes. WASHINGTON'S posi- 
 tion in it may be seen from a remark made by PATRICK 
 HENRY, who was also a member, to one who asked 
 him whom he considered the greatest man in that body. 
 " If you speak of eloquence/' said he, " Mr. RUTLEDGE 
 of South Carolina is by far the greatest orator ; but if 
 you speak of solid information and sound judgment, 
 Colonel WASHINGTON is unquestionably the greatest 
 man on that floor." 
 
 A second session of which WASHINGTON was also a 
 member, assembled the following year in Philadelphia, 
 and Mr. RANDOLPH was again called to preside over its 
 councils. His health, however, failing, JOHN HANCOCK 
 was elected his successor as president ; and before the 
 session closed. Mr. RANDOLPH died, and his remains 
 were taken to Virginia and buried with Masonic honors. 
 The contest at arms between the colonies and the 
 mother country had already begun at Concord and 
 Lexington, and WASHINGTON was elected ctfmmander- 
 in-chief of the American army. He was at this time 
 forty-three years of age. He had left his home at 
 Mount Vernon but a few weeks before, expecting soon 
 to return ; but the duties of his appointment admitted 
 of no delay, and after giving a few written directions 
 for his domestic* business, and executing a will, which 
 he inclosed in an affectionate letter to his wife, ho 
 
WASHINGTON. 41 
 
 repaired to Cambridge, where the army was then 
 stationed. 
 
 The British troops then held possession of Boston ; 
 and the very day that WASHINGTON received his com- 
 mission, the battle of Bunker Hill was fought, and hi 
 it fell General JOSEPH WARREN, Grand Master of the 
 Massachusetts Grand Lodge. It was the first grand 
 offering of American Masonry at the altar of liberty, 
 and the ground-floor of her temple was blood-stained 
 at its eastern gate. The second Grand Master who 
 fell at the post of duty, was PEYTON KANDOLPH, in the 
 following October, whose death has been already 
 noticed. One fell on the battle-field, and the other in 
 the council-chamber of our country. Both their 
 graves were wet with a nation's tears, and their Masonic 
 brethren placed on each the green acacia. 
 
 WASHINGTON reached Cambridge on the 2d of 
 July, and on the following day took command of the 
 army. There were gathered arourd him a stern band 
 of determined men, who had left their peaceful avoca- 
 tions and taken arms to defend their hearth-stones. 
 Of uniform they had little, and their arms were such 
 as were found in possession of men unused to war. 
 Some of their officers had -before held command in the 
 old French and Indian War, and some had never held 
 a sword before. To maintain his numbers, provide 
 for their necessities, and reduce them to discipline, 
 was WASHINGTON'S first care. But the year closed 
 dark and gloomy upon the prospects of the army. 
 Mrs. WASHINGTON left Mount Yernon late in the fall to 
 spend the winter months at headquarters, and many 
 of the officers were also joined by their wives ; but the 
 
42 WASHINGTON. 
 
 other officers and soldiers had few pleasures in their 
 winter- quarters to make them forget the homes they 
 had left. 
 
 During the previous French and Indian "War, military 
 lod^o warrants had been granted by the Grand Lodge 
 of Massachusetts to brethren in the army ; and at the 
 close of wearisome marches, and in their cheerless 
 camps, the Masonic lodge-room became a bivouac in 
 the tired soldier's life, where his toils and privations 
 were forgotten, and the finest feelings of his heart 
 cultivated. While the Connecticut line of the army 
 was encamped during this winter at Koxbury, near 
 Boston, a movement was made by the brethren in it, 
 early in February, to establish a Masonic lodge in 
 their camp. For this purpose they applied to the 
 Grand Officers of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, 
 of which JOHN HOWE was Grand Master, and Colonel 
 RICHARD GRIDLEY his Deputy, for the necessary author- 
 ity. The petition was signed by Colonel SAMUEL H. 
 PARSONS, Colonel SAMUEL WYLLYS, Colonel JOEL CLARK, 
 Major JOHN PARK, Major THOMAS CHASE, Captain EZE- 
 KIEL SCOTT, and sundry other brethren, praying that 
 they might be formed into a regular lodge. 
 
 By appointment from Colonel RICHARD GEIDLEY, the 
 Deputy Grand Master, a meeting of the brethren was 
 held in the Roxbury camp, on the 13th of February, 
 1776. At this meeting, it was agreed that Colonel 
 CLARK be recommended as Master, Major PARK as 
 Senior "Warden, Major CHASE as Junior Warden, Col- 
 onel PARSONS as Treasurer, and Ensign JONATHAN HART 
 as Secretary. The foregoing proceedings having been 
 presented to the Deputy Grand Master, who was not 
 
WASHINGTON. 43 
 
 present at the meeting, upon the 15th of the same 
 month he issued to them a warrant or dispensation 
 to hold a lodge in their camp at Hoxbury, or wherever 
 their body should remove on the continent of America, 
 provided it was where no other Grand Master held 
 authority. 
 
 It was called American Union Lodge, and both its 
 name and the device on its seal were significant of the 
 aid lent by Masonry in the hour of our country's need. 
 Both were expressive of the great sentiment which 
 then pervaded the American heart. If Liberty was 
 its key-note, Union was its watchword. The union 
 of the Anglo-American colonies for mutual defence had 
 been proposed in 1741, by DANIEL COXE of New Jersey, 
 the first Provincial Grand Master in America. It had 
 again been advocated in 1754 by Dr. FRANKLIN, Pro- 
 vincial Grand Master of Pennsylvania, who also sym- 
 bolized the idea at the close of an essay, which he 
 published on this subject, by a wood-cut representing 
 a snake divided into parts, with the initial letter of 
 each colony on a separate part, underneath which he 
 placed the motto, " JOIN OK DIE." 
 
 The purposes for which both COXE and FRANKLIN had 
 unsuccessfully advocated a federal union of the colo- 
 nies, had been to protect them against the French 
 "When the Revolution commenced, and the union of 
 the colonies .against British aggression was urged, 
 many of the newspapers adopted FRANKLIN'S device 
 and motto. When the Union had taken place, tho 
 device was* changed as a newspaper heading, and a 
 coiled rattlesnake, with its head erect to strike, was 
 substituted, with the motto, " DON'T TREAD ON ME." Both 
 
44 WASHINGTON. 
 
 these devices and mottoes were inscribed on flags and 
 otluT ensigns of war of the provincial troops at the 
 commencement of the Revolution. This device, as a 
 colonial emblem, was soon after changed to a circle 
 consisting of a chain with thirteen links, containing in 
 each an initial letter of one of .the thirteen colonies. It 
 was also placed upon some of the currency of the col- 
 onies as early as 1776. 
 
 The seal of American Union 
 Lodge -bore the same popular 
 American idea in its symbolism, 
 having as its principal device a 
 chain of thirteen circular links, 
 around a central part, on which 
 was the square and compasses, 
 with the sun, moon, and a star 
 
 ^^^ ^ ^^ buming fa 
 
 beneath them, the extremities of the chain being united 
 by two clasped hands. For the leading idea of tho 
 symbolism of the chain representing the union of the 
 colonies, the brethren were probably indebted to Dr. 
 FRANKLIN, who visited the American camp in 1770, as 
 one of a committee from Congress to confer with 
 WASHINGTON on the affairs of the war ; and the seal is 
 supposed to have been engraved by PAUL REVERE, a 
 distinguished Mason and patriot of Massachusetts, 
 who was often employed at that period to engrave 
 such designs. 
 
 Although a Military Lodge warrant had been granted 
 by the Masonic authorities of New York on the 24th 
 of July, 1775, for a lodge in the provincial troops of 
 that colony, which was called St. John's Regimental 
 
WASHINGTON. 45 
 
 Lodge, yet the American Union Lodge was the first 
 organized in the Continental army, and may be justly 
 regarded as the eldest Masonic daughter of the Amer- 
 ican Union. It was organized in troops of which 
 WASHINGTON had command, and though his military 
 duties did not admit of his attendance on its meetings 
 during the time the army 'was encamped around 
 Boston, he subsequently often joined his Masonic 
 brethren within its walls, and ever inculcated among 
 its members, both by precept and example, a love of 
 Masonry. This lodge went with his army, when it re- 
 moved to New York, and held its meetings there while 
 the city remained in his possession. Its last meeting 
 there was on the 15th of August, 1776, a few days be- 
 fore the disastrous battle on Long Island. The next 
 subsequent record of this lodge states : 
 
 " The British troops having landed with a large body on 
 Long Island, the attention of the American army was ne- 
 cessary to repel them. On the ever memorable 27th of 
 August, the Right Worshipful JOEL CLARK, ELISHA HOPKINS, 
 OZIAS BISSELL, JOSEPH JEWETT, NATHANIEL GORE, being taken 
 prisoners ; and on the 13th of September, Brother JAMES 
 CHAPMAN, MICAJAH GLEASON, killed ; WILLIAM CLEAVLAND and 
 JOHN P. WYLLYS taken prisoners, and Brother OTHO H. WIL- 
 LIAMS taken prisoner at Fort Washington, by .which mis- 
 fortunes the lodge was deprived of its Master, and some 
 most worthy members, and many other brethren were called 
 to act in separate departments, wherefore the lodge stood 
 closed without day. 
 
 " (Signed) JONATHAN HART, Secretary." 
 
 No further meetings of this lodge were held until 
 
46 WASHINGTON. 
 
 March, 1777 ; and in the mean time, JOEL CLAUK, its 
 Master, died in captivity. 
 
 After the disastrous battle of Long Island, WASH- 
 INGTON found it impossible for the safety of his army 
 to retain possession of New York, and he evacuated 
 the city about the middle of September, after having 
 his headquarters there five months. From this time 
 until the close of 1776, he did not long enjoy a resting- 
 place for his troops. His strongholds upon the Hud- 
 son were lost, and he retreated from river to river in 
 New Jersey, till he had crossed the Delaware, and en- 
 camped on its Pennsylvania side. There he turned 
 upon his pursuers, and on the 25th of December re- 
 crossed the river amidst floods of ice, surprised a por- 
 tion of the British army while engaged in their Christ- 
 mas revels at Trenton, and gained a decided victory. 
 This at once turned the tide of war, and after further 
 successes at Princeton, his army went into winter- 
 quarters at Morristown. 
 
 The close of 1776 was the darkest period in the his- 
 tory of American Masonry. Every Grand East on 
 the American continent was shrouded in darkness. 
 Massachusetts and Virginia had each lost a Grand 
 Master since the commencement of the war ; the old 
 Grand Lodge of New York was dissolved, by its Grand 
 Master, Sir JOHN JOHNSON, fleeing from his home, and 
 becoming an officer in the British army ; the labors of 
 the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania were suspended, 
 and their hall was soon after made a prison-room for 
 citizens who were disaffected to the American causa 
 In the spring of 1777 a ray of light first arose in the 
 East. The members remaining of Dr. WARREN'S Grand 
 
 
WASHINGTON. 47 
 
 Lodge were convened, and they resolved, that as the 
 political head of this country had destroyed all con- 
 nection between the States and the country from which 
 that Grand Lodge derived its commissioned authority, 
 it was their privilege to assume an elective supremacy, 
 and they accordingly elected JOSEPH WEBB their Grand 
 Master. Virginia, too, a few months later, called a 
 convention of its lodges, which recommended to its 
 constituents GEORGE WASHINGTON as the most proper 
 person to be elected the first independent Grand 
 Master of Virginia. WASHINGTON at that- time had 
 held no official position in Masonry, and he modestly 
 declined the intended honor, when informed of the 
 wish of his Virginia brethren, for two reasons : first, he 
 did not consider it masonically legal, that one who had 
 never been installed as Master or Warden of a lodge, 
 should be elected Grand Master ; and second, his 
 country claimed at the time all his services in the 
 tented field. JOHN BLAIR, therefore, the Master of 
 Williamsburg Lodge, who was an eminent citizen of 
 Virginia, was elected in his stead. 
 
 The military campaign of 1777 gave" to history, in 
 quick succession, the battles of Brandywine and Ger- 
 mantown, the evacuation of Philadelphia by Congress, 
 and its occupation by British troops, and closed by the 
 retirement of the American army into winter-quarters 
 at Valley Forge. Here, as the shoeless army marched 
 to their cheerless encampment, hundreds of bare feet 
 left footprints of blood in their frozen path. WASH- 
 INGTON was moved to tears at the sight, and his touch- 
 ing exclamation of "poor fclloivs" was responded to 
 by a " God bless your Excellency, your poor soldiers' 
 
48 WASHINGTON. 
 
 friend," by the suffering soldiers. Masonic traditions 
 state that military lodges were held in the camp at 
 Valley Forge, which WASHINGTON often attended, but 
 the loss of their records prevents us from verifying the 
 statement. His headquarters that winter were at the 
 house of a Quaker preacher ; and tradition has told 
 us how the man of peace surprised him one day in a 
 retired place, praying audibly and fervently for the 
 success of the American arms, and that he thereupon 
 assured his family that America would finally triumph, 
 for such prayers would surely be answered. 
 
 " Oh! \vlio shall know the migJit 
 Of the words he utter'd there ? 
 The fate of nations then was turn'd 
 By the fervor of that prayer. 
 
 " Hut wouldst thou know his words, 
 Who Avander'd there alone? 
 Go, read enroll'd in heaven's. archives 
 The prayer of WASHINGTON !" 
 
 There is an interesting Masonic memorial of WASH- 
 INGTON at this period, which has long been in posses- 
 sion of Lodge No. 43, at Lancaster, Pennsylvania. 
 While Congress held its sessions in York, during the 
 time the British occupied Philadelphia, WASHINGTON 
 visited that borough, and his striking and majestic 
 appearance so impressed a young man of that vicinity, 
 that he carved a life-size statue of him from a single 
 block of wood, which was afterwards presented to 
 Lodge No. 43, and is still in its possession. The name 
 of the young self-taught artist who carved it has long 
 been forgotten, but the outlines and expression of the 
 
WASHINGTON. 49 
 
 statue are said to bear a striking resemblance to 
 WASHINGTON at that period. 
 
 During the following, year the British troops evac- 
 uated Philadelphia, and the campaign of 1778 closed 
 with the contending armies in nearly the same posi- 
 tion as they were in the summer of 1776. In the latter 
 part of December, WASHINGTON visited Philadelphia, 
 where Congress was in session; and while there, {he 
 Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania celebrated the festival 
 of St. John the Evangelist. WASHINGTON was present 
 on the occasion, and was honored with the chief place 
 in the procession, being supported on his right by the 
 Grand Master, and on his left by the Deputy Grand 
 Master. More than three hundred brethren joined in 
 this procession. They met at nine o'clock, at the 
 college, and being properly clothed, the officers in the 
 jewels of their office, and other badges of their dignity, 
 the procession moved at eleven o'clock, and proceeded 
 to Christ Church, where a Masonic sermon, for the 
 benefit of the poor, was preached by the Rev. Bro. 
 WILLIAM SMITH, D. D., Grand Secretary of the Grand 
 Lodge of Pennsylvania. In it he beautifully alluded 
 to WASHINGTON, who was present, as the Cincinnatus 
 of America ; saying also, " Such, too, if we divine 
 aright, will future ages pronounce the character of a 
 **#*#*####. k^ vou a ii anticipate me in a name, 
 which delicacy forbids me on this occasion to mention. 
 Honored with his presence as a Brother, you will seek 
 to derive virtue from his example." Great poverty 
 and distress had been occasioned in Philadelphia by 
 the British troops during their occupancy of the city, 
 and in accordance with Masonic" custom, a call was 
 
 3 
 
50 WASHINGTON. 
 
 made on the fraternity in this sermon for the relief oi 
 those in distress. Having eloquently presented the 
 duty of charity, the Eev. Brother closed his discourse 
 by saying: " But I will detain you no longer, brethren! 
 you all pant to have a foretaste of the joy of angels, by 
 calling into exercise this heavenly virtue of charity, 
 whereby you will give glory to the Thrice Blessed 
 TKree, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, one God over 
 all!" At the word "glory," the brethren rose to- 
 gether; and in reverential posture, on pronouncing 
 the names of the Triune God, accompanied the same 
 by a corresponding repetition of the ancient sign or 
 symbol of Divine homage and obeisance, concluding 
 with the following response, "Amen! So let it ever 
 be !" More than four hundred pounds were immedi- 
 ately collected for the relief of the poor, and the 
 Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania was made on the occa- 
 sion the almoner of WASHINGTON'S bounty. This ser- 
 mon of Dr. SMITH was published soon after, by direc- 
 tion of the Grand Lodge, and the profits arising from 
 its sale were also given to the poor. The pamphlet was 
 prefaced with the following dedication to WASHINGTON : 
 
 " To his Excellency, GEORGE WASHINGTON, Esq., general 
 and commander-in-chief of the armies of the United States 
 of North America the friend of his country and mankind, 
 ambitions of no higher title, if higher were possible the 
 following sermon, honored with his presence when delivered, 
 is dedicated in testimony of the sincerest brotherly affectio 
 and esteem of his merit. 
 
 " By order of tne Brethren, 
 
 " JOHN COATS, 
 " Grand Secretary, pro tern " 
 
WASHINGTON. 51 
 
 No earlier production, either literary or Masonic, had 
 been dedicated to WASHINGTON. "We regret the want 
 of Masonic records to give the names of other visiting 
 brethren who were present at this festival. An ode 
 commemorative of WASHINGTON'S participating in the 
 ceremonies, and the position he occupied, was written 
 a few months after by Colonel JOHN PARK, a distin- 
 guished member of American Union Lodge, addressed 
 to Colonel PROCTOR, of Pennsylvania, bearing date, 
 February 7, 1779, in which he says : 
 
 " See WASHINGTON, lie leads the train, 
 'Tis he commands the grateful strain ; 
 See, every crafted son obeys, 
 And to the godlike brother homage pays. 
 ******** 
 Let fame resound him through the land, 
 And echo, *Tis our Master Grand! 
 ******** 
 'Tis he our ancient craft shall sway, - 
 Whilst we, with three times three, obey? 
 
 We have no doubt, from this time onward it was tho 
 desire of many of the brethren, especially those in tho 
 army, to see WASHINGTON placed at the head of Ameri- 
 can Masonry. At a public festival of American Union 
 Lodge, held at Beading, in Connecticut, on the 25th of 
 March, 1779, the first toast given was, " GENERAL 
 WASHINGTON ;" which was followed by one to " The 
 memory of WARREN, MONTGOMERY, and WOOSTER," three 
 distinguished Masons who had fallen on the battle- 
 fields of the Revolution. From this time onward tho 
 name of WASHINGTON became a Masonic toast, and the 
 first in order at all Masonic festivals. 
 
52 WASHINGTON. 
 
 On the 23d of June, WASHINGTON established his 
 headquarters at Now "Windsor, on the Hudson, near 
 Newburg. The following day American Union Lodge 
 met at Nelson's Point, and proceeded from thence to 
 West Point to celebrate the festival of St. John the 
 Baptist. Being joined by a number of Masonic breth- 
 ren from the brigades there, and on Constitution 
 Island, they proceeded from General PATTEBSON'S quar- 
 ters, on the opposite side of the river, to the Robinson 
 House, where they retired to a bower in front of the 
 house, and were joined by General WASHINGTON and his 
 family. Here addresses were delivered by Rev. Dr. 
 HITCHCOCK and Major WILLIAM HULL (afterwards Gen- 
 eral HULL of the war of 1812). Dinner, music, toasts, 
 and songs closed the entertainment. WASHINGTON then 
 returned to his barge, attended by the wardens and 
 secretary of the lodge, amidst a crowd of brethren, the 
 music playing " GOD save America ;" and as he and his 
 family embarked to recross the river to New Windsor, 
 his departure was announced by three cheers from the 
 shore, which were answered by three from the barge, 
 the music beating the "Grenadiers' March." Many 
 distinguished officers of the army, who were Masons, 
 were present at this festival; and the brethren in the 
 Massachusetts line soon after petitioned the Massa- 
 chusetts Grand Lodge for a warrant to hold a travel- 
 ling lodge in their camp. The petition was granted on 
 the 6th of October, 1779, constituting General JOHN 
 PATTERSON, Master, and Colonel BENJAMIN TUPPER and 
 Major WILLIAM HULL, Wardens. The lodge was called 
 " WASHINGTON LODGE." Captain MOSES GREENLEAF of 
 the Eleventh Massachusetts Regiment afterwards be- 
 
WASHINGTON. 53 
 
 came Master of this lodge. His son, SIMON GREENLEAF, 
 late Past Grand Master of Maine, said he had often 
 heard his father mention WASHINGTON'S visits to this 
 lodge while commander-in-chief, and the high gratifi- 
 cation they gave to the officers and members, es- 
 pecially as he went without ceremony, as a private 
 brother. 
 
CHAPTEK IV. 
 
 WASHINGTON'S headquarters again at Morristown. Attends Masonic cele- 
 bration there, December 27, 1779. Masonic army convention proposed. 
 Its meeting and proceedings. Its address to American Grand Masters. 
 Existing Grand Lodges at this time. Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania pro- 
 pose a General Grand Lodge, and choose WASHINGTON as General Grand 
 Master. Sends notification of these proceedings to other Grand Lodges. 
 Letter to JOSEPH WEBB. His reply. Second letter to Mr. WEBB. Grand 
 Lodge of Massachusetts submits proposition from Grand Lodge of Penn- 
 sylvania to subordinate lodges. Kesohitions of Warren Lodge at Machins, 
 Maine, in favor of WASHINGTON as General Grand Master. Final action 
 of Grand Lodge of Massachusetts in the matter. Pennsylvania ever aftei 
 opposes a General Grand Lodge. WASHINGTON afterwards considered ns 
 General Grand Master. Keceives letters as such from Cape Francois. 
 His Masonic medal. Pennsylvania Ahiman Rezon dedicated to him. 
 Copy presented to him. Military Lodges of the Revolution. Lodges in 
 the British army. Anecdotes of. Action of Kiog -David's Lodge at 
 Newport. Capture of COBNWALLIS. News of in Philadelphia. Death 
 of JOHN PARZK CUSTIS. WASHINGTON visits his mother. 
 
 ]T the close of 1779, WASHINGTON'S head- 
 quarters were again at Morristown, New 
 Jersey, where they had been during the 
 winter of 1776-77. Here the American 
 Union Lodge was again at work, and also 
 various other military lodges, which had been organ- 
 ized in the American army. On the 27th of December, 
 the American Union Lodge met to celebrate the festi- 
 val of St. John the Evangelist. Besides the regular 
 members of the lodge present, the record shows the 
 
WASHINGTON. 55 
 
 names of sixty-eight visiting brethren, one of whom 
 was WASHINGTON. At a previous meeting of this lodge, 
 held on the 15th of December, its records show that 
 its Master, Major JONATHAN HABT, was appointed one 
 of a joint committee from the various military lodges 
 in the army " to take into consideration some matters 
 for the good of Masonry." At the festival meeting on 
 the 27th, " a petition was read, representing the pres- 
 ent state of Free-Masonry to the several Deputy 
 Grand Masters in the United States of America, desir- 
 ing them to adopt some measures for appointing a 
 Grand Master over said States." It was ordered that 
 this petition be circulated through the different lines 
 of the army ; and also " that a committee be appointed 
 from the different lodges in the army, from each line, 
 and from the staff of the army, to convene on the first 
 Monday of February next, at Morristown, to take the 
 foregoing petition into consideration." This committee 
 accordingly met at Morristown, on the 7th day of Feb- 
 ruary, 1780, and the following is a copy of its pro- 
 ceedings : 
 
 "At a committee of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, 
 met this tth day of the second month in the year of Salva- 
 tion, 1780, according to the recommendation of a Convention 
 Lodge, held at the celebration of St. tFohn the Evangelist. 
 
 "Present, Brother JOHN PIERCE, M. M., delegated to repre- 
 sent the Masons in the military line of the State of Mas- 
 sachusetts Bay, and Washington Lodge, No. 10 ; Brother 
 JONATHAN HART, M. M., delegated to represent the Masons in 
 the military line of the State of Connecticut, and American 
 Union Lodge ; Brother CHARLES GRAHAM, F. C., delegated to 
 represent the Masons in the military line of the State of 
 
56 WASHINGTON. 
 
 New York ; Brother JOHN SANFORD, M. M., delegated to rep- 
 resent the Masons in the military line of the State of New 
 Jersey ; Brother GEORGE TUDOR, M. M., delegated to repre- 
 sent the Masons in the military line of the State of Pennsyl- 
 vania ; Brother OTHO HOLLAND WILLIAMS, M. M., delegated to 
 represent the Masons in the military line of the State of 
 Delaware; Brother MORDECAI GIST, P. W.-M., delegated to rep- 
 resent the Masons in the military line of the State of Mary- 
 land ; Brother PRENTICE BROWN, M. M., delegated to represent 
 St. John's Regimental Lodge ; Brother JOHN LAWRENCE, P. 
 W. M., delegated to represent the brothers in the staff of 
 the American army; Brother THOMAS MACHIN, M. M., dele- 
 gated to represent the Masons in the corps of artillery." 
 
 The -brothers present proceeded to elect a president 
 and secretary, whereupon Brother MORDECAI GIST was 
 unanimously chosen president, and Brother OTHO HOL- 
 LAND WILLIAMS unanimously chosen secretary of this 
 committee. 
 
 The committee proceeded to take into consideration 
 an address to be preferred to the Eight Worshipful 
 Grand Masters in the respective United States, where- 
 upon Brother WILLIAMS presented the following ad- 
 dress : 
 
 "TO THE EIGHT WORSHIPFUL, 
 
 THE GRAND MASTERS OF THE SEVERAL LODGES IX THE RESPECTIVE 
 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 UNION. FORCE. LOVE. 
 
 " The subscribers, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons in 
 convention, to you, as the patrons and protectors of the 
 craft upon this continent, prefer their humble address. 
 
 "Unhappily, the distinctions of interest, the political- views, 
 and national disputes subsisting between Great Britain ami 
 
WASHINGTON. 57 
 
 these United States have involved us, not only in the gen- 
 eral calamities that disturb the tranquillity which used to 
 prevail in this once happy country, but in a peculiar manner 
 affects our society, by separating us from the Grand Mother 
 Lodge in Europe, by disturbing our connection with each 
 other, impeding the progress, and preventing the perfection 
 of Masonry in America. 
 
 "We deplore the miseries of our countrymen, and par- 
 ticularly lament the distresses which many of our poor 
 brethren must suffer, as well from the want of temporal re- 
 lief, as for want of a source of light to govern their pursuits 
 and illuminate the path of happiness. And we ardently de- 
 sire to restore, if possible, that fountain of charity, from 
 which, to the unspeakable benefit of mankind, flows benev- 
 olence and love : considering with anxiety these disputes, 
 and the many irregularities and improprieties committed by 
 weak or wicked brethren, which too manifestly show the 
 present dissipated and almost abandoned condition of our 
 lodges in general, as well as the relaxation of virtue amongst 
 individuals. 
 
 " We think it our duty, Eight Worshipful Brothers and 
 Seniors in the Craft, to solicit your immediate interposition 
 to save us from the impending dangers of schisms and apos- 
 tasy. To obtain security from those fatal evils, with affec- 
 tionate humility, we beg leave to recommend the adopting 
 and pursuing the most necessary measures for establishing 
 one Grand Lodge in America, to preside over and govern 
 all other lodges of whatsoever degree or denomination, 
 licensed or to be licensed upon the continent ; that the an- 
 cient principles and discipline of Masonry being restored, 
 we may mutually and universally enjoy the advantages 
 arising from frequent communion and social intercourse. To 
 accomplish this beneficial and essential work, permit us to 
 propose that you, the Eight Worshipful Grand Masters, or 
 
58 WASHINGTON. 
 
 a majority of your number, may nominate as Most Worship- 
 ful Grand Master of said lodge, a brother whose merit and 
 capacity may be adequate to a station so important and 
 elevated, and transmitting the name and nomination of such 
 brother, together with the name of the lodge to be estab- 
 lished, to our Grand Mother Lodge in Europe for approbation 
 and confirmation, and that you may adopt and execute any 
 other ways or means most eligible for preventing imposi- 
 tions, correcting abuses, and for establishing the general 
 principles of Masonry, that the influence of the same in 
 propagating morality and virtue may be far extended, and 
 that the lives and conversation of all true Free and Accepted 
 Masons may not only be the admiration of men on earth, 
 but may receive the final approbation of the Grand Archi- 
 tect of the Universe, in the world wherein the elect enjoy 
 eternal light and love. 
 
 " Signed in convention, at Morristown, Morris County, 
 this 7th day of the second month, in the year of our Saviour 
 1780, Anno Muudi, 5780. Which being read, was unani- 
 mously agreed to sign, and ordered to be forwarded with 
 an extra copy of their proceedings, signed by the president 
 and secretary, to the respective Provincial Grand Masters; 
 and the committee adjourned without day." 
 
 There were Grand Lodges in active existence in but 
 three of the States at this time viz., Massachusetts, 
 Pennsylvania, and Virginia ; and although the name of 
 WASHINGTON for General Grand Master does not appear 
 in the foregoing petition from the Masonic convention 
 in the army, yet it was formally signified to these 
 Grand Lodges that he was their choice. The events of 
 the period we are now sketching are of great interest, 
 not only in the Masonic history of WASHINGTON, but 
 also in the Masonic history of our country. Our rec- 
 
WASHINGTON. 59 
 
 ords show that the action of the brethren in the army 
 was the prelude to the great changes that were soon 
 wrought in the polity of American Masonry, and that 
 he was first in the hearts of Masons, as well as first in 
 the hearts of his countrymen. Previous to the recep- 
 tion of the address of the Army Convention by the 
 Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, but while these pro- 
 ceedings were in progress, an emergent meeting of that 
 grand body was convened at Philadelphia, on the 13th 
 of January, 1780, to consider the propriety of appoint- 
 ing a General Grand Master over all the Grand Lodges 
 formed or to be formed in the United States ; and its 
 records show, that 
 
 " The ballot was put upon the question whether it be for 
 the benefit of Masonry, that a GRAND MASTER OF MASONS 
 throughout the United States shall now be nominated on 
 the part of this Grand Lodge ; and it was unanimously 
 determined in the affirmative. 
 
 " Sundry respectable brethren being put in nomination, 
 it was moved that the ballot be put for them separately, 
 and his Excellency, GEORGE WASHINGTON, Esq., general and 
 commander-in-chief of the army of the United States, being 
 first in nomination, he was balloted for as Gr%nd Master, 
 and elected by the unanimous vote of the whole lodge. 
 
 " Ordered, that the minutes of this election and appoint- 
 ment be transmitted to the different Grand Lodges in the 
 United States, and their -concurrence therein be requested, 
 in order that application be made to his excellency in due 
 form, praying that he will do the brethren and Craft tho 
 honor of accepting their appointment." 
 
 A committee was chosen to expedite the business, 
 and to inform themselves of the number of Grand 
 
60 WASHINGTON. 
 
 Lodges in America, and the names of their officers, 
 and prepare a circular letter to be sent them. So little 
 was known, at this time, by the Provincial Grand Lodges 
 in this country of their sister Grand Bodies in other 
 States, that months elapsed before the necessary in- 
 formation came before the Grand Lodge of Pennsyl- 
 vania, on which to act in carrying out the resolution of 
 January I3th, relative to a correspondence in relation 
 to the appointment of a General Grand- Master. On 
 the 27th of the following July, having learned that 
 there was a Grand Lodge in Virginia, of which JOHN 
 BLAIR was Grand Master, the Grand Secretary was 
 directed to write to Mr. BLAIR and request the concur- 
 rence of that Grand Lodge (if Ancient Masons) in the- 
 appointment of General WASHINGTON as Grand M. 
 General of Masons in America. A similar letter was 
 also directed to be written to Colonel WILLIAX MAL- 
 COLM, of Fishkill, New York ; and as they had learned 
 that there was a Grand Lodge at work in Boston, of 
 which Colonel WILLLIM PALFREY was a member, Colonel 
 PROCTOR, of Philadelphia, was directed to confer with 
 him. Having made these preliminary inquiries, the 
 Grand Se^etary of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania 
 addressed the following letter to JOSEPH WEBB, Grand 
 Master of the Massachusetts Grand Lodge : 
 
 "PHILADELPHIA, August 19, 1780. 
 " JOSEPH WEBB, Esq. : 
 
 " SIR I do myself the honor to address you, by orders 
 from the Grand Lodge of Ancient York Masons, regularly 
 constituted in the city of Philadelphia. This Grand Lodge 
 has under its jurisdiction, in Pennsylvania and the States 
 
WASHINGTON. 61 
 
 adjacent, thirty-one different regular lodges, containing in 
 the whole more than one thousand brethren. Inclosed, you 
 have a printed abstract of some of our late proceedings ; and 
 by that of January 13th last, you will observe that we have, 
 so far as depends on us, done that honor which we think 
 due to our illustrious brother, General WASHINGTON viz., 
 electing him Grand Master over all the Grand Lodges 
 formed, or to be formed, in these United States ; not doubt- 
 ing of the concurrence of all the Grand Lodges in America 
 to make this election effectual. 
 
 " We have been informed by Colonel PALFREY that there 
 is a. Grand Lodge of Ancient York Masons in the State of 
 Massachusetts, and that you are Grand Master thereof. As 
 such, I am, therefore, to request that you will lay our pro- 
 ceedings before your Grand Lodge, and request their con- 
 current voice in the appointment of General WASHINGTON, as 
 set forth in the minutes of January 13th, which, as far as we 
 have been able to learn, is a measure highly approved by all 
 the brethren, and that will do honor to the Craft. 
 
 "WILLIAM SMITH, 
 
 " Grand Secretary." 
 
 To this, Mr. WEBB returned the following answer : 
 
 " BOSTON, September 4, 1780. 
 
 " SIR Your agreeable favor of the 19th ult. I duly re- 
 ceived on the 31st, covering a printed abstract of the pro- 
 ceedings of your Grand Lodge. I had received one near three 
 months before, from the Master of a travelling lodge of the 
 Connecticut line ; but the evening after I received yours, it 
 being Grand Lodge, I laid it before them, and had some de- 
 bate on it. Whereupon it was agreed to adjourn the lodge 
 
C2 WASHINGTON. 
 
 for three weeks, to the 22d inst.: likewise, to write to all 
 the lodges in this jurisdiction to attend themselves, if con- 
 venient, by their Masters and Wardens ; and if not, to give 
 instruction to their proxies here concerning their acqui- 
 escence in the proposal. 
 
 " I am well assured that no one can have any objection 
 to so illustrious a person as General WASHINGTON to preside 
 as Grand Master of the United States; but at the same time 
 it will be necessary to know from you his prerogatives as 
 such ; whether he is to appoint Sub-Grand or Provincial 
 Grand Masters of each State. If so, I am confident that the 
 Grand Lodge of this State will never give up their right of 
 electing their own Grand Masters and other officers annu- 
 ally. This induces me to write to you now, before the re- 
 sult of the Grand Lodge takes place ; and I must beg an 
 answer by the first opportunity, that I may be enabled to 
 lay the same before them. I have not heard of any States, 
 except this and yours, that have proceeded as yet, since the 
 independence, to elect their officers, but I have been hoping 
 they would. I do not remember of more Grand Masters 
 being appointed when we were under the British govern- 
 ment, than in South Carolina, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, 
 New York, and Massachusetts ; but now it may be ne- 
 cessary. 
 
 " I have granted a dispensation to New Hampshire, till 
 they shall appoint a Grand Master of their own, which I 
 suppose will not be very soon, as there is but one lodge in 
 that State. Inclosed, I send you a list of the officers of our 
 Grand Lodge, and have the honor to be, 
 
 " With great respect and esteem, 
 
 " Your affectionate brother and 
 
 "Humble servant, 
 
 "Jos. WEBB, G. M. 
 
WASHINGTON. 63 
 
 This communication was laid before the Grand Lodge 
 of Pennsylvania, at a special Grand Communication, on 
 the 16th of October ; and a committee, consisting of 
 Colonel PALFREY and the Grand Secretary, Dr. WIL- 
 LIAM SMITH, was appointed to prepare an answer ; and 
 they laid the same before the Grand Body on the fol- 
 lowing evening, to which it adjourned. The following 
 is a copy : 
 
 "PHILADELPHIA, October 17, 1780. 
 " JOSEPH WEBB, Esq. : 
 
 " EESPECTED SIR, AND RIGHT WORSHIPFUL BROTHER Your 
 kind and interesting letters of the 4th and 19th ult., by some 
 delay in the Post-Office, came both to my hands together, 
 and that not before the 10th inst. They were both read 
 and maturely considered at a very full Grand* Lodge last 
 evening; and I have it in charge to thank you, and all the 
 worthy members of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, for 
 the brotherly notice they were pleased to take of the prop- 
 osition communicated to you from the Grand Lodge of this 
 State. 
 
 "We are happy to find that you agree with us in tlit 
 necessity of having one complete Masonic jurisdiction 
 under some one Grand Head throughout the United States. 
 It has been a measure long wished for among the brethren, 
 especially in the army; and from them the request came 
 originally to us, that we might improve the opportunity, 
 which our central situation gave us, of- setting the measure 
 .on foot. From these considerations, joined to an earnest 
 desire of advancing and doing honor to Masonry, and not 
 from any affected superiority, or of dictating to any of our 
 brethren, we put in -nomination for Grand Master over all 
 these States (and elected so far as depended on us) one of 
 
64: WASHINGTON. 
 
 the most illustrious of our brethren, whose character doea 
 honor to the whole Fraternity, and who, we are therefore 
 persuaded, would be wholly unexceptionable. When our 
 proposition and nomination should be communicated to other 
 Grand Lodges, and ratified by their concurrence, then, and 
 not before, it was proposed to define the powers of sucli a 
 Grand Master General, and to fix articles of Masonic union 
 among the Grand Lodges, by means of a convention of com- 
 mittees from the different Grand Lodges, to be held at such 
 time and place as might be agreed upon. Such convention 
 may also have powers to notify the Grand Master General 
 of his election, present him with his diploma, badges of 
 office, and install with due form and ceremony. 
 
 " To you who are so well learned in the Masonic Art, and 
 acquainted with its history, it needs not to be observed that 
 one Grand Master General over many Grand Lodges, hav- 
 ing each their own Grand Master, is no novel institution : 
 even if the peculiar circumstances of the Grand Lodges in 
 America, now separated from the jurisdiction from whence 
 they originated, did not render it necessary. We have also 
 a very recent magnificent example of the same thing in 
 Europe, which may serve, in respect to the ceremonies of 
 installation, as a model for us. I will copy the paragraph 
 as dated, at Stockholm, in Sweden, the 21st of March last, 
 as you may not have seen it. 
 
 "'The 19th of this month (March, 1780) will always be 
 a remarkable day to the Free Masons established in this 
 Kingdom, for on that day the Duke of Sundermania was 
 installed Grand Master of all the lodges throughout this 
 Kingdom, as well as those in St. Petersburg, Copenhagen, 
 Brunswick, Hamburg, etc. The lodge at St. Petersburg 
 had sent a deputy for this purpose, and others had intrusted 
 the diploma of instalment to Baron Leganbrepud, who 
 
WASHINGTON. 65 
 
 been last year to Copenhagen and Germany on this ne- 
 gotiation. 
 
 " ' The instalment was attended with great pomp. The 
 assembly was composed of more than four hundred mem : 
 bers, and was honored with the presence of the king, who 
 was pleased to grant a charter to the lodge, taking it under 
 his roj T al direction, at the same time investing the new 
 Grand Master with an ermine cloak ; after which he was 
 placed upon a throne, clothed with the marks of his new 
 dignity, and there received the compliments of all the mem- 
 bers, who, according to their rank, were admitted to kiss 
 the hand, sceptre, and cloak of the new Grand Master, and 
 had delivered to them a silver medal, struck to perpetuate 
 the memory of this solemnity, which passed in Exchange 
 Hall. It is said that the king will grant revenues for the 
 commanders, and that this Koyal Lodge will receive each 
 year an annual tribute. This solemnity hath raised the or- 
 der of Free Masons from a kind of oblivion into which they 
 were sunk.' 
 
 " What the particular authorities of the Grand Master of 
 the United States were to be, we had not taken upon us to 
 describe, but, as before hinted, had left them to be settled 
 by a convention of Grand Lodges or their deputies. But 
 this is certain, that we never intended the different Pro- 
 vincial or State Grand Lodges, should be deprived of the 
 election of their own Grand Officers, or any of their just 
 Masonic rights and authorities over the different lodges 
 within the bounds of their jurisdiction. 
 
 "But when new lodges are to be created beyond the 
 bounds of any legal Grand Lodge now existing,' such lodges 
 are to have their warrants from the Grand Master General. 
 And when such lodges become a number sufficient to be 
 fanned into a Grand Lodge, the bounds of such Grand 
 
6tf WASHINGTON. 
 
 Lodge are to be described, and Hie warrants be granted 
 by the General Grand Master aforesaid ; who may also call 
 and preside in a convention of Grand Lodges, when any 
 matter of great or general importance to the whole United 
 Fraternity of these United States may require it. What 
 other powers may be given to the Grand Master General, 
 and how such powers are to be drawn up and expressed, 
 will be the business of the convention proposed. 
 
 " For want of some general Masonic authority over all 
 these United States, the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, ex 
 necessitate, have granted warrants beyond its bounds, to 
 Delaware and Maryland States ; and you have found it ex- 
 pedient to do the same, in New Hampshire : but we know 
 that necessity alone can be the plea for this. 
 
 "By what has been said above, you will see that our 
 idea is to have a General Grand Master over all the United 
 States, and each lodge under him to preserve its own rights, 
 jurisdiction, etc., as formerly under the Grand Lodge of 
 Great Britain, from whence the Grand Lodges of America 
 had derived their Warrants, and to have this new Masonic 
 Constitution, and the powers of the General Grand Master, 
 fixed by a convention aforesaid. 
 
 " Others, we are told, have proposed that there be one 
 Grand Master over all the States, and that the other Masters 
 of Grand Lodges, whether nominated by him, or chosen by 
 their own Grand Lodges, should be considered as his depu- 
 ties. But we have the same objection to this that you have, 
 and never had any idea of establishing such a plan, as has 
 been suggested before. 
 
 " This letter is now swelled to a great length. We have, 
 therefore, only to submit two things to your deliberation : 
 1st. Either, whether it would be best to make your election 
 of a General Grand Master immediately, and then propose 
 
WASHINGTON. 67 
 
 to us a time and place where a committee from your body 
 could meet a committee from ours to fix his powers and 
 proceed to instalment; or, 2d. Whether x you will first ap- 
 point a place of meeting-, and the powers of the proposed 
 Grand Master j then return home arid proceed to the elec- 
 ion, and afterwards meet anew for instalment. This last 
 mode would seem to require too much time, and would not 
 be so agreeable to our worthy brethren in the army, who are 
 anxious to have this matter completed. 
 
 " As you will probably choose the first mode, could not 
 the place of meeting be at, or near, the headquarters of the 
 army, at, or soon after, St. John's-day next ? At any rate, 
 you will not fix a place far northward, on account of some 
 brethren from Virginia who will attend. For we propose to 
 advertise the business, and the time and place of meeting, 
 in the public papers, that any regular Grand Lodges which 
 we in ay not have heard of, may have an opportunity of 
 sending representatives. Your answer, as soon as possible, 
 is requested, under cover to PETER BAYNTER, Postmaster of 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 " I arn, etc., by order, 
 
 " WILLIAM SMITH, 
 
 " Grand Secretary." 
 
 The Grand Lodge of Massachusetts having submit- 
 ted the consideration of the matter to her subordi- 
 nates, one of her lodges at Machias, in Maine, passed 
 the following resolutions, as shown by this record. 
 
 " At a meeting of Warren Lodge, held at Machias, Maine, 
 October 31, 1780, the subject of appointing a General Grand 
 Master of all the United States was proposed, and the fol- 
 lowing resolutions were* adopted : 
 
68 WASHINGTON. 
 
 "First, That it will be for the advancement of Masonry, 
 that a Grand Master of Masons be appointed throughout 
 the United States of America. 
 
 " Second, That the said Grand Master be chosen annually 
 on the feast of St. John the Baptist, by a majority of the 
 Grand Lodges throughout the United States of America, or 
 at such other time as they shall judge necessary. 
 
 "Third, That the said Grand Master shall have no power 
 but what shall, from time to time, be delegated to him by a 
 majority of the Grand Lodges throughout the United States 
 of America. 
 
 "Fourth, That the said Grand Master call a convention of 
 all the Grand Lodges in the United States, within three 
 months after his election, at such place as he shall judge 
 most conducive to the good of the Craft; such convention to 
 consist of one person chosen from each Grand Lodge. 
 
 "Fifth, That the Grand Master sit as president of the 
 convention, to examine into any abuses tliat may have crept 
 into Masonry, and rectify the same, examine the Book of 
 Constitutions, abrogate, make, or alter laws, if they shall 
 judge necessary, and lay their proceedings before the Grand 
 Lodges for their approbation. 
 
 " Sixth, That his Excellency General GEORGE WASHINGTON 
 be General Grand Master of Masons throughout the United 
 States of America. 
 
 " The Right Worshipful Master and Wardens are directed 
 to write to our representatives in the Grand Lodge, inform- 
 ing them of our resolutions." 
 
 The Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, however, hav- 
 ing more fully considered the subject, thought the 
 election of a General Grand Master of the United 
 States, at that time, premature and inexpedient, and 
 
WASHINGTON. 69 
 
 ordered the following resolution of their Grand Body 
 to be sent to the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania. 
 
 "BOSTON, January 9, 1781. 
 
 " As the Grand Lodge have not been acquainted with the 
 opinions of the various Grand Lodges in the United States, 
 respecting the choice of a Grand Master General, and the 
 circumstances of our public affairs making it impossible 
 we should at present obtain their sentiments upon it, there- 
 fore, voted, That no determination upon the subject could, 
 with the propriety and justice due to the Craft at large, be 
 made by this Grand Lodge, until a general peace shall hap- 
 pily take place throughout the continent. 
 
 " From the Grand Lodge records, 
 
 "Wii. HASKINS, Secretary." 
 
 This correspondence with the Grand Lodge of Mas- 
 sachusetts was the last effort made by the Grand 
 Lodge of Pennsylvania to establish a General Amer- 
 ican Head over all the lodges in this country ; and in 
 later times, when the project has been advocated by 
 other Grand Bodies, her voice has been invariably 
 against it. From her action in 1780 arose, undoubt- 
 edly, the wide-spread appellation of the title of General 
 Grand Master to WASHINGTON, an historical error, 
 which has not yet been eradicated in the minds of all 
 Masons. There is no doubt that in the minds of all 
 his Masonic compeers, after the independence of this 
 country was attained, he was justly regarded as the 
 GKEAT PATRON OF THE FRATERNITY IN AMERICA, which 
 led many to believe, at the time of his death, and long 
 after, that he had held official rank as GENERAL GRAND 
 MASTER. 
 
70 
 
 WASHINGTON. 
 
 Nor was WASHINGTON'S fame as a Mason, or tlie be- 
 lief that lie was General flfcand Master, confined to this 
 country ; for, in 1786, two letters in French were ad- 
 dressed to him, from Cape Francois, as- " Grand Master 
 of America" soliciting a lodge-warrant for brethren on 
 that island; which letters WASHINGTON caused to be 
 laid before the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, and they 
 accordingly granted the warrant. A venerable brother 
 in Virginia also informs us that his father, who was a 
 Mason in Scotland, emigrated to this country soon 
 after the close of the Revolutionary War ; and that ho 
 had often heard him say, that his Masonic brethren in 
 Scotland congratulated him, when he left, on the ad- 
 vantages and protection he would enjoy from Ma- 
 sonry in this country, as General WASHINGTON they 
 said was Grand Master of Masons here. This illusion 
 
 WASHINGTON MASONIC MEDAL, 1797. 
 
 was also perpetuated by a Masonic medal, which was 
 struck in 1797, having on its obverse side the bust of 
 WASHINGTON in military dress, with its legend, "G. 
 WASHINGTON, PKESIDENT, 1797 ;" and on its reverse side, 
 the emblems of Masonry, surrounded by the inscription, 
 
WASHINGTON, 
 
 71 
 
 " AMOR, HONOR, ET JUSTICIA," and the initials, "G. W., 
 G. G. M." 
 
 Although the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania did not 
 succeed in creating a General Grand Mastership, and 
 elevating WASHINGTON to that office, as was her desire, 
 and also that of the Military Lodges of the army, from 
 whom the proposition first sprang, yet that Grand 
 Body still continued to regard him as first among 
 
 ARM8 OF TIIK FREEMASONS. 
 
 American Masons. At her first meeting for reorgani- 
 zation, after the British troops evacuated Philadelphia, 
 she had appointed a committee, of which the Eev. Dr. 
 WM. SMITH was chairman, to prepare a new Book of 
 Constitutions. Dr. SMITH accordingly digested and 
 
72 
 
 WASHINGTON. 
 
 abridged the English Book of Constitutions used by 
 the Ancient York Masons ; and on the 22 J of Novem- 
 ber, 1781, submitted to the Grand Lodge the result of 
 his labors, which was a Book of Constitutions, &c., 
 which has since been known as " SMITH'S Ahiman 
 
 Rezon." It was approved and unanimously adopted 
 at that meeting, and ordered to be printed, with the 
 Masons' coat of arms as a frontispiece ; and the Grand 
 Lodge further resolved, "In case our beloved and 
 illustrious brother General WASHINGTON permit it to 
 
"WASHINGTON. 73 
 
 be dedicated to him, tliat his Excellency's arms be 
 prefixed to the dedication." At a meeting of the 
 Grand Lodge, in December, 1782, it was further re- 
 solved that Dr. SMITH'S Masonic sermon and prayer, 
 which had been delivered in presence of WASHINGTON, 
 on the 28th of December, 1778, should also be pub- 
 lished in the work. The book was printed in 1783, 
 with the following dedication, but WASHINGTON'S coat 
 of arms was not inserted : 
 
 "To IIis EXCELLENCY GEORGE WASHINGTON, ESQ., 
 
 " General and Commander-in- Chief of the Armies of 
 
 the United States of America : 
 
 " In testimony, as well of his exalted services to his 
 country, as of that noble philanthropy which distinguishes 
 him among Masons, the following Constitutions of the t most 
 ancient and honorable fraternity of Free and Accepted 
 Masons, by order and in behalf of the Grand Lodge of Penn- 
 sylvania, etc., is dedicated, by his Excellency's most humble 
 servant and faithful brother, 
 
 " WILLIAM SMITH, G. Secretary. 
 
 " June 24, 1782." 
 
 At a meeting of the Grand Lodge, held on the lOth 
 of June, 1787, it was ordered that the Eight Worship- 
 ful Grand Master and Deputy Grand Master present 
 to General WASHINGTON a, copy of this Book of Consti- 
 tutions ; and in an inventory of his library, made by the 
 appraisers of his estate after his death, this book ap- 
 pears in the schedule. 
 
 The Military Lodges of the Eevolution should not be 
 forgotten, in a just tribute to the memory of WASHING- 
 
 4 
 
74 WASHINGTON. 
 
 TON. There were ten of these instituted in the Amer- 
 ican army, in the following order, and by the following 
 authorities : 
 
 1st. St. John's Eegimental Lodge, in the United 
 States Battalion, July 24, ] 775, by the old Provin- 
 cial Grand Lodge of New York (Moderns). 
 
 2d. American Union Lodge, in the Connecticut line, 
 February 15, 1776, by the Grand Lodge of Massachu- 
 setts (Moderns). 
 
 3d. No. 19, on the Pennsylvania Grand Lodge Reg- 
 istry, in the first regiment of Pennsylvania artillery, 
 May 18, 1779, by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania 
 (Ancients). 
 
 4th. Washington Lodge, in the Massachusetts line, 
 October 6, 1779, by the Massachusetts Grand Lodge 
 (Ancients). 
 
 5th. No. 20, on the Pennsylvania Grand Lodge Reg- 
 istry, in a North Carolina regiment, - - 1779, by the 
 Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania (Ancients). 
 
 6th. No. 27, on the Pennsylvania Grand Lodge Reg- 
 istry, in the Maryland line, April 4, 1780, by the 
 Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania (Ancients). 
 
 7th. No. 28, on the Pennsylvania Grand Lodge Reg- 
 istry, in the Pennsylvania line, 1780, by the Grand 
 Lodge of Pennsylvania (Ancients). 
 
 8th. No. 29, on the Pennsylvania Grand Lodge Reg- 
 istry, in the Pennsylvania line, July 27, 1780, by the 
 Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania (Ancients). 
 
 9th. No. 31, on the Pennsylvania Grand Lodge Reg- 
 istry, in the New Jersey line, March 26, 1781, by the 
 Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania (Ancients). 
 
 10th. No. 36, on the Pennsylvania Grand Lodge Reg- 
 
WASHINGTON. 75 
 
 istry, in the New Jersey line, September 2, 1782, by 
 the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania (Ancients). 
 
 Masonic records, and the concurrent testimony of 
 WASHINGTON'S compeers, both show that while com- 
 mander-in-chief of the American revolutionary army 
 he countenanced the establishment and encouraged 
 the labors of these Military Lodges, wisely considering 
 them as schools of urbanity, well calculated to dissem- 
 inate those mild virtues of the heart, so ornamental to 
 human character, and particularly useful to correct the 
 ferocity of soldiers, and alleviate the miseries of war. 
 The cares of his high office engrossed too much of his 
 time to admit of his engaging in the duties of the 
 chair; yet he found frequent opportunities to visit 
 these lodges, and thought it no degradation to his dig- 
 niiy to stand there on a level with his brethren.* 
 
 There were many Masonic Lodges also connected 
 with the British army during this period, and on sev- 
 eral occasions the warrant and other property of such 
 lodges were captured by American troops, but in each 
 case they were promptly returned. One of these lodges 
 was No. 227, on the registry of the Grand Lodge of 
 Ireland, which has claimed that WASHINGTON was made 
 a Mason in it during the old French War. The " Lon- 
 don Freemasons' Magazine!' 1 states, " during the Revo- 
 lution, its lodge-chest fell into the hands of the Amer- 
 icans ; they reported the circumstance to General 
 WASHINGTON, who embraced the opportunity of testify- 
 ing his estimation of Masonry in the most marked and 
 gratifying manner, by directing a guard of honor, un- 
 
 * See BIGELOW'S address on tlie death of WASHINGTON. 
 
76 WASHINGTON. 
 
 der a distinguished officer, should take charge of the 
 chest, with many articles of value, and return them to 
 the regiment. The surprise, the feeling of both officers 
 and men, may be imagined, when they perceived the 
 flag of truce that announced this elegant compliment 
 from their noble opponent, but still more noble brother. 
 The guard of honor, with their flutes playing a sacred 
 march, the chest containing the constitution and imple- 
 ments of the craft, borne aloft, like another Ark of the 
 Covenant, equally by Englishmen and Americans, who, 
 lately engaged in the strife of war, now marched through 
 the enfiladed ranks of the gallant regiment, that with 
 presented arms and colors hailed the glorious act by 
 cheers, which the sentiment rendered sacred as the 
 hallelujahs of an angel's song." 
 
 On another occasion, " during the war of the Revolu- 
 tion, while the army was encamped in New Jersey, a 
 party of American troops was sent out on a foraging 
 expedition, and on their way fell in with a number of 
 British soldiers, who had been placed as a guard over 
 some baggage which was being removed to a distant 
 place. A skirmish ensued, they were taken prisoners, 
 and with their baggage removed to the American 
 army. On an examination of the baggage, a Templar's 
 sash and Master's apron were found, which excited 
 some surprise among the soldiers, and were immediate- 
 ly carried to the tent of the commander-in-chief. As 
 soon as his eye fell upon them, he gave instructions 
 that the baggage should be carefully protected from all 
 injury, that inquiries should be made after the owner 
 of these articles, and if found, that he be requested to 
 repair immediately to his tent. 
 
WASHINGTON. 77 
 
 " He soon made his appearance. Kind words and friend- 
 ly greetings attended his reception. He was treated with 
 the utmost care while a prisoner, and was soon after sent 
 home to England on parole, attended by all the comforts 
 and conveniences which it was possible to bestow upon 
 him in those times of trouble. This person was Sergeant 
 KELLY of the British army, who, after his arrival home, lived 
 to a good old age, and preserved that sash and apron with 
 the greatest care. On his dying bed, surrounded by his 
 kindred and among the number was an old and tried friend, 
 who was a brother Mason he ordered the sash and apron to 
 be produced, and calling his old friend and brother to his 
 siie, exacted from him a promise, to forward, after his death, 
 the same to Montgomery Lodge, in the city of New York, 
 with an accompanying letter, stating it to be a memento to 
 the fraternity, of the kindness and fraternal regard of 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON towards an humble brother and a 
 stranger ; and as a testimonial that ' the memory of the 
 just is blessed, and shall live and flourish like the green 
 bay-tree.' These relics were presented to Montgomery 
 Lodge in 1838, where they now remain, and are preserved 
 with care." * 
 
 A military alliance with France had been formed in 
 1778, by which auxiliary French troops were sent 
 to America; and early in 1781, WASHINGTON visited 
 Khode Island to confer with the French commander 
 on the approaching campaign. A lodge existed there, 
 known as King David's Lodge, whose warrant had 
 been granted by GEOEGE HAEEISON, Provincial Grand 
 Master of New York, to MOSES M. HAYS, a Jewish citi- 
 
 * See FOLGER'S address, Novembei 4, 1853, before Benevolent 
 Lodge, New York. 
 
78 WASHINGTON. 
 
 zen of New York city, bearing date February 17, 1769, 
 empowering him to hold a lodge in that city. This 
 warrant he had taken to Khode Island in 1780, and 
 was then holding a lodge under it in Newport. Hay- 
 ing learned that WASHINGTON was daily expected there, 
 this lodge, upon the 7th of February, 1781, appointed 
 a committee, consisting of Mr. HAYS and others, for the 
 purpose of preparing an address, in behalf of the lodge, 
 to present to him. At a meeting of the lodge, held at 
 the request of the Master, February 14th, this com- 
 mittee reported, " That, on inquiry, they find General 
 WASHINGTON not to be a Grand Master of North 
 America, as was supposed, nor even Master of any 
 particular lodge; they are therefore of opinion, that 
 this lodge would not choose to address him as a private 
 brother, and at the same time they think it would not 
 be agreeable to our worthy brother to be addressed as 
 such." The lodge therefore voted that the address 
 be entirely laid aside for the present. 
 
 The campaign of this year is ever memorable for the 
 capture of CORNWALLIS at Yorktown. " In that village," 
 says the Honorable EOBEKT G. SCOTT, of Virginia, "was 
 Lodge No. 9, where, after the siege had ended, WASH- 
 INGTON, LA FAYETTE, MARSHALL, and NELSON came to- 
 gether, and by their union bore abiding testimony to 
 the beautiful tenets of Masonry."* 
 
 The surrender of CORNWALLIS was a day of jubilee in 
 the American army, and WASHINGTON ordered all offend- 
 ers in the camp who were under arrest, to be par- 
 
 * See Brother SCOTT'S address at laying the corner-stone of the 
 Washington Monument at Richmond, This statement we have been 
 unable to verify. 
 
WASHINGTON. 79 
 
 doned and set at liberty. He also acknowledged an 
 overruling Providence in their success, by directing 
 that divine services should be held in the army, and 
 public acknowledgments rendered to GOD for his signal 
 interposition in their behalf. But it was not the army 
 alone that gave way to joy and thanksgiving on this oc- 
 casion, for the whole country was jubilant. " The news 
 of the surrender," says a writer of that day, " reached 
 Philadelphia between one and two o'clock at night. The 
 watchman in those days were in the habit of calling 
 the hour. They were all Germans, and the welkin re- 
 sounded ' Oh, bast two o'clock; imc?CoBNWALLis is taken f 
 Windows were thrown up by ladies in night-caps to 
 catch the sound, and forthwith every house was illu- 
 minated." Congress also appointed a day of national 
 thanksgiving, and voted thanks and other testimonials 
 to WASHINGTON and his officers. 
 
 But while the heart of America beat wildly with joy 
 on this occasion, that of WASHINGTON was smitten with 
 grief by a deep domestic affliction ; for he was com- 
 pelled to hasten from the field of his recent triumph to 
 Eltham, a few miles distant, to attend the deathbed of his 
 stepson, JOHN PAKKE CUSTIS, the only remaining one of 
 the two children of his wife at the time of his marriage. 
 WASHINGTON, who had never had children or his own, 
 had loved these with all a parent's fondness. The 
 daughter had died just before the war, and his grief on 
 that occasion was equalled only by that of Mrs. WASH- 
 INGTON. She had then just grown to womanhood, and 
 was called the dark-eyed lady of Mount Vernon. 
 
 The loss of JOHN PABKE CUSTIS, who had served as one 
 of his aid-de-camps during a part of the war, and who 
 
80 WASHINGTON. 
 
 had contracted liis death-fever at Yorktown, was keenly 
 felt by WASHINGTON, and he at once adopted his two 
 youngest children as his own, and they became the 
 children of Mount Vernon of after-years. These, too, 
 were a boy and girl, whose names as " GEORGE WASH- 
 INGTON PABKE Cusus" and " NELLY CUSTIS," were long 
 interwoven with the associations of Mount Vernon. 
 
 We may be permitted to give one other scene in 
 WASHINGTON'S domestic relations at this time, and carry 
 the reader with us to the home of his mother at Fred- 
 ericksburg, which he visited soon after the battle of 
 Yorktown. No pageantry of war, no sounding trum- 
 pets, no waving banners announced his coming. She 
 was alone, and her aged hands were diligently em- 
 ployed in domestic industry, as WASHINGTON approached 
 her threshold. A smile of recognition, a warm em- 
 brace, and the endearing name of GEORGE, uttered with 
 trembling lips, were a mother's greeting. As she in- 
 quired concerning his health, she marked the lines of 
 care and toil that seven years had traced on his manly 
 brow, and then spoke of old friends and associations, 
 but of his present fame and glory not a word. WASH- 
 INGTON had been accompanied to Fredericksburg by 
 many distinguished officers of the French and Ameri- 
 can armies, and the citizens of Virginia for many miles 
 around gathered there to welcome the conquerors of 
 CORNWALLIS. In the evening a splendid entertainment 
 was provided, to which the mother of WASHINGTON was 
 specially invited. She remarked that her dancing 
 days were past, but that she should feel happy in con- 
 tributing to the festivities of the occasion, and con- 
 sented to attend. When the elegant circle, composed 
 
WASHINGTON. 81 
 
 of French and American chivalry, graced with the 
 beauty of the smiling daughters of Virginia, was formed, 
 WASHINGTON entered the room with his mother leaning 
 on his arm, dressed in the plain but becoming garb of 
 the Virginia lady of the olden time. To the attentions 
 and greetings she received from the companions in 
 arms of her son, the renowned warriors of two conti- 
 nents, her words were dignified and courteous, al- 
 though her manners were reserved. No complimentary 
 attentions that were shown to her produced haughti- 
 ness in her demeanor ; and at an early hour, wishing 
 the company much pleasure in their entertainment, 
 she remarked it was " high time for old folks to l>e in 
 bed," and retired, leaning as before on the arm of her 
 son. Those foreign officers who had seen the pageantry 
 and pride of the artificial distinctions of society in the 
 Old World, looked with wonder and admiration on the 
 Spartan plainness of the mother of WASHINGTON ; and 
 remarked, that a country which produced such moth- 
 ers, might well boast of illustrious sons. 
 
CHAPTEK V. 
 
 LA FAYETTE returns to France. lie is a Mason. WASHINGTON receives letter 
 from WATSON & CASSOUL with Masonic regalia. His reply. This re- 
 galia now in Lodge No. 22, at Alexandria. WASHINGTON at Newburg. 
 Military Lodges there. Masonic " Temple." Its dedication. Lodge 
 meetings in it. Celebration at West Point. WASHINGTON present at 
 celebration of Solomon's Lodge at Poughkeepsie. Address to him. 
 Closing scenes of the Revolution. The "Newburg letters." WA.^HINO- 
 TON calls a council in the Lodge-room. Origin of the Society of the Cincin- 
 nati. WASHINGTON its first president. An earlier proposed " Order of 
 American Knighthood." WASHINGTON proposed as its Grand Master. 
 Object of the Society of the Cincinnati. Opposition to it. Its Masonic 
 features. Army disbanded at Newburg. WASHINGTON'S farewell to his 
 officers at New York. Resigns his commission to Congress at Annapolis. 
 Extract from his address. Extract from President Mifflin's address. 
 
 ]T the close of the campaign of 1781, LA 
 FAYETTE, believing the war virtually closed, 
 returned to France. He had enlisted in 
 our cause during the darkest period of 
 the Revolution, and had been an angel 
 of hope to "WASHINGTON, when despondence was written 
 on the brow of many an American soldier. Of all the 
 names on the bright roll of our country's history dur- 
 ing the Eevolution, that of LA FAYETTE stands next to 
 WASHINGTON. 
 
 LA FAYETTE is supposed to have been made a Mason 
 in one of the Military Lodges of this country, but the 
 record of it is lost. Traditions which we shall consider 
 
WASHINGTON. 83 
 
 in their proper place, state that it was at Morristown 
 at Newburg at Albany and perhaps at other places 
 that he received his degrees, and even that WASHING- 
 TON presided as Master on some of those occasions. 
 While we are unable to verify these, we entertain no 
 doubt that the Masonic tie existed between them at 
 this time, and was strongly felt. 
 
 WASHINGTON was well known in France as a Mason 
 at this period ; and a Franco-American mercantile firm 
 there, composed of Messrs. WATSON & CASSOUL, both 
 of whom were Masons, wishing to send some testimony 
 of respect to him, procured some nuns in a convent at 
 Nantes to manufacture a Masonic sash and apron of 
 the finest satin, wrought with gold and silver tissue, 
 on which the French and American flags were com- 
 bined with various Masonic emblems beautifully de- 
 lineated. They were executed in a superior and ex- 
 pensive style, and forwarded from France to WASHING- 
 TON, accompanied by the following letter. Mr. WATSON 
 had known General WASHINGTON in America. He was 
 the youthful officer who had charge of the convoy of 
 powder from Providence to the American camp, when 
 they were so destitute of that article before Boston. 
 
 "To HIS EXCELLENCY GENERAL WASHINGTON, America: 
 
 " MOST ILLUSTRIOUS AND RESPECTED BROTHER In the 
 moment when all Europe admire and feel the effects of your 
 glorious efforts in support of American liberty, we hasten 
 to offer for your acceptance a small pledge of our homage 
 Zealous lovers of liberty and its institutions, we have ex- 
 perienced the most refined joy in seeing- our chief and 
 
84 WASHINGTON. 
 
 brother stand forth in its defence, and in defence of a new- 
 born nation of republicans. 
 
 " Your glorious career will not be confined to the protec- 
 tion of American liberty, but its ultimate effect will extend 
 to the whole human family, since Providence has evidently 
 selected you as an instrument in His hands to fulfil His 
 eternal decrees. 
 
 "It is to you, therefore, the glorious orb of America, \vc 
 presume to offer Masonic ornaments as an emblem of your 
 virtues. May the Grand Architect of the universe be the 
 guardian of your precious days, for the glory of the western 
 hemisphere and the entire universe. Such are the vows of 
 those who have the favor to be, by all the known numbers, 
 "Your affectionate brothers, 
 
 " \VATSON & CASSOUL. 
 
 " EAST or NANTES, 23d 1st month, 5782." 
 
 WASHINGTON replied to this letter as follows, from liis 
 headquarters at Newburg : 
 
 "STATE OF NEW YOKK, August 10, 1782. 
 
 "GENTLEMEN The Masonic ornaments which accompanied 
 your brotherly address of the 23d of January last, though 
 elegant in themselves, were rendered more valuable by tho 
 flattering sentiments and affectionate manner in which they 
 were presented. 
 
 " If my endeavors to avert the evil with which the country 
 was threatened by a deliberate plan of tyranny, should be 
 crowned with the success that is wished, the praise is due 
 to the GRAXD ARCHITECT of the universe, who did not see fit 
 to suffer His superstructure of justice to be subjected to the 
 ambition of the princes of this world, or to the rod of <>y 
 pression in the hands of any power upon earth. 
 
WASHINGTON. 85 
 
 " For your affectionate vows, permit me to be grateful, 
 and offer mine for true brothers in all parts of the world, 
 and to assure you of the sincerity with which I am, 
 
 " Yours, 
 
 " G. WASHINGTON. 
 "Messrs. WATSOX & CASSOUL, East of Nantes." 
 
 This letter is still in the hands of the family of Mr. 
 WATSON, at Port Kent, New York. It is the earliest 
 Masonic correspondence of WASHINGTON that is known 
 to be extant. The sash and apron to which it relates 
 were often worn by WASHINGTON, and were after his 
 death presented by his legatees to Washington Lodge, 
 No. 22, at Alexandria, where they are still preserved. 
 
 Our sketch now leads us again to the banks of the 
 Hudson, near Newburg, where the principal northern 
 forces under WASHINGTON were stationed. Here, in 
 1782-3, in rude huts erected to shelter them, they 
 awaited the progress of events which might close their 
 military labors, and secure to them the boon for which 
 they had endured years of toil, privations, and peril ; 
 or which might require them to again renew their 
 weary marches, and bare their breasts in deadly con- 
 flicts. 
 
 Many Military Lodges existed in the army at this 
 period, but the records of most of them are lost. So 
 well established had these camp-lodges become, and 
 so beneficial to the brethren, that in providing the 
 necessary conveniences for the troops in their quarters 
 on the Hudson at this time, an Assembly-room, or 
 Hall was built, one of the purposes of which was to 
 serve as a Lodge-room for the Military Lodges. WASH- 
 
SG WASHINGTON . 
 
 INGTON himself ordered the erection of the building. It 
 was a rude wooden structure, forming an oblong square, 
 forty by sixty feet, was one story in height, and had 
 but a single door. Its windows were square unglazed 
 openings, elevated so high as to prevent the prying 
 gaze of the cowan. Its timbers were hewed, squared, 
 and numbered for their places ; and when the building 
 was finished, it was joyously dedicated, and called 
 " The Temple of Virtue:' 
 
 This Temple, or " Assembly-room," as it was some- 
 times called, was not appropriated exclusively to Ma- 
 sonic purposes ; but on the Sabbath it was used as a 
 chapel for religious services, and at other times for 
 meetings of the officers of the army, and also for dan- 
 cing and other festive amusements. The American 
 Union Lodge met in this room on the 24th of June, 
 1782, preparatory to celebrating the festival of St. 
 John the Baptist, and proceeded from thence to West 
 Point, where they were joined by "Washington Lodge, 
 when a procession was formed at the house of General 
 PATTERSON, its first master ; and both lodges proceeded 
 from thence to the " Colonnade," where a dinner was 
 provided, and an oration delivered by Colonel JOHN 
 BROOKS, Master of "Washington Lodge, and afterwards 
 governor of Massachusetts. American Union Lodge 
 then returned to their room at the temple, and closed 
 in good time. We have no record of WASHINGTON'S 
 being present on this occasion ; but at a celebration of 
 the festival of St. John the Evangelist, on the 27th of 
 December of the same year by King Solomon's Lodge 
 at Poughkeepsie, WASHINGTON was present as a visitor. 
 The imperfect records of that lodge state, that " after 
 
WASHINGTON. 87 
 
 dinner the following address was presented to his ex- 
 cellency, Brother WASHINGTON :" 
 
 
 
 "We, the Master, and Wardens, and Brethren of Solo- 
 mon's Lodge, No. 1, are highly sensible of the honor done 
 to Masonry in general by the countenance shown to it by 
 the most dignified character ." 
 
 We have given the language of this address as it 
 stands recorded on the minute-book of the lodge ; 
 but it has the appearance of being the commencement 
 of an address to WASHINGTON which the secretary 
 neglected fully to record. We regret that he did not 
 give us the full address, and WASHINGTON'S reply. It 
 was the first instance we have met with of a formal 
 Masonic address by any lodge to WASHINGTON. 
 
 The drama of the Revolution had been virtually 
 closed at Yorktown, in October, 1781, by the capture 
 of COKNWALLIS, and the operations of the armies in the 
 two succeeding years partook more of the nature of an 
 armistice than of military campaigns. The principal 
 British force remaining in America was still in posses- 
 sion of the city of New York, and WASHINGTON'S head- 
 quarters were still at Newburg. The scenes which 
 occurred at Newburg during the cantonment of the 
 troops there from the autumn of 1781 to the final dis- 
 banding of the army in November, 1783, are not with- 
 out interest in the Masonic history of WASHINGTON. 
 
 It was during this transition period from war to peace, 
 when inaction had given the officers and soldiers of the 
 army time to reflect on their past and present suffer- 
 ings, and the future that was before them, that a spirit 
 of discontent arose almost to mutiny and rebellion. 
 
88 WASHINGTON. 
 
 Earnest but respectful solicitations had been made tc 
 Congress for relief from their embarrassments, by an 
 adjustment of their meritorious claims ; but the tardy 
 action of that body so increased the discontent of the 
 army, that a call was made, from a then unknown 
 source, for a grand convention of the officers to meet 
 and demand of Congress in unequivocal terms imme- 
 diate redress. Two anonymous letters, artfully written, 
 appealing to the passions of the army, and denouncing 
 as a traitor to its interests any one who should venture 
 to recommend moderation and delay, were at the same 
 time put in circulation. 
 
 "WASHINGTON saw that a crisis had come when the in- 
 tegrity of the army and the authority of Congress 
 must be maintained, or all the toil, privation, and 
 blood of the past eight years, and all the glorious 
 hopes of the future, would be at once lost. He there- 
 fore ordered a council of his tried and trusty officers to 
 meet at the lodge-room in tke "Temple," and by his 
 own wise counsels in it, obtained another proof of the 
 devotion of the army, and the attachment of the officers 
 to him as their commander. 
 
 No historian can ever determine the influence of 
 that mystic tie that bound so many of the officers of 
 that suffering patriot army in bonds of Masonic brother- 
 hood to "WASHINGTON, in the happy termination of this 
 incipient treason. He had often joined with them iij 
 the same room in Masonic labors ; and while, by the 
 constitutions of Masonry, neither the civil or military 
 concerns of the country could have been discussed in 
 the lodge, yet who will say that the lessons taught 
 and learned there were not instrumental, in the hands 
 
WASHINGTON. 89 
 
 of WASHINGTON, in directing and controlling the minds 
 of his associate officers at this critical period. But the 
 veil which then covered the hand that so cunningly 
 penned those anonymous letters, which sought to draw 
 even WASHINGTON himself from his devotion to the civil 
 authorities, still rests on the strength of that mystic 
 tie that bound so many of that patriot band to him, 
 and through him to our country. 
 
 We have already noted in our sketch the strong de- 
 sire of the Masonic brethren in the army that WASH- 
 INGTON should be constituted the head of Masons in 
 this country. But as the time for the disbanding of 
 the army drew near, and no definite action of the 
 whole Fraternity in America had been taken, an affec- 
 tionate regard of the officers for their commander, and 
 for each other, led them to form an association among 
 themselves, having the social features of the Masonic 
 institution as its leading principle, and designed, by in- 
 culcating benevolence and mutual relief, to perpetuate 
 their friendships, and incite in their minds the most 
 exalted patriotism. The idea of such a society is said 
 to have originated with General KNOX, who communi- 
 cated his plan to Baron STEUBEN ; and at a general 
 meeting of the officers, on the 13th of May, 1783, with 
 the approbation of WASHINGTON, they instituted the 
 " Society of the Cincinnati," and he became its first 
 president, and continued to hold the office until his 
 death. 
 
 In a sermon delivered on the 4th of July, 1790, be- 
 fore the State Society of the Cincinnati of Pennsyl- 
 vania, by the Rev. WILLIAM SMITH, D. D., and provost 
 of the college at Philadelphia, he claims that the name 
 
90 WASHINGTON. 
 
 of CINCINNATI for this society was adopted from a sug- 
 gestion of liis, in a Masonic sermon preached before 
 the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania in presence of WASH- 
 INGTON, on the festival of the Evangelist in 1778, in 
 which he alludes to him as the "Cincinnatus of the 
 age." 
 
 The newspapers of that period give an account of 
 an earlier proposed association, or "New Order of 
 American Knighthood," as it was called. As early as 
 March 25, 1783, the Philadelphia papers stated that, 
 
 " On the next anniversary of Independence, the 4th of 
 July, a new Order of Knighthood, called the Order of Free- 
 dom, will be established, and the installation take place in 
 the city of Philadelphia. 
 
 " Patron of the Order ; ST. Louis. 
 
 " Chief of the Order ; President of Congress for the time 
 being. 
 
 " Grand Master ; General WASHINGTON. 
 
 " Chancellor ; Dr. FRANKLIN. 
 
 " Prelate ; Dr. WITHERSPOON. 
 
 " Genealogist ; Mr. PAYNE. 
 
 " Gentleman Usher ; Mr. THOMPSON. 
 
 " Register and Secretary ; Mr. DIGGS. 
 
 " Herald ; Mr. HUTCHINGS. 
 
 " Twenty-four knight companions, consisting of the gov- 
 ernor of each State for the time being, which they reckon 
 nineteen. 
 
 " General LINCOLN ; General GREENE ; General WAYNE ; 
 Colonel LEE. 
 
 " The robe is to be scarlet and blue, with ermine, the 
 ribbon a broad satin, with thirteen alternate stripes of red 
 and white ; to wliich will be suspended an embossed medal 
 
91 
 
 of gold and enamel, on the front of which will be repre- 
 sented Virtue, the genius of the United States, dressed like 
 an Amazon, resting on a spear with one hand, and holding a 
 sword with the other, and treading on Tyranny, represented 
 by a man prostrate, a crown fallen from his head, a broken 
 chain in his left hand, and a scourge in his right ; in the 
 exergue, Sic semper tyrannis. On the reverse is a group : 
 Liberty with her wand and Pileus ; on one side of her, Ceres 
 with a cornucopia in one hand, and an ear of wheat in the 
 other ; on the other side, Eternity, with the globe and Phoenix. 
 In the exergue, Dem nobis hoc otia fecit. The loop of the 
 medal is to be formed by the figure of a rattlesnake with 
 the tail in its mouth, as an emblem of eternity. An erect 
 staff of liberty, terminated by a cap at top, will be fixed to 
 the body of the snake, and under it the motto of Li rec- 
 to decus." 
 
 This we believe to have been the earliest attempt in 
 the United States to form a social institution modelled 
 after civic distinctions of society in Europe. Who its 
 projectors were, who its advocates, and who its op- 
 posers, we have not learned. Although such a society 
 never went into existence, yet as it' contemplated for 
 General WASHINGTON the distinguished honor of being- 
 its Grand Master, and as a curious prelude to the for- 
 mation of the Society of the Cincinnati, we have given 
 it a place in this sketch. 
 
 The Society of the Cincinnati was designed as an 
 association of the officers of the army after its disband- 
 ing, and of their eldest male descendants, to whom the 
 privilege of membership was to be hereditary. It pro- 
 vided for a golden medal or " Order," as a badge of 
 distinction to its members, and made provision also for 
 
92 WASHINGTON. 
 
 
 
 funds from the attainment of membership and volun 
 tary contribution, for the relief of its indigent mem- 
 bers. 
 
 The Society of the Cincinnati thus became an or- 
 ganized body, without any known opposition either in 
 the army or from citizens in civil life. Its associa- 
 tions were pleasing to its members, and they doubt- 
 less looked forward to its future meetings as social re- 
 unions, without any idea of personal aggrandizement 
 to themselves. But a strong feeling of jealousy and 
 opposition to the society soon sprang up in different 
 States ; and; as it was claimed by many that it created 
 a new order of hereditary nobility, the public mind 
 became strongly opposed to it in many of them. 
 Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Connecticut offi- 
 cially declared the institution unjustifiable, and Rhode 
 Island proceeded so far as to annul the civil privileges 
 of all her citizens who -should be members of it, and 
 declare them incapable of holding any office under. her 
 government. "While this opposition to the society in 
 America arose from a belief that it was dangerous to 
 the liberties of the country, it is a curious commentary 
 on the fallibility of opinions, and the strength of preju- 
 dice, that Gustavus the Third, king of Sweden, forbade 
 the Swedish officers who had served in the French 
 army during the American war, to wear the badges of 
 the Cincinnati, on the ground that the institution had 
 a republican tendency, and was not suited to his gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 WASHINGTON saw, that though the institution was 
 innocent in itself and laudable in its real objects, 
 yet, that the prejudices of the people were too deeply 
 
WASHINGTON. 93 
 
 disturbed by it ; and by his recommendation its con- 
 stitution was changed at its next annual meeting, by 
 withdrawing all claims of its members to hereditary 
 distinctions, disclaiming all interference with political 
 subjects, and placing their funds under the immediate 
 cognizance of State legislatures, retaining only their 
 right to indulge their own private feelings of friend- 
 ship, and the acts of benevolence which it was their 
 intention should flow from them. 
 
 The social and benevolent features of this society 
 were strikingly similar to the same features in Ma- 
 sonry, from which, doubtless, the leading idea was 
 drawn. Many of its members were Masons, and as 
 such, well understood the social influence of a union 
 that embraced in its objects, not only the welfare and 
 happiness of its members while living, but of their 
 widows and orphans after them. From this institu- 
 tion, Masonry may also a few years later have drawn 
 some of its principles of government in the higher 
 bodies of the Ancient York Kite. 
 
 The autumnal months of 1783 were the last in the 
 military life of WASHINGTON. His army had been dis- 
 banded at Newburg, and he had seen each corps of 
 his remaining soldiers file by him for the last time, 
 and pass onward to their homes. He then hastened 
 to New York, where his final adieu was to be taken of 
 his officers. The British troops had evacuated the 
 city on the 25th of November ; and on the 4th of De- 
 cember, at meridian, WASHINGTON'S principal officers 
 assembled at FKATJNCES' tavern, to take a final leave of 
 their commander. 
 
 The scene was aftecting beyond comparison. There 
 
94 WASHINGTON. 
 
 t 
 
 were gathered there those who for eight long years 
 had been his faithful associates in privations and 
 dangers; who had followed him in many weary 
 marches, and fought by his side in many an unequal 
 battle. Many were there who had sat with him in the 
 war-councils of the camp, and mingled with him in the 
 mystic labors of the Masonic lodge-room. And now 
 they were met to bid him, as their loved commander, 
 a last farewell ! 
 
 As WASHINGTON entered the room, and stood for the 
 last time before them, he could not conceal his emo- 
 tions. Filling a glass with wine, he raised it, and said : 
 " With a heart full of love and gratitude, I now take 
 leave of you ; and most devoutly do I wish that your 
 latter days may be as prosperous and happy as your 
 former ones have been glorious and honorable." He 
 tasted the wine, and, with voice trembling with emo- 
 tion, said : " I cannot come to each of you, to take my 
 leave ; but shall be obliged to you, if each of you will 
 come and take me by the hand." General KNOX stood 
 nearest to him. WASHINGTON grasped his proffered 
 hand, and, incapable of utterance, drew him to his 
 bosom with a tender embrace. Each officer in his 
 turn received the same silent affectionate farewell: 
 Every eye was filled with tears, every heart throbbed 
 with emotion, but no tongue interrupted the tender- 
 ness of the scene. To those who had known him only 
 as the stern commander; it was like JOSEPH'S making 
 himself known to his brethren ; but to those who had 
 met him as a brother in the lodge-room, it was but the 
 renewal of the mystic grasp, and the well-remembered 
 silent embrace they had each known before. 
 
WASHINGTON". 95 
 
 " Weeping through that sad group he pass'd, 
 Turned once, and gazed, and then was gone 
 It was his tender est, and his last." 
 
 A corps of infantry received him at the door, and as 
 he passed through their ranks, they saw his broad 
 bosom heave with emotions to them unseen before ; and 
 the sobs of sorrow, and the tears that fell fast on their 
 cheeks, told how well they loved him. WASHINGTON 
 hastened on board a barge upon the Hudson that was 
 ready to receive him, and as the dipping oar sped him 
 from them, he raised his hat above his head, and bade 
 all whom he left behind a silent adieu. 
 
 But there was still another link to be severed in the 
 chain that bound him, as commander-in- chief, to our 
 country, and he hastened to Annapolis, where Con- 
 gress was then in session, to return to their hands the 
 commission he had received from them eight years 
 before, and lay before them a sword unstained with 
 dishonor. He arrived at Annapolis on the 19th day of 
 December, and immediately signified to Congress his 
 purpose to resign into their hands his commission, and 
 desired their pleasure as to the time and manner of 
 its reception. That body, desirous of giving dignity 
 to the spectacle, and honor to him who was its chief 
 actor, appointed the following Tuesday, at meridian, 
 to honor him with a public audience, and receive from 
 his own hand the high commission he bore. 
 
 Upon the 23d of December, at the hour appointed, 
 the closing scene in the drama of the Revolution took 
 place. The chosen representatives of the States were 
 each in their seats, and a few distinguished foreigners 
 and Americans were admitted to their floor, while the 
 
96 WASHINGTON. 
 
 gallery was crowded with citizens. As WASHINGTON 
 entered, every spectator arose and stood uncovered, 
 while the members of Congress, representing the su- 
 preme majesty of the people, remained covered in their 
 seats. Nine years before he had been a member of 
 that same body, as an honored delegate from Virginia, 
 and had been elected from his seat, by their own wise 
 choice, to receive a commission he now held in his 
 hand to return again to them. But to whom was he 
 to return it ? As representing the sovereignty of the 
 people, the body was indeed the same ; but, alas ! 
 many familiar faces were not there. The first president 
 of that body, PEYTON EANDOLPH, was not there. Lov- 
 ing hands had, years before, borne him to his last rest- 
 ing-place in the green fields of Virginia, and his Ma- 
 sonic brethren had planted the acacia over .his grave. 
 
 As WASHINGTON advanced to offer his commission to 
 General MIITLIN, then president of the body, amidst a 
 deep and solemn silence, he addressed him in words of 
 felicitation on the happy termination of the war, com- 
 mended the interests of our country to the protection of 
 Almighty God, and closed by saying : 
 
 "Having now finished the work assigned me, I retire 
 from the great theatre of action ; and bidding an affec- 
 tionate farewell to this august body, under whose orders I 
 have so long acted, I here offer my commission, and take 
 my leave of the employments of public life." 
 
 President MIFFLIN received his commission with 
 words of gratitude and tenderness, and closed by 
 saying : 
 
WASHINGTON. . 97 
 
 " We join you in commending the interests of our dearest 
 country to the protection of Almighty God, beseeching him 
 to dispose the hearts and minds of its citizens to improve 
 the opportunity afforded them of becoming a happy and 
 respectable nation ; and for you, we address to him our 
 earnest prayers, that a life so beloved may be fostered with 
 all his care ; that your latter days may be as happy as they 
 have been illustrious, and that he will finally give you that 
 reward which this world cannot give." 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 WASHINGTON arrives at Mount Vernon. deceives a letter from lodge at 
 Alexandria. His reply. He resumes domestic employments. His feel- 
 ings on the occasion. Calls upon his time and attention burdensome to 
 him. Employs Mr. LEAK as secretary. A visit from Mr. WATSON. 
 Eeceives invitation to attend celebration of St. John the Baptist by Lodge 
 at Alexandria. His reply. He attends the celebration. Is elected an 
 honorary member of the Lodge. LA FATETTE visits America. Presents 
 WASHINGTON Masonic sash and apron. Apron afterwards presented to 
 Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania. Distinction between WATSON & CASSOCL 
 apr.on and LA FAYETTE apron. Laying of the cornerstone of the Acad- 
 emy at Alexandria. Grand Lodge of New York dedicates its first book 
 of constitutions to WASHINGTON. Such dedications to him usual during 
 his lifetime. Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania becomes an independent 
 body, and requires her lodges to renew their warrants. WASHINGTON 
 president of convention to form Federal constitution. Lodge at Alex- 
 andria takes a new warrant from the Grand Lodge of Virginia, and chooses 
 WASHINGTON as Master. Interesting records and correspondence at that 
 time on the subject. WASHINGTON elected President under the Federal 
 constitution. Masonic incidents relating to this election in Philadelphia. 
 Holland Lodge in New York elects WASHINGTON an honorary member. 
 Copy of its letter and certificate to him. Old. " Washington Chapter" 
 of New-York. WASHINGTON'S last visit to his mother. Her death and 
 grave. 
 
 [ASHINGTON proceeded to Mount Vernon 
 immediately after resigning his commis- 
 sion at Annapolis, and arrived there on 
 the following evening. It was the 24th 
 of December, three days before the an- 
 niversary of St. John the Evangelist. A lodge of 
 Freemasons had been formed in Alexandria, a few 
 miles from his home, in the preceding February. It 
 
WASHINGTON. 99 
 
 was working under a warrant from the Grand Lodge 
 of Pennsylvania, and numbered, 39. KOBEKT ADAM 
 was its Master, and many of WASHINGTON'S old friends 
 and neighbors, in and about Alexandria, were its mem- 
 bers. This lodge was preparing to celebrate the com- 
 ing festival of St. John the Evangelist, on the 27th ; 
 and the following letter, signed by the officers of the 
 lodge, was addressed to General WASHINGTON : 
 
 "ALEXANDRIA, 26th December, 1783. 
 
 'SiR Whilst all denominations of people bless the happy 
 occasion of your excellency's return to enjoy private and 
 domestic felicity, permit us, sir, the members of Lodge No. 
 39, lately established in Alexandria, to assure your excel- 
 lency, that we, as a mystical body, rejoice in having a 
 brother so near us, whose pre-eminent benevolence has 
 eccured the happiness of millions; and that we shall esteem 
 ourselves highly honored at all times your excellency shall 
 be pleased to join us in the needful business. 
 
 "We have the honor to be, in the name and behalf of 
 No. 39, your excellency's 
 
 Devoid friends and brothers, 
 
 ROBERT ADAM, M., 
 E. C. DICK, S. W., 
 J. ALLISON, J. W., 
 WM. RAMSEY, Treas. 
 "His EXCELLENCY GENEKAL WASHINGTON." 
 
 WASHINGTON had but two days 'before returned to 
 the quiet of his own loved homo, after years of toil 
 and dangers in the camp and in t/,e battle-field, and 
 he might well have said to them : 
 
100 WASHINGTON. 
 
 "Now give mo rest; my years demand 
 
 A holiday, companions dear : 
 My days are drawing to an end, 
 And I would for that end prepare. 
 
 *' Now give mo rest; but when ye meet, 
 
 Brothers, in that beloved spot, 
 My name with loving lips repeat, 
 And never let it be forgot." 
 
 WASHINGTON was unable to attend this festival, but 
 he sent to the lodge the following reply : 
 
 " MOUNT VERNON, 28th December, 1783. 
 
 " GENTLEMEN With a pleasing sensibility, I received 
 your favor of the 26th ; and beg leave to offer my sincere 
 thanks for the favorable sentiments with which it abounds. 
 "I shall always feel pleasure when it may be in my 
 power to render service to Lodge No. 39, and in every act 
 of brotherly kindness to the members of it, being with 
 great truth, 
 
 " Your affectionate brother 
 
 and obedient servant, 
 
 " G. WASHINGTON. 
 "ROBEET ADAM, Esq., Master, 
 
 Wardens and Treasurer of Lodge No. 39." 
 
 WASHINGTON'S feelings and employments on return- 
 ing to private life may be best seen from his own cor- 
 respondence ; and from various letters of his written 
 at that period, the following extracts are given : 
 
 " The scene is at last closed. * * * * On the eve of Christ- 
 mas I entered these doors, an older man by nine years than 
 when I left them. * * * * I am just beginning to experience 
 
WASHINGTON. 101 
 
 that ease and freedom from public cares, which, howevei 
 desirable, takes some time to realize. It was not till lately 
 I could get the better of my usual custom of ruminating, as 
 soon as I waked in the morning, on the business of the 
 ensuing day; and of my surprise at finding, after revolving 
 many things in my mind, that I was no longer a public 
 man, nor had any thing to do with public transactions. 
 ***** I hope to spend the remainder of my days in cul- 
 tivating the affections of good men, and in the practice of 
 the domestic virtues. ***** The life of the husbandman, 
 of all others, is the most delightful. It is honorable, it is 
 amusing, and with judicious management, it is profitable. 
 ***** I have not only retired from all public employ- 
 ments, but I am retiring within myself, and shall be able to 
 view the solitary walk, and tread the paths of private life 
 with a heartfelt satisfaction. Envious of none, I am de- 
 termined to be pleased with all ; and this, my dear friend, 
 being the order of my march, I will move gently down the 
 stream of life, until I sleep with my fathers." 
 
 Such sentiments are so perfectly in accordance with 
 the precepts of Masonry, that they are worthy of a 
 place in WASHINGTON'S Masonic history. But in his 
 retirement to Mount Yernon he was not lost to the 
 world, nor forgotten by his countrymen. "With Yir- 
 ginian hospitality, his doors were ever open, and all 
 who had a claim on his friendship or his kindness 
 were ever received with welcome ; and he was ready, 
 too, to respond to letters written to him from people 
 of every condition, and upon every subject. But the 
 anxiety of those who travelled abroad was so great to 
 carry some testimonial from him, and cf those who 
 remained at home to possess some msincnal of his 
 
102 WASHINGTON. 
 
 kindness, that the labor of replying to the numerous 
 letters addressed to him became a burden. To an in- 
 timate friend he wrote 
 
 "It is not, my dear sir, the letters of my friends which 
 give me trouble, or add aught to my perplexity. I receive 
 them with pleasure, and pay as- much attention to them as 
 rny avocations will permit. It is in reference to old matters 
 with which I have nothing to do ; applications which often- 
 times cannot be complied with; inquiries, to satisfy which 
 would employ the pen of an historian; letters of compliment, 
 as unmeaning, perhaps, as they are troublesome, but 
 which must be attended to ; and commonplace business, 
 which employ my pen and rny time, often disagreeably. 
 Indeed, these, with company, deprive me of exercise ; and 
 unless I can obtain relief, must be productive of disagree- 
 able consequences. Already I begin to feel their effects. 
 Heavy and painful oppressions of the head, and other dis- 
 agreeable sensations often trouble me. I am, therefore, de- 
 termined to employ some person who shall ease me of the 
 drudgery of this business. ****** To correspond with 
 those I love is among my highest gratifications. Letters of 
 friendship require no study; the communications they con- 
 tain flow with ease, and allowances are expected and made. 
 But this is not the case with those which require research, 
 consideration, and recollection." 
 
 WASHINGTON was compelled to employ a young gen- 
 tleman of talents and education to relieve himself of 
 these irksome labors, and to his care such correspond- 
 ence was afterwards committed. This was TOBIAS 
 LEAE, who remained his private secretary until his 
 death. Many personal narratives have come down to 
 us of the kind reception WASHINGTON gave his guests 
 
WASHINGTON. 103 
 
 at Mount Vernon, and among them is one from the 
 pen of the late Hon. ELKANAH WATSON, who visited him 
 in the winter of 1785. He had been the senior part- 
 ner of WATSON & CASSOUL in France during the war, 
 and has been already referred to in this sketch as 
 having corresponded with Y^ASHINGTON at that time, 
 and sent him a box of Masonic regalia. 
 
 " The first evening," says he, " I spent under the wing of; 
 WASHINGTON'S hospitality, we sat a full hour at table by 
 ourselves without the least interruption, after the family 
 had retired. I was extremely oppressed by a severe cold 
 arid excessive coughing, contracted by the exposure of a 
 harsh winter journey. Ho pressed me to take some reme- 
 dies, but I declined doing so. As usual after retiring, my 
 coughing increased. When some time had elapsed, the door 
 of my room was gently opened, and on drawing my bed- 
 rnrtains, to my utter astonishment I beheld WASHINGTON 
 himself standing at my bedside, with a bowl of hot tea in 
 his hand. I was mortified and distressed beyond expres- 
 sion. This little incident occurring in common life with an 
 ordinary man, would not have been noticed ; but as a trait 
 of the benevolence and private virtue of WASHINGTON, de- 
 serves to be recorded." 
 
 As WASHINGTON had been unable to attend the fes- 
 tival of the Evangelist in December, his Masonic 
 brethren in Alexandria resolved to give an entertain- 
 ment for him in the following February, and the lodge 
 directed its secretary to write to him to know when it 
 would be convenient for him to favor them with his 
 company. At a subsequent meeting of the lodge, 
 held on the 20th of February, the Worshipful Master, 
 
104 WASHINGTON. 
 
 Mr. ADAM, informed the brethren that it had been in- 
 timated to him that it would be inconvenient for WASH- 
 INGTON to attend at present, and the invitation was 
 postponed. 
 
 On the approach of the festival of St. John the Bap- 
 tist in June, the lodge addressed WASHINGTON an invi- 
 tation to join them, to which he sent the following 
 reply : 
 
 "MOUNT VBRNON, June 19, 1784. 
 
 " DEAR SIR With pleasure, I received the invitation of 
 the master and members of Lodge No. 39, to dine with them 
 on the approaching anniversary of St. John the Baptist. If 
 nothing unforeseen at present interferes, I will have the honor 
 of doing it. For the polite and flattering terms in which 
 you have expressed their wishes, you will please accept 
 my thanks. 
 
 " With esteem and respect, 
 " I am, dear sir, 
 
 " Your most ob't serv't, 
 
 " G. WASHINGTON. 
 " WM. HERBKKT, Esquire." 
 
 The records of the lodge, which are still extant, ac- 
 cordingly show that WASHINGTON attended as a Mason 
 this festival ; and that its Master, ROBERT ADAM, read to 
 the lodge a most instructive lecture on the rise, prog- 
 ress, and advantages of Masonry, and concluded with 
 a prayer suitable to the occasion. The Master and 
 brethren then proceeded to Mr. WEISE'S tavern, where 
 they dined ; and after spending the afternoon in Ma- 
 sonic festivity, returned again to the lodge-room, where, 
 as the record states, " The Worshipful Master, with 
 the unanimous consent of the brethren, was pleased to 
 
WASHINGTON. 
 
 105 
 
 admit his EXCELLENCY GENERAL WASHINGTON, as an 
 honorary member of Lodge No. 39. Lodge closed in 
 perfect harmony at six o'clock." 
 
 In the autumn of 1784, LA FAYETTE came to Ameri- 
 ca, and visited WASHINGTON at Mount Vernon. Of all 
 the generals of the Eevolution he had been the most 
 beloved by WASHINGTON ; and both to him and to his 
 wife in France had the hospitalities of Mount Vernon 
 
 5* 
 
10G WASHINGTON. 
 
 been often tendered by Mr. and Mrs. WASHINGTON. 
 Madame LA FAYETTE had wrought with her own hands 
 in France a beautiful Masonic apron of white satin 
 groundwork, with the emblems of Masonry delicately 
 delineated with needle-work of colored silk; and this. 
 with some other Masonic ornaments, was placed i:: a 
 highly finished rose-wood box, also beautified with 
 Masonic emblems, and brought to WASHINGTON on this 
 occasion as a present by LA FAYETTE. It was a com- 
 pliment to WASHINGTON and to Masonry delicately 
 paid, and remained among the treasures of Mount 
 Vernon till long after its recipient's death, when the 
 apron was presented by his legatees to the Washing- 
 ton Benevolent Society, and by them to the Grand 
 Lodge of Pennsylvania, in whose possession the apron 
 now is, while the box that contained it is in possession 
 of the lodge at Alexandria. The apron presented to 
 WASHINGTON by Messrs. WATSON & CASSOUL two years 
 before, and which is still in possession of Lodge No. 
 22 at Alexandria, has been often mistaken for this ; 
 but the two aprons may be easily identified, by the 
 WATSON & CASSOUL apron being wrought with gold 
 and silver tissue, with the American and French flags 
 combined upon it, while the LA FAYETTE apron is 
 wrought with silk, and has for its design on the front- 
 let the Mark Master's circle, and mystic letters, with a 
 foehive as its mark in the centre. The same device is 
 beautifully inlaid on the lid of the box in which it was 
 originally presented to WASHINGTON ; and as this box 
 is also in possession of Lodge No. 22 at Alexandria, 
 and kept with the WATSON & CASSOUL apron, it has 
 by many been supposed that this was the apron pre- 
 
Yf ASHINGTON. 1 07 
 
 sented in 1784 by LA FAYETTE. This mistake has also, 
 perhaps, been perpetuated by a statement, that when 
 LA FAYETTE visited this lodge during his visit to 
 America in 1824, he was furnished with the apron 
 now in possession of Lodge No. 22, and in the box in 
 which he had in 1784 presented one to WASHINGTON, to 
 wear on the occasion ; and that he there alluded to it 
 as the one he had in former years presented to his dis- 
 tinguished American brother. Even were this state- 
 ment true, a lapse of forty years . might have misled 
 him in the identity of the apron, particularly as it was 
 handed to him for the occasion in the well-remembered 
 box in which he had, in his early Masonic life, pre- 
 sented one to WASHINGTON. The historic descriptions 
 of the aprons leave no doubt as to the identity of each, 
 and both are among the valued memorials of WASH- 
 INGTON'S Masonic history. The WATSON & CASSOUL 
 sash and apron, and also the Masonic box in which the 
 LA FAYETTE apron was presented to WASHINGTON, were 
 presented to Lodge No. 22, at Alexandria, June 3, 1812, 
 by Major LAWRENCE LEWIS, a nephew of WASHINGTON, 
 in behalf of his son, Master LORENZO LEWIS. 
 
 During the interval between the close of the Revo- 
 lution and the first presidency of WASHINGTON, al- 
 though engrossed with a multitude of cares, he was 
 ever mindful of the interest of society around him, 
 and became the benefactor of the churches and schools. 
 The citizens of Alexandria in 1785 engaged in the 
 erection of an academy in that town, and its corner- 
 stone was laid with Masonic ceremonies on the 7th of 
 September of that year, by EGBERT ADAM, Master of 
 Lodge No. 39 of Alexandria, assisted by the brethren 
 
108 WASHINGTON. 
 
 of that lodge. Upon this stone was deposited a plate 
 with the following inscription. 
 
 " The foundation of the Alexandria Academy was laid on 
 the 1th of September, It 85, in the ninth year of the indepen- 
 dence of the United States of North America. ROBERT 
 ADAM, Esquire, Master of Lodge No. 39, Ancient York 
 Masons, attended by the brethren, and as a monument of 
 the generosity of the inhabitants, stands dedicated to them, 
 and all lovers of literature." 
 
 The master then made a present, in the name of the 
 lodge, of five dollars to the workmen, as was the custom 
 on such occasions at that period. General WASHING- 
 TON was one of the trustees and patrons of this acad- 
 emy ; and in the following December he endowed it 
 with one thousand pounds, the interest of which ho 
 directed should annually be appropriated for the ed- 
 ucation of orphans and indigent children. The num- 
 ber who were the yearly recipients of this endowment 
 was twenty ; and hundreds have thus been since 
 aided by this fund in fitting themselves for useful and 
 honorable stations in life. The building still stands 
 on the foundation-stone which ROBERT ADAM and his 
 Masonic brethren laid in 1785 ; and the lapse of time 
 and the devastations of war have neither laid it waste 
 nor diverted it from its original purpose. 
 
 Masonry was at that time fast assuming in this 
 country an independent American polity; and in 1785 
 the Grand Lodge of the State of New York, which had 
 been chartered as a Provincial Grand Body while the 
 British troops held possession of its commercial city, 
 virtually renounced its fealty to its parent head in 
 
WASHINGTON. 109 
 
 London ; and under EOBEET E. LIVINGSTON, a Grand 
 Master of its own election, it formed for itself a new 
 Book of Constitutions, which was dedicated to WASH- 
 INGTON as follows : 
 
 "To HIS EXCELLENCY GEORGE WASHINGTON, ESQ. In tes- 
 timony, as well of his exalted services to his country, as of 
 his distinguished character as a Mason, the following Book 
 of Constitutions of the ancient and honorable Fraternity of 
 Free and Accepted Masons, by order, and in behalf of the 
 Grand Lodge of the State of New York, is dedicated. 
 " By his most humble servant, 
 
 " JAMES GILES, Grand Secretary. 
 "A. L., 1785." 
 
 The honor of receiving the dedication of Masonic 
 publications had not been conferred on any American 
 Mason previous to WASHINGTON ; and this was the third 
 time this distinction was shown him. It is worthy of 
 note in this sketch, that to him such honors were gen- 
 erally given in this country during his lifetime, and 
 they were multiplied until the period of his death, both 
 by Grand Lodges and individual Masons ; and when 
 the acacia had fallen on his coffin-lid, some Masonic 
 funeral eulogies were dedicated to Mrs. WASHINGTON. 
 
 The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania terminated its 
 provincial existence in 1786, and became an indepen- 
 dent Grand Body. It therefore required its former 
 subordinates to take out new warrants under its new 
 organization. No. 39 at Alexandria had for three years 
 been working under the provincial authority of this 
 Grand Lodge, although at the same time a Grand 
 Lodge of rightful jurisdiction existed in Virginia. 
 
1 1 WASHINGTON. 
 
 The American Masonic rule, of conceding to each 
 State Grand Lodge Masonic supremacy in its own civil 
 limits, was not universal under the provincial system ; 
 and it was no doubt WASHINGTON'S frequent intercourse 
 with the brethren of Philadelphia which had led the 
 Masons of Alexandria to seek their first warrant from 
 the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania. The lodge at 
 Alexandria did not renew their warrant when the 
 Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania first became indepen- 
 dent, but continued until 1788 to work under their first 
 authority. 
 
 During this period the Convention which formed the 
 Federal Constitution met in Philadelphia. WASHING- 
 TON was its president, and many distinguished Masons 
 were its members, among whom was EDMUND RAN- 
 DOLPH, Grand Master of Yirginia. As Philadelphia 
 was at that time the most important Grand East in 
 America, there can be no doubt but that the state of 
 Masonry in the new relations of the country was often 
 discussed there; and that from circumstances there 
 considered, the lodge in Alexandria was induced soon 
 after to change its fealty from the Grand Lodge of 
 Pennsylvania to that of Yirginia. Its records are of 
 interest at this period, and are as follows : 
 
 " May 29, 1188. The lodge proceeded to the appoint- 
 ment of Master and Deputy Master to be recommended to 
 the Grand Lodge of Virginia, when GEORGE WASHINGTON 
 Esq., was unanimously chosen Master ; ROBERT McCnEA, 
 Deputy Master ; Wir. HUNTER, Jun., Senior Warden ; JNO. 
 ALLISON, Junior Warden. 
 
 " Ordered, That Brothers McCRE.A, HUNTER, ALLISON, and 
 
WASHINGTON. Ill 
 
 POWELL wait on General WASHINGTON, and inquire of him 
 whether it will be agreeable to him to be named in the charter. 
 " Ordered, That Brothers HUNTER, Jim., and ALLISON ap- 
 ply to the Grand Lodge at Richmond for a charter for this 
 lodge, and that they be repaid the expenses attending the 
 procuring of it." 
 
 " October 25, 1788. Motion, made by Brother HUNTER, and 
 seconded by Brother SIMMS, that a committee be appointed 
 to draw up a letter to the Grand Lodge at Richmond, 
 agreeable to the former order of this lodge, requesting a 
 new charter from that honorable body, and that Brother 
 HUNTER apply for the same at the expense of this lodge. 
 It is also further ordered, that Brothers McC.REA and SIMMS 
 be appointed to write to the Grand Lodge at Richmond 
 accordingly." 
 
 The records of the lodge, under date of November 
 22, 1788, contain the following copy of the letter writ- 
 ten on the occasion : 
 
 "The brethren of Lodge No. 39, Ancient York Masons, 
 were congregated, and have hitherto wrought under a war- 
 rant from the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, who having 
 since the Revolution declared themselves independent of 
 any foreign jurisdiction, arid also notified us that it was 
 necessary that we should renew our warrant under the new 
 established Grand Lodge ; the brethren comprising this 
 lodge, taking the same under consideration, and having 
 found it inconvenient to attend the different communica- 
 tions of that honorable society in Philadelphia, and as a 
 Grand Lodge is established in our own State at Richmond 
 agreeably to the ancient landmarks, whose communications 
 we can with more ease and convenience attend, have at 
 
112 WASHINGTON. 
 
 sundry preceding meetings resolved to ask your nonorahl 
 society for a new warrant, which has already been com- 
 municated to you by letter, and also by our Brother HUXTKR 
 personally, who hath obtained an entry of this lodge on 
 your minutes. We have now to. observe that at a meet- 
 ing of this lodge, on the 25th instant, it was unanimously 
 resolved, that an application should be immediately made 
 by this lodge to your honorable society for a charter, 
 which we now do, and pray that it may be granted to us. 
 
 " It is also the earnest desire of the members of this 
 lodge that our Brother GEORGE WASHINGTON, Esq., should be 
 named in the charter as Master of the lodge. The names of 
 the other necessary officers of the lodge will be mentioned 
 to you by our Brother HUNTER." 
 
 The Grand Lodge of Virginia, in accordance with 
 tins request, granted a new warrant to the lodge at 
 Alexandria, constituting Bro. GEORGE WASHINGTON its 
 first Master under its new warrant ; and its registry 
 number was changed from No. 39 of Pennsylvania, to 
 No. 22 of Virginia. The following is a verbatum copy 
 of its Virginia warrant : 
 
 " EDMUND RANDOLPH, G. M., 
 
 " To all and every to whose knowledge these presents 
 
 shall come, GREETING : 
 
 " Whereas it has been duly represented to us, that in the 
 county of Fairfax and borough of Alexandria in the Com- 
 monwealth of Virginia, there reside a number of the brethren 
 of the Society of Freemasons, who have assembled as a 
 lodge agreeably to the regulations of Masonry by the title 
 of the Alexandria Lodge ; and it appearing to be for the 
 good and increase of the Fraternity that the said bretluw 
 
WASHINGTON. 113 
 
 should be encouraged to proceed and work, as heretofore 
 they have done in a regular lodge. 
 
 " Know Ye, that we EDMUND RANDOLPH, Esquire, governor 
 of the Commonwealth aforesaid and Grand Master of the 
 Most Ancient and Honorable Society of Freemasons, within 
 the same, by and with the consent of the Grand Lodge of 
 Virginia, do hereby constitute and appoint our illustrious 
 and well-beloved Brother GEORGE WASHINGTON, Esquire, late 
 general and commander-in-chief of the forces of the United 
 States of America, and our worthy brethren EGBERT McCREA, 
 WILLIAM HUNTER, Jr., and JOHN ALLISON, Esqrs., together 
 with all such other brethren as may be admitted to associate 
 with them, to be a just, true and regular lodge of Free- 
 masons, by the name, title, and designation of the Alexandria 
 Lodge No. 22. 
 
 " And further do hereby appoint and ordain, all regular 
 lodges to hold and acknowledge, and respect them as such ; 
 hereby granting and committing to them and their suc- 
 cessors full power and authority to assemble and convene 
 as a regular lodge, to enter and receive Apprentices, paas 
 Fellow Crafts and raise Master Masons according to the 
 known and established customs of Ancient Masonry and NO 
 otherwise ; and also to elect and choose Masters, Wardens, 
 and all other officers annually, at such time or times as to 
 them shall seem meet and convenient ; and to exact from 
 their members such COMPOSITION as they shall judge necessary 
 for the support of their lodge, the relief of their brethren in 
 distress and contribution towards the Grand Charity and 
 agreeably to the Book of Constitutions and the laws of the 
 Grand Lodge of Virginia ; and recommending to the breth- 
 ren aforesaid to receive and obey their superiors in all things 
 lawful and honest as becomes the honor arid harmony of 
 Masons ; and to record in their books this present charter 
 
114 WASHINGTON. 
 
 with their own regulations and bye-laws, and their whole 
 acts and proceedings from time to time as they occur, and 
 by no means to desert their said lodge hereby constituted, 
 or form themselves into separate meetings, without the con- 
 sent and approbation of their Master and Wai dens for the 
 time being. All which by acceptance hereof they are holden 
 and engaged to observe ; and the brethren aforesaid are to 
 acknowledge and recognize the Grand Master and Grand 
 Lodge of Virginia as their superiors, and shall pay due re- 
 gard and obedience to all such instructions as they have 
 received or hereafter shall receive from thence. And lastly, 
 they are requested to correspond with the Grand Lodge, and 
 to attend the meetings thereof by their Master and Wardens, 
 or their proxies being Master Masons and members of their 
 said lodge. 
 
 " Given under the Seal of the Grand Lodge at Richmond 
 in the State of Virginia, the 28th day of April A.L. 5788, 
 A.D. 1788. 
 
 " By the GRAND MASTER'S COMMAND. 
 
 " WILLIAM WADDILL, 
 
 " Grand Secretary, 
 "Witness. 
 
 " WM. WADDILL, G. S." [SEAL.] 
 
 After the . death of WASHINGTON, this lodge, while 
 Colonel GEORGE DENEALE was its Master, desired to 
 jhange its name from Alexandria Lodge No. 22, to Wash- 
 ington Alexandria Lodge No. 22. Its records therefore 
 show, under date of October 11, 1804, the following 
 resolution : 
 
 " Resolved, That the Worshipful Master of this lodge apply 
 
WASHINGTON. 115 
 
 to the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Virginia for 
 permission to alter the designation of this lodge from that 
 of -the Alexandria Lodge No. 22, to that of the Alexandria 
 Washington Lodge No. 22." 
 
 The following extract from the records of the Grand 
 Lodge of Yirginia shows its compliance with the re- 
 quest ; and the memory of WASHINGTON as a Mason, and 
 the first Master of this lodge under its Virginia charter 
 has been perpetuated in this name. 
 
 " At a Grand Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge 
 of Virginia begun and held in the Masons' Hall, in the city 
 of Richmond, on the 9th day of December, Anno Lucis 5805, 
 Anno Domini 1805. 
 
 "Whereas, at the last Grand Annual Communication a 
 request was made by the Alexandria Lodge No. 22 for per- 
 mission to change the name of the said Lodge to that of the 
 Alexandria Washington Lodge, No. 22, which request was 
 acceded and a new charter ordered to be issued ; and 
 whereas this order did not meet the wishes of the Brethren 
 of the said Lodge, who having had our illustrious Brother 
 General GEORGE WASHINGTON for their first Master, whose 
 name is inserted as such in their original charter, they then 
 were and still are desirous of preserving their said charter, 
 as an honorable testimony of his regard for them and only 
 wish to be permitted by the Grand Lodge to assume the 
 name of the Alexandria Washington Lodge, No. 22, without 
 changing their said charter therefor. 
 
 " Resolved, That the said lodge be permitted to assume the 
 said name, and that it be henceforth denominated the Alex- 
 andria Washington Lodge, No. 22 ; and that an authen- 
 
116 WASHINGTON. 
 
 ticated copy of this resolution be attached to their said 
 charter. 
 
 "Duly copied by me from the records of the Grand 
 Lodge of Virginia, as witness my hand and the seal 
 of the said Grand Lodge, this 17th day of Decem- 
 ber, A.L. 5805, A. p. 1805. 
 
 "Wn. H. FITZWHYLSONN, [SEAL.] 
 " Grand Secretary." 
 
 The foregoing records conclusively show, not only 
 WASHINGTON'S connection with this lodge while under 
 its Pennsylvania warrant, but also that by the choice 
 of his brethren, and by the terms of its Virginia war- 
 rant, he became its first Master under it. If further 
 evidence were wanting, it is found in the records of 
 this lodge under date of December 20, 1788, which 
 state : 
 
 " His Excellency, General WASHINGTON, unanimously 
 elected Master ; ROBERT McCREA, Senior Warden ; WM 
 HUNTER, Jun., Junior Warden ; WM. HODGSON, Treasurer ; 
 JOSEPH GREENWAY, Secretary ; Dr. FREDERICK SPANBERGEN, 
 Senior Deacon ; GEORGE RICHARDS, Junior Deacon ;"- 
 
 At this meeting it was also resolved, that the breth- 
 ren of the lodge dine together on the 27th, and " that 
 his Excellency General WASHINGTON be invited." The 
 imperfect records of the lodge, however, leave us no 
 account of the festivities on that occasion. 
 
 From these interesting, but humble records of WASH- 
 INGTON'S Masonic life, we turn for a moment to the an- 
 nals of his public history, and find that at the same 
 time he was directing the tide of the mighty events 
 
WASHINGTON. 117 
 
 that were affecting the welfare of our infant republic. 
 When the constitution of 1787 was submitted to the 
 people of the several States for their ratification, he 
 anxiously watched its fate, believing, as he said, that if 
 it was not adopted, the next one would be written in Hood. 
 When this corner-stone of the Federal Union was ac- 
 cepted, and a master builder was to be chosen to 
 preside over the rising temple of a republican govern- 
 ment, he looked with a calm, but not wishful eye, on 
 the position he might be called to fill, and in the 
 early months of 1789 again obeyed his country's man- 
 date, and exchanged the domestic quiet of Mount 
 Vernon for the supreme magistracy of the Union. We 
 look through the vista of near fourscore years, and 
 contemplate WASHINGTON as the unanimous choice of 
 the citizens of each State for President. He was in- 
 deed the unanimous choice of the States, but not of 
 all the citizens in them ; and when the dust of three- 
 quarters of a century is brushed from the record-book 
 of the oldest lodge in the city of Philadelphia, we find 
 by the report of a committee of that lodge, made a few 
 years ago upon its history, that 
 
 "In the winter of 1788-9, discord and dissension were 
 so rife as to cause serious disturbances among the breth- 
 ren, arising from the political questions of the day, when 
 the government was first organized upon its present basis, 
 and Brother GEORGE WASHINGTON was elected the first Pres- 
 ident of the United States. It appears the members were 
 pretty equally divided on the question of his election, and 
 scenes any thing but harmonious took place at the meetings 
 held that winter. 
 
118 WASHINGTON. 
 
 " Contention and strife obtained such a foothold in tho 
 lodge, that at the first Grand Quarterly Communication of 
 1789, the lodge surrendered its warrant to the Grand Lodge. 
 
 "Brother WASHINGTON was elected President in March 
 1789, and those brethren who had advocated his election, 
 united in a petition to the Grand Lodge for a return of the 
 warrant; and this was granted at the second Grand Quarterly 
 Communication held in June of the same year. Union and. 
 harmony now prevailed, and the lodge prospered in its 
 labors." 
 
 How strangely an institution divine in its ieacliings, 
 thus reveals the human passions of its members ! 
 
 But while such dissensions were disturbing the 
 harmony of the oldest lodge in Philadelphia, the Ma- 
 sonic brethren in New York were rejoicing on the 
 elevation of so distinguished a brother to the presi- 
 dency, and preparing to welcome his advent to their 
 city, which was then the Federal capital. Holland 
 Lodge of New York, therefore, whose membership 
 embraced a distinguished class of citizens, elected 
 him an honorary member, and transmitted to Mount 
 Vernon a certificate of the same, as shown by the fol- 
 lowing extracts from their records : 
 
 u HOLLAND LODGE, March 6, 5789. 
 
 11 Resolved, That the Worshipful MASTER VANDEN BROECK, 
 Senior Warden STAGG, Junior Warden WILCOCKS, Brothers 
 BARON STEUBEN and EDWARD LIVINGSTON, be a committee to 
 communicate to his Excellency, in any mode they may deem 
 most proper, this proceeding of the lodge." 
 
 This committee, therefore, addressed to WASHINGTON 
 
WASHINGTON. 119 
 
 the following letter, inclosing a certificate of honorary 
 membership : 
 
 "HOLLAND LODGE, 
 "NEW YOEK, March 7, 5789. 
 
 " SIR As a committee appointed for that purpose, we 
 have the honor of transmitting to your Excellency the in- 
 closed certificate from the Holland Lodge. 
 
 " We are directed, sir, to express a hope that the earnest 
 wishes of our constituents on this subject may not be dis- 
 appointed ; that the name of WASHINGTON may adorn as 
 well the archives of our lodge as the annals of our country; 
 and that we may salute as a Masonic Brother, him whom 
 we honor as the political father of our country. 
 " We have the honor, etc., 
 
 " R. J. VANDEN BROECK, Master, 
 " JOHN STAGG, Jun., Senior Warden, 
 " WILLIAM WILCOCKS, Junior Warden, 
 
 " FRED. DE STEUBEN, ) , 
 
 ;. U T r Members, 
 
 .' EDWARD LIVINGSTON, ) 
 
 of Holland Lodge. 
 " His Excellency, GEO. WASHINGTON, Esq." 
 
 For the benefit of the curious Masonic reader, we 
 give a copy of this certificate. 
 
 " In the East the place of Light, ) f And the Darkness 
 
 Where Peace and Silence reign, j | Comprehended it not. 
 
 " To all men enlightened and spread abroad on the face of 
 
 the Earth, Greeting : 
 
 "We, the Master, Wardens, and Brethren of Holland 
 Lodge, Ancient Masons, held in the city and State of New 
 York, in North America, do hereby certify that in considera- 
 tion of the Masonic virtues which distinguish our worthy 
 
1 20 WASHINGTON. 
 
 Brother GEORGE WASHINGTON, he was unanimously elected 
 an Honorary Member of our lodge. 
 
 "In testimony whereof, we, the Master and 
 
 Wardens, have hereunto set our hands, and 
 
 L. s. caused the seal of the lodge to be affixed, 
 
 this Gth day of March, A. D. 1789, and A. M 
 
 5789. 
 
 " R. J. VANDEN BROECK, Master. 
 " JOHN STAGG, Jun., Senior Warden. 
 " WILLIAM WILCOCKS, Junior Warden. 
 " Attest. 
 
 " , Secretary." 
 
 This was the second honorary membership conferred 
 by Masonic lodges on WASHINGTON; the first having 
 been conferred by his own lodge, at Alexandria, pre- 
 vious to his becoming its Master. Another honor 
 was about the same time shown to him by Masons of 
 New York, by calh'ng the second Chapter of Royal 
 Arch Masons in that city WASHINGTON CHAPTER. This 
 Chapter was instituted before Grand Chapters had 
 existence; and while the immemorial usage of Ma- 
 sonry sanctioned those members of any lodge who had 
 a legal warrant to meet and work as Master Masons, 
 if they had also a knowledge of higher Masonic de- 
 grees, and suitable members to work in them, to con- 
 gregate as Chapters under the same warrant, and thus 
 extend a knowledge of the Eoyal Art. The old Wash- 
 ington Chapter of New York city was closely associ- 
 ated with Holland Lodge, and perhaps was organized 
 under the sanction of its warrant. It, however, during 
 the last decade of the past century granted charters for 
 Chapters in Rhode Island and Connecticut, and as- 
 
WASHINGTON. 121 
 
 siimecl prerogatives which have since been conceded 
 to Grand Chapters. It is not known that WASHINGTON 
 was further connected with this Chapter than its bear- 
 ing his honored name; nor has it ever been shown 
 from any record that he was a Royal Arch Mason. 
 The Royal Arch, however, and various intermediate 
 degrees being at that day conferred under Masters' 
 "Warrants, with little or no record kept of them, 
 leaves this a point which can probably never be deter- 
 mined. 
 
 Before WASHINGTON left Mount Yernon, in the spring 
 of 1789, to repair to the Federal Capital as President 
 elect, he visited his mother, for the last time, at Fred- 
 ericksburg. We have already shown his interview 
 with her in 1782, after years of absence in the military 
 service of his country. Again he had come to say that 
 his country demanded his services, but that when the 
 public interests permitted he would return. She in- 
 terrupted him by saying : " You will see my face no 
 more. My great age, and the disease that is fast ap- 
 proaching my vitals, warns me that I shall not be long 
 of this world. But go, GEOEGE, fulfil the high duties 
 which Heaven appears to assign you ; go, my son, and 
 may Heaven's and your mother's blessing always at- 
 tend you." 
 
 WASHINGTON had learned during his eventful life to 
 meet with composure the dangers of the battle-field, 
 the frowns of adversity, and the smiles of fortune ; but 
 the tenderness of his mother's words, and the maternal 
 look and tone with which they were spoken, overcame 
 every restraint he had placed on his feelings ; and he 
 leaned his head upon her aged shoulder as if he were 
 
 6 
 
122 WASHINGTON. 
 
 again a boy, and the furrows in his cheeks were wet 
 with unwonted tears. 
 
 The words of his mother were indeed prophetic ; for 
 she died the following autumn, and was buried in a 
 spot she had herself chosen. It was near a romantic 
 ledge of rocks, where she had often resorted for prayer ; 
 and the sylvan bethel, where a mother's prayers wero 
 offered for our WASHINGTON, is now hallowed by that 
 mother's grave. What spot on American soil should 
 bo more sacred than that? 
 
CHAPTEE VII. 
 
 WASHINGTON leaves his home to assume the presidency. Public demon- 
 strations during his journey. Arrives in New York. His inauguration. 
 Chancellor LIVINGSTON, Grand Master of New York, administers to him 
 the oath of office on Bible of St. John's Lodge. Inscription in it relating 
 to the event. His inaugural address. Services at St. Paul's Church. 
 Other public ceremonials. First address from the Senate. President's 
 title established. Kules of presidential etiquette established. Public 
 jealousies thereby aroused. WASHINGTON visits the New England States. 
 Incident at Boston. Visit to Ehode Island. King David's Lodge. 
 Its address to WASHINGTON. His reply. His visit to the Southern States. 
 Address to him from Grand Lodge of South Carolina. His reply. Im- 
 portance of this correspondence. He returns to Mount Vernon. South- 
 east corner-stone of the Federal District set with Masonic ceremonies. 
 Published account of it. Jealousies as to location of Federal capital. 
 Its Indian name. Its present name, "The City of Washington." The 
 name of WASHINGTON often used geographically, and also in naming 
 lodges. Masonic constitutions of Virginia dedicated to WASHINGTON. 
 Proceedings of Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania relative to address to WASH- 
 INGTON. Copy of the address. His reply. Union of the two Grand 
 Lodges in Massachusetts. Their new Book of Constitutions dedicated to 
 WASHINGTON. Their address to him on the occasion. His reply. Sword 
 presented him by FREDERICK THE GREAT. Box presented by the Earl of 
 Buchan. 
 
 [ASHINGTON left his home on the 16th 
 of April, 1789, to repair to New York. 
 At Alexandria, at Georgetown, at Balti- 
 more, at Philadelphia, at Trenton, and at 
 Elizabethtown he was greeted by crowds 
 of his fellow-citizens, who publicly honored him with 
 festivities, civic decorations, and laudatory addresses. 
 
124: WASHINGTON. 
 
 He wished to avoid on the occasion all ostentatious 
 display; but the great heart of America was full of 
 love for him, and blessings were showered upon his 
 head, and flowers strown along his pathway. 
 
 These various public demonstrations are recorded 
 on the pages of our country's history, and need not be 
 repeated here. It was as if he were passing through 
 the spring fields of a country where tender plants, 
 whose buds had been crushed by war, were now put- 
 ting forth blossoms, to hide the blood stains that had 
 been left there during the War of the Revolution. 
 
 WASHINGTON reached New York on the 23d of April, 
 and the 30%h of the same month was the day fixed 
 for his inauguration. On that occasion, General JACOB 
 MORTON was marshal of the day. He was the Master 
 of St. John's, the oldest lodge in the city, and at the 
 same time Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of 
 New York. General MORTON brought from the altar 
 of his lodge the Bible with its cushion of crimson vel- 
 vet, and upon that sacred volume, ROBERT R. LIVING- 
 STON, Chancellor of the State of New York, and Grand 
 Master of its Grand Lodge, administered to WASHINGTON 
 his oath of office as President of the United States. 
 
 Having taken the oath, WASHINGTON reverently bowed 
 and kissed the sacred volume ; and the awful suspense 
 of the moment was broken by Chancellor LIVINGSTON, 
 who solemnly said, " Long Live GEORGE WASHINGTON, 
 President of the United States/" A thousand tongues at 
 once joined in repeated acclamations, "LONG LIVE 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON !" 
 
 A memorial leaf of the sacrd Book was then folded 
 at the page on which WASHINGTON had devoutly im- 
 
WASHINGTON. 125 
 
 pressed his lips ; and the volume was returned to St. 
 John's Lodge, and placed again upon its sacred altar, 
 A few years later it was again taken from its resting 
 place, and borne in a solemn procession by the Ma- 
 
 THE BIBLE ON WHICH WASHINGTON TOOK THE OATH OF OFFICE, AS PRESIDENT. 
 
 sonic brethren of New York city, who met to pay 
 funeral honors to the memory of WASHINGTON. It is 
 still in possession of St. John's Lodge No. 1, who value 
 it highly as a sacred memento. The memory of WASH- 
 INGTON'S oath of office upon it, is perpetuated by the 
 following inscription, beautifully engrossed, and ac- 
 companied by a miniature likeness from an engraving 
 by LENEY, which were inserted by order of the lodge. 
 The closing poetic lines were first written by the Kev. 
 Dr. HAVEN, of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on WASH- 
 INGTON'S visit to that town in 1789, in answer to an in- 
 quiry by what title he should be addressed. The com- 
 mittee appointed by the lodge to form this memorial, 
 were sworn on the same volume to do it faithfully. 
 
126 WASHINGTON. 
 
 ON rfy| mm TI113 
 
 SACRED $m IBP VOLUME, 
 
 ON THE 30TH DAY OF APE1L, A.M. 5789, IN THE CITY OF NEW YOEK, 
 WAS ADMINISTERED TO 
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON, 
 
 THE FIEST PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 
 
 THE OATH 
 
 TO SUPPORT THE CONSTITUTION OF TUE UNITED STATES. 
 
 THIS IMPORTANT CEREMONY WAS PERFORMED BY THE MOST 
 
 GRAND MASTER 
 
 OF FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, 
 
 ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON, 
 
 CHANCELLOR OF THE STATE. 
 
 " Fame spread her wings, and loud her trumpet blew : 
 Great WASHINGTON is near ! What praise His due ? 
 What TITLE shall he have? She paused and said, 
 Not ONE ; His NAME ALONE STRIKES ETERY TITLE DEAD!" 
 
 Haying taken his oath of inauguration, WASHINGTON 
 proceeded to the Senate chamber and delivered his 
 
WASHINGTON. 127 
 
 first address as chief magistrate of the Federal Union. 
 It was a reflex of the principles of Masonry from the 
 mind and the heart of our greatest American brother. 
 He seemed to imagine himself again treading the ground 
 floor of a new apartment in the temple of human life ; 
 and he modestly reviewed his qualifications, his hopes, 
 and fears upon entering it. He next acknowledged a 
 Divine Ruler over all human events, and humbly in- 
 voked his guidance and blessing. Was not this a re- 
 membrance of the first lessons he had been taught in 
 Masonry ? Then, as the Mason examines the lines on 
 his trestle-board, he proceeded to examine the require- 
 ments of the constitution, and the duties to be per- 
 formed under it, and closed with a renewed acknow- 
 ledgment of dependence on Divine aid. How true 
 was all this to the character of WASHINGTON ! How true 
 to the teachings of Masonry ! 
 
 As soon as these ceremonies and duties were per- 
 formed, President WASHINGTON and both houses of 
 Congress proceeded to St. Paul's Church, where divine 
 services were held on the occasion, and the evening 
 was spent by the citizens of New York with the most 
 extravagant exhibitions of joy. A magnificent trans- 
 parent painting, brilliantly illuminated, was suspended 
 between the fort and Bowling Green, on the centre 
 of which was represented WASHINGTON as the emblem 
 of Fortitude ; on his right hand, the supreme judiciary, 
 by the emblem of Justice ; and on his left, the supreme 
 legislature, by the emblem of Wisdom. 
 
 The choice of these emblems from the chambers of 
 Masonic science, and their appropriation at this time 
 to these purposes, must have called the mind of 
 
128 
 
 WASHINGTON and his Masonic brethren forcibly back 
 to the silent teachings of these very emblems in the 
 lodge-room. Our Federal Government, of which WASH- 
 INGTON was the representative head, had that day 
 passed a threshold where fortitude, which shrinks 
 at no pain or danger, is required; and he that day 
 stood, as he had long before, and will ever be remem- 
 bered, a personification of this cardinal Masonic 
 virtue. 
 
 It was not until the 16th of May, that answers were 
 returned by the Senate and House of Representatives 
 to WASHINGTON'S inaugural address ; and on such pre- 
 sentations, a question arose between those bodies as to 
 the title by which he should be addressed ; the lower 
 body contending that as the constitution fixed no title 
 beyond that of " The President" etc., no other should 
 be used ; while the Senate preferred to prefix " Hi* 
 Highness" or some other title of rank to his name and 
 office. The republican simplicity of the lower house 
 prevailed, and, as is well known, our presidents have 
 ever been addressed without any addition to the title 
 which the constitution gives them. 
 
 While this question of courtly ofiicial address was 
 occupying the attention of Congress, a kindred one of 
 greater importance and real necessity was forced upon 
 the decision of WASHINGTON. It was the etiquette of 
 presidential receptions of citizens and strangers. To \ 
 establish such rules of private intercourse as these de- 
 manded, and still leave the President in command of 
 time necessary for the fulfilment of his ofiicial d*ties, 
 without encroaching upon the claims of nature for rest 
 and refreshment, was a delicate duty for him to per- 
 
WASHINGTON. 129 
 
 form. There were those who believed that the dignity 
 of the presidential office should be invested with many 
 forms and courtly ceremonies ; and there were others 
 who claimed that the harmony of our new-born repub- 
 lican institutions required an entire abandonment of all 
 distinction between the President and the people in 
 social intercourse. The first were, perhaps, too fond 
 of official show, and the latter too anxious for an unbe- 
 coming agrarianism. WASHINGTON committed the de- 
 tails of presidential etiquette to Colonel DAVID HUM- 
 PHREY, who had been one of his aids-de-camp during 
 the Revolution, and was now his private secretary. 
 Colonel HUMPHBEY seems to have happily conceived 
 appropriate rules and ceremonials for presidential in- 
 tercourse ; for they have remained substantially the 
 same through each successive presidency for three- 
 quarters of a century. 
 
 We have already noted in this sketch feelings of 
 jealousy that arose in certain minds relative to the So- 
 ciety of the Cincinnati. These were again aroused by 
 the necessary restrictions that were placed on citizens 
 who sought interviews with the President. Many 
 saw in them only the hated forms and ceremonies of 
 royalty ; and WASHINGTON was by some denounced as 
 another Royal GEOKGE. Trifling as such jealousies 
 and fears may now seem to us, they even entered into 
 the political discussions of that day ; and a letter is 
 still extant from WASHINGTON explanatory of the neces- 
 sity of the restrictions of the presidential etiquette. 
 
 During the first autumn of the presidency, WASH- 
 INGTON visited the New England States which had 
 united in the Federal Union; and on his arrival at 
 
 6* 
 
130 WASHINGTON. 
 
 Boston, a misconception seems to have occurred with 
 Governor HANCOCK, of Massachusetts, as to the relative 
 dignity in the capital of the State, of a visiting Federal 
 President, or the governor at his own seat of power; 
 and he remained at the gubernatorial mansion await- 
 ing a formal call from the President. WASHINGTON 
 would have waived all ceremonies, in calling at the 
 humblest abode of a soldier of the ^Revolution ; but he 
 would not compromise the superior dignity of the chief 
 magistrate of the Union, by first knocking at the guber- 
 natorial gate. It was on Saturday that "WASHINGTON 
 arrived in Boston, and on the following Monday, Gover- 
 nor HANCOCK yielded the point, with a plea of previous 
 bodily indisposition. 
 
 No records are known to exist which contain any 
 account of Masonic intercourse between WASHINGTON 
 and his Masonic brethren in New York while he re- 
 sided there as President, nor with the Fraternity in 
 New England during his visit in 1789. In the follow- 
 ing year the seat of the Federal Government was re- 
 moved from New York to Philadelphia ; and when Con- 
 gress closed its last session in New York in August 
 of that year, WASHINGTON visited Khode Island for the 
 benefit of his health. He was received at both New- 
 port and Providence with much distinction. There 
 existed at that time in Newport a lodge of Freemasons, 
 called King David's Lodge, to which we have already 
 alluded as having contemplated an address to WASH- 
 INGTON in 1781, on the occasion of his visit to that city 
 as Commander-in-chief. On his presidential visit in 
 1790, this lodge addressed him a letter, and received 
 the reply which the enemies of Masonry, a few years 
 
WASHINGTON. 131 
 
 ago claimed was forged long after his death. But as 
 the records of the lodge of that date shew the transac- 
 tion ; and as this letter from King David's Lodge, and 
 WASHINGTON'S reply to it, were both published in Bos- 
 ton in 1796, while he was yet living, in an authorized 
 collection of his various addresses, etc., to public 
 bodies, no doubt can exist of their authenticity. 
 The records state, that, 
 
 " At a lodge, called by request .of several brethren on 
 Tuesday evening, August 17, 5790, an Entered Apprentice 
 Lodge was opened, where it was proposed to address the 
 President of the United States. The R. W. MOSES SEIXAS, 
 HENRY SHERBURNE, and WM. LITTLEFIELD, secretary, were ap- 
 pointed a committee for that purpose, after which the lodge 
 closed." 
 
 The following is a copy of their letter on that occa- 
 sion, as published in the Boston Collection of Addresses, 
 in 1796, a copy of which rare work we have before us. 
 It contains also other Masonic letters of WASHINGTON, 
 which some have claimed were spurious, and written 
 long after his death. Their publication during his 
 own lifetime, and under his sanction, falsifies such an 
 assertion. 
 
 "To GEORGE WASHINGTON, President of the United States of 
 America : 
 
 " SIR We, the Master, Wardens, and Brethren of King 
 David's Lodge, in Ne^ort, Rhode Island, joyfully embrace 
 this opportunity to greet you as a brother, and to hail you 
 welcome to Rhode Island. 
 
 "We exult in the thought, that as Masonry has always 
 
132 WASHINGTON. 
 
 been patronized by the wise, the good, and the great, so 
 hath it stood, and ever will stand, as its fixtures are on the 
 immutable pillars of Faith, Hope, and Charity. 
 
 "With unspeakable pleasure we gratulate you as filling 1 
 the presidential chair, with the applause of a numerous and 
 enlightened people; whilst at the same time, we felicitate 
 ourselves in the honor done the brotherhood by your many 
 exemplary virtues, and emanations of goodness proceeding 
 from a heart worthy of possessing the ancient mysteries of 
 our Craft, being persuaded that the wisdom and grace with 
 which Heaven has endowed you, will ever square all your 
 thoughts, words, and actions, by the eternal laws of honor, 
 equity, and truth, so as to promote the advancement of all 
 good works, your own happiness, and that of mankind. 
 
 "Permit us then, illustrious brother, cordially to salute 
 you with three times three, and to add our fervent suppli- 
 cations, that the Sovereign Architect of the Universe may 
 always encompass you with his holy protection. 
 
 " MOSES SEIXAS, Hosier, 
 " HENRY SHERBURNE, 
 
 Committee. 
 " By order, 
 
 " WM. LITTLEFIELD, Secretary. 
 
 11 NEWPOKT, August 17, 1790." 
 
 To tliis truly Masonic greeting, WASHINGTON returned 
 the same day the following reply : 
 
 "To THE MASTER, WARDENS, AND BRETHREN OF KING DAVID'S 
 
 LODGE IN NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND : 
 
 " GENTLEMEN I receive the welcome which you give me 
 to Rhode Island with pleasure ; and I acknowledge my 
 obligations for the nattering expressions of regard con- 
 tained in your address with grateful sincerity. Being 
 
WASHINGTON. 133 
 
 persuaded that a just application of the principles on which 
 the Masonic fraternity is founded, must be productive of 
 private virtue and public prosperity, I shall always be 
 na PP v to advance the interests of the society, and to be con- 
 sidered by them as a deserving brother. My best wishes, 
 gentlemen, are offered for your individual happiness. 
 
 " G. WASHINGTON." 
 
 This is the earliest presidential Masonic correspond- 
 ence that exists on record ; and the succeeding pages 
 of this sketch will show, that no incumbent of the chair 
 of the chief magistrate of the Union, ever gave so strong 
 and multiplied proofs of his attachment to Masonry as 
 WASHINGTON ; and yet many of them had also seen 
 before reaching that station 
 
 " That hieroglyphic bright, 
 Which none but craftsmen ever saw." 
 
 After the close of the session of Congress in Phila- 
 delphia in the winter of 1790-1, WASHINGTON returned 
 to }Mount Vernon, and in the spring and early summer 
 months he made a visit as President to the Southern 
 States. On his arrival in Charleston, in South Caro- 
 lina, General MORDECAI GIST, who was Grand Master 
 of Ancient York Masons there, addressed him the fol- 
 lowing congratulatory letter as Grand Master, in be- 
 half of his Grand Lodge : 
 
 " SIR Induced by a respect for your public and private 
 character, as well as the relation in which you stand with the 
 brethren of this society, we, the Grand Lodge of the State 
 of South Carolina, Ancient York Masons, beg leave to offer 
 our sincere congratulations on your arrival in this State. 
 
 " We felicitate you on the establishment and exercise of 
 
WASHINGTON. 
 
 a permanent government, whose foundation was laid under 
 your auspices by military achievements, upon which have 
 been progressively reared the pillars of the free Republic 
 over which you preside, supported by wisdom, strength, 
 and beauty unrivalled among the nations of the world. 
 
 " The fabric thus raised and committed to your superin- 
 tendence, we earnestly wish may continue to produce order 
 and harmony to succeeding ages, and be the asylum of 
 virtue to the oppressed of all parts of the universe. 
 
 " When we contemplate the distresses of war, the in- 
 stances of humanity displayed by the Craft afford some re- 
 lief to the feeling mind ; and it gives us the most pleasing 
 sensation to recollect, that amidst the difficulties attendant 
 on your late military stations, you still associated with, and 
 patronized the Ancient Fraternity. 
 
 "Distinguished always by your virtues, more than the 
 exalted stations in which you have moved, we exult in the 
 opportunity you now give us of hailing you brother of our 
 Order, and trust from your knowledge of our institution, to 
 merit your countenance and support. 
 
 " With fervent zeal for your happiness, we pray that a 
 Ufe so dear to the bosom of this society, and to society in 
 general, may be long, very long preserved ; and when you 
 leave the temporal symbolic lodges of this world, may you 
 be received into the celestial lodge of light and perfection, 
 where the Grand Master Architect of the Universe presides. 
 
 " Done in behalf of the Grand Lodge. 
 
 "M. GIST, G. M. 
 
 * CHAKLESTON, 2d May, 1791." 
 
 To this letter, WASHINGTON immediately returned tho 
 following reply : 
 
 N I arn much obliged by tho respect which 
 
WASHINGTON. 135 
 
 you are so good as to declare for rny public and private 
 character. I recognize with pleasure my relation to the 
 brethren of your Society, and I accept with gratitude your 
 congratulations on my arrival in South Carolina. 
 
 "Your sentiments, on the establishment and exercise of 
 our equal government, are worthy of an association, whose 
 principles lead to purity of morals, and are beneficial of 
 action. 
 
 " The fabric of our freedom is placed on the enduring 
 basis of public virtue, and will, I fondly hope, long continue 
 to protect the prosperity of the architects who raised it. I 
 shall be happy, on every occasion, to evince my regard for 
 the Fraternity. For your prosperity individually, I offer 
 my best wishes. 
 
 " G. WASHINGTON." 
 
 To understand fully at this day the value and sig- 
 nificance of this correspondence between the Grand 
 Master of Masons in South Carolina in behalf of his 
 Grand Lodge and General WASHINGTON, it must be 
 remembered that General GIST had been the friend 
 and companion in arms of General WASHINGTON during 
 the War of the Revolution ; and that, while in command 
 of the Maryland Brigade in 1779, he had held intimate 
 personal and Masonic intercourse with him ; had 
 presided over a convention of Masonic brethren in the 
 army at Morristown that desired to elevate WASHING- 
 TON to the Grand Mastership of all American Masons ; 
 had been constituted by a warrant from the Grand 
 Lodge of Pennsylvania, Master of a military lodge in 
 his own brigade ; and having borne the trowel and the 
 sword together in many weary marches and many well- 
 fought battles, had, at the close of the war, retired to 
 
136 WASHINGTON. 
 
 a plantation near Charleston ; and carrying with him. to 
 his Southern home, a love of Masonry and a knowledge 
 of its kindly influences during the war, had established 
 a lodge in Charleston, been chosen Grand Master of 
 the Ancient York Masons of South Carolina, and as 
 such greeted WASHINGTON on his arrival there, in their 
 behalf. 
 
 "When, therefore, he said in his letter to WASHINGTON, 
 " When we contemplate the distresses of war, the in- 
 stances of humanity displayed by the Craft afford 
 some relief to the feeling mind ; and it gives us the 
 most pleasing sensation to recollect that amidst the 
 difficulties attendant on your late military stations, you 
 still associated with, and patronized the Ancient Fra- 
 ternity," he well knew that WASHINGTON was familiar 
 with the instances of humanity in war to which he al- 
 luded ; nor would he have adverted in this manner to 
 his associations with the fraternity during the war, had 
 he not known that it was a pleasing association to 
 his distinguished brother and public guest. Nor did 
 WASHINGTON fail on this occasion to reiterate his often 
 declared sentiments, that Masonry was beneficial to 
 society and the basis of public virtue. 
 
 WASHINGTON returned to Mount Yernon on the 12th 
 of June, having performed a journey of more than 
 seventeen hundred miles in sixty-six days with his own 
 horses and carriage. He had in that time visited each 
 of the States south of the Potomac, and been received 
 by all classes of citizens with the highest honors. 
 
 During his absence his lodge at Alexandria had per- 
 formed a public labor, in the ceremonials of erecting the 
 first corner-stone of the District of Columbia near that 
 
WASHINGTON. 137 
 
 city. As this Federal territory was required, by an act 
 of Congress, to embrace a district of country ten miles 
 square, lying on both sides of the Potomac, WASH- 
 INGTON had appointed commissioners to establish its 
 boundaries, and its south-east corner-stone was set with 
 Masonic ceremonies on the 15th of April, 1791. Its 
 location was at Jones' Point near the mouth of Hunt- 
 ing Creek, on the bank of the Potomac, near where the 
 Light-house at Alexandria now stands. The follow- 
 ing account of setting this stone was written by a 
 gentleman of Alexandria, and published in the United 
 States Gazette at Philadelphia, April 30, 1791 : 
 
 "ALEXANDRIA, April 21, 1791. 
 
 " On Friday, the 15th instant, the Hon. DANIEL CARROLL 
 and Hon. DAVID STEUART arrived in this town to superintend 
 the fixing of the first corner-stone of the Federal District. 
 
 " The mayor and commonalty, together with the members 
 of the different lodges of the town, at three o'clock waited on 
 the commissioners at Mr. WEISE*S, where they dined ; and 
 after drinking a glass of wine to the following sentiment 
 viz., ' May the stone which we are about to place in the 
 ground, remain an immovable monument of the wisdc.m and 
 unanimity of North America' the company proceeded to 
 Jones' Point in the following order : 
 
 " 1st. The Town Sergeant. 
 
 " 2d. Hon. DANIEL CARROLL and the Mayor. 
 
 " 3d. Mr. ELLICOTT and the Recorder. 
 
 " 4th. Such of the Common Council and Aldermen as were 
 not Freemasons. 
 
 "5th. Strangers. 
 
 " 6th. The Master of Lodge No. 22, with Dr. DAVID STEU- 
 
138 WASHINGTON. 
 
 ART on his rig'ht, and the Rev. JAMES MUIR sn his left, fol- 
 lowed by the rest of the Fraternity in their usual form of 
 procession. 
 
 " Lastly. The citizens, two by two. 
 
 "When Mr. ELLICOTT had ascertained the precise point 
 from which the first line of the district was to proceed, the 
 Master of the lodge and Dr. STEUART, assisted by others of 
 their brethren, placed the stone. After which a deposit of 
 corn, wine, and oil was made upon it, and the following ob- 
 servations were made by the Rev. JAMES MUIR : 
 
 " 'Of America it may be said, as of Judea of old, that it is 
 a good land and large, a land of brooks of waters, of foun- 
 tains, and depths that spring out of the valleys and hills, 
 a land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig-trees, and 
 pomegranates, a land of oil, olives, and honey, a land 
 wherein we eat bread^without scarceness, and have lack of 
 nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose 
 hills thou mayest dig brass, a land which the LORD thy GOD 
 careth for ; the eyes of the LORD thy GOD are always 
 upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end 
 of the year. 
 
 " ' May Americans be grateful and virtuous, and they shall 
 insure the indulgence of Providence. May they be unani- 
 mous and just, and they shall rise to greatness. May 
 true patriotism actuate every heart. May it be the devout 
 and universal wish : Peace be within thy walls, America, 
 and prosperity within thy palaces. Amiable it is for breth- 
 ren to dwell together in unity ; it is more fragrant than the 
 perfumes on Aaron's garment ; it is more refreshing than 
 the dews on Hermon's Hill. 
 
 " 'May this stone long commemorate the goodness of GOD 
 in those uncommon events which have given America a 
 
WASHINGTON. 139 
 
 name among nations. Under this stone may jealousy and 
 selfishness be forever buried. From this stone may a super- 
 structure arise, whose glory, whose magnificence, whose 
 stability, unequalled hitherto, shall astonish the world, and 
 invite even the savage of the wilderness to take shelter 
 under its roof/ 
 
 " The company partook of some refreshments, and then 
 returned to the place from whence they came, where a num- 
 ber of toasts were drank ; and the following was delivered 
 by the Master of the lodge (Dr. DICK), and was received 
 with every token of approbation : 
 
 ' ' BRETHREN AND GENTLEMEN May Jealousy, that green- 
 eyed monster, be buried deep under the work which we have 
 this day completed, never to rise again within the Federal 
 District/ 
 
 " It may fairly be presumed that this, or a similar senti- 
 ment pervaded the breast of every individual present on the 
 occasion." 
 
 These Masonic incidents are of interest, not only to 
 the personal history of WASHINGTON, but to both the 
 general and Masonic history of those times. It is well 
 known that WASHINGTON directed the tide of events 
 that established the seat of the Federal Government on 
 the Potomac ; and that when the act was being passed 
 for its location there, jealousies were aroused within 
 the district on the subject of its boundaries, and the 
 location of its public buildings. Georgetown and Alex- 
 andria were both rivals for the honors and advantages 
 incident to their location ; and when WASHINGTON gave 
 
140 WASHINGTON. 
 
 his influence for placing the Capitol on the north side 
 of the Potomac, he yielded his private interest to allay 
 all Northern jealousies as to its location. But the sen- 
 timent in Alexandria was adverse to this ; and it was 
 befitting Masonry, in the character of WASHINGTON'S 
 own lodge, to perform the ceremonials in the first pub- 
 lic act of establishing the boundaries of the Federal 
 District. Her voice was then, as it ever is, " Let public 
 jealousies be forever buried." Would that her voice 
 were always heeded ! 
 
 The future seat of the Federal Government had at 
 that time no name, and Mr. WOLCOTT, of Connecticut, 
 facetiously termed it, " The Indian place, with the long 
 name on the Potomac," in reference to its Indian name 
 having been Conecogeague. It was at first called " The 
 Federal City," and WASHINGTON thus styled it in a 
 letter written April 13, 1791 ; but the commissioners 
 appointed to superintend the laying out of the city, 
 had employed Major L'ENFANT, a French architect, to 
 form plans and drawings of it ; and in a letter to him, 
 bearing date September 9, 1791, they informed him 
 that they had agreed that the Federal District should 
 be called "The Territory of Columbia," and the Federal 
 City, " The City of Washington," and directed him to 
 thus designate them on his maps. 
 
 No baptismal name could have been more appro- 
 priate for the Federal city than that of Washington. 
 It had already been geographically used in naming a 
 county in Virginia in 1776, and one or two military points 
 may have borne the name at an earlier period. Towns 
 and counties without number have since borne this 
 honored name ; and the Masonic Fraternity have re- 
 
WASHINGTON. 141 
 
 membered their great American patron in adopting 
 liis name for their organizations in a multitude of in- 
 stances. A curious research in Masonic nomenclature 
 will show, that every grand jurisdiction has that name 
 as designating some of her subordinate Masonic or- 
 ganizations. It was first thus used in 1778, by a lodge 
 in the Massachusetts line of the army ; and a curious 
 instance of WASHINGTON'S memory being honored by a 
 lodge-name, was by a lodge of Masons in North Caro- 
 lina, which had borne the name of the " Royal George" 
 while that State was a colony of England, changing it 
 to the "American George" after the Revolution. 
 
 During the summer of 1791, the Grand Lodge of 
 Virginia published the first edition of her Book of 
 Constitutions, or Neiv Aliiman Rezon as it was called, 
 and dedicated it to WASHINGTON as follows : 
 
 
 "To GEORGE WASHINGTON, Esq., President of the United 
 States of America, the following work is most respectfully 
 dedicated by his obedient and devoted servant, 
 
 "THE EDITOR." 
 
 During the same year, the Grand Lodge of Pennsyl- 
 vania renewed its testimonials of respect for WASHING- 
 TON, by directing that an address be presented to him 
 from that body, as seen by the following extracts from 
 its records : 
 
 "DEOEMBEE 27, 1791. 
 
 " The Rev^ Brother Dr. SMITH and the Right Worshipful 
 Grand Officers were appointed a committee to prepare an 
 address to our illustrious Brother GEORGE WASHINGTON, 
 
142 WASHINGTON. 
 
 President of the United States. Lodge adjourned to the 2d 
 day of January next to receive the report of the committee." 
 
 "JANUARY 2, J792. 
 
 " The minutes of St. John's-day being read as far as re- 
 lates to the appointment of a committee to prepare an address 
 to our illustrious Brother GEORGE WASHINGTON, the Rev. 
 Brother Dr. WILLIAM SMITH, one of the said committee, pre- 
 sented the draft of one, which was read ; whereupon, on mo- 
 tion and seconded, the same was unanimously approved of, 
 and resolved, that the Right Worshipful Grand Master and 
 Deputy Grand Master and Grand Officers, with Brother 
 SMITH, be a committee to present the said address in behalf 
 of this Right Worshipful Grand Lodge, signed by the Right 
 Worshipful Grand Master, and countersigned by the Grand 
 Secretary." 
 
 , 1792. 
 
 " The Right Worshipful Grand Master informed the breth- 
 ren, that in conformity to the resolve of this Grand Lodge, 
 he had, in company with the Grand Officers and the Rev. 
 Brother Dr. SMITH, presented the address to our illustrious 
 Brother GEORGE WASHINGTON, and had received an answer, 
 which was read. Whereupon, on motion and seconded, re- 
 solved unanimously, that the said address and the answer 
 thereunto shall be entered on the minutes." 
 
 With these prefatory extracts from the records of the 
 Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, we give the address and 
 WASHINGTON'S reply as therein recorded. Both were also 
 published in the United States Gazette at Philadelphia, 
 January 2, 1792, which, together with the *ecord, fixes 
 their date as that day. The address was presented to 
 
WASHINGTON. 143 
 
 WASHINGTON in person by a committee of the Grand 
 Lodge, with the Grand Master at its head, which ac- 
 counts for the omission of date to these documents : 
 
 "To GEORGE WASHINGTON, 
 
 President of the United States : 
 
 " SIR AND BROTHER The Ancient York Masons of the 
 jurisdiction of Pennsylvania, for the first time assembled in 
 General Communication to celebrate the feast of St. John the 
 Evangelist since your election to the chair of government 
 of the United States, beg leave to approach you with con- 
 gratulations from the East, and, in the pride of fraternal 
 affection, to hail you as the great master-builder (under the 
 Supreme Architect), by whose labors the temple of liberty 
 hath been reared in the West, exhibiting to the nations of 
 the earth a model of beauty, order, and harmony, worthy of 
 their imitation and praise. 
 
 " Your knowledge of the origin and objects of our insti- 
 tution its tendency to promote the social affections and 
 harmonize the heart give us a sure pledge that this tribute 
 of our veneration, this effusion of love, will not be un- 
 grateful to you ; nor will. Heaven reject our prayer, that 
 you maybe long continued to adorn the bright list of master 
 workmen which our Fraternity produces in the terrestrial 
 lodge ; and that you may be late removed to that celestial 
 lodge where love and harmony reign transcendent and 
 divine ; where the Great Architect more immediately pre- 
 sides, and where cherubim and seraphim wafting our con- 
 gratulations from earth to heaven shall hail you brother I 
 
 " By order and in behalf of the Grand Lodge of Pennsyl- 
 vania, in General Communication assembled in ample form. 
 [L. s.] " J. B. SMITH, G. M. 
 
 "Attest: P. LE BAEBIEB Du PLESSIS, G. Sec." 
 
114 WASHINGTON". 
 
 To tliis address. WASHINGTON returned the following 
 written reply : 
 
 "To THE ANCIENT YORK MASONS OF THE JURISDICTION OF PENN- 
 SYLVANIA : 
 
 i 
 
 " GENTLEMEN AND BROTHERS I receive your kind coiigrat 
 illation with the purest sensations of fraternal affectior 
 and from a heart deeply impressed with your genemu 
 wishes for my present and future happiness, I beg you to 
 accept my thanks. 
 
 "At the same time I request you will be assured of my 
 best Wishes and earnest prayers for your happiness while 
 you remain, in this terrestrial mansion, and "that we may 
 hereafter meet as brethren in the celestial temple of the Su- 
 preme Architect. 
 
 " G. WASHINGTON." 
 
 WASHINGTON'S residence was at that time in Phila- 
 delphia, and it was at the presidential mansion in that 
 city that this address was presented. We know not 
 that while there during his presidency, he participated 
 in the ritualistic labors of the lodge-room; but the 
 Masonic records of the Fraternity in that city state 
 that they were often made the almoners of his bounty 
 to those in distress. Charity was ever one of his dis- 
 tinguished Masonic characteristics. 
 
 Masonry was at that time undergoing in this country 
 one of those silent, yet constant changes that have 
 ever marked its progress without disturbing its grand 
 design. Its Cyclopean, its Egyptian walls perhaps 
 antediluvian in their designs had long been in ruins. 
 The trestle-board of its masters had since borne de- 
 signs of Tyrian, of Greek, and of Roman skill ; and 
 
WASHINGTON. 145 
 
 these too had taken their place among memorials of 
 the past in the archives of Masonry. Our fathers, as 
 Anglo-Saxon colonists, had brought with them to this 
 country its more modern external forms; and two 
 divided schools of design, each with cunning masters 
 and faithful workmen, had endeavored to perpetuate 
 forms in mystic architecture, which at most could 
 claim no higher antiquity than a Norman or an Eliza- 
 bethan age. For the purposes of our sketch, we may 
 therefore consider the ceremonies and polity of Ma- 
 sonry, which were introduced into America about the 
 third decade of the last century under HENRY PRICE, at 
 Boston, as of the modern or Elizabethan school ; while 
 those practised a few years later under JOSEPH WARREN, 
 by the self-styled Ancients, might be called the Nor- 
 man features of Anglo-Saxon Freemasonry. Both 
 were agreed in angular lines ; they only differed in 
 those of curvature. WASHINGTON had been familiar 
 with both these systems. He had been made a Mason 
 under the first, and afterwards became affiliated under 
 the second. The veil which separated the bands of 
 American workmen under each of these systems was 
 rent in twain in Massachusetts in 1792, and a Book of 
 Constitutions published for the government of the 
 United Grand Lodge of that jurisdiction, which, by 
 direction of that Grand Body, bore the following dedi- 
 cation to WASHINGTON : 
 
 " In testimony of his exalted merit, and our inalienable 
 regard, this work is inscribed and dedicated to our illus- 
 trious BROTHER GEORGE WASHINGTON, the friend of Masonry, 
 of his Country, arid of Man." 
 
 7 
 
146 WASHINGTON. , 
 
 It svas a quarto volume, and besides the Masonic 
 Constitutions of Massachusetts, it contained much of 
 historic interest to Masonry, and was published for the 
 Grand Lodge by ISAIAH THOMAS, aftenvards Grand 
 Master of that State, and author of the " History of 
 Pi- in tiny" By resolution of the Grand Lodge, a copy 
 of this book was presented to WASHINGTON, accom- 
 panied by the following address. The resolution bore 
 date December 27th, and the address 29th, 1792 : 
 
 " THE GRAND LODGE OF FREE AND ACCEITKD MASONS FOI: THE 
 COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS, TO THEIR HONORED 
 AND ILLUSTRIOUS BROTHER GEORCIB WASHINGTON, PRESI- 
 DENT OF THE UNITED STATES : 
 
 ' SIR Whilst the historian is describing the career of your 
 glory, and the inhabitants of an extensive empire are made 
 happy in your unexampled exertions while some celebrate 
 the Hero, so distinguished in liberating United America, 
 and others the Patriot who presides over her councils a 
 band of brothers, having always joined the acclamations of 
 their countrymen, now testify their respect for those milder 
 virtues which have ever graced the man. 
 
 " Taught by the precepts of our Society that all its mem- 
 bers stand upon a level, we venture to assume this station, 
 and to approach you with that freedom which diminishes 
 our diffidence without lessening our respect. 
 
 " Desirous to enlarge the boundaries of social happiness, 
 and to vindicate the ceremonies of their institution, this 
 Grand Lodge have published a ' Book of Constitutions/ and 
 a copy for your acceptance accompanies this, which, by dis- 
 covering the principles that actuate, will speak the eulogy 
 of the Society ; though they fervently wish the conduct of 
 its members may prove its higher commendation. 
 
WASHINGTON. 147 
 
 " Convinced of his attachment to its cause, and readiness 
 to encourage its benevolent designs, they have taken the 
 liberty to dedicate this work to one, the qualities of whose 
 heart, and the action of whose life, have contributed to im- 
 prove personal virtue, and extend throughout the world the 
 most endearing cordialities ; and they humbly hope he will 
 pardon this freedom, and accept the tribute of their esteem 
 and homage. 
 
 "May the Supreme Architect of the Universe protect 
 and bless you, give length of days and increase of felicity 
 in this world, and then receive you to the harmonious and 
 exalted Society in heaven. 
 
 " JOHN CUTLER, Grand Master 
 "JosiAH BARTLETT, 
 
 , Grand Wardens. 
 " MUNGO MACKAY, 
 
 " BOSTON, December 29, A.L. 5792." 
 
 To this address, WASHINGTON returned the following 
 reply, both of which were published during his life- 
 time in a volume of his speeches and addresses, issued 
 in Boston, to which allusion has been already made : 
 
 " To THE GRAND LODGE OR FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS OF THE 
 COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS : 
 
 " GENTLEMEN Flattering as it may be to the human mind, 
 and truly honorable as it is to receive from our fellow- 
 citizens testimonials of approbation for exertions to promote 
 the public welfare, it is not less pleasing to know that the 
 milder virtues of the heart are highly respected by a society 
 whose liberal principles are founded in the immutable laws 
 of truth and justice. 
 
 " To enlarge the sphere of social happiness is worthy the 
 benevolent design of the Masonic Institution, and it is most 
 
148 -WASHINGTON. 
 
 fervently to be wished that the conduct of every member of 
 the Fraternity, as well as those publications that discover 
 the principles which actuate them, may tend to convince 
 mankind that the grand object of Masonry is to promote the 
 happiness of the human race. 
 
 " While I beg your acceptance of my thanks for the ' Book 
 of Constitutions' which you have sent me, and for the honor 
 you have done me in the dedication, permit me to assure you 
 that I feel all those emotions of gratitude which your affec- 
 tionate address and cordial wishes are calculated to inspire. 
 And I sincerely pray, that the Great Architect of the Uni- 
 verse may bless you here, and receive you hereafter in his 
 immortal Temple. 
 
 " G. WASHINGTON." 
 
 But it was not from Masons in his own country alone 
 that WASHINGTON, at this period of his life, received tes- 
 timonials of distinguished consideration. Frederic 
 the Great, of Prussia, who was at the head of Masonry 
 in continental Europe, sent him an elegant sword with 
 a complimentary inscription; and the Earl of Buchan, 
 who was Grand Master of Scotland from 1782-1785, 
 sent him also a curious box made of wood from the 
 oak-tree that sheltered Sir WILLIAM WALLACE after his 
 defeat at the battle of Falkirk. These, though not 
 strictly Masonic, but illustrate the sentiment of Ma- 
 sonry, that, 
 
 " GOD hath made mankind one mighty brotherhood, 
 Himself their Master, and the world their Lodge." 
 
CHAPTEK VIII. 
 
 WASHINGTON re-elected President. Lays the corner-stone of the Capitol. 
 Placed at the southeast corner. Accounts of the procession and cere- 
 monies, as given by the newspapers of that day. Address of JOSEPH 
 CLARKE, Grand Master pro tern, on that occasion. WASHINGTON'S partici- 
 pation as a Mason in these ceremonies justly a part of our public history. 
 Gave strength to the illusion that he was officially General Grand Master 
 of the United States. WASHINGTON'S Masonic portrait in Alexandria. 
 Eecords of Lodge No. 22 relating to it. Inscription on the back of it. 
 Its sash and apron represent those presented him by LA FAYETTE. 
 WASHINGTON'S farewell address. His allusion in it to secret political 
 societies. Attempts lotjg after his death to make these denunciations ap- 
 ply to Masonry. Extracts from records of the Grand Lodge of Pennsyl- 
 vania relative to address to WASHINGTON. Copy of the address. His 
 reply. The inconsistency of the claim that he repudiated his Masonic 
 connection. His feelings when about to retire to private life. His last 
 presidential dinner. Inauguration of Mr. ADAMS. WASHINGTON'S vale- 
 dictory. Affecting scene on that occasion. 
 
 |ASHINGTON desired to return again to 
 private life at the close of his first presi- 
 dential term, but having been unani- 
 mously re-elected, he yielded to the 
 public wish and the strong solicitations 
 of his friends, and again accepted the presidency. His 
 second inauguration took place in the Senate chamber 
 in Philadelphia, on the 4th of March, 3 793. Judge 
 GUSHING, of Massachusetts, administered to him the 
 oath of office. 
 On the 18th of September of that year 7? VJHNGTON 
 
150 WASHINGTON. 
 
 laid the corner-stone of the Capitol of the United States, 
 in the city that bore his name. It was laid at the 
 southeast corner of the edifice, it being the custom of 
 our Masonic fathers to place it at that point, and not 
 at the northeast as at present. The following account 
 of the ceremonies on the occasion was published in the 
 newspapers of that day. 
 
 "GEOBGETOWN, September 21, 1793. 
 
 '' On Wednesday one of the grandest Masonic processions 
 took place, for the purpose of laying the corner-stone of the 
 Capitol of the United States, which, perhaps, was ever ex- 
 hibited on the like important occasion. About ten o'clock, 
 Lodge No. 9 was visited by that congregation so graceful 
 to the Craft, Lodge No. 22 of Virginia, with all their oftiwrs 
 and regalia ; and directly afterwards appeared on the 
 southern banks of the grand river Potomac, one of the 
 finest companies of volunteer artillery that hath been lately 
 seen, parading to receive the President of the United States, 
 who shortly came in sight with his suit, to whom the artil- 
 lery paid their military honors ; and his Excellency and suit 
 crossed the Potomac, and was received in Maryland by the 
 officers and brethren of No. 22 Virginia, and No. 9 Mary- 
 land, whom the President headed, preceded by a band of 
 music ; the rear brought up by the Alexandria volunteer 
 artillery, with grand solemnity of march, proceeded to the 
 President's square, in the city of Washington, where they 
 were met and saluted by No. 15 of the City of Washington 
 in all their elegant badges and clothing, headed by Brother 
 JOSEPH CLARKE, lit. W. G. M., P. T., and conducted to a large 
 lodge prepared for the purpose of their reception. After a 
 short space of time, by the vigilance of Brother CLOTWORTHY 
 STEPHENSOX, Grand Marshal P. T., the brotherhood and 
 
WASHINGTON. 
 
 151 
 
 other bodies were disposed in a second order of procession, 
 which took place amidst a brilliant crowd of spectators of 
 both sexes, according to the following arrangement, viz. : 
 
 " The Surveying Department of the City of Washington ; 
 
 " Mayor and Corporation of Georgetown ; 
 
 " Virginia Artillery ; 
 
 "Commissioners T>f the City of Washington and I hoi; 
 
 attendants. 
 
 " Stone-cutters. Mechanics. 
 "The Sword-bearer. 
 
152 WASHINGTON. 
 
 " Masons of the first degree. 
 
 " Bible, etc., on Grand Cushions. 
 
 " Deacons, with staffs of office. 
 
 " Masons of the second degree. 
 
 " Stewards, with wands. 
 
 " Masons of the third degree. 
 
 " Wardens, with truncheons. 
 
 11 Secretaries, with tools of office. 
 
 " Past Masters, with their regalia. 
 
 " Treasurers, with their jewels. 
 
 "Band of music. 
 
 " Lodge No. 22 of Virginia, disposed, in their own order. 
 
 " Corn, Wine, and Oil. 
 
 " Grand Master pro tern., Brother GEORGE WASHINGTON, and 
 
 Worshipful Master of No. 22 of Virginia, 
 " Grand Sword-bearer. 
 
 "The procession marched two abreast, in the greatest 
 solemn dignity, with music playing, drums beating, colors 
 flying, arid spectators rejoicing, from the President's square 
 to the Capitol in the City of Washington, where the Grand 
 Marshal ordered a halt, and directed each file in the proces- 
 sion to incline two steps, one to the right and one to the 
 left, and face each other, which formed a hollow oblong 
 square, through which the .Grand Sword-bearer led the van, 
 ^ followed by the Grand Master P. T. on the left, the Presi- 
 dent of the United States in the centre, and the Worshipful 
 Master of No. 22 Virginia on the right ; all the other orders; 
 that composed the procession advanced in the reverse of their 
 order of march from the President's square to the southeast 
 corner of the Capitol, and the artillery filed off to a destined 
 ground to display their manoeuvres and discharge their can- 
 non ; the President of the United States, the Grand Master 
 
WASHINGTON. 153 
 
 P. T., and the Worshipful Master of No. 22 taking their 
 stand to the east of a large stone, and all the . Craft 
 forming a circle westward, stood a short time in awful 
 order. 
 
 " The artillery discharged a volley. The Grand Marshal 
 delivered the commissioners a large silver plate with an 
 inscription thereon, which the commissioners ordered to be 
 read, and was as follows : 
 
 " ' This Southeast corner-stone of the Capitol of the United 
 States of America, in the City of Washington, was laid on 
 the 18th day of September, 1793, in the thirteenth year of 
 American independence, in the first year of the second term 
 of the presidency of GEORGE WASHINGTON, whose virtues in 
 the civil administration of his country have been as con- 
 spicuous and beneficial, as his military valor and prudence 
 have been useful in establishing her liberties, and in the 
 year of Masonry, 5793, by the President of the United 
 States, in concert with the Grand Lodge of Maryland, 
 several lodges under its jurisdiction, and Lodge No. 22 
 from Alexandria, Virginia. 
 
 " ' THOMAS JOHNSON, DAVID STEUART, and DANIEL CARROLL, 
 Commissioners ; JOSEPH CLARKE, K. W. "G. M., P. T. ; JAMES 
 HOBAN and STEPHEN HALLATE, Architects ; COLLIN WILLIAM- 
 SON, M. Mason/ 
 
 " The artillery discharged a volley. The plate was then 
 delivered to the President, wl^, attended by the Grand 
 Master P. T., and three most Worshipful Masters, descended 
 to the cavazion trench and deposed the plate, and laid it 
 on the corner-stone of the Capitol of the United States of 
 America, on which was deposed Corn, Wine, and Oil, when 
 the whole congregation joined in reverential prayer, which 
 
WASHINGTON. 
 
 was succeeded by Masonic chanting honors, and a volley 
 from the artillery. 
 
 " The President of the United States and his attendant 
 brethren ascended from the cavazion to the east of the 
 corner-stone ; and there the Grand Master P. T., elevated on 
 a triple rostrum, delivered an oration fitting 1 the occasion, 
 which was received with brotherly love and commendation. 
 At intervals, during the delivery of the oration, several 
 volleys were discharged by the artillery. The ceremony 
 ended in prayer, Masonic chanting honors, and a 15-volley 
 from the artillery. 
 
 "The whole company retired to an extensive booth, where 
 an ox of 500 Ibs. weight was barbecued, of which the com- 
 pany generally partook, with every abundance of other 
 recreation. The festival concluded with fifteen successive 
 volleys from the artillery, whose military discipline and 
 manoeuvres merit every commendation. Before dark the 
 whole company departed with joyful hopes of the produc- 
 tion of their labor." 
 
 The following is a copy of the address of JOSEPH 
 CLARKE on the occasion, who acted as Grand Master 
 pro tern, of the Grand Lodge of Maryland, in the Ma- 
 Bonic jurisdiction of which the Federal Capitol was 
 built: 
 
 "My WORTHY BRETHREN I presume you expect I shall in 
 some measure address yotupn this very important occasion, 
 which I confess is a duty incumbent upon me, although quite 
 inadequate to the task, and entirely unprepared ; for until 
 high meridian yesterday, I was not solicited, neither had I 
 a conception to have performed this duty. Therefore you 
 will accept my observations with brotherly love; they are, 1 
 
WASHING-TON. 155 
 
 assure you, sincere, and dictated by a pure Masonic heart, 
 though very brief. 
 
 Volley from the Artillery. 
 
 "Brothers, I beg' leave to disclose to you that I have, and 
 I expect that you also have, every hope that the grand work 
 we have done to-day will be handed down, as well by 
 record as by oral tradition, to as late posterity as the like 
 work of that ever memorable Temple to our order erected 
 bj our Grand Master Solomon. 
 
 Volley from the Artillery. 
 
 " The work we have done to-day, laying the corner-stone 
 of this designed magnificent temple, the Capitol of our ex- 
 tensive and populous States of veteran republicans, States 
 which were recovered, settled, and permanently established 
 by the virtuous achievements and bravery of our most 
 illustrious Brother GEORGE WASHINGTON 
 
 Volley from the Artillery. 
 
 " I say, that we further hope that this work may be re- 
 membered for many ages to come, as, a similar wort; has 
 from the commencement of time to. this remarkable mo- 
 ment ; I mean, the work of laying the corner-stone of our 
 ancient, honorable, arici sublime order. 
 
 Volley from the Artiliery. 
 
 11 We also, hope that the Grand Architect of all men, Free- 
 masons and others, may continue His great gifts of ability 
 to all those concerned, to persevere in raising, not only on 
 this particular corner-stone, bu,t on every other corner-stone 
 already planted in this extensive site for a commercial 
 Federal city edifices so durable with strength and beauty, 
 
156 WASHINGTON. 
 
 that with common care and nurture, they may not envy 
 time. And we further hope that the edifices which may he 
 erected in this territory of Columbia, may be numerously 
 inhabited with citizens, to merit every commendation for 
 their virtue, honor, bravery, industry, and arts. 
 
 
 Volley from the Artilleiy. 
 
 " And 1 hope that our super-excellent order may here be 
 indefatigably laborious, not only to keep in good repair our 
 hallowed dome, but be incessantly industrious to adorn it 
 with the grand theological virtues, faith, hope, and charity, 
 and embellish it with wisdom, strength, and beauty. 
 
 Volley from the Artillery. 
 
 "My dear brethren, it would be ungrateful, indeed 1 
 think impossible, on this occasion not to notice, under the 
 auspices of our most glorious divine Providence, the growth 
 of this extensive city, in so short a period, by the assiduous, 
 indefatigable labor and industry of all those very valuable 
 characters for virtue, honor, industry, and ability, who have 
 had not only the supreme command, but, in every grade. 
 
 Volley from the Artillery. 
 
 " Brothers, permit me to suggest to your good under- 
 standings, if so much can be done by the local assistance 
 of two-fifteenths of these vast States, by such an eminent 
 Leader, excellent Director, Architects, Surveyors, and Me- 
 chanics, what ought we to conceive will be done by them, 
 when aided by the remaining thirtcen-fifteenths, who will 
 set to work with willing and powerful hands, not in a local 
 and sparing, but in an infinite and loving mariner 1 And in 
 addition thereto, an universality of individuals, like in- 
 
WASHINGTON. 157 
 
 numerable hives of bees bestowing their industrious labor 
 on this second paradise. 
 
 Volley from the Artillery. 
 
 " Then, my dear brethren, Architecture, Masonry, Arts, 
 and Commerce will grow with rapidity inconceivable to me ; 
 therefore incomparable. Brethren, although I have neither 
 wishes nor pretensions to divination, yet I venture to 
 prophesy, from such intuitive sense, that all I have sug- 
 gested to you will soon, come to pass ; when we shall all 
 hail, 'Blessed Territory of Columbia, favored land, soon, 
 very soon, indeed, shall the shores of thy peaceful and de- 
 lightful city be visited by the commercial interests of the 
 united world ; then happy thy sons, and thrice happy those 
 whose prudence and foresight have induced them to become 
 thy citizens* ! 
 
 Volley from the Artillery. 
 
 " It~must, my dear brethren, be evident to all our under- 
 standings, that not only nature, but Providence, have 
 marked their intentions in the most indelible manner, to make 
 the seat for the GRAND MARK, the/ super-excellent emporium 
 for Politics, Commerce, Arts, and Industry of the United 
 States, seated in the very centricity of our Republic, on 
 the banks of one of the noblest rivers in the Universe, suffi- 
 ciently capacious to erect thereon a city equal, if not su- 
 perior in magnitude, to any in the world. It boasts, but 
 then very truly, a climate the most serene and salubrious ; 
 equal of accession to all the cardinal and intermediate 
 points, as any place that kind nature has formed, even be- 
 yond conception of art, wanting no defence, but what is in, 
 and ever will be in, I trust, the intrepidity and bravery of 
 its founder and citizens. 
 
 Volley from the Artillery. 
 
1 58 WASHINGTON. 
 
 "Although it is not the growth of years, yet there id 
 alre i-ly planted in this garden or nurr.cry of the Arts, and 
 hath blossomed numerous flowers, that bloom with high 
 lustre in their various departments (not to mention its ever- 
 to-be-remembered founder), but its financiers, conductors, 
 projectors, delineators, and executive geniuses without 
 number, and many of them not only brethren of onr order, 
 but brothers of superior, excellent, ;md suMimc estimation. 
 
 }'(illri/ from //</? Ailiflcry. 
 
 "Certainly, my dear "brethren, it must be as grateful to 
 you, as it is to me, to possess the great pleasure of toying 
 the corner-stone, which we hope, expect, and sincerely pray 
 to produce innumerable corner-stones ; and that on every 
 one of them may spring edifices, we fervently pray to the 
 Great Grand Master of heaven, earth, and all things, of 
 Hie immense wisdom, strength, goodness, and mercy, to 
 grant. So mote it be." 
 
 WASHINGTON, although holding at this time no official 
 rank in Masonry, except that of Past Master of Lodge 
 No. 22, at Alexandria, clothed himself for the occasion 
 with an apron and other insignia of a Mason, and, as 
 the foregoing account shows, was honored with the 
 chief place in the procession and ceremonies. The 
 gavel which he used on the occasion was ivory, and is 
 now in possession of Lodge No. 9, at Georgetown, which 
 was represented by its officers and members in the 
 procession. No act of WASHINGTON was more historic 
 than this, and yet it has found no place on the pag*s 
 of our country's history. It was he who was first in 
 the hearts of all men, honoring Masonry by his pres- 
 
WASHINGTON. 159 
 
 ence as a brother, and sanctioning by his participation 
 as the chief actor in its highest public ceremonies, its 
 claims as an institution worthy of national confidence 
 and regard. And yet the compilers of our country's 
 annals have ignored the fact, or left it unrecorded on 
 their pages, until their silence has been made to testify 
 that W WASHINGTON disdained to publicly avow himself a 
 Mason. But he stood on that occasion before his 
 brethren and the world as the representative of SOLO- 
 MON of old, who, the Jewish historian says, " laid the 
 foundation of the Temple very deep in the ground ; 
 and the materials were strong stones, and such as 
 would resist the force of time." Those who would blot 
 the record of the mystic labors of WASHINGTON, would 
 blush at the memory of one wiser than he. 
 
 There is no doubt but that this was one of the Ma- 
 sonic incidents in WASHINGTON'S history which aided in 
 establishing and perpetuating the illusion that he was the 
 official General Grand Master of the United States ; and 
 yet, as we have already stated, such an office in Ameri- 
 can Masonry is only a historic fiction. Many Ameri- 
 can brethren have at various times advocated such a 
 centralization of Masonic power and dignity; but to 
 WASHINGTON only has been accorded the worthiness to 
 hold it. He lived and died the patron par excellence of 
 American Masonry ; and her voice as spoken by her 
 orators on public occasions, her muse as breathed in 
 her songs and festive toasts, have sometimes appro- 
 priated to him a proposed, but never invested title. 
 When another WASHINGTON shall enroll his name upon 
 our American records, and engrave his virtues upon 
 our hearts, perhaps then, but not till then, will all ac- 
 
160 WASHINGTON. 
 
 cord united Masonic homage to a General American 
 Grand Master. 
 
 There is a striking representation of the features and 
 person of WASHINGTON at this period of his life, and 
 perhaps the Masonic dress that he wore at the laying 
 of the corner-stone of the Capitol, still in possession of 
 his old lodge, No. 22, at Alexandria. We have given 
 an accurate copy of this almost unknown original por- 
 trait of WASHINGTON at the commencement of this 
 volume, and we trust the following extracts from the 
 old records of Alexandria Lodge will justify us in so 
 doing : 
 
 "August 29, 1793. ELISHA C. DICK, Master. The Wor- 
 shipful Master informed the lodge that he convened them in 
 consequence of an offer of Mr. WILLIAMS to compliment them 
 with the portrait of the President of the United States, pro- 
 vided they make application to him (the President) for that 
 purpose ; and upon taking into consideration the proposal 
 of Mr. WILLIAMS, they determined that the following- address, 
 signed by the officers of the lodge, be immediately for- 
 warded to our illustrious Brother, the President of the 
 United States." 
 
 We regret much that we are unable to give the letter 
 or address, as the above record calls it, of the lodge to 
 WASHINGTON, and his reply ; but they are not recorded, 
 nor do we know that they are preserved, or any copies 
 of them in existence. That the application met with 
 a favorable response is seen from the following tether 
 extracts from the records : 
 
 " October 25, 1794. Mr. WILLIAMS having offered to the 
 
WASHINGTON. 161 
 
 lodge a drawing of our worthy Brother GEORGE WASHING- 
 TON, President of the United States, the same is received ; 
 and in consequence of the trouble and expense Mr. WILLIAMS 
 was at in going to and coming from Philadelphia, it is pro- 
 posed that the members of the lodge pay him fifty dollars, 
 to be .raised by voluntary subscription. Brother GILLIS 
 having offered to receive the subscriptions, a list of the 
 members, both town and country, is presented him for that 
 purpose." 
 
 "November 22, 1194. Received and read a letter from 
 Mr.. WILLIAMS, portrait painter, praying for further compen- 
 sation for painting the President's picture. Ordered to lie 
 over till next lodge-night, or until the Worshipful Master 
 returns." 
 
 "December 20, 1194. A letter from Mr. WILLIAMS was 
 read, praying (as stated last lodge-night) a further com- 
 pensation for drawing the President's picture. The lodge 
 are of opinion that in the sum of fifty dollars paid him, he has 
 received full compensation for the same. The lodge, more- 
 over, consider the fifty dollars already paid him a mere 
 gratuity, inasmuch as application was made to the Presi 
 dent to sit for his portrait at the request of Mr. WILLIAMS, 
 who proposed, should the application be successful, to com- 
 pliment them with his portrait, promising himself great pecu- 
 niary advantages by the sale of copies. The lodge having 
 taken into consideration the propriety of paying the fifty 
 dollars for the President's picture by voluntary subscrip- 
 tion, have resolved the same shall be paid out of the funds 
 of the lodge." 
 
 On the back of the canvas is the following inscrip- 
 tion, apparently in the handwriting of Mr. WILLIAMS : 
 
it> 2 WASHINGTON. 
 
 "His Excellency GEORGE WASHINGTON, Esquire, President 
 
 of ih<> I'nilrd Slates. A;jvd (U. WILLIAMS, 7V//./-/Y u<1 rinnu 
 in Philadelphia, Scpk'inU-r 18, 1794." 
 
 This portrait was placed in an ejegant gilt frame, 
 and Lung upon the walls of the lodge-room. Its collar 
 and jewel are those of a Past Master, a rank^which 
 WASHINGTON held in his lodge ; and its sash and apron 
 represent those presented to him by Messrs. WATSON 
 & CASSOUL. 
 
 ' WASHINGTON'S second term of the presidency was 
 now drawing to a close, and he deemed it his duty 
 publicly to announce to his fellow-citizens his deter- 
 mination to retire from public life. He accordingly, in 
 the summer of 1796, prepared, while at Mount Yernou, 
 his Farewell Address, which he caused to be published 
 in the Philadelphia Advertiser in September of that 
 year. No document ever came from the pen of an 
 American statesman with words of more profound 
 wisdom ; and it has ever been regarded as the richest 
 legacy which WASHINGTON bestowed on the citizens of 
 America. It was widely circulated by public printers ; 
 legislative bodies ordered it enrolled on their journals, 
 and it has come down to us as sacred as any writings 
 from an uninspired pen. 
 
 In contemplating the then existing state of Ameri- 
 can society, and the dangers in introducing and culti- 
 vating principles of foreign growth, WASHINGTON had, 
 in allusion to certain political societies in Europe 
 which were seeking to propagate their pernicious doc- 
 trines by secret organizations for political purposes, 
 cautioned his fellow-citizens to beware of them. As 
 
WASHINGTON. 1 63 
 
 In later years a set of political zealots attempted to 
 torture liis expression of " beware of secret societies," 
 into a denunciation against the Masonic institution, it 
 will be only necessary for the candid reader to see that 
 such an idea, with such facts as we have already given 
 in "WASHINGTON'S Masonic history, and such as will 
 follow unto the close of this sketch, could not have 
 been conceived by him, or so understood by his fellow- 
 citizens at that day. 
 
 The address was published in Philadelphia in Sep- 
 tember, and on the 5th of the following December, at 
 an extra Grand Communication of the Grand Lodge 
 of Pennsylvania, in the same city, its records state 
 
 " A committee was appointed to form an address to be 
 presented on the ensuing feast of St. John, December 21, to 
 the Great Master Workman, our illustrious Brother WASH- 
 INGTON, on the occasion of his intended retirement from pub- 
 lic labors, to also be laid before the said Grand Lodge on 
 St. John's day ; and the Right Worshipful Grand Master, 
 Deputy Grand Master, and Brothers SADLER, MILXOR, and 
 WILLIAMS were accordingly appointed." 
 
 December 27, 1796. St. John's day, the records 
 state 
 
 "The committee to prepare an address to our Brother 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON, President of the United States, pre- 
 sented an address by them drawn up, which was ordered to 
 be read. 
 
 "It was then moved and seconded, that the same be 
 adopted ; and upon the question being taken, it appeared 
 that it was approved of. 
 
1G4: WASHINGTON. 
 
 " On motion and seconded, it was agreed that a committee 
 be appointed to wait on Brother WASHINGTON to acquaint 
 him that it is the intention of this Grand Lodge to present 
 an address to him, and to know at what time he shall bo 
 pleased to receive it. 
 
 "The committee appointed to perform this duty were 
 Brothers WILLIAM SMITH, PETER LA BARBIER DDPLESSIS, and 
 THOMAS PROCTOR, who after having waited on him, reported 
 that he had appointed to-morrow at twelve o'clock to receive it. 
 
 "The committee to wit, Brothers WILLIAM SMITH, Du- 
 PLESSIS, and PROCTOR together with the Right Worshipful 
 Grand Master, Deputy Grand Master, Senior and Junior 
 Grand Wardens, Grand Secretary, and the Masters of th<? 
 different lodges in the city, were then appointed a deputa 
 tion to present the said address." 
 
 At the time appointed this grand committee 
 WASHINGTON at his residence, where the following ad- 
 dress was presented in writing, and his written reply 
 was soon afterwards returned : 
 
 " To GEORGE WASHINGTON, President of the United States : 
 
 " MOST RESPECTED SIR AND BROTHER Having announced 
 your intention to retire from public labor to that refresh- 
 ment to which your pre-eminent services for near half a 
 century have so justly entitled you, permit the Grand Lodge 
 of Pennsylvania at this last feast of our Evangelic Master, 
 St. John, on which we can hope for immediate communica- 
 tion with you, to join the grateful voice of our country in 
 acknowledging that you have carried forth the principles of 
 the lodge in every walk of your life, by your constant labor 
 for the prosperity of that country ; by your unremitting en- 
 deavors to promote order, union, and. brotherly affection 
 
WASHINGTON. 165 
 
 amongst us ; and, lastly, by the views of your farewell ad- 
 dress, which wo trust our children's children will ever look 
 upon as a most valuable legacy from a friend, a benefactor, 
 and a father. 
 
 " To these our grateful acknowledgments (leaving to the 
 pen of history to record the important events in which you 
 have borne so illustrious a part), permit us to add our 
 most fervent prayers, that after enjoying to the utmost 
 span of human life, every felicity which the terrestrial lodge 
 can afford, you may be received by the Great Master 
 Builder of this world, and of worlds unnumbered, into the 
 ample felicity of that celestial lodge, in which alone dis- 
 tinguished virtues and distinguished labors can be eternally 
 rewarded. 
 
 " By the unanimous order of the Grand Lodge of Penn- 
 sylvania. 
 
 "WILLIAM MOORE SMITH, G. M. 
 "December 27, Anno Lucis 5796." 
 
 The original of the following reply in WASHINGTON'S 
 handwriting is still in the archives of the Grand Lodge 
 of Pennsylvania : 
 
 "FELLOW-CITIZENS AND BROTHERS OF THE GRAND LODGE OP 
 PENNSYLVANIA I have received your address with all* the 
 feelings of brotherly affection, mingled with those senti- 
 ments for the society, which it -was calculated to excite. 
 
 " To have been in any degree an instrument in the hands 
 of Providence to promote order and union, and erect upon a 
 solid foundation the true principles of government, is only 
 to have shared, with many others, in a labor, the result of 
 which, let us hope, will prove through all ages a sanctuary 
 for brothers, and a lodge for the virtues. 
 
 " Permit me to reciprocate your prayers for my temporal 
 happiness, and to supplicate that we may all meet there- 
 
166 U'ASIIINGTOX. 
 
 ,-ifter, in Unit eternal temple, whoso builder is tin) Great 
 
 Architect of the Universe. 
 
 "G. WASHINGTON." 
 
 Let those commentators on WASHINGTON'S Farewell 
 Address, who would torture his caution to " beware of 
 secret societies" into an allusion to Freemasonry, place 
 this record, which was made but a few months after it, 
 by its side, and they will see how erroneous and un- 
 just their conclusions have been. With such a foreign 
 idea banished from the mind, the reader, to understand 
 fully the import of this correspondence between WASH- 
 INGTON and the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, and the 
 Farewell Address, must remember that the closing 
 scenes of his administration were so embittered with 
 party strife, that when the subject of a reply to his 
 last address to the House of Representatives was be- 
 fore that body, some of its members opposed the com- 
 mon courtesies that were due to the retiring President. 
 The members of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania 
 were mostly residents of the city where such base in- 
 gratitude was manifested for the past services oi 
 WASHINGTON, and probably belonged to both of the 
 political parties of that day. But as Masons they rose 
 above the warfare of politicians, and tendered to him 
 their grateful acknowledgments for his past services, 
 leaving (to use their own significant language) "to 
 the pen of history to record the important events in 
 which he had borne so illustrious a part." WASHING- 
 TON'S reply shows that he fully appreciated their kind 
 sentiments. How ardently he sought rest at this 
 period from his public labors may be seen from a let- 
 ter written to his friend, and Masonic Brother, General 
 
WASHINGTON. 167 
 
 KNOX, two days before his retirement from the presi- 
 dency. To him he could confide the most sacred feel- 
 ings of a Mason's heart ; and it is singular to remark 
 in all his epistolary correspondence that the tenderest 
 effusions of his pen were for those friends who were 
 bound to him by the ties of Masonic -brotherhood. On 
 this occasion he says : 
 
 " To the wearied traveller who sees a resting-place, and is 
 bending his body to lean thereon, I now compare myself ; 
 but to be suffered to do this in peace, is too much to be 
 endured by some. To misrepresent my motives, to reprobate 
 my politics, and to weaken the confidence which has been 
 reposed in my administration, arc objects which cannot be 
 relinquished by those who will be satisfied with nothing 
 short of a change in our political system. The consolation, 
 however, which results from conscious rectitude, and the 
 approving voice of iny country, unequivocally expressed by 
 its representatives, deprives their sting of its poison, and 
 place in the same point of view, the weakness and malig- 
 nity of their efforts." 
 
 The closing scene of WASHINGTON'S administration 
 was on the 4th of March, 1797. Upon the day previous 
 he had given his last presidential dinner, at which 
 many official dignitaries and personal friends were 
 present. On this occasion when the cloth was re- 
 moved, he took a glass of wine, and raising it to his 
 lips, said: " Ladies and gentlemen, this is the last time 
 I shall drink your health as a public man. I do it with 
 sincerity, wishing you all possible happiness." There 
 was profound silence when this toast was drank, and 
 tears stained the cheeks of many guests at the farewell 
 dinner of WASHINGTON. 
 
168 WASHINGTON. 
 
 WASHINGTON'S administration closed on the following 
 day, and Mr. ADAMS was inaugurated his successor. 
 On this occasion he publicly appeared for the last time 
 as President, and having introduced Mr. ADAMS to the 
 assemblage before him, he read to them a brief vale- 
 dictory which he had prepared. His parting words 
 met with responsive sobs from the audience, and his 
 own great heart swelled with emotions till the tears fell 
 from his cheeks. As he retired from the scene before 
 him, he was followed by a multitude of citizens, all 
 eager to catch the last look of one they loved so well. 
 At his own door he turned to express his acknowledg- 
 ment to the people ; but his voice failed him, and it 
 was only by a wave of his hand that he could convey 
 % farewell blessing. 
 
CHAPTEE IX. 
 
 WASHINGTON" leaves Philadelphia and returns to Mount Veruon. Engages 
 in domestic pursuits. Letter to General KNOX. Eeceives address from 
 Grand Lodge of Massachusetts. His reply. Receives letter from Master 
 of his own lodge inviting him to an entertainment. Accepts it. Ac- 
 count of this entertainment as published at the time. His employments. 
 
 > Unpleasant position of France towards our Government. WASHINGTON 
 appointed commander of the provisional army. Letter to him from the 
 Grand Lodge of Maryland, with copy of Constitutions. His reply. 
 Public mind excited by the writings of BARRUEL and EOBISON on the 
 subject of Illuminism. Attempts made to implicate Masonry with it. 
 Eev. Mr. SNYDER sends WASHINGTON " proofs of a conspiracy." Copy 
 of accompanying letter from Mr. SNYDER. WASHINGTON'S reply. Mr. 
 SNYDER writes him a second letter. His reply. Contents of these 
 letters considered. Other clergymen seek to alarm the public in regard to 
 Masonry. Grand Lodge of Massachusetts address a letter to President 
 ADAMS. His reply. Grand Lodges of Vermont and Maryland also write 
 letters to Mr. ADAMS, to which he replies. Extract from letter of Grand 
 Lodge of Maryland to Mr. ADAMS. Extract from his reply. Eev. Mr. 
 MORSE qualifies his sermon when published. France assumes a more 
 pacific attitude. WASHINGTON'S last celebration of his birthday at Mount 
 Vernon. Marriage of his adopted daughter. His birthday anniver- 
 saries became National holidays. Also Masonic holidays. Dr. SEA- 
 BURY dedicates sermon to him. Curious pamphlet by Eev. Mr. WEEMS 
 dedicated to him. Copy of Mr. WEEMS' letter to him, and his reply. 
 
 left Philadelphia in a few 
 days and returned to Mount Vernon, 
 where he at once engaged in superintend- 
 ing the improvement of his estate, and 
 arranging his domestic affairs, which had 
 been neglected during the eight years of his presi- 
 dency. He had said in a letter to General KNOX : 
 
 8* 
 
170 WASHINGTON. 
 
 " The remainder of my life, which in the course of nature 
 cannot be long, will' be occupied in rural amusements ; and 
 though I shall seclude myself as much as possible from the 
 noisy and bustling crowd, none would more than myself 
 be regaled by the company of those I esteem at Mount 
 Vernon more than twenty miles from which, after I ar- 
 rive there, it is not likely I shall ever be." 
 
 He had scarcely settled himself in his domestic en- 
 joyments, when the voice of Masonry ever grateful 
 to his ear reached him in an address from the Grand 
 Lodge of Massachusetts, which bore date March 21, 
 1797, of which the following is a copy : 
 
 "The East, the West, and the South, of the Grand Lodge 
 of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, for the Common- 
 wealth of Massachusetts, to their most worthy Brother 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 
 
 "Wishing ever to be foremost in testimonials of respect 
 and admiration of those virtues and services with which 
 you have so long adorned and benefited our common 
 country, and not the last nor least to regret the cessation 
 of them in the public councils of the Union, your brethren 
 of this Grand Lodge embrace the earliest opportunity of 
 greeting you in the calm retirement you have contemplated 
 to yourself. 
 
 " Though as citizens they lose you in the active labors of 
 political life, they hope as Masons to find you in the pleas- 
 ing sphere of fraternal engagement. From the cares of 
 State, and the fatigues of public business, our institution 
 opens a recess, affording all the relief of tranquillity, the 
 harmony of peace, and the refreshment of pleasure. Of 
 these may you partake in all their purity and satisfaction ; 
 
WASHINGTON. . 171 
 
 and we will assure ourselves that your attachment to this 
 social plan will encrease ; and that, under the auspices of 
 your encouragement, assistance, and patronage, the Craft 
 will attain its highest ornament, perfection, and praise. 
 And it is our earnest prayer, that when your light shall be 
 no more visible in this earthly Temple, you may be raised 
 to the All Perfect Lodge above, be seated on the right of 
 the Supreme Architect of the Universe, and receive the re- 
 freshment your labors have merited. 
 
 " In behalf of the Grand Lodge, we subscribe ourselves, 
 with the highest esteem, your affectionate brethren, 
 
 " PAUL REVERE, Grand Master. 
 
 " ISAIAH THOMAS, Senior .Grand Warden. 
 
 " JOSEPH LAUGHTON, Junior Grand Warden. 
 
 " DANJEL OLIVER, Grand Secretary. 
 
 "BOSTON, March 21,5797." 
 
 To this address WASHINGTON returned the following 
 reply, which was communicated to the Grand Lodge 
 on the 12th of the following June : 
 
 11 To THE GRAND LODGE OF ANCIENT FREE AND ACCEPTED MA- 
 SONS IN THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS : 
 
 " BROTHERS It was not until within these few days that 
 I have been favored by the receipt of your affectionate 
 address, dated in Boston, the 21st March. 
 
 " For the favorable sentiments you have been pleased to 
 express on the occasion of my past services, and for the 
 regrets with which they are accompanied for the cessation 
 of my public functions, I pray you to accept my best ac- 
 knowledgments and gratitude. 
 
 "No pleasure, except that which results from a conscious- 
 ness of having, to the utmost of my abilities, discharged the 
 
172 WASHINGTON. 
 
 trusts whicli have been reposed in me by my country, can 
 equal the satisfaction I feel for the unequivocal proofs I 
 continually receive of its approbation of my public con- 
 duct ; and I beg you to be assured that the evidence 
 thereof, which is exhibited by the Grand Lodge of Mas- 
 sachusetts, is not among the least pleasing or grateful to 
 my feelings. 
 
 " In that retirement which declining years induces me to 
 seek, and which repose, to a mind long employed in public 
 concerns, rendered necessary, my wishes that bounteous 
 Providence will continue to bless and preserve our country 
 in peace, and in the prosperity it has enjoyed, will be warm 
 and sincere ; and iny attachment to the Society of which 
 we are members will dispose me always to contribute my 
 best endeavors to promote the honor and interest of the 
 Craft. 
 
 " For the prayer j-o.u offer in my behalf, I entreat you 
 to accept the thanks of a grateful heart, with assurances 
 of fraternal regard, and my best wishes for the honor, hap- 
 piness, and prosperity of all the members of the Grand 
 
 Lodge of Massachusetts. 
 
 " G. WASHINGTON." 
 
 Although this Masonic greeting from the Grand 
 Lodge of Massachusetts antedates any other Masonic 
 intercourse on record after his retirement from the 
 presidency ; yet before its reception by him, his own 
 lodge at Alexandria also took measures to welcome his 
 return. Eor this purpose they addressed him the fol- 
 lowing letter : 
 
 " ALEXANDEIA, March 28, 1797. 
 
 "MosT RESPECTED BROTHJR Brothers RAMSEY and MARS- 
 TELLER wait upon you with a copy of an address which 
 
WASHINGTON. 173 
 
 has been prepared by the unanimous desire of the Ancient 
 York Masons of Lodge No. 22. It is their earnest request 
 that you will partake of a dinner with them, and that you 
 will please appoint the time most convenient for you to 
 attend. 
 
 "I am, most beloved Brother, 
 
 " Your most obd't and humble serv't, 
 
 "JAMES GILLIS, M. 
 "GENERAL GEORGE WASHINGTON." 
 
 WASHINGTON accepted the invitation, and designated 
 the following Saturday as the time when he would 
 meet the brethren of his lodge. The following account 
 of the addresses and ceremonies on the occasion is given 
 in the " Freemasons' Magazine," published in London 
 in June, 1797 : 
 
 " UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 
 
 ALEXANDRIA, April 4, 1797. 
 
 " In consequence of an invitation from the Ancient York 
 Masons of the Alexandria Lodge No. 22 to General GEORGE 
 WASHINGTON, he joined the brethren on Saturday last, when 
 the following address was delivered : 
 
 " ' MOST RESPECTED BROTHER The Ancient York Masons of 
 Lodge No. 22 offer you their warmest congratulations, on 
 your retirement from your useful labors. Under the Su- 
 preme Architect of the Universe, you have been the Master 
 Workman in erecting the Temple of Liberty in the West, on 
 the broad basis of equal rights. In your wise administra- 
 tion of the Government of the United States for the space 
 of eight years, you have kept within the compass of our 
 happy constitution, and acted upon the square with foreign 
 
174 WASHINGTON. 
 
 nations, and thereby preserved your country in peace, and 
 promoted the prosperity and happiness of your fellow- 
 citizens. And now that you have returned from the labors 
 of public life, to the refreshment of domestic tran quill ityj 
 they ardently pray that you may long enjoy all the happi- 
 ness which the Terrestrial Lodge can afford, and finally be 
 received to a Celestial Lodge, where love, peace, and har- 
 mony forever reign, and cherubim and seraphim shall hail 
 you Brother ! 
 
 " ' By the unanimous desire of Lodge No. 22. 
 
 " ' JAMES GILLIS, Master. 
 " * GENERAL GEORGE WASHINGTON.' 
 
 " To which the following reply was made : 
 
 " ' BROTHERS OF THE ANCIENT YORK MASONS No. 22 Wl/ilc 
 my heart acknowledges with brotherly love your affectionate 
 congratulations on my retirement from the arduous toils of 
 past years, my gratitude is no less excited by your kind 
 wishes for my future happiness. If it has pleased the Su- 
 preme Architect of the Universe to make me an humble in- 
 strument to promote the welfare and happiness of my 
 fellow-men, my exertions have been abundantly recom- 
 pensed by the kind partiality with which they have been 
 received. And the assurances you give me of your belief 
 that I have acted upon the square in my public capacity, 
 will be among my principal enjoyments in this Terrestrial 
 Lodge. 
 
 ' G. WASHINGTON.' 
 
 " After this the lodge went in procession from their room 
 to Mr. ALBERT'S tavern, where they partook of an elegant 
 dinner prepared for the occasion, at which the utmost har- 
 mony prevailed. The following were the principal toasts : 
 
WASHINGTON. 175 
 
 "1st. Prosperity to the Most Ancient and Honorable 
 Craft. 
 
 " 2d. All those who live within the Compass and the 
 Square. 
 
 "3d. The Temple of Liberty may its pillars be the 
 poles, its canopy the heavens, and its votaries all mankind. 
 
 " 4th. The virtuous nine. 
 
 " 5th. The United States of America. 
 
 " 6th. The Grand Master of Virginia. 
 
 "7th. All oppressed and distressed, wherever dispersed. 
 
 " 8th. Masons' wives, and Masons' bairns, and all who 
 wish to lie in Masons' arms. 
 
 " 9th. May brotherly love unite all nations. 
 (By Brother WASHINGTON.) 
 
 " 10th. The Lodge at Alexandria, and all Masons through- 
 out 'the world. 
 
 " After which he retired. 
 
 " llth. Our most respected Brother GEORGE WASHINGTON. 
 Which was drunk with all Masonic honors." 
 
 These Masonic incidents in WASHINGTON'S life oc- 
 curred while lie was busily preparing to rearrange the 
 domestic concerns of his estate, which had been- some- 
 what neglected during the presidency. In a letter to 
 a friend he says : 
 
 " I find myself in the situation of a new beginner ; for 
 although I have not houses to build (except one which I 
 must erect for the accommodation and security of my mili- 
 tary, civil, and private papers, which are voluminous, and 
 may be interesting), yet I have scarcely any thing else 
 about me that does not require considerable repairs. In a 
 word, I am already surrounded with joiners, masons, and 
 
176 WASHINGTON. 
 
 painters ; and such is my anxiety to get.out of their hands, 
 that I have scarcely a room to put a friend into or to sit in 
 myself, without the music of hammers or the odoriferous 
 smell of paint." 
 
 But WASHINGTON was not permitted to enjoy the 
 quietness of Mount Yernon undisturbed by public 
 cares. Before his administration had closed, the gov- 
 ernment of France assumed an unpleasant position 
 towards our own, and the clouds of war were again 
 gathering thick above our horizon, and threatening to 
 burst upon our country with all their complicated 
 gloom. So imminent had the danger become, that in 
 1798 a provisional army was ordered to be raised, and 
 all eyes in America were turned on WASHINGTON as its 
 commander. He received and reluctantly accepted 
 the appointment, and in the fall of that year again left 
 his own quiet home and repaired to Philadelphia to 
 arrange the details of a perfect military organization 
 of the country for the anticipated contest. While he 
 was engaged in these duties, he received from the 
 Grand Lodge of the State of Maryland a copy of its 
 Book of Constitutions, which had been published the 
 previous year, accompanied by a letter from that Grand 
 Lodge, to which he returned the following reply, dated 
 November 8, 1798 : ' 
 
 " To THE RIGHT WORSHIPFUL GRAND LODGE OF FREEMASONS OP 
 THE STATE OF MARYLAND : 
 
 "BRETHREN AND BROTHERS Your obliging and affectionate 
 letter, together with a copy of the ' Constitutions of Masonry/ 
 has been put in my hands by your Grand Master, for which, 
 
WASHINGTON. 177 
 
 I pray you, to accept my best thanks. So far as I am ac- 
 quainted with the principles and doctrines of Freemasonry, 
 I conceive them to be founded on benevolence, and to be 
 exercised only for the good of mankind. I cannot, there- 
 fore, upon this ground, withdraw my approbation from it. 
 While I offer my grateful acknowledgments for your con- 
 gratulations on my late appointment, and for the favorable 
 sentiments you are pleased to express of my conduct, per- 
 mit me to observe, that, at this important and critical mo- 
 ment, when high and repeated indignities have been offered 
 to the Government of our country, and when the property 
 of our citizens is plundered without a prospect of redress, I 
 conceive it to be the indispensable duty of every American, 
 let his station and circumstances in life be what they may, 
 to come forward in support of the Government of his 
 choice, and to give all the aid in his power towards main- 
 taining that independence which we have' so dearly pur- 
 chased ; and, under this impression, I did not hesitate 
 to lay aside all personal considerations and accept my 
 appointment. 
 
 "I pray you to be assured that I receive with gratitude 
 your kind wishes for my health and happiness, and recipro- 
 cate them with sincerity. 
 
 " I am, gentlemen and brothers, very respectfully, 
 
 " Your most obed't serv't, 
 
 " G. WASHINGTON." 
 
 " November 8, 1798." 
 
 The student of Masonic history will remember that 
 this reply from WASHINGTON to the Grand Lodge of 
 Maryland was written when our country was agitated 
 with a threatened war with France ; and that the in- 
 testine commotions that had distracted that republic, 
 
 8* 
 
178 WASHINGTON. 
 
 were ascribed to the influence of German and French 
 "illuminism," which a BARRUEL and a BOBISON asserted 
 had been planted and fostered there through the in- 
 fluence of Masonic lodges. 
 
 BARRUEL who was a French Jesuit, used all his pro- 
 fessional cunning to implicate Masonry in the excesses 
 of the Jacobins of France and ROBISON, who was a 
 Scotchman of some literary notoriety, had each issued 
 a work in which they they sought to demonstrate that 
 Masonic lodges were all schools of illuminism, in which 
 infidelity and red-republicanism were taught. These 
 works had just made their appearance in this country, 
 and the excesses of the French at home, and their 
 hostile and insolent attitude to our Government, caused 
 them to receive an attention and make an impression 
 on the public mind which would have been impossible 
 under other circumstances. It is worthy of note that 
 the author of one of these productions was a Papist, 
 and that of the other a Scotch Presbyterian. 
 
 Masonic lodges in this country had multiplied since 
 the Revolution to an extent unknown before ; their 
 membership embraced men in all the honorable walks 
 of life, and higher organizations and Masonic grades of 
 office were being formed in many of the States. 
 ROBISON had openly asserted that illuminism was a 
 grade in Masonry, which had already been intro- 
 duced in the United States ; and public agitators 
 in this country sought to identify the infidelity of 
 Germany, and the excesses of France, with Masonry 
 in America. 
 
 While the public mind was poisoned with these in- 
 sinuations, and the country was threatened with au 
 
WASHINGTON. 179 
 
 invasion by France, WASHINGTON received from a 
 clergyman, by the name of SNYDEE, who resided at 
 Fredericktown, in Maryland, a copy of Mr. EOBISON'S 
 work, which had just been republished in America, 
 entitled " Proofs of a Conspiracy against all the Ke- 
 ligions and Governments of Europe, carried on in the 
 secret meetings of Freemasons, Illuminati, and Head- 
 ing Societies." The book was also accompanied by 
 fche following letter to him from Mr. SNYDER : 
 
 " SIR You will, I hope, not think it presumption in a 
 stranger, whose name, perhaps, never reached your ears, to 
 address himself to you, the commanding general of a great 
 nation, I am a German born, and liberally educated in the 
 city of Heidelberg, in the Palatinate of the Rhine. I came 
 to this country in 1716, and felt soon after my arrival a 
 close attachment to the liberty for which these Confederated 
 States then, struggled. The same attachment still remains, 
 not glowing, but burning in my breast. At the same time 
 that I am exulting in the measures adopted by our Govern- 
 ment, I feel myself elevated in the idea of my adopted 
 country. I am attached, both from the best of education 
 and mature inquiry and research, to the simple doctrines of 
 Christianity, which I have the honor to teach in public ; and 
 I do heartily despise all the cavils of infidelity. Our present 
 time is pregnant with the most shocking evils and calami- 
 ties, which threaten ruin to our liberty and Government. 
 Secretly the most secret plans are in agitation ; plans 
 calculated to ensnare the unwary, to attract the gay and 
 irreligious, and to entice even the well-disposed to combine 
 in the general machine for overturning all government and 
 religion. 
 
180 WASHINGTON. 
 
 " It was some time since that a book fell into my hands, 
 entitled 'Proofs of a Conspiracy, etc., by JOHN ROBISON, 
 which gives a full account of a Society of Freemasons, that 
 distinguishes itself by the name of ' Illuminati/ whose 
 plan is to overturn all government and all religion, even 
 natural, and who endeavor to eradicate every idea of a 
 Supreme ' Being, and distinguish man from beast by his 
 shape only. 
 
 "A thought suggested itself to me that some of the 
 lodges in the United States might have caught the infec- 
 tion, and might co-operate with the Illuminati, or the Jaco- 
 bine clubs in France. 
 
 "FAUCHET is mentioned by ROBISON as a zealous mem- 
 ber ; and who can doubt GENET and ADET? Have not th-s; 
 their confidants in this country ? They use the same ex- 
 pressions, and are generally men of no religion. Upon 
 serious reflection I was led to think that it might be within 
 your power to prevent the horrid plan from corrupting the 
 brethren of the English lodges over which you preside. I 
 send you the ' Proofs of a Conspiracy,' etc., which, I doubt 
 not, will give you satisfaction, and afford you matter for a 
 train of ideas that may operate to our national felicity. If, 
 however, you have already perused the book, it will not, I 
 trust, be disagreeable to you that I address you with this 
 letter, and the book accompanying it. It proceeded from 
 the sincerity of my heart, and my ardent wishes for the 
 common good. 
 
 " May the Supreme Ruler of all things continue you long 
 with us in these perilous times ; may He endue you with 
 strength and wisdom to save our country in the threatening 
 storms and gathering clouds of factions and commotions ; 
 and after you have completed His work on this terrene spot, 
 may He bring you to the full possession of the glorious 
 
WASHINGTON. 181 
 
 liberty of the children of GOD, is the hearty and most sin- 
 cere wish of 
 
 " Your Excellency's 
 
 " Very humble and devoted servant, 
 
 " G. W. SNYDER. 
 
 " His Excellency General GEOEGE WASHINGTON. 
 " FREDERICKTOWN, Maryland, August 22, 1798." * 
 
 To this letter WASHINGTON replied as follows : 
 
 "MOUNT VERNON, 25th September, 1798. 
 
 "THE REV. MR. SNYDER: SIR Many apologies are due to 
 you for rny not acknowledging the receipt of your obliging 
 favor of the 22d ult., and not thanking you, at an earlier 
 period, for the book you had the goodness' to send me. 
 
 " I have heard much of the nefarious and dangerous plan 
 and doctrines of the Illuminati, but never saw the book un- 
 til you were pleased to send it to me. The same causes 
 which have prevented my acknowledging the receipt of 
 your letter have prevented my reading the book hitherto 
 namely, the multiplicity of matters which pressed upon me 
 before, and the debilitated state in which I was left after a 
 severe fever had been removed, and which allows me to add 
 but little more than thanks for your kind wishes and favor- 
 able sentiments, except to correct an error you have run 
 into, of my presiding over the English lodges in this country. 
 The fact is, I preside over none, nor have I been in one 
 more than once or twice within the last thirty years. I be- 
 lieve, notwithstanding, that none of the lodges in this coun- 
 try are contaminated with the principles ascribed to the 
 society of the Illuminati. 
 
 "With respect, I am, sir, 
 
 " Your obedieat, humble servant, 
 
 " G. WASHINGTON." 
 
182 WASHINGTON. 
 
 Mr. SNYDEB wrote a second letter to WASHINGTON, in 
 the following month, on the same subject; and for this 
 we have also made strict search in the archives of the 
 Federal State Department, where the Washington 
 papers are deposited ; but it is nowhere to be found. 
 A copy of WASHINGTON'S reply to this second letter, 
 however, we are able to lay before our readers. 
 
 " MOUNT VERNON, 24th October, 1798. 
 
 " REVEREND SIR I have your favor of the 17th instant 
 before me, and my only motive for troubling you witli the 
 receipt of the letter is to explain and correct a mistake 
 which, I believe, the hurry in which I am obliged often to 
 write letters has led you into. 
 
 "It was not my intention to doubt that the doctrines of 
 the lUuminatij and the principles of Jacobinism had not 
 spread in the United States. On the contrary, no one is 
 more fully satisfied of this fact than I am. 
 
 " The idea I meant to convey was, that I did not believe 
 that the lodges of Freemasons in this country had, as so- 
 cieties, endeavored to propagate the diabolical tenets of 
 the former, or the pernicious principles of the latter, if they 
 are susceptible of separation. That individuals of them 
 may have done it, or tliat the founder, or instruments em- 
 ployed to found, the democratic societies in the United 
 States may have had these objects, and actually had a 
 separation of -the people from their Government in view, is 
 too evident to be questioned. 
 
 " My occupations are such that little leisure is allowed 
 me to read newspapers or books of any kind. The reading 
 of letters and preparing answers absorbs much of my time 
 " With respect, I remain, sir, etc., 
 
 " G. WASHINGTON '' 
 
WASHINGTON. 183 
 
 The first letter of General WASHINGTON to Mr. SNYDEII 
 has been often quoted, in some of its parts, to attempt 
 to show that WASHINGTON disclaimed all connection 
 with Masonry during his mature and latter years. His 
 statement, that he presided over none of the English 
 lodges of this country, nor had been in one more than 
 once or twice in the last thirty years, is given as if the 
 qualifying designation of English lodges was not there 
 written and fully meant by him. It is well known, as 
 any fact in history, that previous to the Revolution all 
 regular lodges of Masons in this country derived their 
 authority, either directly or indirectly, from one of the 
 Grand Lodges of Great Britain, and Masonry in this 
 country was known as English Masonry, in contradis- 
 tinction to some of the existing systems of Continental 
 Europe. When the independence of the United States 
 was fully confirmed, Masonry, as an institution, con- 
 formed its organizations and government to the new 
 existing political state of the country ; and its lodges, 
 with but few exceptions, relinquished all dependence 
 on their English progenitor and head. American 
 lodges, therefore, in 1798, were as distinct from 
 English lodges, as the independent States were from 
 their former colonial dependence, except in a few in- 
 stances, where individual lodges, like St. Andrew's in 
 Boston, still continued their fealty to the foreign 
 Grand Lodge, to which they owed their birth, and 
 declined to acknowledge the supremacy or legitimacy 
 of any independent American Grand Lodge. Some of 
 these lodges thus continued until after the commence- 
 ment of the present century. 
 
 There were also many lodges in America, while tho 
 
184 "WASHINGTON. 
 
 Provincial Grand Lodge system was in vogue here, 
 which had their warrants from the Grand Lodges of 
 England direct, and were never, subject to the govern- 
 ment of the American Provincial Grand Bodies ; and 
 there were other English Military Lodges in this coun- 
 try, botli during the Revolution and previous to it, 
 which had no connection with the Provincial Grand 
 Lodges in America, except in owing a common alle- 
 giance to the English Grand Easts, from which they 
 sprung. In which of these WASHINGTON may " once or 
 twice" have been, we have no record to determine, 
 while we have abundant records to show that he often 
 met with his American brethren in their lodges, and 
 was to the close of his life an affiliated member, and 
 as such received Masonic burial at their hands. 
 
 Mr. SNYDER was not the only clergyman in America 
 whose fears were aroused by the artful statements of 
 Mr. ROBISON'S book, for it pervaded to a great extent 
 among the Scotch Presbyterians ; and in New England 
 many of all classes suffered themselves to be very 
 much alarmed by its statements. Mr. ADAMS, as Pres- 
 ident of the United States, had recommended a na- 
 tional fast-day to be observed on the 9th of May, 1798 ; 
 and on that occasion many clergymen introduced the 
 subject of niuminism into their discourses, and at- 
 tempted to show from the writings of BAEKUEL and 
 EOBISON, that Masonry was an institution dangerous 
 to civil and religious liberty. Much feeling was 
 aroused in New England by these discourses, and the 
 fears of many were excited that Masonry in this coun- 
 try was about to work the same evils here that had 
 been falsely attributed to it in Europe. 
 
WASHINGTON. 185 
 
 To counteract this false impression on the public 
 mind, the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, at their ses- 
 sion on the llth of June of that year, addressed the 
 following communication to JOHN ADAMS, as President 
 of the United States : 
 
 "BOSTON, June 11, 1798. 
 " To THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES : 
 
 " g IR Flattery and a discussion of political opinions are 
 inconsistent with the principles of our Fraternity ; but 
 while we are bound to cultivate benevolence, and extend 
 the arm of charity to our brethren of every clime, we feel 
 the strongest obligations to support the civil authority 
 which protects us. And when the illiberal attacks of a 
 foreign enthusiast, aided by the unfounded prejudices of his 
 followers, are tending to embarrass the public mind with 
 respect to the real views of our society, we think it our 
 duty to join in full concert with our fellow-citizens in ex- 
 pressing our gratitude to the Supreme Architect of the 
 Universe, for endowing you with that wisdom, patriotism, 
 firmness, and integrity which has characterized your public 
 conduct. 
 
 " While the independence of our country, and the opera- 
 tion of just and equal laws, have contributed to enlarge the 
 sphere of social happiness, we rejoice that our Masonic 
 brethren throughout the United States have discovered by 
 their conduct a zeal to promote the public welfare, and that 
 many of them have been conspicuous for their talents and 
 unwearied exertions. Among those, your venerable prede- 
 cessor is the most illustrious example ; and the memory of 
 our beloved WARREN, who from the chair of this Grand 
 Lodge has often urged the members to the exercise of 
 patriotism and philanthropy, and who sealed his principles 
 
186 WASHINGTON. 
 
 with bis blood, shall ever animate us to a laudable imita- 
 tion of his virtues. 
 
 " Sincerely we deprecate the calamities of war, and have 
 fervently wished success to every endeavor for the preser- 
 vation of peace. But, sir, if we disregard the blessings of 
 liberty, we are unworthy to enjoy them. In vain have our 
 statesmen labored in their public assemblies and by their 
 midnight tapers ; in vain have our mountains and valleys 
 been stained with the blood of our heroes, if we want firm- 
 ness to repel the assaults of every presumptive invader. 
 And while, as citizens of a Free Eepublic, we engage our 
 utmost exertions in the cause of our country, and offer our 
 services to protect the fair inheritance of our ancestors, as 
 Masons we will cultivate the precepts of our institution^ 
 and alleviate the miseries of all who by the fortunes of war, 
 or the ordinary concerns of life, are the objects of our at- 
 tention. 
 
 " Long may you continue a patron of the useful arts, and 
 an ornament to the present generation ; may you finish 
 your public labors with an approving conscience, and be 
 gathered to the sepulchres of your co-patriots with the 
 benedictions of your countrymen ; and finally, may you be 
 admitted to that celestial temple, where all national dis- 
 tinctions are lost in undissembled friendship and universal 
 peace. 
 
 " JOSIAH BARTLETT, Grand Master. 
 
 " SAMUEL DUNN, D. G. Master. 
 
 " JOSEPH LAUGHTOX, ) ~ ^^ 
 
 TTT T V G. TV ardens. 
 
 " WM. LITTLE, j 
 
 "Attest: DAXIEL OLIVER, G. Secretary." 
 
 To this address, Mr. ADAMS sent the following cour- 
 teous and respectful reply. 
 
WASHINGTON. 187 
 
 " GENTLEMEN As I never had the honor to be one of your 
 ancient fraternity, I feel myself under the greater obliga- 
 tions to you for your respectful and affectionate address. 
 Many of my best friends have been Masons, and two of 
 these, my professional patron, the learned GRIDLEY, and my 
 intimate friend, your immortal WARREN, whose life and 
 death are lessons of patriotism and philanthropy, were 
 Grand Masters. Yet so it has happened, that I never had 
 the felicity to be initiated. Such examples as these, and a 
 greater still in my venerable predecessor, would have been 
 sufficient to induce me to hold the Institution and Fraternity 
 in esteem and honor, as favorable to the support of civil 
 authority, if I had not known their love of the fine arts, 
 their delight in hospitality, and devotion to humanity. 
 
 " Your indulgent opinion of my conduct, and your benev- 
 olent wish for the fortunate termination of my public labors, 
 have my sincere thanks. 
 
 " The public engagement of your utmost exertions in the 
 cause of your country, and the offer of your services to pro- 
 tect the fair inheritance of your ancestors, are proofs that 
 you are not chargeable with those designs, the imputation 
 of which, in other parts of the world, has embarrassed the 
 public mind with respect to the real views of your society. 
 
 " JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 "PHILADELPHIA, June 22, 1798." 
 
 Mr. ADAMS had, a few months previous, received 
 a similar letter from the Grand Master of Maryland, 
 in behalf of the Fraternity of that State, to which ho 
 also replied. From this letter and reply, we give the 
 following extracts. Mr. BELTON, the Grand Master, 
 in his letter, bearing date Baltimore, July 12, 1798, 
 said : 
 
188 WASHINGTON. 
 
 ******** Permit us to offer our most sincere con- 
 gratulations on an occurrence the most interesting to Ameri- 
 cans. We again behold our WASHINGTON ! the glory of his 
 country the boast, the honor of our Society and of man- 
 kind, relinquishing in old age the tranquil scene. Sum- 
 moned by the voice of his country, we again behold the 
 Hero and the Patriot, willing and forward to sacrifice his 
 private ease for her safety ! What heart can be so cold, 
 what heart can so languidly move, as not to beat high 
 and strong at the thought of being once more commanded 
 by that highest ornament of the human character our true, 
 ever-beloved Brother GEORGE WASHINGTON ! The name alone 
 will form a sure defence." 
 
 To this sentiment Mr. ADAMS replied under date of 
 July 18, 1798 : 
 
 ****** <c \yjth heartfelt satisfaction, I reciprocate 
 your most sincere congratulations on an occasion the most 
 interesting to Americans. No light or trivial cause would 
 have given you the opportunity of beholding your WASH- 
 INGTON again relinquishing, the tranquil scenes in delicious 
 shades. To complete the character of French philosophy 
 and French policy, at the end of the eighteenth century, it 
 seemed to be necessary to combat this Patriot and Hero" 
 
 These addresses and replies show that WASHINGTON'S 
 connection with Masonry was as fully recognized at 
 this period by all classes of American citizens as it 
 was proudly claimed by his, brethren, and that the 
 misinterpretation of -his views by its enemies had not 
 then been attempted. Even the Kev. JEDEDIAH MORSE, 
 who in his fast- day sermon at Boston, on the 9th of 
 
WASHINGTON. 189 
 
 May, had entered largely into the spirit of BARRUEL 
 and KOBISON, when he permitted the sermon to appear 
 in print a few months later, softened his accusations in 
 a marginal note by saying : 
 
 " Judging from the characters in general who compose 
 the Masonic Fraternity in America, at the head of which 
 stands the immortal WASHINGTON, and particularly the char- 
 acters of the Masons in New England, who, as a body, have 
 ever shown themselves firm and decided supporters of civil 
 and religious order, we may presume that this leaven has 
 not found its way into our American lodges, especially in 
 the Eastern States, If it has been introduced among us, it 
 has probably been insinuated through different channels." 
 
 Thus was WASHINGTON'S fame as a Mason publicly 
 acknowledged and unimpeached, even by those of his 
 contemporaries who assailed the integrity and objects 
 of the institution. 
 
 The last year of WASHINGTON'S life was spent in 
 quietness at his home on the Potomac. His duties as 
 lieutenant-general of the Provisional army did not call 
 him into the fieldj for France assumed a more pacific 
 attitude towards our Government, and he was spared 
 the necessity of directing a bloody conflict with our 
 former ally. The 22d of February, 1799, was a gala- 
 day at Mount Yernon. It was WASHINGTON'S last 
 celebration of his birthday ; and on this occasion his 
 adopted daughter, NELLY CUSTIS, was given by him as 
 the bride of his nephew, LAWRENCE LEWIS. She was 
 the daughter of his stepson, JOHN PARKE CUSTIS, who 
 died near Yorktown in 1781. His two youngest chil- 
 dren, a son and a daughter, as before stated, had on 
 
190 WASHINGTON. 
 
 that occasion been adopted by WASHINGTON ; and of 
 these NELLY was his favorite, and the bridal flower that 
 graced Mount Vernon on his last birthday. 
 
 While the States were English colonies, the king's 
 birthday anniversaries were public holidays ; and as 
 such, the 4th of June was King GEORGE'S day with the 
 people : but after the close of the Revolution, the cele- 
 bration of WASHINGTON'S birthday took the place of 
 that ; and the 22d of February became a festival day 
 in our country. It was thus observed in Alexandria 
 as early as 1784; and the birth-night balls of February 
 22 d have been successively continued there. We have 
 also seen notices of it in Richmond as early as 1786, 
 and in Philadelphia, 1790. It also became, during 
 WASHINGTON'S presidency, a Masonic festival. St. 
 John's Lodge at Newark, New Jersey, kept it as such 
 as early as 1792 ; and that venerable lodge has, from 
 that time to the present, yearly convened on that day 
 to commemorate the Masonic virtues of WASHINGTON. 
 Little did those brethren, who first met to celebrate it 
 as Masons, reflect how many millions in after-years 
 would regard it as 
 
 " The gayest festival in all the year." 
 
 Even at the yearly festivals of more ancient origin 
 to commemorate the two St. Johns, it had become the 
 custom to remember WASHINGTON in one of the standing 
 Masonic toasts at that day. He was also still remem- 
 bered in published Masonic addresses dedicated to him. 
 One of these, delivered before a special session of the 
 Grand Lodge of Connecticut, at Norwich, on the 24th 
 of June, 1795, by Dr. SAMUEL SEABURY, the first conse- 
 
WASHINGTON. 191 
 
 crated Bishop in America, bore the following dedica- 
 tion by him to WASHINGTON : 
 
 " To the Most Worshipful GEORGE WASHINGTON, President 
 of the United States of America, the following discourse is 
 respectfully inscribed, by his affectionate brother, and most 
 devoted servant, 
 
 " SAMUEL SEABURY." 
 
 It is a curious fact in the Masonic history of our 
 country during WASHINGTON'S lifetime, that most dedi- 
 cations of Masonic literature were made to him, while 
 other publications also were in some instances thus 
 dedicated. A curious semi-dedication of a quaint 
 pamphlet, by the Rev. MASON L. WEEMS, an early 
 biographer of WASHINGTON, published in 1799, was thus 
 given, which we here reproduce as the last written 
 correspondence with WASHINGTON in which Masonic 
 
 allusions are made. The pamphlet was entitled, 
 
 f 
 
 " The PHILANTHROPIST, or Political Peace-Maker between all 
 honest men of both parties. With the recommendation pre- 
 fixed by GEORGE WASHINGTON in his own handwriting, by 
 M. L. WEEMS, Lodge No. 50, Dumfries." 
 
 It was prefaced with the following letter to WASH- 
 INGTON, and a fac-simile copy of his reply, which were 
 as follows : 
 
 " To HIS EXCELLENCY GEORGE WASHINGTON, ESQUIRE, JJieulen- 
 
 ant-General of the Armies of the United States : 
 " MOST HONORED GENERAL Scarcely was I delivered of this 
 young republican philanthropist before I began, according 
 
192 WASHINGTON. 
 
 to good Christian usage, to look about for a suitable god- 
 father for it. My thoughts, presumptuously enough, I con- 
 fess, instantly fixed upon you, for two reasons : First, I 
 was desirous of paying to you (the first benefactor of my 
 country) this little mite of grateful and aifectionate re- 
 spect ; and secondly, because I well know there exists n$t, 
 on this side of heaven, the man who will more cordially 
 than General WASHINGTON approve of whatever tends to 
 advance the harmony and happiness of Columbia. 
 
 " GOD, I pray him, grant! that you may long live to see us 
 all catching from your fair example that reverence for the 
 Eternal Being, that veneration for the laws, that infinite 
 concern for the national Union, that unextinguishable love 
 for our country, and that insuperable contempt of pleasures, 
 of dangers, and of death itself, in its service and defence, 
 which have raised you to immortality, and which alone can 
 exalt us to be a GREAT and HAPPY REPUBLIC. 
 
 " On the square of Justice, and on the scale of Love, 1 
 remain, honored general, j r our very sincere friend, and Ma- 
 sonic brother, 
 
 "M. L. WEEMS." 
 
 WASHINGTON replied : 
 
 "MoirxT VEBNON, 29th August, 1799. 
 
 " REV'D SIR I have been duly favored with your letter 
 of the 20th instant, accompanying ' The Philanthropist/ 
 
 " For your politeness in sending the letter, I pray you 
 to receive my best thanks. Much indeed it is to be wished 
 that the sentiments contained in the Pamphlet, and the 
 doctrines it endeavors to inculcate, were more prevalent. 
 Happy would it be for this country at least, if they were so 
 But while the passions of mankind are under so little re- 
 straint as they are among us, and while there are so many 
 
WASHINGTON. 193 
 
 motives and views to bring them into action, we may 
 wish for, but never see the accomplishment of it. 
 " With respect, 
 
 " I am your most obed't humble servant, 
 
 " G. WASHINGTON 
 "TheRevM M. L. WEEMS/ 
 
 fa 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 WASHINGTON'S last autumn. His sickness. Death. Who present at th 
 time. Preparations for the funeral. Ceremonies arranged by a com- 
 mittee of Lodge No. 22. Emergent meeting of this lodge. Meeting of 
 Lodge No. 47. Other lodges in the district requested to attend the 
 funeral. Military of Alexandria invited to join as an escort. Citizens as- 
 sembled at the funeral. Inscription on the coffin. Masonic ceremonies at 
 the house. Vessel on the river furls its sails. Formation of the proces- 
 sion. Clergy present on the occasion. Who of them were Masons. 
 Moving of the procession. Arrival at the tomb. Religious services. 
 Masonic ceremonies. A salute fired. Entombment concluded. Lodge 
 No. 22 meets on the following day. Colonel DKNEALE elected its Master. 
 Its former Masters. Dr. DICK'S address. Lodges go to the Presby- 
 terian church to hear sermon by Rev. Mr. MAFFIT. Lodges attend on 
 two succeeding Sabbaths to hear sermons from various clergymen. 
 Celebration at Alexandria on the following 22d of February. Masonic 
 lodges attend in mourning. Other attendance. Ceremonies. Extracts 
 from Dr. DIOR'S address on the occasion. Prayers delivered on the oc- 
 casion by Rev. Brothers Dr. Mum, THOMAS DAVIS, and WILLIAM MAFFIT. 
 
 lASHINGTON'S last summer and autumn 
 were spent in arranging the minutest de- 
 tails of his domestic affairs and private 
 business. Whether he had a premoni- 
 tion that it was his last year, no one can 
 determine ; but like a wise man, he set his house in 
 order. December came, and with its chilling breath 
 and wintry mantle came also the messenger of death 
 for WASHINGTON ! 
 His sickness was sudden, short, and painful. It 
 
WASHINGTON. 195 
 
 commenced on the evening of Thursday, the 12th of 
 December, as a common cold, with soreness of the 
 throat. Upon the succeeding day the inflammation 
 there had increased, and in the night became alarm- 
 ing. He .was urged to send to Alexandria for Dr. 
 CRAIK, his family physician, but the night was stormy, 
 and his humanity for his servant induced him to defer 
 it until Saturday morning, using, in the mean time, all 
 the usual domestic remedies in such cases. But these 
 were of no avail, and his physicians came too late. It 
 was eleven o'clock on the forenoon of Saturday before 
 Dr. CEAIK arrived, and the disease had made so alarm- 
 ing a progress, that two eminent consulting physicians, 
 Dr. DICK, of Alexandria, and Dr. BROWN, of Port 
 Tobacco, were also sent for. But none of them could 
 afford relief. The chilling hand of death was already 
 upon him. Fully aware that his last mortal hour had 
 come, he met it with a composure of mind that as- 
 tonished those about him, saying to his physician, who 
 assured him that he had not long to live : " It is well, 
 doctor : I am not afraid to die." Then calmly crossing 
 his arms upon kis breast, he closed his eyes, and, with 
 a few shortening breaths, expired without a struggle, 
 between ten and eleven in the evening. 
 
 Mrs. WASHINGTON was sitting at the time at the foot 
 of the bed, and as his spirit ebbed away, she buried 
 her face in the enfolded curtains and silently prayed 
 that it might peacefully pass. The stillness of the 
 death-chamber was first broken by her words, as she 
 raised her head and asked in a firm and collected, but 
 mournful voice: "Is he gone?" Mr. LEAR, who was 
 standing by the bedside, by a motion of his hand, 
 
196 WASHINGTON. 
 
 silently signified that he was no more. " 'Tis well/ 
 said she in the same voice ; " all is now over ; I shall 
 soon follow him ; I have no more trials to pass 
 through." 
 
 Few were present as witnesses of the scene. It was 
 only the domestic circle of his own household, with, 
 perhaps, a few family friends, and his attending physi- 
 cians who were there. Of these, Dr. CRAIK, his life-long 
 friend and family physician, and Dr. DICK, were Ma- 
 sons ; the latter being at the time the Master of WASH- 
 INGTON'S own lodge at Alexandria. What Masonic 
 requests may have been made to them during his last 
 hours we know not. But it is well known to every 
 Mason, that the mystic rites of a Masonic burial are 
 not performed, except at a brother's request while 
 living, or by desire of his family after his death. It 
 was believed at the time, by intelligent brethren, that 
 WASHINGTON had signified that to be his wish ; and the 
 holy rites of the Christian Church of which he was a 
 member, and the mystic rites of Masonry, were each 
 performed in their beautiful simplicity at the tomb of 
 this distinguished brother. * 
 
 At midnight the low twelve of Masonry the body 
 was taken from the chamber of death to a large draw- 
 ing-room below, clothed in burial robes. The death 
 dew had been wiped from its brow, and the pale taper 
 at its head threw a flickering light on the marble 
 features where death had set his signet. From mid- 
 night until morning there was stillness there. Words 
 were spoken only in whispers, as if accents from hu- 
 man lips would fall discordant on the sleeper's ear. 
 America, too, in that dread interval from midnight to 
 
WASHINGTON. 197 
 
 Sabbath morn, lay in slumber, unconscious of her loss. 
 Morning came, and the hurrying footsteps of family 
 friends, who hastened to Mount Yernon, were heard 
 mingling with those that left to carry the tidings of a 
 Nation's loss ! My pen cannot describe what followed. 
 A pencil painted it : 
 
 tDa0l)iwjton in OHorj; America in Sears! 
 
 During the day a plain mahogany coffin was ordered 
 from Alexandria, and mourning for the family, over- 
 seers, and domestics at Mount Yernon. The funeral 
 was appointed for Wednesday, the 18th, at meridian; 
 and the Eev. Mr. DAVIS, the Episcopal clergyman at 
 Alexandria, was invited to perform the burial rites of 
 that Church on the occasion. The selection was an 
 appropriate one ; for Mr. DAVIS was not only the rector 
 of WASHINGTON'S church, but he was also a member of 
 the same Masoniq lodge. 
 
 The funeral procession and burial ceremonies were 
 arranged by a committee of Lodge No. 22, at Alexan- 
 dria, consisting of Dr. ELISHA CULLEN DICK, its Master ; 
 Colonel GEORGE DENEALE, its Senior Warden; and 
 Colonels CHAELES LITTLE and CHARLES SIMMS, who were 
 members. On Monday, the 16th, an emergent meeting 
 of this lodge was called, at which Dr. DICK, its Master, 
 presided. Forty-one of its members were present, and 
 two visiting brethren, one from Fredericksburg, where 
 WASHINGTON was made a Mason, and the other from 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 Dr. DICK addressed the brethren in a feeling manner, 
 on the event which had called them together. It was 
 
198 WASHINGTON. 
 
 their first recorded meeting on an occasion like this. 
 They sat in sorrow there. The death-angel's alarm 
 at their tiled door had found none to withstand his 
 approach, or ask from whence he came, or what he 
 came thither to do. With step unseen,* and saluta- 
 tion strange to all, he had approached their midst, re- 
 moved from before their altar a mystic taper, and 
 taken it to the Grand Lodge above. To arrange for 
 commemorating, in the burial of their departed WASH- 
 INGTON, the extinguishing of that light in. their lodge, 
 and their confident hope of finding it shining with 
 brighter rays before the Grand Orient of the Holy One 
 on High, they were now met. 
 
 There was also another Masonic lodge at that time 
 in Alexandria, called Brooke Lodge No. 47, which was 
 convened at the same hour. A committee from No. 22, 
 consisting of Brothers JOSEPH NEALE and THOMAS 
 PETREKIN was appointed to confer with No. 47 ; and 
 the joint committee of both lodges agreed upon the 
 ceremonies as arranged by the former committee of 
 Lodge No. 22. There were also two other lodges at 
 that time in the Federal District, held under warrants 
 from the grand Lodge of Maryland. These were 
 Potomac Lodge No. 9, at Georgetown, and Federal 
 Lodge No. 15, at Washington. A messenger was ap- 
 pointed by No. 22 to wait on these lodges on Tuesday, 
 "and invite them to join the funeral procession at 
 Mount Vernon on Wednesday at twelve o'clock, if fair, 
 or on Thursday at the same hour." The deacons of the 
 lodge were directed to have the Orders cleaned and 
 prepared, and to furnish spermaceti candles for them. 
 The secretaiy was also directed to have the case in 
 
WASHINGTON. 199 
 
 which the charter was kept repaired and gilded for 
 the occasion. It was also arranged that the military 
 companies of Alexandria should join in the procession 
 as an escort and guard of honor. They were at that 
 time under command of Colonel DENEALE, the Senior 
 Warden of WASHINGTON'S lodge. These arrangements 
 having been signified to the family, Mr. LEAR, WASH- 
 INGTON'S late private secretary, ordered, as was the 
 custom at that day, provisions and other refreshments 
 to be provided at Mount Vernon for the funeral as- 
 sembly. 
 
 Upon the next day, Wednesday, December 18th, the 
 citizens about Mount Vernon commenced assembling 
 there at eleven o'clock, and the encoffined body of the 
 illustrious dead was placed in the piazza of the grand 
 old mansion, where, while living, he had been accus- 
 tomed to walk and muse, or converse with visitors. 
 On an ornament at the head of the coffin was inscribed, 
 SURGE AD JUDICITUM, and beneath it GLORIA DEO ; and 
 upon a silver plate on the middle of the lid was inscribed, 
 
 GENERAL 
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON 
 
 DEPARTED TIIIS LIFE ON THE 14TH DECEMBER, 
 1799, &T. 68. 
 
 The sun had passed its meridian height before the 
 Fraternity and military escort arrived from Alexandria. 
 The Masonic apron and two crossed swords were then 
 placed upon the coffin, a few mystic words were spoken, 
 and the brethren one by one filed by the noble form, 
 
200 WASHINGTON. 
 
 majestic even in death, and took a last sad look on one 
 they had loved so well. Alas, the light of his eye and 
 the breathing of his lips in language of fraternal greet- 
 ing were lost to them forever on this side of the grave ! 
 
 Adown the shaded avenues that led from the man- 
 sion to the Potomac might then be seen a vessel at 
 anchor, with its white sails furled, awaiting the pro- 
 cession's forming. The cavalry took its position in 
 the van, and next came the infantry and guard, all 
 with arms reversed. Behind them followed a small 
 band of music with muffled drums ; and next the clergy, 
 two and two. They were four in number viz., the 
 Eev. Dr. MUIB and the Eev. Messrs. DAVIS, MAFFIT, 
 and ADDISON the first three of whom were Masons and 
 members of Lodge No. 22, at Alexandria. Then fol- 
 lowed WASHINGTON'S war-horse, led by two grooms 
 dressed in black. It was riderless that day, but car- 
 ried saddle, holsters, and pistols. Next was placed the 
 body on its bier, covered with a dark pall. Six Ma- 
 sonic brethren attended it as pall-bearers. They were 
 Colonels GILPIN, MARSTELLER, and LITTLE on the right, 
 and Colonels SIMMS, EAMSEY, and PAYNE on the left, 
 all members of WASHINGTON'S own lodge. Each of 
 them wore on his left arm an ample badge of black 
 crape, which may still be seen, together with the bier 
 on which the body was borne, in the Museum at Alex- 
 andria. The relatives of the deceased and a few 
 intimate family friends then followed as principal 
 mourners. Then came the officers and members of 
 his lodge and other Masonic brethren, all too as 
 mourners. 
 
 The officers of the corporation of Alexandria then 
 
WASHINGTON. 201 
 
 took their places behind the Masonic Fraternity ; citi- 
 zens followed, preceded by the overseers of the Mount 
 Vernon estate, and its domestics closed the proces- 
 sion. 
 
 It was between three and four o'clock before the 
 procession moved. The booming cannon from the 
 vessel on the river was the signal, and then with slow 
 and measured steps that melted their souls in all the 
 tenderness of woe, their way was taken to the family 
 vault at the bottom of the lawn near the bank of the 
 Potomac. The military escort there halted and formed 
 their lines. The body, the clergy, the mourning rel- 
 atives, and the Masonic brethren then passed between 
 them, and approached the door of the tomb. There 
 the encoffined WASHINGTON rested on his bier before 
 them. Dr. DICK, the Master of the lodge, and the Rev. 
 THOMAS DAVIS, rector of Christ Church, stood at its 
 head, the mourning relatives at its foot, and the Fra- 
 ternity in a circle around the tomb. 
 
 The Eev. Mr. DAVIS broke the silence by repeating 
 from sacred writings, " I am the resurrection and the 
 life ; he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, 
 yet shall he live." Then with bowed and reverent 
 heads all listened to the voice of prayer ; and as the 
 holy words went on, as used in the beautiful and ex- 
 pressive burial-service of the Episcopal Church, their 
 soothing spirit was echoed in tha responses of the 
 multitude around. Mr. DAVIS closed his burial-service 
 with a short address. There was a pause ; and then 
 the Master of the lodge performed the mystic funeral 
 rites of Masonry, as the last service at the burial of 
 WASHINGTON. The ap r on and the swords were removed 
 
202 
 
 WASHINGTON. 
 
 from the coffin, for tlieir place was no longer there. 
 It was ready for entombment. The brethren one by 
 one cast upon it an evergreen sprig ; and their 1. 
 spoke the Mason's farewell as they bestowed their 
 last mystic gift. There was a breathless silence there 
 
 MASONIC FUNEEAL CEREMONIES. 
 
 during this scene. So still was all around in the 
 gathered multitude of citizens, that they might almost 
 have heard tho echoes of the acacia ns it fell with from- 
 
WASHINGTON. 203 
 
 bling lightness upon the coffin-lid. The pall-bearers 
 placed their precious burden in the tomb's cold em- 
 brace, earth was cast on the threshold, and the words 
 were spoken : " Earth to eartJi ashes to ashes dust to 
 dust!" and the entombment of WASHINGTON was fin- 
 ished. The mystic public burial honors of Masonry 
 were given by each brother with lifted hands, saying 
 in his heart, "Alas! my Brother! we have knelt loith 
 thee in prayer ', ice have pressed thee to our bosoms, ive ivitt 
 meet thee in heaven /" The mystic chain was reunited 
 in the circle there, the cannon on the vessel and on 
 the banks above them fired their burial salute, and 
 Mount Vernon's tomb was left in possession of its 
 noblest sleeper. The sun was then setting, and the 
 pall of night mantled the pathway of the Masonic 
 brethren as they sadly returned to their homes, 
 
 Lodge No. 22, at Alexandria, had then left on its roll 
 of membership sixty-nine Masons, sixty of whom were 
 Master Masons, and nine Entered Apprentices. It met 
 on the following day in regular communication, and 
 elected Colonel GEORGE DENEAUE its Master. It had 
 been presided over while under its Pennsylvania War- 
 rant by three Masters viz, ; ROBERT ADAM, ROBERT 
 McCREA, and Dr. PICK, Under its Virginia Warrant 
 it had also had fhe same number GEORGE WASH- 
 INGTON, JAMES GILLIS, and Dr. DICK. 
 
 " Three there were, but one was not, 
 He lay where Cassia mark'd the spot." 
 
 It had been the custom of this lodge from its first 
 organization to meet on the festivals of St. John the 
 Evangelist in December and listen to charity sermons, 
 
204: WASHINGTON. 
 
 collect contributions for the indigent, and partake of 
 social refreshments. St. John's day in December, 
 1799, was duly observed, but all hilarity was dispensed 
 with. It was made a mourning day for the loss of 
 WASHINGTON. Dr. DICK installed Colonel DENEALE 
 as his successor in the chair; but before doing that 
 duty, he addressed the lodge as its retiring Master. 
 Having made the customary demands for charity, he 
 closed by saying in a feeling manner : 
 
 " Whilst every recurrence of this festival demands that we 
 distribute a portion of the comforts we possess among those 
 of our more immediate neighbors who are unhappily desti- 
 tute, it has also, hitherto, invited us to social and convivial 
 enjoyment. After having fulfilled the primary duties of the 
 day, it has been heretofore our custom to indulge in festive 
 gayety ; and, indeed, nothing can either so full}' sanction 
 such an indulgence, or capacitate the mind for a real and 
 rational enjoyment of it, as the due observance of this pre- 
 liminary injunction. 
 
 " But on the present occasion, my brethren, a cloud of 
 sorrow surrounds our prospects. A recent and heavy ca- 
 lamity has obstructed every avenue to mirth. Our great 
 and good Grand Master is no more ! He who hath so often 
 united in our annual celebrations is gone, to return not 
 again. He whose presence was wont to inspire surround- 
 ing multitudes with reverence and admiration he who 
 was but lately the boast of his own country and the wonder 
 of the world, now lies cold and prostrate in his tomb ! Thus, 
 my brethren, is lost from the treasury of the Universal Lodge 
 its brightest jewel ! 
 
 " Feeble is the language of eulogium when applied to a 
 character of such uncommon worth. Statues of marble will 
 
WASHINGTON. 205 
 
 prove the love and gratitude of his survivors ; but his own 
 virtues and his services have already implanted a monu- 
 ment far more durable than these in the bosoms of his coun- 
 trymen. May it be particularly nurtured by the Fraternity 
 of Free and Accepted Masons to the end of time. So mote 
 it be." 
 
 When this address and the ceremonies of instalment 
 were concluded, the lodge, accompanied by Lodge 
 No. 47, walked in procession to the Presbyterian 
 Church, where a sermon was preached on the occasion 
 by the Kev. Bro. 1 WM. MAFFIT, after which they re- 
 turned to the lodge-room. On the two succeeding 
 Sabbaths the Masonic brethren of Alexandria met in 
 their lodges, clothed themselves in mourning, and re- 
 paired in procession to the Presbyterian Church, where 
 sermons on the occasion of WASHINGTON'S death were 
 preached, on the first by the Rev. Bros. THOMAS DAVIS 
 and Dr. MUIB, and on the second by the Rev. Mr. 
 
 TOLLISON. 
 
 The funeral of WASHINGTON at Mount Yernon, and 
 memorial ceremonies at Alexandria, had thus far been 
 conducted by the Masonic Fraternity ; but on the 22d 
 of the following February, the citizens there assembled 
 in all their various capacities ; Masonic, military, civic, 
 and religious bodies uniting in accordance with a re- 
 commendation of Congress, to honor the memory of 
 him whom all had loved, and whose loss all mourned. 
 Lodge No. 22 had, at its meeting on the 20th of this 
 month, 
 
 " Resolved, That the members belonging to th's lodge 
 wear on the ?2d instant, and for thirty days thereafter, a 
 
206 WASHINGTON. 
 
 white ribbon through two button-holes on the left side of 
 their coats, and that the columns, orders, and deacon's staffs 
 be shrouded with black ; ******* an d that the mem- 
 bers of this lodge do assemble at our lodge-room precisely 
 at ten o'clock on Saturday, the 22d instant, in order to 
 evince the respect they owe to their late departed brother, 
 General GEORGE WASHINGTON." 
 
 Colonel DENEALE, the Master of Lodge No. 22, was 
 selected by the citizens as the officer of the day for the 
 anniversary, and his lodge joined with Brooke Lodge, 
 and united with the military and various other bodies 
 of citizens, and walked through several of the principal 
 streets of Alexandria to the Presbyterian meeting- 
 house, where Dr. DICK, late Master of Lodge No. 22, 
 who had been appointed the orator for the occasion, 
 delivered a feeling and eloquent address. We have 
 already given his eulogium before his brethren in tho 
 lodge-room, at their first meeting after the funeral of 
 WASHINGTON, and we here give an extract from his 
 portraiture of him as a man on this public occasion 
 a day set apart for a united homage of all American 
 citizens to his memory. 
 
 " Four millions of the human race free in their thoughts 
 and affections, unrestrained in their actions, widely dis- 
 persed over an extensive portion of the habitable globe are 
 seen devoted to a single purpose; a people detached by 
 local causes; actuated in common life by opposite views, or 
 rivals in the pursuit of similar objects ; jealous in all other 
 matters of general concern, are offering the tribute of affec- 
 tion to the memory of their common friend. In vain shall 
 we examine t ic records of antiquity for its parallel. Worth 
 
WASHINGTON. 207 
 
 BO transcendent as to merit universal homage, with a cor- 
 respondent desire to bestow it, mark an event in the history 
 of our country that may be considered as a phenomenon in 
 the annals of man. 
 
 " Modest and unassuming, yet dignified in his manners ; 
 accessible and communicative, yet superior to familiarity; 
 he inspired and preserved the love and respect of all who 
 knew him. For the promotion of all public and useful un- 
 dertakings, he was singularly munificent. The indigent 
 and distressed were at all times subjects of his sympathy 
 and concern. His charity flowed in quiet, but constant 
 streams from a fountain that was at no time suffered to 
 sustain the smallest diminution. No pursuit or avocation, 
 however momentous, was permitted to interrupt his syste- 
 matic attention to the children of want. His anxious solici- 
 tude on this score is pathetically exemplified in a letter, 
 written in 1775, at a time when the unorganized state of 
 the army might have demanded his exclusive concern. Ad- 
 dressing himself to the late LUND WASHINGTON, he writes : 
 'Let the hospitality of the house be kept with respect to the 
 poor. Let no one go away hungry. If any of this kind of 
 people should be in want of corn, supply their necessities, 
 provided it does not encourage them in idleness. I have no 
 objection to your giving my money in charity, when you think 
 it will be well bestowed. I mean, that it is my desire that 
 it should be done. You are to consider that neither myself 
 nor my wife are now in the way to do these good offices.' 
 
 " Such, my fellow-citizens, was the man whose memory 
 we have assembled to honor. It has been your peculiar 
 felicity often to have seen him on the footing of social in- 
 timacy. That the inhabitants of Alexandria held a distin- 
 guished place in his affection, you have had repeated testi- 
 mony. You have seen his sensibility awakened on occa- 
 
208 WASHINGTON. 
 
 sions calculated to call forth a display of his partiality. The 
 last time we met to offer our salutations and express our 
 inviolable attachment to the venerable sage, on his retiring 
 from the chief magistracy of the Union, you may remember 
 that in telling you how peculiarly grateful were your expres- 
 sions, the visible emotions of his great soul had almost de- 
 prived him of the power of utterance. 
 
 "But Heaven has reclaimed its treasure, and AmenVu 
 has lost its first of patriots and best of men, its shield in 
 war, in peace its brightest ornament ; the avenger of its 
 wrongs ; the oracle of its wisdom, and the mirror of its per- 
 fection. His fair fame, secure in its immortality, shall shine 
 through countless ages with undiminished lustre. It shall 
 be the statesman's polar-star, the hero's destiny, the boast 
 of age, the companion of maturity, and the goal of youth. 
 It shall be the last national office of hoary dotage to teach 
 the infant, that hangs on his trembling knee, to lisp the 
 name of WASHINGTON 1" 
 
 Masonic records state that prayers were also de- 
 livered on this occasion by the Rev. Bros. Dr. Mum, 
 THOMAS DAVIS, and WM. MAFFIT, after which the breth- 
 ren returned to their rooms, and the lodge was closed 
 in harmony at three o'clock. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Rumor of WASHINGTON'S death reaches Congress at Philadelphia. Becomes 
 certain. Becomes known in all parts of the country. General sorrow. 
 Societies of the Cincinnati and Masonic lodges deeply mourn his death. 
 Congress decrees a national mourning and funeral ceremonies at Phila- 
 delphia. Masonic Fraternity invited to attend. Grand Lodge of Penn- 
 sylvania convened on the occasion. Grand Master's address. Resolutions 
 of the Grand Lodge. It unites with its subordinates in the procession. 
 General LEE delivers the oration. Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania meet on 
 the following day. Resolutions to wear mourning. Sorrow lodge held 
 by French Lodge in Philadelphia. Oration before it by SIMON CHAU- 
 DRON. Oration published and sent to public officers and Mrs. WASHING- 
 TON. Her acknowledgment of it by Mr. LEAR. First news of WASHING- 
 TON'S death in New York. Action of the Common Council. The Grand 
 Lodge of New York convened. Its action and resolutions on the occa- 
 sion. Masonic Fraternity of New York join in the public funeral cere- 
 monies. Bible on which WASHINGTON'S first oath as President was taken 
 carried in the procession. News of WASHINGTON'S death reaches Boston. 
 Celebration of the "Landing of the Pilgrims" then being held. Sensa- 
 tions produced. Action of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts. Lodges 
 unite with citizens in funeral ceremonies. Grand Lodge of Massachusetts 
 address a letter of condolence to Mrs. WASHINGTON, soliciting a lock of her 
 husband's hair. Her reply, granting the request. Masonic celebration 
 at Boston, February 11. Ceremonies on that occasion. Ceremonies by 
 St. John's Lodge at Boston. Masonic funeral ceremonies in New Hamp- 
 shire. In Vermont. In Rhode Island. In Connecticut. Masonic Fra- 
 ternity on all such occasions given a post of honor. Funeral ceremonies 
 in Fredericksburg, Va., by the lodge in which WASHINGTON had been 
 made a Mason. Address by Major BENJAMIN DAY, Grand Master of Vir- 
 ginia, on that occasion. Public ceremonials at Fredericksburg. Inven- 
 tory of WASHINGTON'S personal estate shows various Masonic articles. 
 List and price of them as given. Conclusion. 
 
 RUMOR of WASHINGTON'S death reached 
 Philadelphia, where Congress was sitting, 
 on Wednesday, December 18th, the day of 
 his funeral. The next day the sad news 
 became painfully certain, and was for- 
 
210 WASHINGTON. 
 
 mallj announced by the President to Congress. It 
 soon became known in all parts of the country, and 
 produced more profound emotions of sorrow than had 
 been felt by the American people for the loss of any 
 citizen. The great heart of the nation swelled for a 
 moment with grief, and then beat with rapid throbs of 
 unwonted agony. The National Congress, State le- 
 gislatures, municipal bodies, religious societies, civic 
 and scientific associations, military organizations, and 
 all classes of citizens felt and manifested a common 
 bereavement. 
 
 But while these all combined to express their deep 
 sense of the national affliction, two other associations, 
 with which WASHINGTON had been intimately connected, 
 joined in the common bewailment with deep expres- 
 sions of fraternal grief. These were the societies of 
 the Cincinnati and the Masonic Lodges of America. 
 With the Cincinnati, WASHINGTON had held from its 
 first organization the highest official membership, and 
 they mourned their chief with processions, eulogies, 
 and sable habiliments suited to the genius of that in- 
 stitution. The Masonic Fraternity, too, had long* re- 
 garded him as the chief ornament of their society, and 
 wherever funeral ceremonies were held, they joined 
 their fellow-citizens, with their emblems draped in 
 symbolic sorrow, and expressed a mournful remem- 
 brance of their loved and departed brother by many 
 ancient and hallowed forms peculiar to their fra- 
 ternity. 
 
 The genius of America lent its aid to express a 
 nation's woe. The artisan gave his cunning skill, the 
 artist all the rich hues of his pencil, the poet all the 
 
WASHINGTON. 211 
 
 inspiration of his pen, the orator all his melting pathos, 
 and fancy wove its fairest garlands to express in every 
 varied form one common sorrow; and eulogies and 
 dirges, catafalcos and urns, gave expression to the grief 
 of America at her first great national bereavement. 
 
 Congress designated the 26th of December as the 
 day on which a national tribute should be paid by that 
 body to the memory of WASHINGTON, and all other 
 public bodies in and about Philadelphia were invited 
 to join on the occasion.' The Masonic Fraternity were 
 assigned a distinguished place in the procession on 
 that day, it being among the chief mourners. Major- 
 General HENRY LEE, who was the orator of the day, 
 was himself a Mason and member of Hiram Lodge 
 No. 59, at "Westmoreland Court House, Virginia. 
 
 The invitation by Congress to the Masonic Frater- 
 nity to join in the funeral solemnities having been re- 
 ceived by the Grand Master of Pennsylvania, he issued 
 his orders on the 24th, convening his Grand Lodge at 
 ten o'clock on the day appointed. That body accord- 
 ingly met in extra Grand Communication on that day, 
 and were thus addressed by their Grand Master JONA- 
 THAN BAYARD SMITH : 
 
 
 
 "Right Worshipful Deputy Grand Master, Senior and 
 
 Junior Grand Wardens, and Brethren. You have been 
 called to hold this special convention in consequence of an 
 invitation to join the representatives of a great and grateful 
 people in a solemn act of duty. With respect to the unex- 
 pectedly early moment of executing 1 this duty, we have been 
 anticipated; but by the death of General GEORGE WASHING- 
 TON, we have felt ourselves impelled, irresistibly impelled, 
 to yield to the strongest emotion of the heart, and cordially 
 
212 WASHINGTON. 
 
 to join our fellow-citizens . in public evidences of estimation 
 and regret. 
 
 " The interesting event having been officially communi- 
 cated to the public, I immediately directed that the sable 
 emblements of our order should be borne in Grand Lodge 
 by the members at our next communication, then to take 
 place in a few days, wishing to give to ulterior orders on 
 the occasion the force and the dignity of .the spontaneous 
 voice of the collected craft of Pennsylvania. 
 
 " While we respectfully leave to abler hands, to the ap 
 pointed organ of the councils of the United States, to the 
 common voice of his country and of mankind, and to succeed- 
 ing ages, which will venerate his name as long as they shall 
 experience the happy effects of his civic virtues and public 
 services, duly to appreciate his worth, the Masons of Penn- 
 sylvania, impressed with their more immediate Masonic 
 connections and character, may be allowed to deplore that 
 their friend, their brother, their father is gone. Yes, my 
 brethren, as such the Masons of Pennsylvania did long ago 
 recognize him. It is now twenty-one years since they, by 
 an unanimous suffrage, proposed him as Grand Master of 
 Masons for the United States. They have on sundry occa- 
 sions, and very lately, given attestations of unabated at- 
 tachment to his person, and a high sense of his unremitting 
 endeavors in promoting order, union, and brotherly affec- 
 tion among us, and in carrying forth the principles of the 
 lodge into every walk of life. In our archives are found 
 flattering evidences of his reciprocated esteem and appro- 
 bation of our order, as relative more especially to those two 
 chiefest concerns of man, religion and government. The 
 public have seen him gracing and dignifying our proces- 
 sions by his attendance. We have been made the almoners 
 uud dispensers of his charitable beneficence. But, my 
 
WASHINGTON. 213 
 
 brethren, this pleasing intercourse is suspended. Since our 
 last communication, this our brother has been removed from 
 a terrene to expand his ample mind in the boundless duties 
 and enjoyments of a celestial lodge of that eternal temple 
 (to use his own expression to our Grand Lodge), whose 
 builder 'is the Great Architect of the Universe. The Old as 
 well as the New World reveres his name. He was indeed 
 an illustrious brother, citizen, and chief, in peace and in 
 war, in council and in action, pre-eminent. The Masons of 
 Pennsylvania have exulted that the name of WASHINGTON 
 stood enrolled on their list of brethren ; and they will 
 cherish the remembrance of his virtues and his services as 
 a rich legacy for their emulous example. If devotion of 
 time and talents to ameliorate the state of man be a virtue ; 
 if obeying the calls of his country in times of the greatest 
 difficulty and danger, at every risk, be a Masonic duty; of 
 that virtue may Masonry boast that this our WASHINGTON 
 has exhibited an instance beyond former example brilliant, 
 and for the exercise of this duty will our WASHINGTON ever 
 stand conspicuous in the foremost rank. Is a love of order 
 and sacred regard to the laws of the social compact char- 
 acteristic of Masons ? For his exemplary adherence to these 
 Masonic virtues, through all the vicissitudes and variegated 
 difficulties of a Revolutionary War, has our WASHINGTON re- 
 ceived the plaudits of thirteen sovereign States. 
 
 " It now remains, my brethren, that in our several spheres 
 we do likewise as our brother has done ; that by show- 
 ing respect to merit, it appear that we value it ; that 
 by cordial regret on the translation of virtue from among 
 us, we evidence* that we revere it ; and while we drop our 
 portion amid the universal effusion of sorrow on this mourn- 
 ful occasion, we anticipate for our lamented brother tho 
 applause of nations and the veneration of ages. 
 
WASHINGTON. 
 
 "I detain you no longer. The government oi our eoimtiy 
 has this day honorably distinguished us as among the chief 
 mourners of WASHINGTON, its friend, its protector, and its 
 ornament. The destined hour has come, and we move to 
 the summons." 
 
 It was then 
 
 "fiesolved, That this Grand Lodge are deeply and sin- 
 cerely afflicted with the melancholy event which has oc- 
 casioned this communication, and will immediately proceed 
 to join in the honors about to be shown to the memory of 
 our illustrious deceased brother." 
 
 The Grand Master then appointed Colonel I'HOMAS 
 PROCTOR master of ceremonies for the day. The 
 brethren then formed in due order in the Grand 
 Lodge-room, and moving from thence joined the gen- 
 eral procession, which proceeded to Zion Church, 
 where religious services were performed by the Rev. 
 Dr. WHITE, and the oration was delivered by General 
 LEE ; after which they returned to the Grand Loclge- 
 voom, and their labors for the day were closed. 
 
 Upon the following day the Grand Lodge again met, 
 the Grand Master recalled their attention to the mourn- 
 ful occasion of the preceding day, and it was unani- 
 mously 
 
 "Resolved, That the room committee be directed to put 
 the Grand Lodge-room in mourning, in such a manner as 
 they shall conceive to be most suitable and proper to testify 
 our fraternal attachment to our late Brother WASHINGTON, and 
 the high veneration we entertain for his memory and virtues. 
 
 " Resolved, That as a further mark of our warm regard 
 
WASHINGTON. 215 
 
 for the memory of our deceased brother, and deep affliction 
 for the loss we have sustained by his death, the members of 
 the Grand Lodge wear black crape on their left arm, as 
 recommended by the President and Congress to the citizens 
 of the United States ; and that the emblems on their aprons 
 be covered with black for the term of six months, being 
 until St. John's day next ; and that the same be recom- 
 mended to all the lodges under the jurisdiction of this Grand 
 Lodge." 
 
 There existed in Philadelphia at that time, under a 
 warrant from the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, a 
 French Lodge of Ancient York Masons, t known as 
 " L'Amenite, No. 71." On the following week (January 
 1, 1800), a sorrow lodge was held by these brethren, 
 which was attended by the officers of the Grand Lodge, 
 and a great number of the Fraternity in that city. 
 After the conclusion of ceremonies peculiar to such a 
 lodge, an oration was delivered by its orator, SIMON 
 CHAUDKON, in the French language, which was followed 
 by an address in English by the Master, JOSEPH DE LA 
 GRANGE. This oration was published in both the 
 French and English languages, and copies were sent 
 to the President and Vice-president of the United 
 States, to the governor of Pennsylvania, and to Mrs. 
 WASHINGTON at Mount Yernon. They all acknow- 
 ledged their receipt by letter; and Mrs. WASHINGTON'S, 
 by the hand of the private secretary of her late hus- 
 band, was as follows : 
 
 "MOUNT VEBNON, May 15, 1800. 
 
 SIR In compliance with Mrs. WASHINGTON'S request, I 
 Lave the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter to 
 
216 WASHINGTON. 
 
 her of the 15th of March, with three copies of the funeral 
 oration which the French Lodge, L'Amenite, in Philadelphia, 
 have consecrated to the memory of her husband. 
 
 " Impressed with a lively sense of this testimonial of re- 
 spect and veneration paid to the memory of the partner of 
 her heart, Mrs. WASHINGTON begs the lodge will be assured 
 of her grateful acknowledgments ; and you will be pleased 
 to accept her best thanks for the obliging manner in which 
 you have communicated their sympathy in her affliction and 
 irreparable loss. 
 
 " I am, sir, 
 
 " Very respectfully, 
 
 " Your obedient servant, 
 
 " TOBIAS LEAR, 
 " Secretary to the late General WASHINGTON." 
 
 The news of WASHINGTON'S death reached New York 
 on Friday, December 20th. The Common Council on 
 that day publicly announced it to the citizens, and 
 signified to the different religious societies of the city 
 their wish that their churches be draped in mourning, 
 and their bells muffled and tolled every day from twelve 
 till one o'clock until the 24th inclusive. 
 
 Upon Monday, the 23d, the Grand Lodge of New 
 York was convened in an extra Grand Communication. 
 General JACOB MORTON, the Deputy Grand Master, pre- 
 sided on the occasion, and 
 
 "Announced that the reason for convening this extra 
 meeting of the Grand Lodge was, the mournful intelligence 
 of the death of their illustrious and much beloved Brother 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON, late President of the United States, 
 and commander-in-chief of the army ; and urged with energy 
 
WASHINGTON. 217 
 
 and respectful expressions the duties which belong to every 
 Mason on such a painful event, and the necessity of this 
 Grand Lodge to take such steps as are proper and Masonic, 
 to pay the tribute of respect due to a brother, who, being 
 called to the Celestial Lodge above, lives in the heart of the 
 virtuous and the wise. 
 
 " Whereupon the following was decreed : ' The Grand 
 Lodge, with the deepest and sincerest sorrow, announces to 
 the Lodges under its jurisdiction the death of their illus- 
 trious and much beloved Brother GEORGE WASHINGTON, late 
 President of the United States, and commander-in-chief of 
 its army. He closed his useful and honorable life at his 
 seat at Mount Vernon on the night of the 14th instant, in 
 the 68th year of his age. 
 
 " ' When, in the dispensations of Providence, the great and 
 the good, when those whom we love and revere sink into 
 the silent tomb, the afflicted heart seeks its solace in render- 
 ing to their memories every honorable tribute which affec- 
 tionate gratitude can devise. This is a feeling engrafted 
 in our natures, as an incentive to honorable ambition ; and 
 the expression of those feelings is a duty which the customs 
 of civil society have enjoined ; but in decreeing a tribute 
 of respect to our deceased brother on this occasion, there 
 is naught we can devise which will fully evince our venera- 
 tion of his virtues or our sorrow for hie loss. 
 
 " ' To decree honor to that illustrious name upon which 
 glory hath already exhausted all her store ; to render a trib- 
 ute of affection to his memory who lived in the hearts of a 
 grateful people, are duties which we feel we can never satis- 
 factorily perform. That humble tribute which we are en- 
 abled to pay, we decree. 
 
 " 'Resolved, Therefore, that all the lodges under our juris- 
 diction be clothed in mourning for the space of six months, 
 
 10 
 
218 WASHINGTON. 
 
 and that the brethren also wear mourning for the samo 
 space of time. 
 
 " ' Resolved, That a committee be appointed to erect at 
 the expense of this Grand Lodge a monumental memorial to 
 the virtues of our illustrious brother, to be placed in the 
 room occupied by the Grand Lodge for its sittings ; and that 
 the Right Worshipful JACOB MORTON, Deputy Grand Master ; 
 the Right Worshipful MARTIN HOFFMAN, Senior Grand War- 
 den ; the Right Worshipful ABRAHAM SKINNER, Junior Grand 
 Warden ; the Right Worshipful REVIER JOHN VANDEN BROECK, 
 Grand Secretary ; and the Worshipful Brethren CADWALA- 
 DER D. . GOLDEN and PETER IRVIN be a committee for that 
 purpose. 
 
 " ' Resolved, That the said committee have authority to 
 meet and concur with such other committees of our fellow- 
 citizens, as shall be appointed to devise some public testi- 
 monials of respect and veneration to the memory of our de- 
 parted brother. 
 
 " ' Resolved, That the Grand Secretary be directed to write 
 circular letters to the different Grand Lodges in the United 
 States, condoling with them on the loss which we have sus- 
 tained in the death of our beloved brother, who was the 
 chief ornament of his country, and the pride of our in- 
 stitution. 
 
 "'Resolved, That the Grand Secretary be directed to 
 forward immediately a copy of these resolutions to the 
 several lodges in this city/ n 
 
 In accordance with these resolutions, the Masonic 
 Fraternity joined in the public proceedings held in the 
 city of New York on the 31st of December, to express 
 sorrow at the death of WASHINGTON. The place as- 
 signed them was among the chief mourners. The 
 
WASHINGTON. 219 
 
 Bible on which WASHINGTON had taken his first oath of 
 office as President of the United States was borne be- 
 fore the Grand Master, and all the decorations they 
 carried in the procession were mournfully impressive. 
 They marched to St. Paul's Church, where an oration 
 was delivered by GOUVERNEUB MOBBIS, accompanied by 
 appropriate music. 
 
 The tidings of WASHINGTON'S death reached Boston 
 on the 23d of December, during a celebration held that 
 day to commemorate the landing of the Pilgrims in 
 1620. In the morning a rumor came that WASHINGTON 
 was dead ! Before noon its truth was confirmed. Com- 
 mon festivals upon such intelligence would have been 
 omitted. But the impressions arising from the cele- 
 bration were thought not inconsistent with a due 
 sensibility to the sad event which was announced. 
 The usual expressions of gayety had no place, and the 
 guests assembled together rather for condolence than 
 festivity. 
 
 On the 28th of this month the following circular was 
 issued by the Grand Master of Massachusetts to the 
 Fraternity in that State : 
 
 " GKAND LODGE OF MASSACHUSETTS, 
 
 BOSTON, December 28, A.D. 1799. 
 
 [L. s.] " To testify their veneration of the exalted char- 
 acter and pre-eminent virtues, and their respect for 
 the memory of their highly distinguished Brother GEORGE 
 WASHINGTON, it is recommended to the brethren of the Fra- 
 ternity of Free and Accepted Masons in the Commonwealth 
 of Massachusetts to wear, for the term of six weeks, com- 
 mencing on the 1st day of January, 1800, a black crape OD 
 
WASHINGTON. 
 
 the left arm below the elbow, interwoven with a narrow 
 ribbon running 1 direct. 
 
 " By order of the Most Worshipful, 
 
 " SAMUEL DUNN, Esq., 
 
 u DANIEL OLIVER, Grand Secretary.' 1 ' 1 
 
 Some of the lodges in and about Boston solemnized 
 the event of WASHINGTON'S death, either in their pri- 
 vate meetings of by uniting with citizens in public 
 ceremonies soon after this order was given; but the 
 Grand Lodge of that jurisdiction took no steps towards 
 a public testimonial of their respect for his memory 
 until the 15th of the following month (January, 1800), 
 when they resolved to pay funeral honors to his memo- 
 ry 011 the 22d of February. But finding that the au- 
 thorities of the General and State governments had 
 also designated that day for public ceremonies in 
 honor of WASHINGTON, it was subsequently thought by 
 ihe Grand Lodge, that distinct Masonic ceremonies 
 were more appropriate for the Fraternity, and they 
 changed the time of their own funeral ceremonies from 
 the 22d to the llth of February. 
 
 The Grand Lodge of Massachusetts had, however, 
 previous to this, written a letter of condolence to Mrs. 
 WASHINGTON, and solicited a lock of her deceased hus- 
 band's hair. This she complied with, as the following 
 correspondence shows : 
 
 "BOSTON, January 11, 1800. 
 
 "MADAM The Grand Lodge of the Commonwealth of 
 Massachusetts have deeply participated in the general grief 
 
WASHINGTON. 221 
 
 of their fellow-citizens, on the melancholy occasion of the 
 death of their beloved WASHINGTON. 
 
 " As Americans, they have lamented the loss of the chief 
 who led their armies to victory, and their country to glory ; 
 but as Masons they have wept the dissolution of that en- 
 dearing relation by which they were enabled to call him 
 their friend and their brother. They presume not to offer 
 you those consolations which might alleviate the weight of 
 common sorrows, for they are themselves inconsolable. The 
 object of this address is not to interrupt the sacred offices 
 of grief like yours ; but whilst they are mingling tears with 
 each other on the common calamity, to condole with you on 
 the irreparable misfortune which you have individually ex- 
 perienced. 
 
 " To their expressions of sympathy on this solemn dis- 
 pensation, the Grand Lodge have subjoined an order, that a 
 Golden Urn be prepared as a deposit for a lock of hair, an 
 invaluable relique of the Hero and the Patriot whom their 
 wishes would immortalize ; and that it be preserved with 
 the jewels and regalia of the society. 
 
 " Should this favor be granted, madam, it will be cher- 
 ished as the most precious jewel in the cabinet of the lodge, 
 as the memory of his virtues will forever be in the hearts of 
 its members. We have the honor to be, with the highest 
 respect, your most obedient servants, 
 
 " JOHN WARREN, 
 " PAUL REVERE, 
 " JOSIAH BARTLETT. 
 MABTHA WASHINGTON." 
 
 To this request Mrs. WASHINGTON replied through 
 Mr. LEAH, inclosing a lock of WASHINGTON'S hair, which 
 was duly received. 
 
222 WASHINGTON. 
 
 " MOUNT YEHNON, January 27, 1800. 
 
 " GENTLEMEN Mrs. WASHINGTON has received, with sensi- 
 bility, your letter of the llth instant, inclosing a vote of the 
 Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, requesting a lock of her 
 deceased husband's hair, to be preserved in a Golden Urn, 
 with the jewels and regalia of the Grand Lodge. 
 
 " In complying with this request by sending the lock of 
 hair which you will find inclosed, Mrs. WASHINGTON begs me 
 to assure you that she views with gratitude the tributes of 
 respect and affection paid to the memory of her dear de- 
 ceased husband ; and receives with a feeling heart the ex- 
 pressions of sympathy contained in your letter. 
 
 " With great respect and esteem, I have the honor to be, 
 gentlemen, your most obedient servant, 
 
 " TOBIAS LEAR. 
 "JOHN WABBIN, \ 
 
 " PAUL REVERE, V Past Grand Masters." 
 " JOSIAH BAETLETT, ) 
 
 Agreeably to previous notice, upon the lltli of Feb- 
 ruary, the Grand Lodge performed Masonic funeral 
 ceremonies in honor of their illustrious brother. At 
 eight o'clock in the morning the bells commenced toll- 
 ing, and at eleven a grand procession, composed of 
 upwards of sixteen hundred brethren, was formed at 
 the Old State House, and moved in Masonic order. 
 Each brother bore a sprig of acacia, and the Golden 
 Urn that contained the lock of WASHINGTON'S hair was 
 borne by six distinguished brethren. Many appro- 
 priate devices and emblems decorated the procession, 
 and it was probably the most imposing one the Fra- 
 ternity had ever formed in America. It passed through 
 
WASHINGTON. 223 
 
 several of the principal streets of Boston to the Old 
 South Meeting House, where public solemnities were 
 performed, with prayers, odes, dirges, and a eulogy by 
 Dr. TIMOTHY BIGELOW. From the Old South Church 
 the procession then moved to the Stone Chapel, where 
 a funeral service was performed by the Eev. Brother 
 BENTLEY, Grand Chaplain, assisted by the Eev. Brother 
 Dr. WALTER. Flowers were then strewn, the acacia 
 deposited, and the brethren returned to the Old State 
 .House, where the procession had formed, and there 
 separated. The Golden Urn, with its precious treasure 
 was deposited in the archives of the Grand Lodge, 
 where it has since remained. 
 
 St. John's Lodge, at Boston, the oldest Masonic 
 daughter of England on this continent, held in its hall, 
 one week previous to the above Grand Lodge proceed- 
 ings, private funeral solemnities, at which a eulogy 
 was delivered by Bro. GEORGE BLAKE. At a meeting 
 of that lodge, held on the 26th of March, it was voted 
 that a copy of that eulogy, handsomely bound, together 
 with a Golden Medal, be transmitted to the Grand Lodge 
 of England, accompanied with an address ; and a com- 
 mittee was appointed to form the address and trans- 
 mit these memorials to their mother Grand Lodge ; but 
 we have failed to find the evidence that it was carried 
 into effect. 
 
 In New Hampshire, Masonic funeral honors to 
 WASHINGTON were shown by most of the lodges in that 
 State, by joining with the citizens at large, in testify- 
 ing grief for his loss and respect for his memory. The 
 New Hampshire Gazette of January 8, 1800, contains 
 the following paragraph : 
 
224: WASHINGTON. 
 
 "The Grand Lodge of New Hampshire are unanimous in 
 opinion, that to mourn with our fellow-citizens at large, 
 would be more respectable to our late illustrious brother, 
 and more honorable, than particular society lodges of 
 mourning. The loss is deep and universal ; so ought to be 
 our testimonials of respect decent and uniform throughout 
 the United States. But in our lodges will be the seat of 
 sorrow." 
 
 NATHANIEL ADAMS was at that time the Grand Master 
 of Masons in New Hampshire, and in his " Annals of 
 Portsmouth" he says : 
 
 " 1799. Tuesday, the 31st day of December, was set 
 apart to commemorate the death of the illustrious WASHING- 
 TON, who departed this life on the 14th of this month. At 
 an early hour all public offices, stores, and shops were 
 closed. Business and pleasure were suspended. At cloven 
 o'clock a procession moved from the Assembly-room to St. 
 John's Church, in the following order : 
 
 " The companies of Artillery, Light Infantry, and Gover- 
 nor Oilman's Blues, with muffled drums, music in crape, 
 arms reversed, side-arms with black bows ; martial music 
 playing the Dead March in Saul ; the Grand Lodge of New 
 Hampshire, accompanied by St. John's Lodge, and many 
 visiting brethren in the habiliments of their order ; the 
 orator and rector of St. John's Church ; United States mili- 
 tary officers ; commissioned officers of the militia ; select- 
 men ; clergy; citizens and strangers two and two. 
 
 "When the procession reached the church, a solemn piece 
 of music was performed on the organ. Rev. Mr. \VILLARD 
 read the service of the church, and JONATHAN MEWELL, Esq., 
 pronounced an eulogy on the sorrowful occasion. A vast 
 concourse of people attended, and almost every individual 
 
WASHINGTON. 225 
 
 of respectability wore a crape as a badge of mourning, and 
 all the shipping in the harbor hoisted their flags half-mast 
 high." 
 
 Although the ceremonies on this occasion were not 
 designed as Masonic, yet the ode which was sung was 
 strictly so. It was composed by the Kev. Brother 
 GEOKGE RICHARDS ; and so highly did the brethren of 
 St. John's Lodge appreciate it, that, at their next meet- 
 ing, they voted that it be sung each lodge-night for the 
 three following months, and that all other songs be ex- 
 cluded during that time. 
 
 The news of the death of WASHINGTON reached Ben- 
 nington, Vermont, on the 25th of December. The court 
 of the county was there in session, and upon the sad 
 event being therein announced, it was adjourned for 
 the day, and in the evening a large meeting was held, 
 at which ISAAC TICHNEOB, the governor of the State, pre- 
 sided ; and it was determined that a public demonstra- 
 tion of sorrow should be made by a procession and 
 suitable discourses on Friday the 27th. 
 
 At two o'clock on that day, a large number of citizens 
 convened at the courthouse, and a procession was 
 formed, in which the Masonic Fraternity occupied a 
 conspicuous place. With muffled drums and music 
 playing a solemn dirge, the procession moved to the 
 church, where the Rev. Mr. SWEET delivered a discourse 
 to the general audience, after which, ANTHONY HASWELL 
 delivered an oration in behalf of the Masonic breth- 
 ren. The ceremonies at the church were closed by an 
 ode prepared by Brother HASWELL for the occasion. 
 The procession then returned to the courthouse, 
 
 10* 
 
226 WASHINGTON. 
 
 where the Fraternity partook of a repast prepa/ed for 
 them. By recommendation of the Grand Master of 
 Vermont, the brethren there wore a badge of mourning 
 for WASHINGTON six months. 
 
 In Khode Island, also, the principal demonstrations 
 of sorrow for the death of WASHINGTON, were in con- 
 junction with the public ceremonies of all classes of 
 citizens in that State. As soon as his death became 
 known, the Grand Master of Masons in that jurisdic- 
 tion issued the following order : 
 
 " By order of the Most Worshipful PELEG CLARK, Grand 
 Master of the State of Rhode Island. 
 
 "All brethren under the jurisdiction of this Grand Lodge, 
 are required to wear a black scarf on the left arm for nine 
 days, as a token of regard for the loss of our late illustrious 
 Brother GEORGE WASHINGTON. 
 
 " By order, 
 
 " JOHN UANDY, G. Secretary. 
 
 " NEWPORT, December 23, 1799." 
 
 The records of the subordinate lodges, both in Khode 
 Island and Connecticut, show that a general mourning 
 was adopted on the sad event; and that in all the 
 numerous public processions and ceremonies, the Fra- 
 ternity were assigned a post of dignity, in considera- 
 tion of the well-known connection WASHINGTON had 
 with their Society. It is impossible in this sketch to 
 give even a synopsis of the rich treasures such records 
 in the various States contain, relating to funeral cere- 
 monies on that occasion. They are worthy of a volume. 
 From our portfolio of these rich memorials of merited 
 regard, we will select but one other. It is the mourn- 
 
WASHINGTON. 227 
 
 ing of the brethren at Fredericksburg, where WASH- 
 INGTON had been made a Mason nearly fifty years 
 before. Youthful craftsmen had in those long years 
 taken the places of most of the ancient brethren of 
 that lodge ; but there were some who still remembered, 
 how, when youth and manhood were mingling their 
 lines upon his brow, he sought their altar and bound 
 himself to them in vows of brotherhood. These un- 
 broken vows had been kept in their memory. There 
 was now sadness in their hearts when they were sum- 
 moned by their Master to meet and commemorate his 
 loss. It was the second Sabbath after his death, 
 and amidst the tolling of bells, which had commenced 
 at sunrise, they met in their lodge-room at ten o'clock. 
 The Grand Master of Virginia, Major BENJAMIN DAY, 
 was with them, and having taken the chair in the East, 
 he thus addressed the lodge : 
 
 "We are now, brethren, to pay the last tribute of affec- 
 tion and respect to the eminent virtues and exemplary con- 
 duct that adorned the character of our worthy deceased 
 Brother, GEORGE WASHINGTON. He was early initiated in 
 this venerable lodge, as I am respectably informed, in the 
 mysteries of our ancient and honorable profession ; and 
 having held it in the highest and most just veneration, the 
 fraternal attention we now show to his memory is the more 
 incumbent on us. He is gone forever from our view ; but 
 gone to the realms of celestial bliss, where the shafts of 
 malice and detraction cannot penetrate, where all sublunary 
 distinctions cease, and merit is rewarded by the scale of 
 unerring justice. While the tear of sympathy is excited for 
 a loss so generally and deservedly lamented, let us recol- 
 lect that posterity will not less justly appreciate the talents 
 
228 WASHINGTON. 
 
 aiid virtues he possessed. As a man, he was (Vail ; and it 
 would be a compliment to which human nature cannot as- 
 pire to suppose him free from peculiarities, or exempt from 
 error. But let those that best know him determine the 
 measure to which they extend. In the offices of private 
 life, he was most endeared to those who were most in his 
 familiarity and intimacy. In the various important ap- 
 pointments of public confidence. let not the sin of in- 
 gratitude sully the historic page, by denying him the in- 
 cense of public applause. Abler panegyrists will attend at 
 the sacred altar, and do that justice to his memory to which 
 his merits entitle him ; while attendant angels await his 
 immortal spirit in the mansions of eternal peace. 
 
 " Suffer me, brethren, on this solemn occasion, to remind 
 you of the instability of all human concerns, and the un- 
 certainty of our continuance in this transitory state of our 
 existence. Let the example of our worthy deceased brother, 
 and the amiable precepts of our institution, guide us in our 
 conduct to each other ; and the sacred volume, always open 
 for our instruction in our duty to the inconceivably great, 
 omnipotent, and merciful Architect of the Universe ! That 
 when it shall please Him to relieve us from the cares and 
 solicitude of this probationary state, we may not be dis- 
 mayed, but with a well-grounded hope, familiarized to the 
 expectation of a change, the awful, yet the inevitable lot of 
 mortality, and the entrance into a lodge of perfect harmony 
 and eternal happines." 
 
 The lodge then formed a procession, and moved 
 from their hall, preceded by music playing a solemn 
 dirge, to the public parade-ground, where they were 
 received by the military with reversed arms, who es- 
 corted them to the church, where a discourse was 
 
WASHINGTON. 229 
 
 delivered by the Rev. Mr. STEPHENSON, from the words : 
 " And tlie Lord spake unto Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' 
 minister, saying, Moses my servant is dead." The so- 
 lemnities of the day were concluded by the military 
 firing sixteen minute-guns as the brethren returned to 
 their lodge-room. 
 
 The official inventory of WASHINGTON'S estate after 
 his death was duly entered in the records of Fairfax 
 County, and from it we are able to show that he 
 treasured in his cabinet and in his library, to the close 
 of his life, the Masonic souvenirs he had at various 
 times received from his brethren, thus verifying also 
 our records and traditions of his reception of them. 
 The statements which we have given in the foregoing 
 sketch, embrace his reception of Masonic regalia from 
 Messrs. WATSON & CASSOUL; a box containing a Ma- 
 sonic apron and sash from LA FAYETTE ; the Pennsyl- 
 vania Ahiman Rezon from t the Grand Lodge of Penn- 
 sylvania ; the Book of Constitutions of the Grand Lodge 
 of Massachusetts, from that Grand Lodge ; " Proofs of 
 a Conspiracy," from the Eev. Mr. SNYDER; and an 
 Ahiman Rezon, or Book of Constitutions, from the 
 Grand Lodge of Maryland. All of the above books 
 we find inventoried by the appraisers of his personal 
 estate, as follows : The Pennsylvania Ahiman Eezon, 
 one dollar ; the Massachusetts Grand Lodge Constitu- 
 tion, one dollar ; " Proofs of a Conspiracy," one dollar 
 and fifty cents ; Maryland Ahiman Eezon, one dollar 
 and fifty cents. We also find in the same inventory, 
 a volume of Masonic Sermons, fifty cents. The same 
 list also contains a " Japan box containing a Mason's 
 apron," inventoried at fifty dollars ; and a " Piece of 
 
230 WASHINGTON. 
 
 oil-cloth containing Orders of Masonry," fifty dollars. 
 The first of these was probably the box and apron sent 
 by LA FAYETTE, the term Japan referring to the fine 
 exterior polish of the box. The last was doubtless 
 what is called the Masoris carpet or floor-dotli. We have 
 never met with any other mention of this last Masonic 
 relic of WASHINGTON'S, except in this official inventory, 
 and are at loss to know when it came into his posses- 
 sion, and what finally became of it. So interesting and 
 valuable a relic of WASHINGTON should not be lost ; and 
 we here request that if its history or existence be 
 known, it be communicated to the Fraternity of which 
 our illustrious brother was the pride and ornament. 
 
 Reader, we have sketched for you WASHINGTON as a 
 MASON. Learn from it, that 
 
 " Ere mature manhood marked his youthful brow, 
 He sought our altar and he made his vow 
 Upon our tesselated floor he trod, 
 Bended his knees, and placed his trust in GOD 1 
 Through all his great and glorious life he stood 
 A true, warm brother, foremost e'er in good ; 
 And when he died, amid a nation's gloom, 
 His mourning brethren bore him to the tomb ! ' 
 
PART II. 
 
 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS, 
 
MAJOR HENBY PRICE. 
 
 FIRST GRAND MASTER IN NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 THE introduction of Freemasonry into America has 
 neither written nor traditionary date. From a period 
 extending so far back into the gray ages of antiquity 
 that it antedates the twilight of written history, its 
 
234 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 mystic rites are said to have been practised in the 
 eastern world; and when the first explorers of the 
 western continent formed their infant settlements here, 
 they may have brought with them some knowledge of 
 its mysteries. 
 
 For more than a century after the English com- 
 menced their settlements in America, Masonic lodges 
 were held in all countries without any written war- 
 rants, but by the inherent right of Masons, sanctioned 
 by immemorial usage. Such lodges kept no written 
 records of their proceedings, and American history is 
 silent on the subject of Freemasonry until about the 
 commencement of the third decade of the last century. 
 At that time the Masonic chronicles of England state, 
 that a deputation was granted to DANIEL COXE, con- 
 stituting him Provincial Grand Master of New Jersey. 
 A copy of this deputation, recently obtained by the 
 Grand Lodge of New Jersey from the Grand Lodge at 
 London, shows, that it constituted DANIEL COXE, Pro- 
 vincial Grand Master of the provinces of New York, 
 New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. This deputation was 
 granted by the Duke of Norfolk, Grand Master of Ma- 
 sons in England, and bore date the 5th day of June, 
 1730. From the same source we also learn, that DANIEL 
 COXE was present at the meeting of the Grand Lodge 
 in London on the 29th of the following January, where 
 his health was proposed and drank as "Provincial 
 Grand Master of North America" Of his personal 
 history, we only know that he was the son of Dr. 
 DANIEL COXE, of England, who was physician to the 
 queen of Charles the Second, and to Queen ANNE, and 
 who held extensive proprietary claims to lands in New 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEEKS. 235 
 
 Jersey and other American colonies ; and that he was 
 his father's agent and representative in this country. 
 His residence is believed to have been in Burling- 
 ton, New Jersey. He was for many years a member 
 of the council of that province under Lord CORNBURY, 
 and the speaker of the House of Assembly during a 
 part of the administration of Governor HUNTER. He 
 ws also, it is historically stated, for a time, deputy 
 governor of Western New Jersey. He represented his 
 father's claims to an extensive tract of country lying 
 on the Gulf of Mexico, which he made some attempts 
 to colonize. In furtherance of this object, he wrote a 
 dissertation on this territory, entitled, " A Description 
 of the English Province of Carolana, by the Spaniards 
 called Florida, and by the French, La Louisaine" This, 
 we believe, was first published in England in 1741, al- 
 though some authorities state it was published in 1722. 
 Two existing proprietary claims to this territory were 
 possessed by his father, the first of Spanish, and the 
 second of English origin. It was Mr. COXE'S desire to 
 hold and settle it as an English province ; and he ac- 
 cordingly, in the preface to his pamphlet, proposed a 
 colonial alliance of all the English settlements as a 
 defence against the Indians, and also the French and 
 Spanish colonies in the vicinity. The terms of this 
 proposition for an English colonial union in America, 
 we believe, antedate any such ideas by others ; and we 
 cannot forbear to insert them here as curious in the 
 civil history of our country, being published prior to 
 the Union recommended by Dr. FRANKLIN at the Colo- 
 nial Congress in Albany in 1754. Mr. COXE'S propo- 
 sition was 
 
236 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 " That all the colonies appertaining to the crown of Great 
 Britain, on the northern continent of America, be united 
 under a legal, regular, and firm establishment ; over which 
 a lieutenant or supreme governor may be constituted and 
 appointed to preside on the spot, to whom the governors of 
 each colony shall be subordinate." " It is further humbly 
 proposed," he continued, " that two deputies shall be annually 
 elected by the Council and Assembly of each province, who 
 are to be in the nature of a great council, or general con- 
 vention of the estates of the colonies ; and by the order, 
 consent, or approbation of the lieutenant or governor- 
 general, shall meet together, consult and advise for the 
 good of the whole, settle and appoint particular quotas or 
 proportions of money, men, provisions, etc., that each re- 
 spective government is to raise for their mutual defence 
 and safety, as well as, if necessary, for offence and invasion 
 of their enemies ; in all which cases the governor-general 
 or lieutenant is to have a negative, but not to enact any 
 thing without their concurrence, or that of a majority of 
 them." 
 
 May not this proposition of our Masonic brother and 
 first American Grand Master, have been the germ of 
 thought from which sprung our present form of civil 
 government ? Mr. COXE, we believe, died at Burling- 
 ton, New Jersey, and was there buried ; for there is 
 Baid to exist in the east transept of the old Episcopal 
 Church there, a marble slab bearing this inscription : 
 
 "DANIEL COXE, 
 
 DIED, APEIL 25, 1739. 
 
 65." 
 
 To this digression from the Masonic design of our 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 237 
 
 sketch, we will only add, that so little has been left on 
 record of the Masonic history of DANIEL COXE, that 
 even his Grand Mastership has been deemed a myth. 
 His name stands in the annals of American Masonry, 
 like the morning-star at dawn rising above the moun- 
 tain's misty top, and then fading from our vision in the 
 sunlight of the bright skies that followed. 
 
 In 1733, three years later, the written records of 
 Freemasonry in America commence. Upon the 30th 
 of April of that year, a deputation was granted by 
 Lord MONTACUTE, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge 
 of England, to HENRY PEICE, the subject of this sketch, 
 " in behalf of himself and several other brethren" then 
 residing in New England, appointing him " Provincial 
 Grand Master of New England aforesaid, and domin- 
 ions and territories thereunto belonging." From the 
 powers contained in this deputation sprang the first 
 existing lodges in this country, and HENRY PBICE is 
 regarded as the father of American lodges of Free- 
 masons. 
 
 The deputations or commissions to DANIEL COXE in 
 1730, and HENRY PRICE in 1733, were in form and ver- 
 biage nearly the same ; but they differed somewhat in 
 powers conferred. That to Mr. COXE confined his 
 powers to the provinces of New York, New Jersey, 
 and Pennsylvania ; while that to Mr PRICE, gave him 
 Masonic authority in New England, and "dominions 
 and territories thereunto belonging." That to Mr. COXE 
 also continued his powers for two years from the fol- 
 lowing feast of St. John the Baptist; "after which 
 time," it continues, "it is our will and pleasure, and 
 we do hereby ordain, that the brethren who do now 
 
238 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 reside, or who may hereafter reside, in all 01 any oi 
 the said provinces, shall, and they are hereby em- 
 powered every other year, on the feast of St. John the 
 Baptist, to elect a Provincial Grand Master, who shall 
 have the power of nominating and appointing his 
 Deputy Grand Master and Grand Wardens." That of 
 Mr. PRICE was unlimited in time, and revokable at the 
 pleasure of the authority that issued it. We have no 
 Masonic lodge records in this country previous to 1733 ; 
 but it is a curious fact, that newspapers printed in 
 Philadelphia as early as 1732, state the existence of a 
 Masonic lodge in that city at that date, and that WIL- 
 LIAM ALLEN, then recorder of the city (and afterwards 
 chief-justice of the province), was, on St. John the Bap- 
 tist's day of 1732, elected Grand Master in Philadelphia. 
 Were the brethren in that city at that time holding 
 lodges under authority from DANIEL COXE, or by the 
 old immemorial right and usage of Masons ? It is an 
 interesting point in our Masonic history, but one 
 which we are not called upon to consider further in 
 this sketch. Our task is to give a brief memoir of the 
 Masonic history of HENRY PRICE, and even this would 
 embrace more of the history of the early progress of 
 Masonry in this country than our limits admit. 
 
 History has recorded but little of his life, except 
 what is found on its Masonic pages. He was a native 
 of England, and was born in London about the year 
 1697. He came to America about 1723, and settled 
 in Boston, where he commenced business as a mer- 
 chant tailor. He was then about twenty-six years oi 
 age, and had doubtless been made a Mason in London, 
 in one of the four old lodges of that city. It was 
 
239 
 
 about ten years, therefore, from the time he came to 
 America, before he received the deputation granted 
 him by Lord MONTACUTE to assemble the brethren of 
 the Masonic Fraternity and constitute lodges in New 
 England. 
 
 At that time, nearly three months were required 
 to transmit documents from London to Boston, and 
 the promptness with which he entered on his new 
 duties is seen from the record, that on the 30th of 
 July, 1733, just three months from the date of his com- 
 mission, he assembled the brethren then residing in 
 Boston, at the " Bunch of Grapes Tavern," and caus- 
 ing his deputation to be read, he appointed ANDREW 
 BELCHER his Deputy Grand Master, and THOMAS 
 KENNELLY and JOHN QUANN his Grand Wardens. We 
 have few written records from which to give the 
 social position of the members of this Grand Lodge. 
 Mr. PRICE, its Grand Master, was the same year ap- 
 pointed "cornet in the governor's troop of guards, 
 with the rank of major." He was also at one time pay- 
 master in Queen ANNE'S regiment. JONATHAN BELCHER 
 was the governor of Massachusetts, and ANDREW BEL- 
 CHER, the Deputy Grand Master, was his son. 
 
 The same day that Mr. PRICE organized his Grand 
 Lodge, he received a petition from eighteen Masons in 
 Boston, in behalf of themselves and " other brethren" 
 asking to be established as a regular lodge. They had 
 probably often convened and worked as Masons in that 
 city before, without any authority except the ancient 
 immemorial right which the Craft had formerly exer- 
 cised, of meeting when and where circumstances per- 
 p^tted or required, and choosing the most experienced 
 
240 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 one present as Master, form for the occasion a lodge. 
 In such assemblages of the Craft, temporarily con- 
 vened, with little ritualistic labor, but with simple 
 forms, it is probable most of the old Masons in 
 America had been admitted to the knowledge of our 
 mystic rites. But having now an opportunity to con- 
 form to the newly established custom in England of 
 working under the sanction of a Grand Lodge, com- 
 posed of a Grand Master and other officers, and rep- 
 resentatives of all the brethren in the jurisdiction, 
 they seem at once to have availed themselves of the 
 privilege. Their petition was accordingly granted, 
 and they were formed and constituted by Mr. PRICE a 
 regular lodge the same evening, their officers being 
 installed by him in person. This lodge was denomi- 
 nated "First Lodge" in Boston until 1783, when it 
 took the name of St. John's Lodge, by which it has 
 since been known. As it was constituted by Grand 
 Master PRICE in person, it was not at that; day thought 
 necessary that it should have a written warrant, his 
 own act of personally constituting it, being at that time 
 a sufficient authority for perpetuating itself as a legal 
 lodge. 
 
 Early in the following year, Major PRICE granted 
 warrants to brethren in Philadelphia and in Ports- 
 mouth, New Hampshire, to hold lodges in those places, 
 and for this purpose written instruments of authority 
 were first used by him in America. He also received 
 an extension of his authority in 1734 from the Grand 
 Master of England, giving him jurisdiction over all 
 North America. Under it he granted a warrant, on 
 the 27th of December, 1735, for a lodge at Charleston, 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEEES. 241 
 
 South Carolina. It is probable that some, if not all 
 these warrants, were to confirm and bring under regular 
 Masonic government, bodies of Masons that had pre- 
 viously met and worked as lodges in their several 
 localities. 
 
 Major PEICE was superseded as Provincial Grand 
 Master, in 1737, by a like commission granted by the 
 Grand Master of England to EGBERT TOMLINSON. Mr. 
 TOMLINSON held the office for seven years, and was suc- 
 ceeded by THOMAS OXNAED, who helcl it about ten years, 
 and died with his commission unrevoked. Upon the 
 death of Mr. OXNAED, Major PEICE, as the oldest Pro- 
 vincial Past Grand Master in America, was called to the 
 vacant Grand East until a new appointment could be 
 made by the Grand Master of England. He therefore 
 held the office at this time, by virtue of his priority in 
 that position, from the 26th of June, 1754, until Octo- 
 ber 1, 1755, when JEEEMY GEIDLEY was duly com- 
 missioned and installed. Mr. GEIDLEY continued as 
 Provincial Grand Master until his death in September, 
 1767, when Major PEICE again resumed the office until 
 the 25th of November, 1768, when JOHN KOWE was 
 regularly appointed to it by the Grand Master of 
 England. 
 
 Such is a brief sketch of the connection Major PEICE 
 had with American Masonry as Provincial Grand 
 Master. But his Masonic labors were not confined to 
 his duties in his Grand Lodge. By an early regula- 
 tion of the mother Grand Lodge in England, Appren- 
 tices could be made Fellow-crafts and Master Masons 
 only in the Grand Lodge, unless by special dispensa- 
 tion from the Grand Master. This rule was soon 
 
 11 
 
242 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 afterwards relaxed, and "Master's Lodges" were in- 
 stituted to confer the second and third degrees on 
 candidates who had received the first in regular lodges 
 of the Craft. 
 
 About the year 1738 a " Master's Lodge" was in- 
 stituted in Boston, which met monthly. Major PRICE 
 was its first Master, and he occupied this position and 
 performed its labors until 1744, when he resigned the 
 office. During this period the record shows that he 
 was absent but one evening ; and after he resigned the 
 chair, he was generally present at the meetings of the 
 lodge, and frequently officiated as master pro tern., 
 until 1749, when he again held it one term by election. 
 He frequently performed the duties of the minor offices 
 of the lodge, and was ever an active member. He was 
 also a member of the " First Lodge," and gave it his 
 active support. 
 
 Major PRICE had been successful in his mercantile 
 business in Boston, and was able to support a country- 
 seat a few miles from the city. The records of the 
 Grand Lodge of Massachusetts show, that in April 
 1751, that Grand Body resolved to celebrate the com- 
 ing St. John's Day at "Brother PRICE'S house" in 
 Menotomy (West Cambridge) ; but when the day ar- 
 rived, the record further shows, that his house " being 
 encumbered by sickness," the celebration was held at 
 the house of another brother in Cambridge. Soon 
 after this he lost his wife, and also a daughter of about 
 the age of nineteen years; and on the 20th of April, 
 1766, he lost his only surviving child, a son, who was 
 apprenticed to an apothecary. This son died sud- 
 denly in a fit. The stricken father was now childless 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 243 
 
 and lonely, and he wrote to his friends in London, in 
 1771, that as soon as his affairs in Boston could be in- 
 trusted to a suitable person, he contemplated return- 
 ing to England. He was then nearly seventy-five years 
 old ; yet he again married, and in 1774 he relinquished 
 his business in Boston, and retired to a farm in Towns- 
 end, a few miles from -the city, which town he after- 
 wards represented in the General Court. The second 
 wife of Major PRICE was a widow, LYDIA ABBOT, of 
 Townsend, who had at the time of this marriage two 
 daughters by her former husband, and she afterwards 
 had two daughters more by Major PRICE. He con- 
 tinued his residence in Townsend until his death at 
 about the age of eighty-three years, which occurred on 
 the 20th of May, 1780. He was buried in the public 
 burial-ground of that town, where his tombstone still 
 stands, bearing this inscription : 
 
 "IN MEMORY OF HENRY PRICE, ESQ., 
 
 "Was born in London about the year of our LORD 1697. 
 He removed to Boston about the year 1723 ; received a 
 deputation appointing him Grand Master of Masons in New 
 England ; and in the year 1733 was appointed a Cornet in 
 the Governor's Troop of Guards, with the rank of Major 
 By his diligence and industry in business, he acquired the 
 means of a comfortable living, with which he removed to 
 Townsend in the latter part of his life. He quitted mor- 
 tality the 20th of May, A. D. 1780, leaving a widow and two 
 young daughters, with a numerous company of friends and 
 acquaintances to mourn his departure, who have that 
 ground of hope concerning his present lot, which results 
 from his undissembled regard to his Maker, and extensive 
 
244: WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 benevolence to his fellow-creatures, manifested in life by a 
 behavior consistent with his character as a MASON, and his 
 nature as a Man." 
 
 Major PRICE provided by his will equally for his two 
 step-daughters as for his own, giving to the four all 
 his property after having made suitable provision for 
 his widow. His descendants still live in Massachusetts ; 
 and one of them, a few years ago, presented to the 
 Grand Lodge of that State an original portrait of their 
 first Grand Master, taken in middle life. It is a valua- 
 ble memento of one who is justly regarded as the 
 Father of Freemasonry in America. 
 
SIR WILLIAM JOHNSON, 
 
 THE ENGLISH SUPERINTENDENT OF INDIANS IN NEW YORK J AND 
 FIRST MASTER OF ST. PATRICKS LODGE ON THE MOHAWK. 
 
 FKEEMASONKY has its traditions and historic allusions 
 to lodges in New York, which are older than any of its 
 authentic records in that colony. Like footprints on 
 the shores of time, they seem to point to unrecorded 
 dynasties of craftsmen, whose labors, like those of the 
 
246 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 pioneer in some primeval forest, who erects tho 
 first rude habitation in the place where busy cities 
 afterwards arise, are all obliterated and forgotten. 
 These traditions seem to point to the Palatines on the 
 Hudson as the first mystic temple builders of New 
 York. The Masonic annals of England then give us 
 the names of DANIEL COXE, in 1730; KICHARD EiGGS,in 
 1737 ; FRANCIS GOELET, in 1751, as each having au- 
 thority to congregate the brethren and establish Ma- 
 sonic lodges in the province of New York. There is 
 no recorded certainty that either of these, except 
 Mr. GOELET, acted on their commissions, and the only 
 record of his proceedings in his Provincial Grand-mas- 
 tership that we have met with, is a newspaper account of 
 that day, which states that on St. John the Evangelist's 
 day, in 1753, when his successor, GEORGE HARRISON, was 
 installed in the city of New York, a Grand Lodge, which 
 had previously existed in the province, was convened 
 on the occasion. GEORGE HARRISON presided as Pro- 
 vincial Grand Master for eighteen years, and during 
 that time he established lodges in -the city of New 
 York, and others in towns upon the Hudson, where the 
 population was numerous, and one in an infant settle- 
 ment on the Mohawk. He also granted warrants in 
 Connecticut, New Jersey, and at Detroit. 
 
 The lodge which he chartered upon the Mohawk, 
 was located at Caughnawaga. the residence of Sir 
 WILLIAM JOHNSON, who was its first Master. It was 
 called St. Patrick's Lodge, and its charter bore date 
 May 23d, 1766. Caughnawaga was an English and 
 German settlement on the extreme western verge of 
 civilization, and in the vicinity of the Six Nations of 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 247 
 
 Indians, of whom Sir WILLIAM was the English super- 
 intendent. Sir WILLIAM JOHNSON was a native of Ire- 
 land, and born in 1714. He inherited no title of 
 nobility by birth, but was a nephew upon his mother's 
 side of Sir PETER WARREN, the naval commander who 
 distinguished himself at the siege of Louisburg in 1745. 
 Sir PETER had previously married -a sister of Chief- 
 Justice DE LANCY of New York, and had further identi- 
 fied himself with American interests by the purchase 
 of a large tract of wilderness country upon the Mo- 
 hawk Eiver ; and he sent for his nephew, who is the 
 subject of this sketch, to come to America and take 
 charge of his landed estate. Young JOHNSON had just 
 been disappointed in a love affair in Ireland, and 
 listened willingly to his proposal. 
 
 He was then about twenty years of age, and he came 
 to America and settled on his uncle's lands at Caughna- 
 waga on the Mohawk about the year 1735, two years 
 after the first lodge was established in Boston. The 
 Mohawk country was at that time but sparsely settled 
 by white men, and for many years his principal neigh- 
 bors and associates were the native Indians of the Six 
 Nations, known in history as the confederacy of the 
 Iroquois. He learned their language, and often joined 
 with them in hunting, fishing, and other recreations ; 
 and by his adroitness obtained an almost unbounded 
 influence over them. He was adopted by them ac- 
 cording to their customs, and given by them an Indian 
 name Warraghiiyagey. For their amusement, it is 
 said, he introduced among them many novel diversions, 
 among which were foot-races, in which the competitors 
 had meal-bags drawn over their legs and tied under 
 
248 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 their arms ; turning a hog loose with his tail greased, 
 and giving it as a prize to the one who would catch 
 and hold it by that extremity ; a half-pound of tea to 
 the one who would make the ugliest face ; and a 
 bladder of snuff to the old woman who could scold the 
 hardest. These were hilarities for the multitude. For 
 the chiefs in council he had a demeanor silent, thought- 
 ful, and grave as a sachem ; and when he joined them 
 in their mystic religious rites,' no Indian devotee was 
 more expert and devoted. He was skilled in their 
 diplomacy, in their traditionary legends, and in their 
 religious ceremonies. The English government had 
 appointed him its superintendent of Indian affairs in 
 the colony of New York, an office which he held until 
 his death. His official position, his locality, and his 
 intimacy with the various tribes around him, gave 
 great advantages for trafficking in the productions of 
 the forest, and he made large gains by exchanging 
 European goods for the rich furs of the Indian hunters. 
 
 Many amusing anecdotes have come down to us of 
 the artful manner in which Sir WTLT.TAM managed to 
 increase his own wealth at the expense of his Irdiun 
 neighbors, and at the same time preserve their kind 
 feelings. On one occasion HENDRICK, the chief of tho 
 Mohawks, was charmed with the sight of a fine gold- 
 laced coat which JOHNSON had just procured for him- 
 self from England. The cupidity of the chief was ex- 
 cited, and he went to its owner the next day saying, 
 lie had dreamed. 
 
 "Well, what did you dream?" said JOHNSON. 
 
 " I dreamed," said the chief, " that you gave me the 
 fine coat." 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEEES. 249 
 
 The hint was too strong to be mistaken or un- 
 heeded, and the proud chief went away wearing the 
 coat, and well pleased with his pretended dream. Soon 
 afterwards meeting the chief, JOHNSON said to him, he, 
 also had dreamed. 
 
 11 Well, what what did you dream ?" said HENDKICK. 
 
 "I dreamed that you gave me a. tract of land," said 
 JOHNSON, describing it. 
 
 The chief paused a moment at the enormity of the 
 amount; but soon said, "You may have the land, but 
 me no dream again ; you dream too hard for me." 
 
 The tract of land thus obtained is said to have been 
 about twelve miles square, and the title was subse- 
 quently confirmed to him by the king of England, and 
 was called the Royal Grant. 
 
 But the young Irish cavalier did not seem at all 
 times content with the rich furs and lands of his Indian 
 neighbors, for traditions also affirm, that he often 
 gained the favor of the dark-eyed daughters of the 
 forest, and that his intercourse with them was such as 
 would be construed by the code of civilization, at least, 
 a lapse of morality. Sir WILLIAM was yet far from be- 
 ing indifferent to the social and religious improvement 
 of the tribes under his care. He encouraged the labors 
 of teachers and missionaries among them ; and while, in 
 his own views, he was a high churchman, his patronage 
 was often extended to an opposing New England asso- 
 ciation that was laboring to evangelize, or gospelize, as 
 they termed it, the American Indians. His position 
 and sentiments were often made matters of comment in 
 the correspondence of the New England Society, an 
 extract from which, in a letter from Colonel BABCOCK tc 
 
250 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 the Kev. Dr. COOPER, we cannot refrain from giving in 
 this sketch : 
 
 "Why," says he, "may not Sir WILLIAM be the means of 
 introducing learning and religion amongst the Indians and 
 civilize them, as well as PETER the Great did the Musco- 
 vites ? And though Sir WILLIAM, like SOLOMON, has been 
 eminent for his pleasures with the brown ladies, yet he 
 may lay the foundation for a building in the Mohawk 
 country that may be of more real use than the very 
 gplended temple that SOLOMON built ; and I dare say that 
 the queens of the Senecas, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, 
 Tuscaroras, and Mohawks may join in their observations 
 with the queen of Sheba, and say with the same truth, that 
 not one-half was told them." 
 
 Sir WILLIAM was twice married. His first wife was 
 a young German girl who had been sold on her arrival 
 in America for her passage-money as a redemptioner, 
 to a Mr PHILLIPS in the Mohawk Valley. She was so 
 beautiful as to attract the attention of Sir WILLIAM, 
 and on a friend's advising him to get the pretty 
 German girl for a housekeeper, he determined to do 
 so. His friend soon after missed the girl at the house 
 of PHILLIPS, and asked him what had become of her. 
 He replied, " JOHNSON, that tamned Irishman, came 
 t'other day and offered me five pounds for her, threat- 
 ening to horsewhip me and steal her if I would not 
 sell her. I thought five pounds petter than a flogging, 
 so I took it, and he's got the gal." She was the 
 mother of his son, Sir JOHN JOHNSON, and two daugh- 
 ters who afterwards became the wives of GUY JOHNSON 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEEFS. 251 
 
 and Colonel GLAUS ; and Sir WILLIAM subsequently 
 married her to legitimatize her children. 
 
 There is also a spice of romance connected with his 
 second wife, who was a sister of BRANT, an Indian 
 protegee of Sir WILLIAM. She was a Mohawk girl of 
 rare beauty and sprightliness, and being present one 
 day at a military review, she playfully asked an officer 
 who was riding on parade to allow her to ride upon 
 his horse with him. He gave his assent, without think- 
 ing she would have the courage to attempt it ; but she 
 sprang with the swiftness of a gazelle upon the horse 
 behind him, and, with her dark hair streaming in the 
 wind, and her arm around his waist, rode about the 
 parade-ground to the amusement and admiration of all 
 present, except the young officer who became so un- 
 expectedly the gallant of the forest fairy. Sir WIL- 
 LIAM, who witnessed the spectacle, became enamored 
 with the wild beauty before him, and soon after took 
 her to his house as his wife in a manner consistent 
 with Indian customs. He treated her with kindness 
 and affection, and she -is said to have made him a de- 
 voted and faithful wife, and to have borne him several 
 children, which he legitimatized by marrying her with 
 the ceremonies of the Episcopal Church a short time 
 before his death. Many of the descendants of Sir 
 WILLIAM and MOLLY BRANT, it is said, are still living in 
 respectability in Canada. 
 
 During the times embraced in these digressive nar- 
 rations of his domestic life, he was constantly employed 
 in active public service, either in superintending In- 
 dian affairs, or in military command. In 1755, during 
 the war between France and England, he was invested 
 
252 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 with the command of provincial troops, and for a for- 
 tunate victory over the French forces, was rewarded 
 by the English government with a commission as 
 major-general, and by the king with a baronetcy. 
 His military talent, however, is not believed to have 
 been of a high order. 
 
 We know nothing of the Masonic history of Sir 
 WILLIAM JOHNSON until 1766, when he obtained the 
 warrant from GEORGE HARRISON % to establish St. Pat- 
 rick's Lodge. He organized it on the 23d of August 
 of that year at Johnson's Hall (now Johnstown), his 
 residence on the Mohawk, and GUY JOHNSON and 
 DANIEL GLAUS became its Wardens. The whole num- 
 ber of the original members of the lodge was fifteen, 
 many of whom, and perhaps all, were made Masons in 
 Albany, where a lodge had been organized the year 
 before. Sir WILLIAM presented his lodge with a set of 
 Masonic silver jewels, which he obtained for that pur- 
 pose from England. 
 
 St. Patrick's Lodge was the first to erect a Masonic 
 altar in the wilderness of New York west of the Hud- 
 son, although it had been preceded by military travel- 
 ling lodges during the French and Indian war. It 
 soon enrolled in its membership many names in the 
 Mohawk Valley which are to be found in the history of 
 our country, and it still maintains an honored and 
 useful existence. Sir WILLIAM continued to preside 
 over it as Master until the 6th day of December, 1770, 
 when the records show, that having previously in- 
 formed his lodge that his duty as Master of the " Inef- 
 fable Lodge" at Albany did not render it convenient for 
 him to continue longer as Master of St. Patrick's 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 253 
 
 Lodge, his son-in-law, GUY JOHNSON, was elected in his 
 stead. Sir WILLIAM had been appointed Master of this 
 so-called " Ineffable" Lodge as early as 1769, and he 
 held that station until 1773, if not till his death. He 
 died at Johnson's Hall, July 11, 1774, aged sixty 
 years. 
 
 "Whatever may have been the errors of his early 
 years, his memory has been cherished for his many 
 virtues ; and he was spared from seeing the desolation 
 that overspread the Mohawk Valley during the war of 
 the ^Revolution, when his family and former friends 
 became scattered, and the towns and villages he had 
 seen grow up around him were laid in ruins by in- 
 furiated bands of wild savages and misguided loyalists. 
 His death was regarded by our Government as a pub- 
 lic loss ; for it was believed that had he lived, he would 
 have lent his aid and powerful influence with the In- 
 dians to prevent their taking up the tomahawk in be- 
 half of the English in the then impending conflict. His 
 influence had been powerful with them while living, 
 and at his death he left a large sum of money to be 
 expended in providing mourning dresses for them ; and 
 the chiefs at the Mohawk castles, and their women 
 and children, all were provided with some badge to 
 wear by which to express their sorrow for his loss. 
 His authority on the Mohawk had been almost kingly, 
 and no white man ever attained a greater influence 
 with the American Indians than Sir WILLIAM JOHNSON. 
 
SIR JOHN JOHNSON, 
 
 THE -<AS1 PROVINCIAL GRAND MASTER OF THE FIRST GRAND LODGE 
 OF NEW YORK. 
 
 THE pre-revolutionary Provincial Grand Lodge of 
 the old colony of New York, was held by authority 
 granted by the Grand Lodge of England, sometimes 
 called Moderns, to distinguish it from the Dermott 
 Grand Body, who denominated themselves Ancients. 
 Under this authority New York had four Provincial 
 Grand Masters, of whom Sir JOHN JOHNSON was the 
 last. 
 
 He was the son of Sir WILLIAM JOHNSON by his first 
 wife, was born at Johnstown in 1742,- and upon the 
 death of his father, in 1774, succeeded him in his titles 
 and estate. Few records have come to us of his early 
 history, but he probably was sent to England to com- 
 plete his education, and there our earliest history of 
 him as a Mason commences. He was made a Mason 
 in London at about the age of twenty-five years, and 
 soon after received a commission as Provincial Grand 
 Master of New York from Lord BLANEY, Grand Master 
 of England, and immediately returned to America. 
 
 The earliest American Masonic records of Sir JOHN 
 are those of St. Patrick's Lodge at Johnstown, New 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 255 
 
 York, of which, his father, Sir WILLIAM, was at the time 
 Master. These records of December 5, 1767, state : 
 
 " Sir JOHN JOHNSON, knight (son of Sir WILLIAM), being 
 lately arrived from London, where he had been- entered, 
 passed, and raised to the degree of a Master Mason in the 
 Royal Lodge at St. James, and received his Constitution as 
 Provincial Grand Master of New York, applied to visit the 
 lodge, and being examined, was admitted agreeable to his 
 degree." 
 
 From this time onward the records of St. Patrick's 
 Lodge show that Sir JOHN was a constant visitor at its 
 stated communications until May the 3d, 1773. They 
 also state, December 1, 1768 : 
 
 " Lord BLANEY'S warrant appointing Sir JOHN JOHNSON, 
 knight, Grand Master for the province of New York, read ; 
 upon which he was congratulated by the members present." 
 
 November 7, 1771 : 
 
 "The Worshipful Master acquainted the brethren that 
 the Right Worshipful Sir JOHN JOHNSON, knight, Provincial 
 Grand Master of New York, by virtue of a commission from 
 Lord BLANEY, Grand Master of England, had lately been in- 
 stalled into that office by the Grand Officers in New York, 
 and intended them the honor of a visit as such. He was 
 accordingly introduced and received by the body, and placed 
 in the chair with the usual ceremonies." 
 
 From the foregoing records of St. Patrick's Lodge, 
 it appears that although commissioned as Provincial 
 Grand Master of New York by Lord BLANEY in 1767, he 
 
256 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 was not installed as such until 1771 ; a conclusion which 
 is further supported by the fact that GEORGE HARRISON, 
 who preceded him as such, granted a charter to King 
 Solomon's Lodge, at Poughkeepsie, on the 18th of 
 April, 1771. 
 
 No records of the Provincial Grand Lodge of New 
 York during the Grand Mastership of Sir JOHN JOHN- 
 SON have been preserved, nor do we know how many 
 subordinate lodges existed in his jurisdiction. St. 
 George's Lodge, at Schenectady, was chartered by him 
 December 13, 1774. New York embraced at that time 
 a far greater extent of territory than is contained in its 
 present limits, its acknowledged boundaries containing 
 all of Canada which lies south of the thirty-fifth par- 
 allel of north latitude, extending west as far as Detroit ; 
 and it also claimed the present State of Vermont as 
 within its civil jurisdiction. 
 
 Of the entire number of lodges then in this district, 
 no satisfactory account can be given. It is not proba- 
 ble that many had been formed, except in the eastern 
 part of the colony, for all else was a nearly unbroken 
 wilderness, dotted here and there with a military sta- 
 tion. At the station at Detroit, a lodge had been char- 
 tered in 1764. Four lodges also existed in Connecticut, 
 and one in New Jersey, which held warrants under the 
 Grand Lodge of New York, having been chartered by 
 HARRISON, the predecessor of Sir JOHN JOHNSON. 
 
 No records are known to exist of the doings of the 
 Grand Lodge of New York under the Grand Master- 
 ship of JOHNSON. Doctor PETER MIDDLETON was his 
 Deputy Grand Master, and his authority as such con- 
 tinued to be respected during the War of the Revolu- 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 257 
 
 tion ; while Sir JOHN, by his adherence to the royal 
 cause, was compelled to leave his home and seek th.e 
 protection of the British army. 
 
 He had inherited little of his father's amiable quali- 
 ties with his title and estate, and when the political 
 storm gathered in the horizon, he gave all his energies 
 and influence to the support of royalty, and sought to 
 embitter his neighbors on the Mohawk, where he lived, 
 against all who opposed its authority; nor did his 
 efforts stop here, for he infused the same malignant 
 spirit into the minds of many of the Indian tribes in 
 that vicinity, and finally became the leader of preda- 
 tory bands of Tories and Indians during the war. 
 
 "We cannot follow him in this sketch through his 
 military history during this seven years' struggle ; 
 suffice it to say, that he became the acknowledged 
 leader of the Tories of central New York, was com- 
 missioned as a colonel by the British, and directed the 
 movements of as bloody a band of savages and out- 
 laws as existed during the Eevolution. The following 
 oath which he administered to the Indians, shows his 
 almost unbounded influence with them, as weh 1 as his 
 own vanity. We do not commend its purity of diction, 
 but give it as a literary curiosity : 
 
 " By the grace of GOD unconquerable ; Six Nations and 
 loyal refugees, swear by the highest almighties, and al- 
 mighty GOD'S holiness, by his kingdom, by the substance of 
 the heavens, by the sun, moon, and stars, by the earth and 
 all under the earth, by the brains and all the hairy scalps of 
 our mothers, by cur heads, and all the strength of our 
 souls and bodies, I y the death of the great Sir WILLIAM 
 
258 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 JOHNSON, that we, our brother and son, Sir JOHN JOHNSON-, 
 succeeding superintendent of Indian affairs, in no manner of 
 ways in thy great and weighty affairs will leave thee ; and 
 though it be to the overthrow of our nations, to be brought 
 to nothing until there shall be left but ourselves, four or 
 five Indians at the most, yet will we defend thee, and all 
 those that do any ways appertain to thee ; and if thou shalt 
 have need of us, we shall always go with thee : and in case 
 this our promise in an} r way be frustrated, then let GOD'S 
 justice fall upon our heads and destroy us and our posterity, 
 and wipe away whatsoever belongeth unto us, and gather 
 it together into a rock of stone or substance of earth ; and 
 that the earth may cleave asunder and swallow our bodies 
 and souls." 
 
 This was signed by the chiefs in behalf of the Six 
 Nations. Sir JOHN was possessed of a princely estate 
 when the [Revolution commenced ; but it was confis- 
 cated, and he and his family became exiles. At the 
 public sale of his property, JOHN TAYLOR, the lieutenant- 
 governor of New York, purchased several of the articles, 
 and among them the family Bible. Perceiving it con- 
 tained the family record, he wrote a civil note to Sir 
 JOHN and kindly offered its restoration. Some time 
 afterwards a messenger from Sir JOHN rudely called for 
 the Bible, saying, "I have come for Sir WILLIAM'S 
 Bible, and there are four guineas which it cost." The 
 Bible was delivered, and the messenger was asked what 
 message Sir JOHN had sent. The reply was, " Pay 
 four guineas, and take the book !" 
 
 After the close of the war, Sir JOHN went to England, 
 but returned and settled in Canada in 1784. Here he 
 held several important civil offices, one of which was 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEEKS. 259 
 
 governor- general of Canada ; and to compensate him 
 for the loss of his property, the English government 
 made him several grants of land. He died in Montreal 
 in 1830, at the age of eighty-eight years, and was suc- 
 ceeded in his title by his son, Sir ADAM GOKDEN 
 JOHNSON. 
 
PEYTON RANDOLPH, 
 
 FIRS! PRESIDENT OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS, AND LAST PRO- 
 VINCIAL GRAND MASTER OF VIRGINIA. 
 
 AMONG the honored names that adorn both the public 
 and Masonic annals of Virginia, that of RANDOLPH has 
 a proud distinction. Two eminent citizens of the Old 
 Dominion who bore it were the compeers of WASHINGTON 
 in public life and Masonic labors. These were PEYTON 
 and EDMUND RANDOLPH. The RANDOLPHS were an old 
 and influential family of Virginia, and we often meet the 
 name in her Masonic as well as general records. 
 
WASHINGTON'S AIASONIC COMPEEKS. 261 
 
 The first of that name who settled in Virginia was 
 WILLIAM, of Warwickshire, or, as some authorities say, 
 of Yorkshire, in England. He came to America about 
 1670, and settled at Turkey Island, on the James River, 
 below Richmond. There he accumulated a large landed 
 estate, and became a member of the House of Burgesses, 
 and of the Council. His wife, whom he married after 
 he came to Virginia, was MARY ISHAM, of Bermuda 
 Hundred, who was descended from an ancient English 
 family in Northamptonshire. Several sons by this 
 marriage became men of distinction, one of whom, the 
 sixth, was Sir JOHN RANDOLPH, who was the father of 
 PEYTON, the subject of this sketch. His mother was 
 SUSAN BEVERLEY. 
 
 PEYTON RANDOLPH, who was the second son of Sir 
 JOHN, was born in Virginia in the year 1723, and was 
 therefore nearly ten years the senior of GEORGE WASH- 
 INGTON. His father, Sir JOHN, died in 1737, when PEYTON 
 was but fourteen years of age. He was, at the time of 
 his death, speaker of the House of Burgesses, treasurer 
 of the colony, and the representative of William and 
 Mary College, where he had been educated. He was 
 buried in its chapel, and an elegant marble tablet was 
 placed there to perpetuate his memory. 
 
 It was the custom of the wealthy families of Virginia, 
 at that period, to send their sons to England to be 
 educated, and PEYTON RANDOLPH was sent there for 
 that purpose during his minority. He graduated at 
 Oxford with college honors, and received at that dis- 
 tinguished seat of learning the degree of Master of 
 Arts. He studied law, returned to America, and was 
 made king's attorney for Virginia in 1748, at the ago 
 
262 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 of twenty-five years. He had risen rapidly in his pro- 
 fession, and was often the competitor at the bar with 
 the first legal gentlemen of the colony at that early 
 age. In his person he was tall and stately; in his 
 manners, grave and dignified. His features were pleas- 
 ing, and every look bespoke a patrician. In his pro- 
 fession he was noted for his accuracy, in his official 
 capacity for his incorruptible integrity, and in his so- 
 cial intercourse for his generous and hospitable dis- 
 position. 
 
 Connected thus by paternal and maternal descent 
 with the first families of the colony, and enjoying offi- 
 cial and professional advantages for influence which 
 few gentlemen at that time possessed, he did not fail 
 to secure for himself high consideration in the sober 
 councils of the colonial government ; and the social 
 circles that the elite of Virginia society formed, were 
 often graced and enlivened by his presence. 
 
 The French and Indian war, which commenced soon 
 after the middle of the last century, called many citizens 
 of Virginia into the field to defend the western fron- 
 tier. The defeat of BRADDOCK in 1755 cast a gloom on 
 that colony, which required the wisest and boldest to 
 step forth in its military defence ; and the names en- 
 rolled as its defenders in that war, are those of the 
 heroes who a few years later won for our country its 
 independence. WASHINGTON was then the commander 
 and the idol of the Virginia soldiery. PEYTON RAN- 
 DOLPH, though attorney-general of the commonwealth, 
 did not hesitate to bare his breast too in its defence. 
 Aroused at the accounts of devastations and massacres 
 on the western borders of the colony, Mr. RANDOLPH, in 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEEES. 263 
 
 1756, collected a band of one hundred men, and marched 
 at their head to the scene of action in aid of WASH- 
 INGTON. 
 
 After retiring from the military service, he was 
 elected a member of the House of Burgesses, and be- 
 came its speaker in 1766, as the successor of Mr. ROBIN- 
 SON. He continued to preside over that body until it 
 was superseded by the conventions. He was thus 
 'the last presiding officer of the colonial government of 
 Virginia. His influence there was great, and always 
 on the side of public rights. The crumbs which royalty 
 scattered in the pathway of its favorites in the colonies 
 had no charms for him, and he boldly advocated popu- 
 lar liberty in the face of ministerial frowns. 
 
 In 1773 committees of correspondence began to be 
 formed in the different colonies, to ascertain the true 
 position and sentiments of each. Of that of Virginia 
 Mr. RANDOLPH was chairman, and through him the 
 cavaliers of Virginia became first united in political 
 sentiment with the puritans of New England. We 
 cannot attempt in this personal sketch of Mr. RAN^- 
 DOLPH to give a portraiture of the events of those times, 
 or of the influences that produced them. Suffice it to 
 say, that there is an unwritten history of the silent 
 influences of Masonry in producing the political asso- 
 ciations of that period. The mighty brotherhood of 
 Masonry, ever the friend of freedom, was omnipotent 
 for good. 
 
 In 1774 the first colonial convention of Virginia as- 
 sembled at Williamsburg, and Mr. RANDOLPH was 
 chosen its chairman. Delegates were elected by it to 
 fl> e Continental Congress soon to be held in Philadel- 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 phia ; and at the head of these stands the name of 
 PEYTON KANDOLPH for Virginia. When that body met 
 in September of that year, fifty-five delegates were 
 present, representing twelve different colonies, and Mr. 
 RANDOLPH was unanimously elected its president. Ho 
 was then fifty-one years of age, in the prime of dignified 
 manhood, with experience as a presiding officer, and 
 warmly enlisted in the cause of freedom. No step 
 towards perfecting an American Union was so import- 
 ant as the one taken that day. We have already 
 shown, in a previous sketch, that both DANIEL COXE 
 and Dr. FRANKLIN had on previous and different occa- 
 sions recommended a union of the English colonies in 
 America. Both these had failed to gain a general ap- 
 proval of their plans, for want of a deep-felt common 
 interest. In the present instance, there was an in- 
 terest and purpose combined, that formed an era in the 
 history of the western world. 
 
 PEYTON RANDOLPH was at that time a distinguished 
 Mason, and Provincial Grand Master of Virginia. 
 When and where the veil that had hid from his man- 
 hood's eye Masonic light was drawn, we have now no 
 records to show. Williamsburg, where he resided, had 
 long been the seat, perhaps the centre of Masonry in 
 Virginia. In 1773, PEYTON RANDOLPH received from 
 Lord PETRE, Grand Master of England, a warrant con- 
 stituting him Master of the lodge in Williamsburg. It 
 bore date in London on the 6th of November, and ist 
 registry number was 457. For the benefit of the 
 curious Masonic reader, we give a copy of the singular 
 old English warrant of this lodge a place in our 
 sketch: 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 205 
 
 "PETRE, GRAND MASTER. 
 
 " To all and every our Right Worshipful, Worship- 
 
 [L. s.] ful, arid loving Brethren, We, ROBERT EDWARD PETRE, 
 
 Lord PETRE, Baron of Writtle, in the Count} r of Essex, 
 
 Grand Master of the Most Ancient and Honorable Society of 
 
 Free and Accepted Masons, send Greeting. 
 
 " Know Ye, That we, at the humble petition of our right 
 trusty and well beloved Brethren, the Honorable PEYTON 
 RANDOLPH, Esquire, JOHN MINSON GALT, EDWARD CHARLTON, 
 WILLIAM WADDILL, JOHN TURNER, HARRISON RANDOLPH, JOHN 
 ROWSEY, THOMAS HARWOOD, and several other Brethren re- 
 siding in and near Williamsburg, in the colony of Virginia, 
 North America, do constitute the said Brethren into a 
 regular Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, to be held in 
 Williamsburg aforesaid ; and do further, at their said peti- 
 tion, and of the great trust and confidence reposed in every 
 of the said above-named Brethren, hereby appoint the said 
 PEYTON RANDOLPH to be Master, JOHN MINSON GALT Senior 
 Warden, and EDWARD CHARLTON Junior Warden for opening 
 the said Lodge, and for such further time only as shall be 
 thought proper by the Brethren thereof. It being our will 
 that this appointment of the above officers shall in no wise 
 affect any future election of officers of the Lodge, but that 
 such election shall be regulated agreeably to such By-Laws 
 of the said Lodge as shall be consistent with the General 
 Laws of the Society contained in the Book of Constitution. 
 And we hereby will and require you, the said PEYTON RAN- 
 DOLPH, to take special care that all and every of the said 
 Brethren are or have been regularly made Masons, and that 
 they do observe, perform, and keep all the Rules and Orders 
 contained in the Book of Constitution ; and further, that 
 you do, from time to time, cause to -be entered in a book 
 kept for that purpose, an account of your proceedings in 
 
 12 
 
206 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 the Lodge, together with all such Orders, Rules, and Regu- 
 lations as shall be made for the good government of the 
 same ; that in no wise you omit once in every year to Bend 
 to us, or to our successors, Grand Masters, or to the Honor- 
 able CHARLES DILL.EN our Deputy Grand Master, or to the 
 Deputy (Jraml .Master for the time being, an account in 
 writing of your proceedings, and copies of all such Rules, 
 Orders, and Regulations as shall be made as aforesaid, to- 
 gether with a list of the Members of the Lodge, and such a 
 sum of money as may suit the circumstances of the Lodge, 
 and reasonably be expected towards the Grand Charity. 
 Moreover, we hereby will and require you, the said PEYTON 
 RANDOLPH, as soon as conveniently may be, to send an ac- 
 count in writing of what may be done by virtue of these 
 presents. 
 
 " GIVEN at London under our hands and the seals of MA- 
 SONRY this sixth day of November, A.L. 5773, A.D. 1773. 
 " By the Grand Master's command, 
 
 " CHARLES DILLEN, Deputy Grand Master. 
 " Witness, 
 " JAMES HUSSELTINE, Grand Secretary." 
 
 The first recorded meeting under this warrant was 
 held on St. John's Day, June 24, 1774. Mr. KANDOLPH 
 was not present, and JOHN MINSON GALT presided as 
 " Deputy Master" It appears from the record of this 
 date, that previous meetings had been held, at the last 
 of which, officers had been elected for* the following 
 3 T ear, who were as follows : JOHN BLAIR, Master ; WIL- 
 LIAM WADDILL, Deputy Master ; WTT.T.TAM FINNIE, Senior 
 Warden ; HARBISON EANDOLPH, Junior Warden ; JOHN 
 ROWSEY, Treasurer ; WILLIAM EUSSELL, Secretary ; and 
 HUMPHREY HAYWOOD and JAMES GALT, Stewards, who 
 "being duly qualified, took their seats in due form." 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 267 
 
 On the 5th of July, 1774, the name of PEYTON BAN- 
 DOLPH first appears on the records as present at the 
 lodge, where, the records state, he presided as Provin- 
 cial Grand Master, with JOHN BLAIR as Master, WIL- 
 LIAM WADDILL as Deputy Master, etc. From this it 
 appears that Mr. BANDOLPH had at this time been ap- 
 pointed Provincial Grand Master of Virginia, a rank, 
 which records show, he held till the time of his death. 
 The first Continental Congress therefore was presided 
 over by the highest Masonic officer present, and he a 
 Provincial Grand Master. What number of Masons 
 were members of. the body we know not, for the Ma- 
 sonic records of that day were mostly lost during the 
 revolutionary struggle which followed. Even the 
 record-book of the Williamsburg Lodge, from which 
 the foregoing extracts and facts are drawn, is lost to 
 our Virginia Brethren, and is now in possession of an 
 antiquarian in another jurisdiction who is not a Ma- 
 son ! We well know that WASHINGTON and many of his 
 Masonic compeers were members. From the bright 
 list of the members of that body we can say, from ex- 
 isting Masonic records of some, they ivere our brothers ; 
 and of others, where no records verify the fact, 
 
 "I know thee, from thy apron white, 
 
 An architect to be. 
 I know thee, from thy trowel bright, 
 Well skilled in Masonry." 
 
 After a secret session of less than two months, this 
 Congress adjourned to meet again when occasion 
 should require. On the 4th of October of this year the 
 records of Williamsburg Lodge give the following in- 
 
'1268 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 teresting account of laying the corner-stone of Wil- 
 liamsburg Bridge : 
 
 "The design of this meeting being to lay the foundation- 1 
 stone of the stone bridge to be built at the Capitol Landing, 
 the lodge accordingly repaired thereto, and after the usual 
 libations, and having placed the medal under the corner- 
 stone, and laid the same in due form, closed the lodge ; thp 
 inscription of which medal is as follows : 
 
 " ' GEORGIO TERTIO REGE ; 
 
 COMITE DUNMORE PROFECTO 
 
 PEYTON RANDOLPH LATAMORUM PROSIDE SUPREMO ; 
 
 JOHANNE BLAIR PROSIDE. 
 
 A. L. 5774.'" 
 
 At the meeting of the Williamsburg Lodge on the 
 15th of December following, the officers present stand 
 recorded : 
 
 " PEYTON RANDOLPH, Grand Master. 
 
 " JOHN BLAIR, Master. 
 
 " WILLIAM WADDILL, Deputy Master. 
 
 " WILLIAM FINNIE, Senior Warden. 
 
 " EDMUND RANDOLPH, Junior Warden Pt. 
 
 " JOHN ROWSEY, Treasurer. 
 
 " WILLIAM RUSSELL, Secretary. 
 
 " HENBYj - HARWOOD 4 Stewards. 
 " JAMES GALT, j 
 
 " JOHN MINSON GALT, Past Master." 
 On the 16th of June, 1775, the records state : 
 
 " On the petition of Brother PEALE, desiring the loan of 
 the picture belonging to this lodge, which was taken for 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEEES. 
 
 our Worshipful Provincial Grand Master, the same was 
 granted him upon his giving 1 security for the safe return of 
 the same at the appointed time." 
 
 Such are the existing records of PEYTON RANDOLPH 
 as a Mason at this interesting period of his life. Con- 
 gress had in May, 1775, reassembled in Philadelphia, 
 and Mr. RANDOLPH was again elected its President ; but 
 his health failing him, he resigned the position, and 
 JOHN HANCOCK was elected his successor. He visited 
 Virginia, but soon returned and took his seat as a 
 member of the National Council. While in the per- 
 formance of his duties there, he died suddenly of apo- 
 plexy, on the 22d of October, 1775, in the fifty-third 
 year of his age. His body was placed in a vault in 
 Philadelphia, to await the orders of his family. 
 
 Upon receiving notice of his death, the lodge in 
 WiHiarnsburg took the following action, as seen by its 
 record of November 6, 1775 : 
 
 " Ordered, That the lodge go into mourning for our late 
 worthy Grand Master, and continue till his corpse shall 
 arrive ; and that this lodge attend in procession, and that 
 the order be published in the Virginia Gazette." 
 
 On the 21st of December the lodge ordered, 
 
 " That Brother WILLSON PEALE be wrote to, to return the 
 speaker's picture" 
 
 Mrs. RANDOLPH presented to the lodge, after her 
 husband's death, his jewel, sash, and apron, and when 
 the lodge met on the 27th of December of that year, it 
 was 
 
270 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 " Ordered, that the lodge return their thanks for tho 
 present made this lodge by Mrs. RANDOLPH, of the Provincial 
 Grand Master's jewel, sash, and apron." 
 
 On this occasion an address was delivered before tlio 
 lodge by the Keverend Brother WILLIAM BLAND, its 
 chaplain, from which we give the following extract re- 
 lating to the death of Mr. KANDOLPH : 
 
 " Our forefathers cultivated Masonry with devotion, and 
 made the dreary wilderness of America smile with the 
 brotherly love that she inculcated ; but to the disgrace of 
 moderns, she is now almost exiled. 
 
 " Few are the places in this western world in which she 
 can claim rest for her blest feet ; fewer still are there where 
 her votaries are sincere. The genius of Masonry, my breth- 
 ren, does not consist in frequenting established meetings, 
 or decorating ourselves with the insignia belonging to our 
 profession. If there be a brother that dare pass by his 
 neighbor in distress, or because he himself possesses the light, 
 would turn the blind man out of his way, acknowledge him 
 not. The name of a brother is an empty sound, indeed, if 
 we refuse our hand to one fallen into a pit, disdain to re- 
 lieve the sorrows of the widow and the orphan, or discard 
 from our lives the exercise of patriotism the highest re- 
 finement of brotherly love. 
 
 "But- wherefore was I about to draw the character of a 
 true Mason ! For not long time since you had a bright 
 example to imitate and admire, surely, I am not called 
 upon for his name, for it can never be forgotten. All North 
 America was under his wing, but we his peculiar care. 
 Write a virtue which he had not faithfully transcribed into 
 his practice, or enumerate an excellence to which his heart 
 was a stranger. If malice could be found within these 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEEKS. . 271 
 
 walls, she would be silenced by the contemplation of his 
 memory, and envy herself bear no fangs against him. That 
 great man great let me call him revived the drooping 
 spirit of Masonry. The few remaining of the Elect he concen- 
 trated in this place, and to him must we ascribe the present 
 numerous appearance of Brethren. 
 
 " I could dwell forever on the remembrance of him, but 
 I fear that my short acquaintance with the sublime parts of 
 MasDnry, prevent me from doing justice to him. We all 
 know how gracefully he filled that chair, and I congratulate 
 my brethren that we once had such a head, such a father." 
 
 The remains of Mr. BANDOLPH lay in the tomb at 
 Philadelphia until November, 1776, when they were 
 taken by his nephew, EDMUND RANDOLPH, to Williams- 
 burg, where they were interred by the side of those of 
 his father in the college chapel with Masonic cere- 
 monies. On their arrival the lodge met, and from its 
 records of November 26th we make the following 
 extract : 
 
 " Met and agreed on the form of the procession of our 
 late worthy Brother PEYTON RANDOLPH, Grand Master of 
 Virginia, deceased, and then repairing to the Lodge Chapel ; 
 after the corpse was interred, returned to the lodge, and ad- 
 journed till a lodge in course." 
 
 The following further account of the ceremonies on 
 that occasion we copy from the public prints of that 
 day: - 
 
 " WILLIAMSBUKG, November 29, 177C. 
 
 " On Tuesday last the remains of our late amiable and be- 
 loved fellow-citizen, the Honorable PEYTON RANDOLPH, Esquire^ 
 
272 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 were conveyed in a hearse to the college chapel, attended 
 by the Worshipful Brotherhood of Freemasons, both Houses 
 of Assembly, a number of other gentlemen, and the inhabit- 
 ants of the city. The body was received from the bearers 
 by gentlemen of the House of Delegates, who conveyed it to 
 the family vault in the chapel, after which an excellent 
 oration was pronounced from the pulpit by the Reverend 
 THOMAS DAVIS* in honor of the deceased, recommending 
 to the respectable audience to imitate his virtues. The 
 oration being ended, the body was deposited in the vault, 
 when every spectator paic^ their last tribute of tears to 
 the memory of their departed and much honored friend, 
 may we add, to whom he was a father and able counsellor, 
 and one of our firmest patriots. The remains of this worthy 
 man were brought hither from Philadelphia by EDMUND 
 RANDOLPH, Esq., at the earnest request of his uncle's afflicted 
 and inconsolable widow." 
 
 PEYTON RANDOLPH was the second Provincial Grand 
 Master whose death had been enrolled in the list of the 
 active defenders of American liberty at this period. "W.ui- 
 BEN had fallen on the early battle-fields of our country, 
 RANDOLPH in its council chambers. The death of each 
 was a prelude to the great change which soon after 
 took place in the polity of Masonry in our country. 
 Hitherto all American Grand Masters held their 
 authority by appointment from the Mother Grand 
 Lodge in Great Britain. Now, for the first time, the 
 Craft in America began to inquire into their own in- 
 herent powers to assume an elective supremacy. It 
 
 * The Reverend THOMAS DAVIS, years afterwards, officiaied as rector 
 of Christ's Church and chaplain of Alexandria Lodge, at Tie burial of 
 WASHINGTON. 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 273 
 
 has been assumed by Masonic writers in our country, 
 that the Craft in Massachusetts were the first to con- 
 template the election of American Grand Masters. 
 This we believe to be a historical error, for Masonic 
 records of Yirginia show, that the earliest proposition 
 for such action came from iihat State. Massachusetts 
 records show the Craft for the first time contemplat- 
 ing this question there, when assembled in Boston on 
 the 27th of December, 1776, by the Deputy Grand 
 Master of the late Dr. JOSEPH WAKKEN, to celebrate the 
 festival of St. John the Evangelist. The records of the 
 old lodge in Williamsburg show, on the 3d of the same 
 month, a prior record of interest to this question. It 
 was their first meeting after the burial of Mr. RAN- 
 DOLPH. "We give an extract from the Williamsburg 
 records to verify this statement : 
 
 "December 3, 1776. WM. WADDILL, Master. 
 " On motion made, Resolved, That the Master of this lodge 
 be directed to write to all the regular lodges in this State, 
 requesting their attendance by their deputies, at this lodge, 
 in order to form a convention to choose a GRAND MASTER 
 for the State of Virginia, on the first day of the next As- 
 sembly." 
 
 The limits of our sketch do not admit of further con- 
 necting lines between the death of PEYTON EANDOLPH 
 and the elective supremacy of Masonry in our country. 
 We have already stated, in our sketch of WASHINGTON, 
 that when the convention of Masonic delegates in Yir- 
 ginia met a few months later, they proposed his name 
 first, as the most worthy to wear the earliest jewel of 
 an elective American Grand Master. 
 
274 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 The closing record of the old colonial lodge of Wil- 
 liam sburg relating to PEYTON RANDOLPH, is as follows, 
 under date June 3, 1777 : 
 
 "Resolved, That there shall be an elegant frame made to 
 the picture of -our late worthy and Honorable Provincial 
 Grand Master; and that the*Treasurcr be appointed to em- 
 ploy some person to make it." 
 
 This portrait ' of Mr. RANDOLPH, or the copy by Mr. 
 PEALE, afterwards became one of the treasures of the 
 Congressional Library, but was destroyed by fire a 
 few years ago. It was adorned, as we show in our en- 
 graving, with a Masonic sash, and Master's jewel hang- 
 ing pendent from its angle. 
 
EDMUND RANDOLPH, 
 
 30VEEXOR OF VIRGINIA, AND GRAND MASTER OF MASONS IN THAT 
 COMMONWEALTH. 
 
 EDMUND KANDOLPH was a nephew of PEYTON RAN- 
 DOLPH. His father was JOHN, the brother of PEYTON, 
 son of Sir JOHN, and grandson of WILLIAM, the first of 
 the Virginia RANDOLPHS. He was the fourth in descent 
 of the American family. Both his father and his 
 grandfather, and also PEYTON his uncle, had held the 
 office of king's attorney in the commonwealth, and were 
 all noted lawyers ; consequently he was bred to the 
 same profession. PEYTON RANDOLPH had succeeded 
 Sir JOHN in that office, and while holding it, he went 
 to England as the agent of Virginia, just before the 
 Revolution. While in London, his independent spirit 
 led him to speak his mind too freely on the subject of 
 colonial rights to please the English ministry, and he 
 was displaced as attorney-general, and his brother 
 JOHN, the father of EDMUND, who is the subject of this 
 sketch, was appointed in his stead. JOHN had been 
 doing the duties of the office for his brother PEYTON 
 during his absence to England, and superseded him, 
 by being the pliant advocate of the English min- 
 istry in their obnoxious taxation measures. When 
 
276 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 the Revolution commenced, lie was a decided royalist, 
 and supported Lord DUNMORE, the royal governor of 
 the commonwealth, in all his efforts to maintain the 
 king's power in Virginia. In this they failed, and 
 JOHN RANDOLPH disinherited his son EDMOND for his 
 joining the patriot cause, and soon left, with Lord 
 DUNMORE and other royalists, for England. He, how- 
 ever, bitterly repented his choice, died of a broken 
 heart in 1784, and his remains were, by his request, 
 brought to Virginia and buried at Williamsburg. 
 
 Deserted and disowned by his father, EDMUND RAN- 
 DOLPH was adopted by PEYTON, his uncle. We know 
 not his age at this time, for we have no record of his 
 birth before us. He had grown to manhood, for he 
 succeeded his father as attorney- general of the com- 
 monwealth. He was also a Mason at that time, and 
 was a member of the lodge at Williamsburg, of which 
 his uncle was first Master. His name appears on its 
 records at its organization, June 24, 1774; and on the 
 4th of the following October he was appointed by the 
 lodge to revise its by-laws. Upon the sudden death 
 of his uncle, PEYTON RANDOLPH, at Philadelphia, his 
 relatives not being present, his remains were deposited 
 in a tomb in that city. In the following year, EDMOND 
 RANDOLPH, who was then with the army at Cambridge 
 as one of WASHINGTON'S aids, repaired to Philadel- 
 phia, and removed the body to WiUiamsburg, where 
 it was interred in St. Mary's Chapel with Masonic 
 honors. 
 
 In 1776 he married, and this event was thus an- 
 nounced in the Virginia Gazette, accompanied by the 
 following poetic lines 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 277 
 
 " EDMUND RANDOLPH, Esq.* Attorney-General of Virginia, 
 to Miss BETSEY NICHOLAS, a young lady, whose amiable 
 sweetness of disposition, joined with the finest intellectual 
 accomplishments, cannot fail of rendering the worthy man 
 of her choice completely happy. 
 
 "Fain would the aspiring muse attempt to sing 
 
 The virtues of this amiable pair ; 
 But how shall I attuue the trembling string, 
 
 Or sound a note that can such worth declare? 
 Exalted theme ! too high for human lays ! 
 
 Could my weak verse with beauty be inspired, 
 In numbers smooth I'd chant my Betsey's praise, 
 
 And tell how much her Eandolph is admired. 
 To light the hymenial torch since they've resolved, 
 
 Kind Heaven, I trust, will make them truly blest ; 
 And when the Gordian knot shall be dissolved, 
 
 Translate them to eternal peace and rest." 
 
 In 1779 Mr. EANDOLPH was electecl by his State a 
 delegate to the Continental Congress, and he served in 
 that station until March, 1782. While a member of 
 that body, he offered the resolution, after the defeat of 
 COENWALLIS at Yorktown in 1781, to publicly return 
 thanks to Almighty God for crowning our army with 
 success. 
 
 An independent Grand Lodge of Masons had been 
 formed in Virginia in 1778, and of that Grand Body 
 EDMUND EANDOLPH was elected Deputy Grand Master, 
 in 1784. He held the office for two years, and upon 
 the 27th of October, 1786, he was elected Grand 
 Master of Masons in Virginia. He held this office by 
 re-election until October 28th, 1788. During the last 
 year of his Grand Mastership, he had the honor of 
 
278 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 granting a warrant to the lodge at Alexandria, con- 
 stituting WASHINGTON its Master. 
 
 In 1786, while he was Deputy Grand Master of Vir- 
 ginia, he was elected to succeed PATRICK HENRY as 
 governor of the commonwealth. While holding that 
 office, and also that of Grand Master of Masons, he 
 represented his State, in conjunction with WASHINGTON 
 and other distinguished delegates, in the convention 
 at Philadelphia, that formed the Federal Constitution 
 in 1787. 
 
 As a member of the convention, his views on politi- 
 cal science coincided with those of PATRICK HENRY, and 
 other members, who believed the rights of individual 
 States had been too far yielded in that instrument. 
 But when its ratification came before the people of 
 Virginia, his desire for a harmonious union overcame 
 his apprehension of its imperfections, and his vote was 
 given for its adoption. When the new government 
 was organized under this constitution, in 1789, WASH- 
 INGTON made Governor KANDOLPH his attorney-general ; 
 and in 1794, under the second administration of 
 WASHINGTON, he succeeded Mr. JEFFERSON as secretary 
 of state. In 1795 he resigned this office on account 
 of some misunderstanding with the Administration, 
 and withdrew from public life. He never again entered 
 the political field, but died in Frederick County, in his 
 native State, on the 12th of September, 1813. 
 
 Governor RANDOLPH was a devoted member of the 
 Episcopal Church, being many years one of his vestry- 
 men. All of his Virginia ancestors had been members 
 of the same Church, and for four generations they had 
 been vestrymen also in it. The following extract from 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 279 
 
 a paper written fey him soon after the death of his 
 wife, and addressed to his children, is an interesting 
 commentary on his religious history and character. 
 
 " Up to the commencement of the Revolution, the Church 
 of England was the established religion, in which your 
 mother had been educated with strictness, if not with big- 
 otry. From the strength of parental example, her attend- 
 ance on public worship was unremitted, except where in- 
 superable obstacles occurred ; the administration of the 
 sacrament was never without a cause passed by ; in her 
 closet, prayer was uniformly- addressed to the throne of 
 mercy ; and the questioning of the sacred truths she never 
 permitted herself, or heard from others without abhorrence. 
 When we were united, I was a deist, made so by my con- 
 fidence in some whom I revered, and by the labors of two 
 of my preceptors, who, though in the ministry, poisoned me 
 with books of infidelity. I cannot answer to myself that I 
 should ever have been brought to examine the genuineness 
 of Holy Writ, if I had not observed the consoling influence 
 which it wrought upon the life of my dearest BETSEY. I rec- 
 ollect well that it was not long before I adopted a prin- 
 ciple which I have never relinquished : that woman, in the 
 present state of society, is, without religion, a monster. 
 
 While my opinions were unsettled, Mr. and Mrs. 
 
 came to my house, on Sunday evening, to play with me at 
 chess. She did not appear in the room ; and her reproof, 
 which from its mildness was like the manna 'of heaven, has 
 operated perpetually as an injunction from above ; for, sev- 
 eral years since I detected the vanity of sublunary things, 
 and knew that the good of man consisted in Christianity 
 alone. I have often hinted a wish that we had instituted a 
 course of family prayer for the benefit of our children, on 
 
'280 
 
 whose minds, when most pliant, the habit might be fixed. 
 But I know not why the plan was not enforced until during 
 her last illness, when she and I frequently joined in prayer. 
 She always thanked me when it was finished ; and it grieves 
 rne to think that she should suppose that this enlivening 
 inducement was necessary in order to excite me to this 
 duty." 
 
 This exposition of liis religious sentiment was de- 
 signed for his children only; but its beautiful simpli- 
 city and genuine piety make it justly a part of his 
 history. It is the halo of Christianity, ornamenting 
 the brow of this distinguished governor and Grand 
 Master of Yirginia. 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, 
 
 MASTER OF THE FIRST WARRANTED LODGE IN PENNSYLVANIA, AND 
 PROVINCIAL GRAND MASTER OF THAT PROVINCE. 
 
 THE name of BENJAMIN FEANKLIN illumines the history 
 of Masonry, and of our country, for more than one- 
 half of the last century. Its diamond light is not con- 
 fined to the city, the province, or the country that ga^ A 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 him birth. The orient borrows a ray from it, and wher- 
 ever the evening twilight lingers, or the polar-star 
 guides, or the southern-cross gleams, there the torch 
 which he lighted from the clouds above him, irradiates 
 the pathway still of every civilized nation. Of his 
 humble birth in Boston, on the 17th of January, 1706 ; 
 of his early employment in an occupation unsuited to 
 his genius ; of his being indentured to his brother as 
 a printer's apprentice, and fleeing from his petty 
 tyranny to Philadelphia ; of his amusing introduction 
 to that city, and his boyhood success there ; of his 
 leaving it for a voyage to London while he was yet in 
 his minority, and of his first London life ; every step 
 from tottering infancy to bold reliant manhood, has 
 been often told, and we need not repeat them in our 
 sketch of his Masonic life. 
 
 Leaving the youth of FRANKLIN with all its romantic 
 incidents and instructive lessons behind us, we find 
 him on his return from England in the autumn of 1726, 
 in his twenty-first year, recommencing his citizenship 
 in Philadelphia, with a body strong and vigorous, a 
 mind active and well cultivated, and with a knowledge 
 of his art, and an experience gained in the school of 
 the world, which well fitted him to step boldly on to the 
 platform of active life. His intentions at this period 
 were to fit himself for a mercantile life, but the death 
 of his employer soon induced him to engage again as 
 a printer, and his industry, integrity, and studious 
 habits soon gained him friends, competence, and dis- 
 tinction. 
 
 His social qualities and intelligence at first drew 
 around him a few congenial spirits, and a literary clut 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 283 
 
 was formed for mental improvement. While in London 
 he had become familiar with the existence of the vari- 
 ous clubs and other social societies that existed there, 
 and the organization of Freemasonry had no doubt 
 come under his observation. This institution there 
 was then just emerging from a situation which the 
 common observer might have regarded as a system of 
 voluntary social clubs, and its pretentious to antiquity, 
 its moral and scientific basis, and its written rules and 
 regulations, had lately been given to the public in a 
 quarto volume called "Anderson's Constitutions." These 
 had been accepted there by a part of the Fraternity as 
 their governing code of rules, while others still adhered 
 to the immemorial rights and usages of Masons when 
 convened. There can be very little doubt but that 
 FKANKLIN brought home with him some knowledge of 
 the Fraternity, although not an initiate into its mys- 
 teries. 
 
 As the limits of this sketch will not allow a detail of 
 all the incidents of FEANKLIN'S private and public life, 
 however interesting and instructive they may be, we 
 shall pass over many of them, and confine our consider- 
 ation more to those which show his character as a 
 Mason, and the influence which his connection with 
 this fraternity may have had on his after-life. This 
 we do more especially from believing that all which 
 concerns the personal history of our representative 
 men, should be fairly considered 'as a part of our 
 national character, and from a belief that the Masonic 
 character and connection of our public men of the last 
 century, has been unwarrantably lost sight of, in tho 
 history of our country. Perhaps this has arisen from 
 
284 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 an undue prejudice which writers may have had against 
 the institution of Freemasonry, or from an ignorance 
 of its principles and influence. 
 
 With FRANKLIN, whatever induced scientific research, 
 and strengthened the fraternal bonds that thus bound 
 society together, had especial value ; and when he 
 found that Freemasonry embraced in its teachings the 
 highest moral rectitude, founded on the Fatherhood of 
 God as a common parent, and the brotherhood of man 
 as His offspring, and that it inculcated a study of His 
 perfections as revealed in the works of nature as well 
 as in His written word, he at once became a devotee at 
 its altar. No record has come down to us of the time 
 and place where he first received Masonic light. It 
 was not the custom of the Fraternity in the early part 
 of the last century to preserve written records of its 
 meetings when convened for work ; besides, when 
 warranted lodges were first established in America, 
 they little knew how much interest would in time be 
 felt in their early history. The brief records they may 
 have written, have in many cases, too, been destroyed 
 or lost. It is not known how or when the first lodge 
 of Freemasons was instituted in Philadelphia. A few 
 brethren who had been made Masons in the old country, 
 may have met and opened lodges from time to time, 
 and initiated others, without keeping any record. The 
 earliest notices we find of Masonic lodges in that city, 
 are in the public newspapers of that day, which show 
 the meetings of the Fraternity there in 1732, where 
 they give the name of WILLIAM ALLEN, the Recorder of 
 the city, as their Grand Master. They met at that 
 time at the "Tun Tavern;" and one of the 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 285 
 
 lodges in Philadelphia was formerly called Tun Lodge, 
 in allusion to the place of its early meetings. 
 
 There is no known record of FRANKLIN'S being a 
 member of the Fraternity previous to this ; but in 1732 
 he was Senior Warden under WILLIAM ALLEN. In his 
 own personal narrative he gives his written observa- 
 tions, in May, 1731, in which he says : 
 
 " There seems to me at present to be great occasion for 
 raising a United Party for Virtue, by forming the virtuous 
 and good men of all nations into a regular body, to be 
 governed by suitable, good, and wise rules, which good and 
 wise men may probably be more unanimous in their obedi- 
 ence to, than common people are to common laws. I at 
 present think, that whoever attempts this aright, and is well 
 qualified, cannot fail of pleasing God, and of meeting with 
 
 He has also left us a record of what he believed 
 should be the fundamental principles of such a union 
 or society, which he reduced to six heads viz. : 
 
 " That there is one God, who made all things. 
 
 " That He governs the world by His providence. 
 
 " That He ought to be worshipped by adoration, prayer, 
 and thanksgiving. 
 
 " But that the most acceptable service to God is doing 
 good to man. 
 
 " That the soul is immortal. 
 
 " And that God will certainly reward virtue and punish 
 vice, either here or hereafter." 
 
 It is a matter of curious speculation rather than of 
 
286 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 certainty, whether FRANKLIN drew this epitome of the 
 great moral governing principles of Freemasonry from 
 his own reflections, or had been taught them in a lodge 
 of the craft. If the former, he was certainly prepared 
 /// 7//,v heart to be a Mason : if the latter, he either 
 lieved that to be a Mason, required in addition to 1 1 
 a greater attention to the arts and sciences than all 
 good men were disposed to give ; or he believed that 
 an organization, semi-masonic, might be beneficial, in 
 which the initiates might first be schooled in the moral 
 principles of Masonry, before they were admitted to 
 its mysteries ; for he proposed at that time to form a 
 secret club, to be called THE SOCIETY OF THE FREE AND 
 EASY. This, he says, he communicated in part to two of 
 his companions, who adopted it with some enthusiasm ; 
 but his multifarious public and private engagements so 
 occupied his time, that it was postponed, and finally 
 abandoned. 
 
 We pass over three years more of FRANKLIN'S life, 
 during which he was engaged as a printer and stationer 
 and in which he commenced the publication of his 
 Poor Richard's Almanac* and find him receiving a 
 written warrant from HENRY PRICE, Provincial Grand 
 Master of Massachusetts, constituting him Master of 
 the Lodge, and probably of all the Masons in Philadel- 
 phia. The exact date of this authority from PRICE 
 cannot be given. Massachusetts authorities say it was 
 June 24th, 1734, while Pennsylvania authorities say 
 that on that day the brethren in Philadelphia celebra- 
 
 * This almanac was commenced in 1732, and continued until 1757. 
 It was exceedingly popular, and he sold about ten thousand copies of 
 it annually. 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 287 
 
 ted tlie festival of St. John the Baptist, under their 
 old organization, and haying accepted the authority of 
 St. John's Grand Lodge at Boston, they ratified the 
 choice of FRANKLIN as their Master (or Grand Master, 
 as they chose to term him). This apparent discrep- 
 ancy in the date of FRANKLIN'S authority from PRICE, 
 and his commencing his official duties under it in Phil- 
 adelphia, both being given as the same day, probably 
 arose from PRICE having granted to FRANKLIN a depu- 
 tation previous to the 24th of June, and that at the 
 festival which was held simultaneously in Boston and 
 Philadelphia on that day, the act of PRICE was ratified 
 by the Grand Lodge at Boston, and FRANKLIN'S com- 
 mission accepted by the brethren assembled in Phila- 
 delphia. 
 
 The Masonic Fraternity was not so novel at this 
 time in Philadelphia, nor its members so obscure as to 
 be unknown or unnoticed ; for at the festival of St. 
 John the Baptist, in 1734, when FRANKLIN'S commission 
 was accepted, and at the one which had been held on 
 the same day the year before, the governor of the 
 province, the mayor of the city, and many other dis- 
 tinguished citizens were present as members or guests. 
 FRANKLIN on this occasion appointed JOHN CARP his 
 Deputy, and JAMES HAMILTON and THOMAS HOPKINSON 
 his "Wardens. There is no doubt but that for some 
 years previous to this the Masons in Philadelphia had 
 been organized as a body, holding annually their festi- 
 vals and electing their Grand Master without written 
 authority from the ruling Grand Lodge of England or 
 any of its dependencies, but by virtue of what had been 
 r 1 Denied the immemorial right of Masons. Through 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 FRANKLIN they may liave learned of the new regulations 
 of the Order, and they perhaps instructed him to take 
 such measures as would justify them before the world 
 in the regularity of their organization. They had 
 virtually existed as a Grand Lodge previous to FRANK- 
 LIN'S commission, and under it they no doubt exercised 
 all the prerogatives, and assumed the dignity of a 
 Grand Body. The claim, therefore, that FRANKLIN 
 tvas the fiist Master, or the first Grand Master in 
 Pennsylvania, can only mean that he was so by author- 
 ity derived from the Grand Lodge at London, which 
 had, in 1721, assumed authority over all lodges of 
 Masons. 
 
 From the correspondence which took place between 
 FRANKLIN and the Grand Master and the brethren in 
 Boston, soon after he became connected with their 
 authority, we give the following letters of his which 
 have been preserved : 
 
 " RIGHT WORSHIPFUL GRAND MASTER, AND MOST WORTHY AND 
 DEAR BRETHREN We acknowledge your favor of the 23d of 
 October past, and rejoice that the Grand Master (whom 
 God bless) hath so happily recovered from his late indispo- 
 sition, and we now (glass in hand) drink to the establish- 
 ment of his health, and the prosperity of your whole 
 Lodge. 
 
 " We have seen in the Boston prints an article of news 
 from London, importing, that at a Grand Lodge held there 
 in August last, Mr. PRICE'S deputation and power was ex- 
 tended over all America, which advice we hope is true, and we 
 heartily congratulate him thereupon. And though this has 
 not as yet been regularly signified to us by you, yet, giving 
 credit thereto^ we think it our duty to lay before your 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 289 
 
 Lodge what we apprehend needful to be done for us, in 
 order to promote and strengthen the interests of Masonry 
 in this province (which seems to want the sanction of some 
 authority derived from home, to give the proceedings and 
 determinations of our Lodge their due weight) ; to wit : a 
 Deputation or Charter, granted by the Eight Worshipful 
 Mr. PRICE, by, virtue of his commission .from Britain, con- 
 firming the brethren of Pennsylvania in the privileges they 
 at present enjoy, of holding annually their Grand Lodge, 
 choosing their Grand Master, Wardens, and other officers 
 who may manage all affairs relating to the brethren here, 
 with full power and authority according' to the customs and 
 usages of Masons, the said Grand Master of Pennsylvania 
 only yielding his chair when the Grand Master of all 
 America shall be in place. This, if it seem good and 
 reasonable to you to grant, will not only be extremely 
 agreeable to us, but will also, we are confident, conduce 
 much to the welfare, establishment, and reputation of 
 Masonry in these parts. We therefore submit it to your 
 consideration ; 'and as we hope our requestf will be complied 
 with, we desire that it may be done as soon as possible, and 
 also accompanied with a copy of the Right Worsliipful 
 Grand Master's first Deputation, and of the instrument by 
 which it appears to be enlarged, as above mentioned, wit- 
 nessed by your Wardens, and signed by the secretary, for 
 which favor this Lodge doubt not of being able to behave 
 as not to be thought ungrateful. 
 
 " We are, Right Worshipful Grand Master, and Most 
 Worthy Brethren, your affectionate brethren and obliged 
 humble servants, 
 
 " B. FRANKLIN, G. M. 
 
 " Signed at the request of the Lodge. 
 
 " PHILADELPHIA, November 2.8, 1734." 
 
 13 
 
290 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 FRANKLIN sent with this letter to the Grand Lodge of 
 Massachusetts, the following private note to Mr. PRICE 
 the Grand Master : 
 
 " DEAR BROTHER PRICE I am heartily glad to hear 01 
 your recovery. I hoped to have seen you here this fall, 
 agreeable to the expectation you were so good as to give 
 mo ; but, since sickness has prevented your coming while 
 the weather was moderate, I have no room to flatter myself 
 with a visit from you before spring, when a deputation from 
 the Brethren here will have an opportunity of showing how 
 much they esteem you. I beg leave to recommend their 
 request to you, and to inform you that some false and rebel 
 brethren, who are foreigners, being about to set up a distinct 
 Lodge, in opposition to the old and true brethren here, pre- 
 tending to make Masons for a bowl of punch ; and the 
 Craft is like to come into discstcem among us, unless the true 
 brethren are countenanced and distinguished by some such 
 special authority as herein desired. I entreat, therefore, 
 that whatever you shall think proper to do therein, may be 
 sent by the next post, if possible, or the next following. 
 
 " I am your affectionate brother and humble servant, 
 
 " B. FRANKLIN, G. M. of Pennsylvania. 
 
 " p. S. If more of the Constitutions are wanted among 
 3 r ou, please hint it to me." 
 
 The Constitutions here alluded to, were a reprint of 
 the English Constitutions of Masonry, which had been 
 collated and published in London in 1723. An Ameri- 
 can edition of this work was printed by FRANKLIN 
 in Philadelphia, in 1734, and it was the first Masonic 
 book ever published in America. It was a small quarto 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 291 
 
 volume, and a few copies still exist in antiquarian col- 
 lections.* 
 
 FRANKLIN was at this time twenty-eight years of age ; 
 and while he diligently pursued his business as a 
 printer and stationer, he also devoted his spare mo- 
 ments to the acquisition of useful knowledge. He was 
 not a recluse, and he associated with him in his literary 
 pursuits a few young men of studious habits and con- 
 genial tastes, who formed a club they called the Junto. 
 The governing rules of this club have been incorpo- 
 rated into the Philosophical Society of Philadelphia ; 
 and the collection of books they formed, was the nucleus 
 of the present magnificent library of that city. 
 
 In 1735, FRANKLIN was superseded in his position as 
 Master, or Grand Master as it was termed, by JAMES 
 HAMILTON his Senior Warden, who was elected in his 
 stead. Freemasonry in Philadelphia, although it ap- 
 pears to have been popular at this time, was soon after 
 under the ban of public suspicion there, and FRANK- 
 LIN'S connection with it was much commented on by 
 the public press of that city. It appears from the civil 
 records and public journals of that day, that in 1737 
 a few thoughtless individuals attempted to impose on 
 an ignorant young man and persuade him that by sub- 
 mitting to some ridiculous ceremonies he might be- 
 come a Mason. He submitted to all they required, 
 and was by them invested with sundry pretended Ma- 
 
 * It is worthy of note by the Mfcsonic student, that the first written 
 warrant granted in America by Provincial authority was to FRANKLIN ; 
 the first American Masonic book was printed by him ; and the oldest 
 American Masonic letters that have been preserved, were written by 
 him. 
 
292 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 sonic signs, and told he had taken the first degree. 
 The principal perpetrators of the farce appear not to 
 have been Masons, but they soon after communicated 
 to FRANKLIN and others an account of their practical 
 joke, and told him they might expect to be saluted 
 with the signs they had given to the young man when 
 they met him. FRANKLIN did not approve of their im- 
 position, but laughed heartily at the ridiculous farce 
 they had played, and thought no more of it. Not so 
 with the active parties in it; for they determined to 
 farther dupe the young man, and for this purpose in- 
 duced him to take a second degree, in which they 
 blindfolded and conducted him into a dark cellar, 
 where one of the party was to exhibit himself to him 
 disguised in a bull's hide, the head and horns of which 
 were intended to represent the devil ; while the others 
 were to play a game they called snap-dragon, which 
 consisted of picking raisins from a dish of burning 
 fluid. When the bandage was taken from the young 
 man's eyes, and he had gazed for a moment on the 
 scene before him, one of the party thoughtlessly threw 
 upon him the pan of burning fluid, which set fire to 
 his clothes, and so burned him that he lingered for 
 but three days and then died. This occurrence 
 caused great excitement in Philadelphia, and the 
 guilty parties were arrested .and punished for man- 
 slaughter. 
 
 As it appeared at the judicial investigation, that 
 FRANKLIN had been made acquainted with the first out- 
 rage on the young man after its perpetration, although 
 he had no knowledge that a second attempt was to be 
 made, and disapproved of the first, many ignorant 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEEES. 293 
 
 or excited citizens, knowing his Masonic position, 
 sought to cast odium on him and the Fraternity of 
 which he was a leading member. A personal attack 
 was also made on the character of FRANKLIN by a 
 newspaper in Philadelphia, accusing him of conniving 
 at the outrage. This was promptly denied by him, 
 and the denial was verified by the oaths of those who 
 were acquainted with the whole affair. The Grand 
 Lodge also deemed it its duty to express its dis- 
 approbation of such proceedings, and the Grand Offi- 
 cers appeared before the authorities in Philadelphia 
 and signed the following declaration : 
 
 " Pennsylvania, ss. Whereas some ill-disposed persons 
 in this city, assuming the names of Freemasons, have, for 
 some years past, imposed upon several well-meaning peo- 
 ple who were desirous of becoming true brethren, persuad- 
 ing them, after they had performed certain ridiculous cere- 
 monies, that they had really become Freemasons ; and have 
 lately, under the pretence of making a young man a Mason, 
 caused his death by purging 1 , vomiting-, burning 1 , and the 
 terror of certain diabolical, horrid rites ; it is therefore 
 thought proper, for preventing such impositions for the 
 future, and to avoid any unjust aspersions that may be 
 thrown on this ancient and honorable Fraternity on this ac- 
 count, either in this city or any other part of the world, to 
 publish this advertisement declaring the abhorrence of all 
 true brethren of such practices in general, and their igno- 
 rance of this fact in particular, and that the persons con- 
 cerned in this wicked action are not of our society, nor of 
 any society of Free and Accepted Masons, to our knowledge 
 or belief. 
 
294 
 
 " Signed in behalf of all the members of St. John's Lodge 
 in Philadelphia, 10th day of June, 1737. 
 
 " THOS. HOPKINSON, G. Master. 
 " WM. PLUMSTED, D. G. Master. 
 
 "Jos. SHIPPEN, ) .... 
 
 I Wardens." 
 11 HENRY PRATT, ) 
 
 The knowledge of the outrage that had been perpe- 
 trated in Philadelphia in the name of Freemasonry, 
 and the attack on FRANKLIN'S character, soon came to 
 his parents in Boston, and his mother, with true ma- 
 ternal feelings, induced his father to write to him on 
 the subject, and make inquiries respecting the society 
 which was then agitating the public mind. To these 
 inquiries FRANKLIN replied under date of April 13th, 
 1738: 
 
 " As to the Freemasons, I know of no way of giving my 
 mother a better account of them than she seems to have at 
 present ; since it is not allowed that women should be ad- 
 mitted into that secret socict}'. She has, I must confess, 
 on that account, some reason to be displeased with it ; 
 but for any thing else, I must entreat her to suspend her 
 judgment till she is better informed, unless she will believe 
 me when I assure her, that they are in general a very harm- 
 less sort of people, and have no principles or practices that 
 are inconsistent with religion and good manners." 
 
 Although the excitement had run so high in Phila- 
 delphia, that during the trial of those who had been 
 engaged in duping the young man with pretended Ma- 
 sonic degrees, every Mason was challenged from the 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 295 
 
 jury-box, yet FRANKLIN'S popularity did not suffer. He 
 was then postmaster of the city, and clerk of the Pro- 
 vincial ' Assembly, and he continued to hold these 
 offices for many years. In 1747 he was elected a mem- 
 ber of the Assembly, and held the office by re-election 
 for ten years. In 1749 the old authority from HENRY 
 PEICE to FRANKLIN in 1734 was superseded by a new 
 warrant to him from THOMAS OXNARD, Provincial Grand 
 Master of all North America, constituting him Provin- 
 cial Grand Master of Pennsylvania, with power to 
 charter new Lodges. On the 5th of September of this 
 year, FRANKLIN accordingly convened the brethren by 
 virtue of his new authority, and appointed Dr. THOMAS 
 BOND Deputy Grand Master ; JOSEPH SHIPPEN and 
 PHILIP SYNG, Grand Wardens; WILLIAM PLUMSTED, 
 Grand Treasurer ; and DANIEL BYLES, Grand Secre- 
 tary. The following year FRANKLIN was succeeded as 
 Grand Master by WILLIAM ALLEN, the Eecorder of the 
 city of Philadelphia, who was commissioned direct by 
 the Grand Master of England. 
 
 FRANKLIN at this time was deeply absorbed in phil- 
 osophical investigations, and soon after was able to 
 verify his belief that the lightnings and thunder of the 
 summer cloud were but electrical phenomena. The 
 story of his drawing down the lightning with his kite 
 is well known ; and the discovery he thereby made has 
 rendered his name immortal in the annals of science. 
 He was well known at this period as the friend and 
 patron of popular education and every useful art. It 
 was not apathy and indifference on the part of the 
 community respecting education that he had to con- 
 tend with alone ; but there was an element in the popu- 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 lation of Philadelphia and its vicinity that regarded all 
 measures for the greater diffusion of knowledge, as 
 dangerous innovations on the established customs of 
 society. There still exists a correspondence between 
 one CHRISTOPHER SOWRS, a German printer in German- 
 town, and CONRAD WEISER, in which the former com- 
 plains bitterly of the efforts of FRANKLIN and the Free- 
 masons generally to establish free- schools. He says : 
 
 " The people who are the promoters of the free schools, 
 arc Grand Masters and Wardens among the Freemasons, 
 their very pillars." 
 
 The loss of old Masonic records makes it impossible 
 to determine the lodge membership in Philadelphia at 
 this time, but enough remains to show that it embraced 
 the first men in the city. 
 
 At the middle of the last century, FRANKLIN had 
 reached the meridian of his life, being forty-four years 
 of age ; but the sun of his fame was still in the ascend- 
 ant, and from that period onward until it passed 
 from our sight in a glowing w r est, its blaze seemed 
 brighter and fuller. From the time when he was first 
 seen a forlorn boy in the streets of Philadelphia, he 
 had been steadily gaining strength of mind and public 
 confidence, until his services were almost exclusively 
 claimed by his fellow-citizens. In 1753 he was ap- 
 pointed deputy postmaster of all the British colonies 
 in America, and the same year a commissioner to ne- 
 gotiate a treaty with the Indians. In 1754 he was a 
 delegate to the Congress that met at Albany to devise 
 means of defence against the French ; and in this body 
 his wisdom and sagacity were seen in the recommen- 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 297 
 
 dation which he made of a Union of the colonies. He 
 rendered important aid to the' British commanders in 
 the early part of the old French war, but was soon 
 after sent to England as the agent of Pennsylvania and 
 other colonies. There he was greatly caressed and 
 distinguished, and found his situation widely different 
 from what it was when he entered London a few years 
 before, a poor journeyman printer : for now he was ad- 
 mitted into the presence of kings ; and the Universities 
 of Edinburg and Oxford conferred on him the degree 
 of Doctor of Laws as a mark of their appreciation of 
 his scientific attainments. This literary degree was 
 not the first he had received ; for the college at Cam- 
 bridge, in Massachusetts, had before conferred on him 
 the degree of Master of Arts. He also, while in Lon- 
 don, visited the Grand Lodge of England ; and its 
 records show that he was honored with the rank of 
 Provincial Grand Master on his visit to that body. 
 
 He returned to America in 1762, and resumed his 
 seat in the Provincial Assembly of Pennsylvania, but 
 two years afterwards he was sent again as their agent 
 to England. He remained there until 1775. It was 
 during this period that the disputes between the colo- 
 nies and the mother country assumed their utmost 
 seriousness, and his task was a difficult and delicate 
 one ; but so faithfully did he perform it, that on his 
 return, he was elected a delegate from Pennsylvania to 
 the Continental Congress, and the following year had 
 the honor of signing the Declaration of Independence. 
 During the whole period of the Revolution he was con- 
 tinually active in some civil capacity, either at homo 
 or abroad. Congress sent him in 1776 a commissioner 
 
 13* 
 
298 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 to the court of France, and no diplomatist at Versailles 
 was able to perform his duties with greater ability. 
 He was well known in France at that time for his 
 varied scientific attainments, and his plain republican 
 manners rendered him a dignitary of a new light. 
 
 His residence was continued in France until 1785, 
 and during this time he held intimate Masonic inter- 
 course with the Masons of that country, and became 
 affiliated, either as a special or honorary member, with 
 the Grand Orient of France. He was also presented 
 by his French brethren with a medal, of which the fol- 
 lowing description is given : 
 
 "Diameter one inch and three-fifths. Obverse Fimr bust 
 of FRAXKLIX. Legend 'BKXJAMIXIS FKANKI.IX.' Reverse 
 Masonic emblems, the serpent's ring', carpenter's square and 
 compass ; in the centre a triangle and the sacred Name in 
 Hebrew, &c. Legend Leo. Mac. Fran, a Franklin. M: de 
 la L des 9 Soeurs 0. de Paris, 5778." 
 
 When in 1785 he had fulfilled all the public duties 
 which his country required of him in Europe, and was 
 about to return to America, his Masonic brethren in 
 France bade him a tender adieu, particularly the lodge 
 at Rouen. When he arrived in Philadelphia he was 
 received by his fellow-citizens with public testimonials 
 of their gratitude and respect, and was soon after- 
 wards elected to the chief executive office in Penn- 
 sylvania. He was then in his eightieth year, mid 
 might weh 1 have claimed a rest from his public labors ; 
 but he still continued for three years to give all his 
 strength of body and mind to secure the fabric of 
 liberty he had helped to erect. For this purpose, in 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 299 
 
 1787 lie permitted himself to be elected a member of 
 the convention that framed the Federal Constitution, 
 and his master hand gave to that instrument many of 
 its provisions. 
 
 FBANKLIN'S official life closed in 1788, for his great 
 age and infirmities rendered him unable to longer 
 serve his country in a public capacity ; but amid much 
 suffering he survived for two more years, and died at 
 Philadelphia on the 17th of April, 1790, in the eighty- 
 fifth year of his age. He was buried on the 21st, in 
 Christ Church yard in that city, and more than twenty 
 thousand persons, it was said, attended the funeral. 
 The highest dignitaries of the State were present on 
 the occasion, and both the State and National Govern- 
 ment decreed that badges should be worn in token of 
 the loss all had sustained in the death of so great a 
 man. It has been asked why so distinguished a Ma- 
 son as FRANKLIN was not interred with Masonic rites. 
 The reader will remember that his Masonic connection 
 in Philadelphia had been with the so-called Moderns, 
 whose organization there had been superseded, during 
 the absence of FRANKLIN in Europe, by another de- 
 nomination of Masons, called Ancients ; and at his 
 death, the Grand Lodge of w r hich he had been the 
 Grand Master was extinct. His name, however, and 
 his virtues, have ever been kept in high veneration by 
 Masons throughout the world, and with that of WASH- 
 INGTON are household words wherever the Craft is 
 found. 
 
WILLIAM FRANKLIN, 
 
 THE LAST OF THE 'ROYAL GOVERNORS OF NEW JERSEY, AND GRANT 
 SECRETARY OF THE PROVINCIAL GRAND LODGE OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 WILLIAM FRANKLIN, the last colonial governor of New 
 Jersey, was born at Philadelphia in 1731. He was the 
 son of Dr. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, the most eminent states- 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEEES. 301 
 
 man, philosopher, and Mason of Pennsylvania, of the 
 last century. WILLIAM was his first-born and only son, 
 and his father doubtless reared him with paternal care, 
 and felt a strong desire to see him win for himself dis- 
 tinction. 
 
 Of his youth but little is now known. He is said to 
 have inherited from his father an early fondness for 
 books, but no accounts of remarkable attainments in 
 literature have been handed down to us. His father 
 says of him, in 1750 : " WILL, is now nineteen years of 
 age a tall, proper youth, and much of a beau." He 
 had a desire, in his youth, to connect himself with a 
 privateer that was fitting out in Philadelphia ; but in 
 this he was opposed by his father, wiio soon after ob- 
 tained for him a situation in .the provincial troops, in 
 one of their campaigns to the northern frontier, and in 
 it he rose to the rank of a captain. 
 
 On his return, his father's social and political posi- 
 tion was such as to secure for him the appointment of 
 clerk in the Colonial Assembly and postmaster of the 
 city of Philadelphia. He had now come to years of 
 manhood, and was his father's companion and assistant 
 in his scientific pursuits. He also became 'a Mason 
 about this time in the old Lodge in Philadelphia, and 
 was soon after elected its Master. In 1754 he was one 
 of the Trustees in behalf of the Fraternity to hold the 
 title to the lot and building in that city which was used 
 for Masonic purposes. This was located on the lot 
 since occupied by the Pennsylvania Bank ; and from 
 the circumstance of the Masons' Hall having been 
 there, the alley retains the name of Lodge Alley to the 
 present time. 
 
302 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 The Masonic Fraternity in Philadelphia at that time 
 were in a prosperous condition ; and the banqueting- 
 room of the hall they had erected was of great service 
 to the citizens, aside from its Masonic purposes. Pub- 
 lic meetings were often held in it, and the belles and 
 beaux of the city frequently met there for balls and 
 other amusements. There were three Lodges at that 
 time in Philadelphia, presided over by WILLIAM ALLEN, 
 the Eecorder of the city and chief-justice of the prov- 
 ince, as Grand Master. On the completion of their 
 Hall, they determined to celebrate the Feast of St. 
 John the Baptist, in 1755, with great pomp and dis- 
 play. 
 
 They accordingly assembled on that day in their 
 Hall on Lodge Alley, and clothed themselves for a pub- 
 lic procession. There were no doubt quaint looks cast 
 by some of the old inhabitants of the Quaker City, as 
 this assembly of the Brethren gravely passed through 
 their streets, with their singular dress, emblems, and 
 implements. The number of the Brethren present has 
 been given us by the chroniclers of those times as one 
 hundred and twenty-seven. There were wealth and 
 dignity in the procession ; for the governor of the 
 province- and the governor of New Providence were in 
 it as Masons, as well as many officers of the city gov- 
 ernment. These, with their cocked hats, must have 
 contrasted strongly with the broad brims and plain 
 coats of some backsliding Quaker Masons who were 
 also in the line. In the usual assemblages in Phila- 
 delphia, the Quaker element generally had the prepon- 
 derance ; but cocked hats, royal wigs, velvet breeches, 
 embroidered coats, silver and gold knee and shoe 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEEES. 303 
 
 buckles, were evidences of the social position of a ma- 
 jority of the members that day. 
 
 To make the procession more imposing, it was fol- 
 lowed by the empty carriages of the Grand Master, of 
 the governor, and other distinguished Brethren their 
 owners being in the line as Masons. There was also a 
 band of music in attendance, which belonged to a Brit- 
 ish regiment then stationed in the city. Ifc was a great 
 novelty at that day to see such a gorgeous parade of 
 Masons ; and as they passed up Second-street, on their 
 way to the church, when opposite Market, a salute 
 from some cannon in a vessel on the river must have 
 awakened from his reveries the drowsiest Quaker in the 
 city. At the church, Dr. JENNEY, the rector of Christ 
 Church, offered prayers, and the Rev. Brother Dr. 
 WILLIAM SMITH, the provost of the college, preached a 
 sermon from the text, " Love the Brotherhood, fear 
 God, and honor the king." It was a goodly custom of 
 our Brethren of that day to thus repair to the church 
 to testify their respect for religion and enjoy its teach- 
 ings. WASHINGTON in after-years often did the same, 
 and with his Masonic brethren publicly bent the knee 
 at the religious altars of our country, clothed in his 
 Masonic costume. 
 
 After the services of the church were closed, the 
 procession was re-formed, and returned to the Lodge- 
 room. As it passed through the streets, the cannon 
 again fired their salute, and the populace again gazed 
 on the drawn swords of the Tylers and the strange 
 badges and mystic implements of the Fraternity, as, 
 with measured steps to the band's playing the tune of 
 the " Entered Apprentice Song," they marched to 
 
304. WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 their Hall. It was befitting the occasion that the cer- 
 emonies should be crowned with a feast ; and accord- 
 ingly, at one o'clock, they repaired to their banqueting 
 room. Merry things were there said, and entertaining 
 songs sung ; for such were the Masonic customs of 
 those good old days. There were pledges, too, of last- 
 ing friendship drank, and friendly interchanges of sen- 
 timent made, between cocked hats and broad brims, 
 while seated there. The regular toasts on the occasion 
 were : 
 
 " 1st. The King and the Craft. 
 
 " 2d. The Grand Master of England. 
 
 " 3d. Our Brother FRANCIS, Emperor of Germany. 
 
 " 4th. The Grand Master of Pennsylvania. 
 
 " 5th. Our Brother, his Honor the Governor of Pennsyl- 
 vania. 
 
 " 6th. Our Brother, his Excellency JOHN TINKER, Esq.^ 
 Governor of Providence, returning him thanks for his kind 
 visit. 
 
 " 7th. The Grand Master of Scotland. 
 
 " 8th. The Grand Master of Ireland. 
 
 " 9th. The several Provincial Grand Masters of North 
 America and the West India Islands. 
 
 " 10th. All charitable Masons. 
 
 " llth. All true and faithful Masons, wheresoever dis- 
 persed or distressed, throughout the globe. 
 
 " 12th. The Arts and Sciences. 
 
 " 13th. General BRADDOCK, and success to his Majesty's 
 forces. 
 
 " 14th. Prosperity to Pennsylvania, and a happy union of 
 his Majesty's colonies." 
 
 The ceremonies of the day closed at five o'clock iu 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 305 
 
 the afternoon, and the Fraternity returned to their 
 homes, no doubt well pleased with, the inauguration of 
 their new Hall. From the position held in the Frater- 
 nity at that time by WILLIAM FRANKLIN, he was doubt- 
 less present on the occasion, and one of the partici- 
 pants in the ceremonies. During the same year he 
 accompanied his father, with some troops under his 
 command, to build some forts on the frontiers of Penn- 
 sylvania. 
 
 In 1757, his father was appointed by the colony its 
 agent in London, and he sailed with him for England. 
 He seems to have made a pleasing impression upon 
 his new acquaintances in London ; for one of them, 
 Mr. STRAHAN, who was a man of talent and discern- 
 ment, and a friend of his father's, thus wrote to his 
 mother soon after his arrival in England : 
 
 " Your son I really think one of the prettiest young 
 gentlemen I ever knew from America. He seems to me 
 to have a solidity of judgment not very often to be met with 
 in one of his years. This, with the daily opportunity he has 
 of improving himself in the company of his father who is 
 at the same time his friend, his brother, his intimate and 
 easy companion affords an agreeable prospect that your 
 husband's virtues and usefulness to his country may be pro- 
 longed beyond the date of his own life." 
 
 While in England young FRANKLIN studied law in the 
 Middle Temple, and was admitted to the bar. Both 
 father and son were treated with much distinction by 
 those of the highest rank in civil and social life. The 
 flame of Dr. FRANKLIN'S genius as a philosopher had 
 cast its light across the Atlantic ; and his fame as a 
 statesman was even then being built by the wise counsels 
 
306 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 he gave to the ministerial powers concerning the gov- 
 ernment of their colonial dependencies. Both father 
 and son, too, were treated with marked distinction by 
 the Masonic Fraternity in England, and on visiting the 
 Grand Lodge in London in November, 1760, both 
 were honored according to their rank in Pennsylvania, 
 the Doctor as Provincial Grand Master, and WIL- 
 LIAM as Grand Secretary, an office which he had held 
 in the Grand Lodge at Philadelphia ; and their names 
 as visitors stand duly recorded as such on the Grand 
 Lodge records in London. He also travelled with his 
 father through England, Scotland, Flanders, and Hol- 
 land, and enjoyed the literary and scientific society 
 that sought in all places intercourse with the distin- 
 guished philosopher from the new world. He seems, 
 too, to have profited by such advantages ; for when the 
 University at Oxford conferred on his father in 1762 
 the degree of Doctor of Laws, it also thought the 
 son worthy of that of Master of Arts, and consequently 
 conferred it upon him. During the same year, after 
 undergoing a close examination by Lord HALIFAX, the 
 minister of American affairs, more close perhaps on 
 account of his colonial birth and youth, he was ap- 
 pointed by the king his representative as royal govern- 
 or of New Jersey. It was an honor rarely, if ever, 
 before conferred on a native-born American, and more 
 complimentary from its having been conferred without 
 any request from his father. He also married about 
 this time a Miss ELIZABETH DOWNS, and brought her 
 with him to America, where he arrived in February, 
 1763. 
 
 Governor FKANKLIN was at that time thirty -two years 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 307 
 
 of age. No native-born citizen in America held a 
 better position. Of WASHINGTON lie was about one 
 year the senior ; had served like him in the provincial 
 wars, and like him had enrolled himself with the Ma- 
 sonic brotherhood as soon as he came to manhood. But 
 the similitude did not extend farther. WASHINGTON had 
 been from his boyhood an orphan a widow's son; 
 while WILLIAM FRANKLIN had grown under his father's 
 shadow. WASHINGTON had retired from the army to 
 his farm on the return of peace ; while FEANKLIN had 
 gained the smiles of royalty in London, and had borne 
 back to America a commission as royal governor of 
 New Jersey, and was honored as the representative of 
 his sovereign in that province. 
 
 Governor FEANKLIN reached Philadelphia on the 
 19th of February, 1763, and he started for Perth Am- 
 boy, in New Jersey, on the 24th, and arrived there at 
 the end of the second day. It was midwinter, and he 
 was escorted to the seat of the colonial government by a 
 troop of horse, and by the citizens in sleighs, and there 
 received by the former governor and the members of 
 his council. The weather was intensely cold; but a 
 chronicler of that day says, he was inducted into his 
 office " with as much decency and good decorum as 
 the severity of the season could possibly admit of." 
 A day or two afterwards he went to Burlington from 
 Amboy, and published his commission there also, ac- 
 cording to the custom of the province, these having been 
 the early seats of government in East and West Jersey. 
 
 It had been the custom of the royal governors to 
 reside at Amboy, but FEANKLIN fixed his residence in 
 Burlington perhaps from its being nearer Philadel- 
 
308 
 
 phia, the residence of his friends. He resided in this 
 "West Jersey capital until 1774, a period of eleven years, 
 when he removed to the old East Jersey seat of colonial 
 government at Amboy. On his leaving Burlington, the 
 corporation of that city gave him a public entertain- 
 ment and presented him a farewell address, expressing 
 their regard for him, regretting his departure, and thank- 
 ing him for his courtesy and kind deportment during 
 his residence with them. 
 
 Governor FRANKLIN was at this time popular with 
 the people of New Jersey ; but the vexatious measures 
 of the British ministry began to excite that abhorrence 
 hi all the colonies, which soon 'led to their separation 
 from the mother government. In his administration 
 FRANKLIN appears to have been mild and conciliatory 
 with the people, yet firm in his maintenance of the 
 royal right of the king to govern his colonies. Dr. 
 FRANKLIN was then in England as the colonial agent, 
 and he wrote to his son endeavoring to persuade him 
 to take the American side of the controversy, and with- 
 draw from his advocacy of the royal cause. He also 
 visited Amboy on his return to America in 1775 to 
 urge him to unite his fortunes with the patriot cause ; 
 but Governor FRANKLIN was firm, and each failed to 
 convince the other of the impropriety of his course. 
 Their conversations were perhaps too warm for con- 
 tinued harmonious intercourse, and both father and 
 son became so alienated in their feelings, that when 
 they separated, it was not to meet again till the im- 
 pending American conflict was over, and the last royal 
 governor of New Jersey was a fugitive from his people, 
 and a pensioner in a foreign land. 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEEES. 309 
 
 It is curious, sometimes, to take a retrospect of tlie 
 past, and retrace the pathway of individuals on the 
 ground-floor of human life. Half a century before, Dr. 
 FBANKLIN, then a poor unknown boy in search of a 
 place where he might earn his daily bread, had passed 
 a lonely and feverish night in the same ancient city. 
 He had left it on foot to pursue his journey through a 
 province where he was to all a friendless stranger, and 
 subjected to injurious suspicions of vagrancy. Now, 
 again, he had come from his sojourn in a foreign land, 
 where he had been honored by the most distinguished 
 statesmen and men of science as a luminary of the age, 
 to confer with his son, who was the royal representa- 
 tive in the very land where, when a boy, his own foot- 
 sore pathway had been taken. 
 
 The tide of popular sentiment in New Jersey was 
 now fast setting in the channel of Liberty; and al- 
 though no open resistance was at first made to Gov- 
 ernor FEANKLIN'S authority, yet when he refused to call 
 the Colonial Assembly together to appoint delegates 
 to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia in 1774, 
 the people of the colony met by convention and chose 
 representatives themselves to that body. In Novem- 
 ber.of 1775 he convened the old Colonial Assembly for 
 the last time ; and although he prorogued it on the 
 6th of December, to meet again on the 3d of January, 
 1776, it nev,pr reassembled; but an independent legis- 
 lature met a few months later, and resolved that the 
 authority of Governor FKANKLIN should no longer be 
 obeyed, and as he had showed himself an enemy to his 
 country, his person should be secured. This was ac- 
 cordingly done, and under an order from the Conti- 
 
310 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 nental Congress at Philadelpliia, the deposed govern* 
 or was, about midsummer in 1776, sent under guard 
 to Governor TRUMBULL in Connecticut, by whom he 
 was kept a prisoner until 1778, when he was exchanged 
 for an American officer (Brigadier-General THOMPSON) 
 then in possession of the British, and FRANKLIN sought 
 protection under the wing of the British army in the 
 city of New York. 
 
 When he left New Jersey a prisoner in 1776, his wife 
 remained in Amboy, and he never saw her more. She 
 was allowed to seek British protection in New York, 
 where she died on the 28th of July, 1778, -while he was 
 yet in Connecticut. He loved her tenderly; and ten 
 years later, when the war was over, he caused a tablet 
 to be placed to her memory in the chancel of St. Paul's 
 Church in New York where she was buried, with a 
 mournfully elegant inscription, which closed by saying 
 that it was erected " by him who knew her worth, and 
 still laments her loss." 
 
 Governor FRANKLIN remained in New York nearly 
 four years, where he was the president of a band of 
 associated loyalists who were the most virulent enemies 
 of all Americans who took part against the British au- 
 thority; but in August, 1782, he sailed for England, 
 and never more visited his native land. He received 
 from the British government eighteen hundred pounds 
 in consideration of his personal losses in support of the 
 crown, and an annual pension of eight hundred pounds 
 for life. After leaving America he married again ; the 
 lady being a native of Ireland. He had one son, 
 WM. TEMPLE FRANKLIN, and died November 17, 1813, 
 aged eighty-two years. 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 311 
 
 During the whole of the Revolutionary "War there 
 was 110 intercourse between Dr. FKANKLIN and his son, 
 and their mutual estrangement continued long after- 
 wards, and probably was never forgotten ; for the 
 Doctor left him but a small part of his estate, saying 
 in his will : 
 
 " The part lie acted against me in the late war, which is 
 of public notoriety, will account for my leaving him no 
 more of an estate he endeavored to deprive me of." 
 
 He had, however, called upon his son in England on 
 his return from France in 1785, and some correspond- 
 ence took place between them after the war. But 
 the Doctor seems to have still regarded him not only 
 as an alien to his country, but to himself; for in a letter 
 written to the Rev. Dr. BYLES, of Boston, January 1, 
 1788, he thus speaks of him, after adverting to his 
 daughter, who continued with him in Philadelphia : 
 
 " My son is estranged from me by the part he took in the 
 late war, and keeps aloof, residing in England, whose cause 
 he espoused, whereby the old proverb is exemplified : 
 
 " ' My son is my son till he gets him a wife, 
 
 But my daughter is my daughter all the days of her life.' " 
 
GENERAL DAVID WOOSTER, 
 
 AN OFFICER OF THE REVOLUTION, AND MASTER OF THE FIRST 
 LODGE IN CONNECTICUT. 
 
 GENERAL DAVID WOOSTER, whose name is familiar to 
 every American citizen as a martyr to liberty in the 
 war of the Revolution, was born in Stratford, Connecti- 
 cut, March 2, 1710-11 (old style), and was the youngest 
 of six children. He was educated in the Puritan prin- 
 ciples of New England, and after he came to manhood 
 entered Yale College, where he graduated in 1738, in 
 the twenty-eighth year of his age. 
 
COMPEERS. 313 
 
 In 1741 the first war-vessel of Connecticut was fitted 
 out at Middletown, to guard the coasts of New Eng- 
 land against the Spanish and other hostile vessels that 
 were preying upon the infant commerce of the colonies, 
 and DAVID WOOSTER was its first-lieutenant, and the 
 following year its captain. His service in the first 
 naval office in Connecticut was not of long continuance ; 
 for soon after, war commenced between France and 
 England, and in 1745 he went as captain of a company 
 of Connecticut militia, under Colonel PEPPERELL, in the 
 New England expedition against Louisburg. 
 
 He had previously settled in New Haven, where he 
 married a Miss MARY CLAP, the daughter of President 
 CLAP of Yale College, and in a quiet home he had 
 purchased, was enjoying his honeymoon when called to 
 go on this Louisburg expedition. The spirit of New 
 England, at this period, had in it as much religious 
 fanaticism as patriotic regard for justice and national 
 honor, and military ardor was much warmed by sec- 
 tarian zeal in this expedition. Banners were borne 
 with religious mottoes, and a hatchet, which had been 
 consecrated for the occasion, was carried on a Chap- 
 lain's shoulder to hew down the images in the Papal 
 churches of the devoted city against which the expe- 
 dition was undertaken. The incidents of the expedi- 
 tion are well known in history, and give a romance to 
 many of its pages. One of them is connected with the 
 name of Captain WOOSTER, which serves well to illus- 
 trate the spirit of the times, and shows with what care 
 he watched the well-being of those under his command. 
 A British captain had ventured to strike with his rattan 
 one of WOOSTER'S men, who was a freeholder and a 
 
 14 
 
314: WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 church member. WOOSTER was indignant that a soldier 
 of such claims to consideration should receive a blow, 
 and remonstrated with the British officer for thus 
 abusing his man. The foreign captain resented his 
 interference, and drew his sword upon him. But he at 
 once disarmed him, and compelled him to ask pardon 
 of the Connecticut soldier, and promise never again to 
 disgrace with a blow a soldier in the service. This act 
 endeared Captain WOOSTEB to his men, and gained him 
 the applause of the provincial army. 
 
 At the close of this expedition he was sent in charge 
 of a cartel ship to France, but was not permitted to 
 land in that kingdom, and went with his ship to Lon- 
 don. He was received there with marked distinction, 
 and honored with a captain's commission in the regular 
 service. He returned soon afterwards to America, and 
 at this period our earliest records of his Masonic life 
 commence. It is probable that he was made a Mason 
 while in England. Lord CRANSTON was at that time 
 Grand Master in England, and upon the acquisition of 
 Louisburg by the British crown, he granted a Deputa- 
 tion to Captain CUMMINS to establish a Provincial Grand 
 Lodge there. 
 
 Soon after Captain WOOSTER returned to New Haven 
 he received a warrant from THOMAS OXNARD, Provincial 
 Grand Master of Massachusetts, to establish a Lodge 
 in that city. It bore date November 12, 1750. It was 
 the first Warranted Lodge in Connecticut, and the 
 seventh in New England ; four having previously been 
 organized in Boston, one in Portsmouth, New Hamp- 
 shire, and one in Newport, Rhode Island. A warrant 
 also granted for a Lodge in Annapolis, Maryland, 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 315 
 
 by THOMAS OXNARD, about the same date as that in New 
 Haven. The Lodge organized by DAVID WOOSTER had 
 at first but six members viz. : DAVID WOOSTER, Master ; 
 SAMUEL MANSFIELD and JOHN ELIOT, Wardens; and 
 NATHAN WHITING, ELIHU LYMAN, and JEHIEL TUTTLE, 
 members. Its first meeting was in December, 1750. 
 The Lodge was called Hiram Lodge, and still exists by 
 that name as Lodge No. 1 of Connecticut. 
 
 The hollow peace between France and England was 
 of short duration, and in 1756 WOOSTER was again 
 called to take the command of Connecticut militia, with 
 the rank of colonel. This contest is known in history 
 as the old French and Indian war, and he served each 
 year in its campaigns, from 1756 to 1760, and rose to 
 the rank of a brigadier-general. On retiring again 
 from military service, he returned to New Haven as a 
 half-pay officer of the regular British army, and was 
 appointed revenue collector of the port of his city. 
 He also engaged successfully in mercantile pursuits, 
 and led a life of domestic felicity. 
 
 Again the war of the Revolution found him as ready 
 to draw his sword in defence of the colonies against 
 the usurpations of England, as he had been to repel 
 the invasions of Spain or France. His commission 
 and his half-pay in the British army were at once re- 
 linquished, his collectorship of the port resigned, and 
 when the troops of the colony were organized, he was 
 invested with their command, with his former rank as 
 brigadier-general. It is related of him that when his 
 regiment was prepared to leave New Haven for the 
 headquarters of the army, he marched it to the church- 
 yard green, where his men stood in their ranks with 
 
316 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 tlieir knapsacks on their backs, and their muskets in 
 their hands, while he sent for his pastor, the Kev. JON- 
 ATHAN EDWARDS, to come and pray with them, and give 
 them a parting blessing. He then conducted his men 
 into the church to await his pastor's- coming. He was 
 absent from home, and when this became known to 
 General WOOSTER, he stepped into the deacon's seat in 
 front of the pulpit, and calling on his men to join him 
 in prayer, led their devotions with the fervent zeal of 
 an apostle. So pathetically and so eloquently did he 
 plead for his beloved country, for himself and the men 
 under his command, and for the families they left be- 
 hind them, that it affected all, and drew tears from 
 many eyes. How true to the first sublime lesson in 
 Masonry, which teaches us at the commencement of all 
 laudable undertakings to implore the aid and blessing 
 of God, was his act on this occasion ! 
 
 The first military service of General WOOSTER during 
 the Revolution, was in guarding New York. In the 
 spring of 1776, he was sent in the expedition to Canada ; 
 and during the following winter and spring he was in 
 command in his own State, guarding it from the attacks 
 of the British, who lay at New York. When, in April 
 of 1777, Governor TRYON made an incursion on Dan- 
 bury, he led a body of militia in an attack on the in- 
 vaders at Eidgefield, and fell mortally wounded at the 
 head of his forces, on the 27th of that month. His 
 wound was by a musket-ball in his spine, and he was 
 borne to Danbury, where he expired on the 2d of May, 
 at the age of sixty-seven years, and was interred in the 
 public burial-ground of that town. Upon learning of 
 his death, Congress voted that a monument should be 
 
COMPEEES. 317 
 
 erected to his memory, but it was not done, and for 
 nearly fourscore years no permanent memorial marked 
 liis grave. The legislature of his native State, in 
 whose defence he died, however, resolved to perform 
 this long neglected duty, in which they were joined by 
 the Grand Lodge of Connecticut, and the corner-stone 
 of a befitting monument over his grave was laid by the 
 Grand Master of the State, on the 27th of April, 1854, 
 according to the ancient ceremonies of the Fraternity. 
 Among the deposits under this stone was the identical 
 bullet by which General WOOSTEE was slain. Above 
 this stone, a monument, beautifully wrought with civic 
 and Masonic emblems and inscriptions, now rises. It 
 was well thus to mark his grave ; but his deeds are his 
 true monument, lasting as the granite hills of New 
 England, from which the craftsmen wrought the tower- 
 ing shaft that rises over his dust. 
 
 THOMAS WOOSTEE, the only son of General WOOSTEE, 
 was also a Mason. He was initiated in Hiram Lodge, 
 April 14, 1777, a few days previous to his father's 
 death. He was then about twenty-five years of age. 
 Before the close of the Revolutionary War, the Ma- 
 sonic brethren in Colchester, Connecticut, obtained a 
 warrant from the Massachusetts Grand Lodge for a 
 Lodge in that town, which they denominated Wooster 
 Lodge. It bore date January 12, 1781. A second 
 Lodge, bearing that name, was also chartered by the 
 Grand Lodge of Connecticut, a few years ago, in New 
 Haven. The names of WAEBEN, MONTGOMEEY, and 
 WOOSTEE became a standing Masonic toast during the 
 war, commemorative of their virtues as patriot Masons, 
 who fell early in their country's defence. 
 
PIERPONT EDWARDS, 
 
 THE FIRST GRAND MASTER OF CONNECTICUT. 
 
 PIERPONT EDWARDS, the first Grand Master of Masons 
 in Connecticut, was born in Northampton, Massachu- 
 setts, in 1750. His father was the Kev. JONATHAN ED- 
 WARDS, who afterwards became president of the college 
 in Princeton, New Jersey, and his mother was a 
 daughter of the Rev. JAMES PIERPONT of New Haven. 
 The memory of both has been preserved for their 
 piety and talents. A few weeks after the birth of their 
 son PIERPONT, who is the subject of this sketch, Mr. 
 EDWARDS was dismissed from his pastoral charge of 
 the church in Northampton, and soon after removed to 
 Stockbridge, in the same State, as a missionary to the 
 Stockbridge Indians. He remained there for six years ; 
 and the only school in the vicinity was composed of 
 both Indian children and those of white parentage. 
 The constant association of these young urchins to- 
 gether in their studies and their sports, rendered many 
 of them equally fluent in the native language of each 
 other. The elder brother of PIERPONT, who was six 
 years his senior, was said by the natives to " speak as 
 plain as an Indian." Surrounded by such circum- 
 stances, young PIERPONT learned to lisp his early wants 
 as readily in Indian as in his mother tongue, but we 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 319 
 
 know not whether he retained a knowledge of that 
 dialect when he came to manhood. His brother after- 
 wards went to reside with one of the Western tribes in 
 New York, to improve in his knowledge of their lan- 
 guage and customs, with a view on his father's part of 
 his becoming a missionary among them when of suit- 
 able age. He, however, chose a different field of use- 
 fulness for himself, and became afterwards president 
 of Union College in Schenectady. 
 
 When PIEKPONT was about six years of ago, his 
 father left his residence in Stockbridge and removed to 
 Princeton, New Jersey, where v he had been elected 
 president of the college. His labors there, however, 
 were short, for in less than a year he died ; and his 
 amiable widow's death soon followed, and the future 
 Grand Master of Connecticut was left a full orphan 
 before he was eight years old. Though thus early be- 
 reft of his parents, he received the fostering care of 
 kind friends ; was educated, we believe, at Yale, and set- 
 tled in New Haven as an attorney at law. In that city, 
 at the age of twenty-five years, he was made a Mason 
 in old Hiram Lodge. His initiation was on the 28th 
 day of December, 1775. It was the oldest Lodge in 
 the State, and he was subsequently elected its Master. 
 
 About the close of the Revolution in 1783, thirteen 
 of the old Lodges in Connecticut met in Convention in 
 New Haven to establish some general regulations for 
 the good of Masonry in that State, and of this Conven- 
 tion PIEKPONT EDWAKDS was a member from Hiram 
 Lodge in that city, and was appointed Secretary of 
 the body. He was also chosen by it as one of a com- 
 mittee of four to act as general guardians of Masonry 
 
320 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 in that State. All the Lodges iu Connecticut at ihis 
 time were held under authority that had been granted 
 by pre-revolutionary Provincial Grand Masters on this 
 continent, and as their authority was now at an end, 
 the Lodges in the State met again in convention by 
 delegates in Hartford on the 14th of May, 1789, to con- 
 sider the propriety of forming a Grand Lodge for that 
 jurisdiction. 
 
 PIERPONT EDWARDS was a delegate also to this Con- 
 vention, and was appointed chairman of a committee 
 to prepare a plan for forming a Grand Lodge, to sub- 
 mit to a convention of delegates to be held at New 
 Haven on the 8th of July following. "When the 
 Convention met, Mr. EDWARDS presented the plan 
 he had formed for a Grand Lodge, together with a 
 constitution for its government, which were adopted ; 
 and upon a ballot being taken for its Grand Master, 
 he was elected to that office, and held it for two suc- 
 cessive years, when he was succeeded by WILLIAM JUDD. 
 
 Mr. EDWARDS was distinguished in civil as well as 
 Masonic life. He was a member of Congress under 
 the old confederation, but of the particulars of his 
 public history we have not the records before us. He 
 died on the 14th of April, 1826, at the age of seventy- 
 six years. His son, HENRY "W. EDWARDS, who after- 
 wards became governor of that State, was also a Mason, 
 having been initiated in Hiram Lodge. February 2, 1809. 
 He was also a member of Franklin lioyal Arch Chapter 
 in New Haven, having been exalted June 14, 1810. On 
 the 16th of October, 1818, Governor EDWARDS also 
 became a member of Harmony Council of Royal and 
 Select Masters in that city 
 
JABEZ BOWEN, LL.D., 
 
 LIEI TEN ANT-GOVERNOR OF RHODE ISLAND, AND GRAND MASTER OF 
 MASONS IN THAT- STATE. 
 
 JABEZ BOWEN was born in Providence, Rhode Island, 
 about the year 1740. Of his youth and parentage we 
 have no account. He graduated at Yale College in 
 1757, while yet in his minority, and afterwards became 
 chancellor of the college in Providence as the successor 
 of Governor HOPKINS. He held the chancellorship -for 
 thirty years. During the Revolutionary "War he was 
 devoted to the cause of his country, was a member of 
 the Board of War, judge of the Supreme Court, and 
 lieutenant-governor of his State. He was also a mem- 
 ber of the State convention to take into consideration 
 the constitution of the General Government when it 
 was formed. During the administration of WASHING- 
 TON, after Rhode Island had accepted of the constitu- 
 tion, he was the Commissioner of loans for his State. 
 "With a great capacity for public business, and of un- 
 questionable integrity, he gained an elevated character 
 and great influence in society. 
 
 Governor BOWEN was a Mason, and rose to the high- 
 est rank in the Fraternity. We are unable to give the 
 date of his initiation, but in 1762 he was the Junior 
 Warden of St. John's Lodge in Providence. He also 
 
 14* 
 
322 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 held the same office from 1765 to 1769, when the labors 
 of his Lodge were for a few years suspended. St. 
 John's Lodge had been organized in 1757, and at the 
 close of 1769 it had so declined that at its meetings no 
 more than eight were usually present. 
 
 "Thus discouraged, without numbers, without funds, 
 and without accommodations, they closed the Lodge, shut 
 up the books, and sealed up their jewels." 
 
 JABEZ BOWEN was at this time its Junior Warden. 
 We may imagine the Genius of Masonry weeping over 
 that deserted Lodge, and saying, as she departed ? 
 
 " Those walls are tott'ring to decay ; 
 
 There's dampness on the stair ; 
 But well I mind me of the day, 
 
 When twoscore men met there 
 When twoscoro brothers met at night, 
 
 The full round moon above, 
 To weave the mystic chain of light, 
 
 With holy links of love." 
 
 Upon the loth of July, 1778, JABEZ BOWEN received a 
 commission from JOHN BOWE, Provincial Grand Master 
 of Massachusetts, to reopen this Lodge and act as its 
 Master. It was during the midst of the Bevolutionary 
 War, and they met by permission of the State authori- 
 ties in the council-chamber. The genius of Masonry 
 returned ; the Lodge was reorganized under its new 
 Master, and upon St. John the Evangelist's day, in De- 
 cember of that year, held a public celebration which 
 was largely attended by brethren of the army who 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 323 
 
 were stationed in that State. The address on the oc- 
 casion was delivered by General YABNUM. It was the 
 first Masonic celebration ever held in Providence, and 
 seventy-one members of the Fraternity were present. 
 
 JABEZ BOWEN continued to preside over St. John's 
 Lodge as Master until the close of 1790, a period of 
 nearly thirteen years. In 1791 a Grand Lodge was 
 formed in Rhode Island, and he was elected its first 
 Deputy Grand Master. He continued to hold this 
 office for three years, and in 1794 was elected Grand 
 Master. He held this office until the close of 1798. 
 
 The official labors of Mr. BOWEN in Masonry covered 
 a period of twenty years after the revival of his Lodge, 
 and during the same time he was constantly engaged 
 in public employments. In the religious improvement 
 of society he also took a deep interest. He was a 
 member of the Congregational church in Providence, 
 and president of the Bible Society of Rhode Island. 
 He lived a life of usefulness, and died lamented, on the 
 7th day of May, 1815, at the age of seventj-&ve v 
 
COLONEL WILLIAM BARTON, 
 
 RHODE ISLAND 
 
 MASON* WHO CAPTURED THE BRITISH 
 PRESCOTT. 
 
 the names of Masonic brethren which the 
 revolutionary annals of our country introduce on the 
 pages of history, and distinguished by one bold act, 
 stands that of Colonel WILLIAM BARTON, who success- 
 fully planned and effected the capture of the British 
 General PRESCOTT. He was born in Providence, Rhode 
 Island, in 1750 ; but of his parentage and early life wo 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEEKS. 325 
 
 have no account. He took up arms in defence of his 
 colony soon after the Eevolution commenced, and in 
 1777 we find him holding a commission as lieutenant- 
 colonel in the Ehode Island troops, and active in de- 
 fending his State against the British forces under Gen- 
 eral PEESCOTT. 
 
 PEESCOTT was an arrogant and tyrannical officer, 
 and he made himself particularly obnoxious to the 
 citizens of Rhode Island ; for his persecutions ex- 
 tended not only to prisoners taken in war, but to pri- 
 vate unarmed citizens, and even women and children. 
 All classes were alike made objects of his cruelty. 
 His headquarters were at the house of a Quaker by 
 the name of OVEETON, about five miles from Newport. 
 Incensed at the daily reports of his tyranny and in- 
 solence to citizens, Colonel BAETON determined, if pos- 
 sible, to effect his capture. For this purpose he en- 
 gaged a few trusty men, and on a sultry night in July 
 of 1777, he embarked with them in whaleboats, and 
 crossed Narraganset Bay from "Warwick Point, passing 
 through the British fleet, and landing in a sheltered 
 cove near PEESCOTT'S headquarters. 
 
 In the darkness of that night, they had passed the 
 guard-boats of the British with muffled oars, and had 
 heard the sentinel's cry of " All's well," without being 
 discovered. Colonel BAETON now divided his comrades 
 into two bands, and approached the house where the 
 British commander slept. As they came to the gate, a 
 sentinel hailed them and demanded the countersign. 
 "We have 110 countersign to give," boldly replied 
 Colonel BAETON. " Have you seen any deserters here 
 to-night?" continued he in the same cool and collected 
 
,326 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 voice. Deceived by their manner, the sentinel sup- 
 posed them friends ; nor did he suspect the truth, until 
 his musket was seized and he was secured and threat- 
 ened with instant death if he made any noise. 
 
 Colonel BARTON then entered the house boldly, and 
 found the Quaker host reading, while all the other in- 
 mates were in bed. He inquired for General 1 ' 
 coir's room, and the Quaker pointed him to the cham- 
 ber. With five men he then ascended the stairs', and 
 tried the general's door; but it was locked. No time 
 was to be lost, and a negro who was in the party, drew 
 back a few steps, and with a blow like a battering- 
 ram, burst the door in with his head. PRESCOTT sup- 
 posed he was in the hands of robbers, and seized his 
 gold watch to secure it ; but Colonel BARTON quickly 
 undeceived him by telling him he was his prisoner, 
 and that his safety lay only in his perfect silence. He 
 begged time to dress ; but as it was a hot July night, 
 his captors compelled him to delay his toilet until they 
 could afford him more time ; and he was taken in his 
 night-clothes to their boat, and safely conveyed to 
 Warwick Point, undiscovered by the sentinels of the 
 fleet. The captive was kept silent during this mid- 
 night boat-ride, by a pistol at each ear ; and when he 
 landed, he first broke the silence by saying : 
 
 "Sir, you have made a bold push to-night." 
 
 "We have been fortunate," coolly replied Colonel 
 BARTON. 
 
 General PRESCOTT was conveyed that night in' a 
 coach to Providence, and was subsequently sent to 
 WASHINGTON'S headquarters in New Jersey. On his 
 way there he stopped with his escort to dine at the 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 327 
 
 tavern of Captain ALDEN, in Lebanon, Connecticut. 
 The landlady set before them a bowl of succotash, a 
 well-known Yankee dish composed of corn and beans. 
 The haughty British captive supposed it an intentional 
 insult, and indignantly exclaimed, " What ! do you feed 
 me with the food of hogs ?" at the same time strewing 
 the contents of the dish upon the floor. Captain 
 ALDEN was soon informed of the outrage, and at once 
 gave the British general a horsewhipping. PRESCOTT, 
 for the second time a captive, was exchanged for Gen- 
 eral LEE, and returned to his command in Rhode Island ; 
 but that he did not soon forget his castigation by the 
 Connecticut landlord, is seen by his afterwards excusing 
 himself for some discourtesy to an American gentle- 
 man, by saying : " He looked so much like a d d 
 Connecticut man that horsewhipped me, that I could 
 not endure his presence." 
 
 Colonel BARTON was rewarded for his gallant services 
 in capturing General PRESCOTT, by a vote of thanks 
 from Congress, accompanied by an elegant sword ; and 
 also by a grant of land in Yermont. He was also pro- 
 moted to the rank and pay of colonel in the Continen- 
 tal army. He did not, however, long remain in active 
 service ; for in an action at Butt's Hill, near Bristol 
 Ferry, in August of 1778, he was so badly wounded as 
 to be disabled for the remainder of the war. 
 
 In 1779, Colonel BARTON was made a Mason in St. 
 John's Lodge in Providence, Rhode Island. Of his 
 subsequent Masonic history we have no record. 
 
 The lands Congress gave him in Vermont, proved in 
 after-years an unfortunate gift ; for in some transac- 
 tion growing out of the sale of them, he became en- 
 
328 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 tangled in the^ineshes of the law, and under the code 
 of that State, he was imprisoned in his old age for 
 many years in the debtor's cell. 
 
 When General LA FAYETTE visited this country in 
 1825, hearing of the imprisonment of the revolutionary 
 veteran and its cause, he paid the claim and restored 
 his venerable fellow-soldier and Masonic brother to 
 liberty. .Though kindly intended, it was a national 
 rebuke, as well as a rebuke to the " Shylock who held 
 the patriot in bondage, and clamored for the pound of 
 flesh" It was this circumstance which drew from the 
 poet WHITTIER his touching lines on The Prisoner for 
 Debt: 
 
 " \Yhat has the gray -haired prisoner done? 
 
 Has murder stain'd his hands with gore ? 
 Not so ; his crime's a fouler one : 
 
 God made the old man poor ! 
 For this he shares a felon's cell, 
 The fittest earthly type of hell! 
 For this, the boon for which he pour'd 
 His young blood on the invader's sword, 
 And counted light the fearful cost! 
 His blood-gain'd liberty is lost." 
 
 Colonel BARTON lived to the age of eighty-four years, 
 and died at Providence in 1831, venerated and beloved 
 by all who knew him. 
 
JOHN SULLIVAN, LL, D., 
 
 A MAJOR-GENERAL OF THE REVOLUTION ; FIRST GRAND MASTER OF 
 THE GRAND LODGE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, AND GOVERNOR OF TIIA7 
 STATE. 
 
 JOHN SULLIVAN, the first Grand Master of Masons ii. 
 New Hampshire, was of Irish descent. His father emi- 
 grated from Ireland to this country and settled in Ber 
 wick, in Maine, a few years before his birth. There, 
 on the 17th of February, 1740, the subject of our sketch 
 
330 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 was born. He was his father's oldest son, and his early 
 years were spent in assisting him upon his farm. 
 When he came to manhood he studied law, and was 
 regularly admitted by the court as an attorney. He 
 established himself in his profession in Durham, New 
 Hampshire, and soon rose to distinction as an attorney 
 and politician. In 1774 he was sent as a delegate 
 from New Hampshire to the Continental Congress. 
 On his return home, he was engaged with some other 
 distinguished patriots of his State in taking possession 
 of the British fort in the harbor of Portsmouth. It 
 was a bold act, and one hundred barrels of powder 
 and a quantity of cannon and small-arms were secured 
 for the future use of the colonists by the transaction. 
 
 He was re-elected to Congress the following year, 
 and remained in it until his services were required in 
 his own State, when he returned home with a commis- 
 sion as one of the eight brigadier-generals which Con- 
 gress appointed, and soon after repaired to WASHING- 
 TON'S headquarters at Cambridge. When the Conti- 
 nental army was organized in 1776, he was promoted 
 to the rank of major-general, and was sent to take the 
 command of troops in Canada. He was not successful 
 in this expedition ; was superseded in command of the 
 northern division by General GATES, and joined the 
 army of WASHINGTON at New York. Here 4he illness 
 of General GBEENE placed him in command of his divi- 
 sion at the battle of Brooklyn, in which he was taken 
 prisoner. Being soon after exchanged for General 
 PKESCOTT, he again joined the army, and was placed 
 in command of one of its four divisions. He was with 
 WASHINGTON at the battles of Brandywine and Ger- 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEEES. 331 
 
 mantown, but while the army was quartered the fol- 
 lowing winter at Yalley Forge, lie was sent to Rhode 
 Island to take command of the troops stationed in that 
 State. In the summer of 1778 he besieged the British 
 force at Newport ; but the want of the desired co-oper- 
 ation of the French fleet prevented his full success. 
 
 While in command in Ehode Island in the autumn 
 of 1778, our first Masonic record relating to General 
 SULLIVAN as a Mason appears. It was the permission 
 granted by him to the Brethren under his command to 
 join in the Masonic Festival of St. John, on the 28th 
 of December of that year, in Providence. General 
 VABNUM, who was also stationed in Rhode Island, de- 
 livered the Masonic address that day. 
 
 General SULLIVAN had doubtless been made a Mason 
 previous to the Ee volution, but we have seen no record 
 of the time or place. In the spring of 1779 he was 
 called into a new field of operations, being sent in com- 
 mand of the expedition against the Indians and Tories 
 of New York. In this service he was accompanied 
 by General CLINTON, and Colonel PBOCTOB with his 
 regiment of Pennsylvania artillery, in which a Military 
 Lodge had recently been organized under Colonel 
 PROCTOR as Master. 
 
 This expedition, successful in its designs but tragic 
 in its events, was a distinct feature in the war of the 
 Revolution ; and the pages of our country's history have 
 invested with a kind of romance the details of its prog- 
 ress and consummation. From the commencement 
 of the war, the loyalists of the north had been joined 
 with the Indians of the Six Nations in New York in 
 cruel and destructive warfare on our northwestern 
 
332 AV ASHING TON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 borders. In Canada and along the mighty lakes and 
 rivers of the north were British fortresses, in whose 
 strongholds the loyalists found safe retreat and shel- 
 ter from danger; and between these and the settle- 
 ments and towns of the States which were in arms 
 against the king, were the hunting-grounds and the 
 war-paths of the Iroquois. Here, for years which they 
 numbered by the leaves of their forest-trees, their old 
 men and their women had rudely cultivated rich inter- 
 val lands along the streams, and in many favorite 
 places their cone-like cabins had clustered into vil- 
 lages. Around these the fruit-trees of their distant 
 civilized neighbors had been planted and grown to 
 maturity, and abundant cornfields supplied their 
 wants when the fortunes of the chase failed them. 
 
 From these British fortresses upon the lakes, and 
 the intervening wilderness fastnesses between them 
 and the American settlements, the loyalists and In- 
 dians commingled together, and fell in predatory bands 
 on many defenceless towns and villages, whose natural 
 defenders were absent in the general defence of the 
 country under WASHINGTON. Like arrows from an un- 
 seen bow, or fire-bolts from a mantling summer-cloud, 
 they often came when and where they were least ex- 
 pected, and retired so quickly that no trace was left of 
 them except the work of the firebrand and the hatchet, 
 or the blood-stained footsteps of their captives in their 
 hurried return to the wilderness of the Iroquois or the 
 forts at Niagara. The forest domains of New York 
 were a hiding-place for loyalists, and a storehouse and 
 home to the Indians. The leaders of the loyalists 
 were Sir JOHN JOHNSON, Colonel GUY JOHNSON, and 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 333 
 
 Colonels BUTLER and GLAUS, all relatives, and all for- 
 merly distinguished Masons of the Mohawk Valley, and 
 members of St. Patrick's Lodge. Their Indian ally, 
 BRANT, the war-chief, was also a Mason. To him his- 
 tory has sometimes paid a tribute of respect for a re- 
 membrance of his Masonic TOWS during the blood}^ 
 scenes of war, but to JOHNSON and BUTLER never. 
 Their eyes had become blind to the Mason's sign" their 
 ears deaf to the Mason's word. In the Masonic tradi- 
 tions of the Revolution, they have since stood as Ish- 
 maelites in Israel. But let the mantle we seek to draw 
 over our own faults, in part, cover theirs. History is 
 not always impartial. 
 
 The expedition of General SULLIVAN in 1779 against 
 these loyalists and Indians was a war measure, 
 planned and approved by WASHINGTON as a punish- 
 ment for the unjustifiable warfare of the allied loyalists 
 and Indians ; and by breaking up their strongholds and 
 destroying their means of subsistence, to prevent their 
 future depredations on our unprotected settlements. 
 Sternly he gave what he deemed a necessary command, 
 and most faithfully and severely did General SULLIVAN 
 execute it. History has told it on its pages, and we 
 have only space for some of its incidents. 
 
 Having no previous military road to use, General 
 SULLIVAN was obliged to cut his pathway from Easton 
 on the Delaware across a mountainous wilderness to 
 Wyoming on the Susquehanna. As he approached 
 the latter place, he sent a small advance company 
 ahead under Captain DAVIS and Lieutenant JONES, 
 They were met by a party of Indians, defeated, and 
 the captain and lieutenant both slain and scalped. 
 
334: WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 They were left by the Indians on the ground where 
 they fell, and after their departure were hastily buried 
 by their surviving comrades. Captain DAVIS and Ljeu- 
 tenant JONES were both .Masons, and when General 
 SULLIVAN reached the Valley, he had their bodies taken 
 up and reinterred at "Wyoming with Masonic ceremo- 
 nies. It was the first Masonic meeting ever held in 
 that valley, and the procession of Brethren that bore 
 the bodies of their slain companions from their first 
 resting-place in the forest, for a more decent inter- 
 ment at Wyoming, was attended by the regimental 
 band, which played Roslin Castle on their march. 
 This Military Lodge, on that occasion, met at the 
 marquee of Colonel PROCTOR. Neither history nor tra- 
 dition has given us the names of Brethren present, but 
 it is well known that a large number of the officers in 
 that expedition were Masons, all of whom, whose duty 
 permitted it, it is presumed, were present. The old 
 town at Wyoming had, at that time, a few permanent 
 inhabitants, whose descendants still reside there ; and 
 tradition^ of these events have the most positive 
 verity. Fifteen years later (1794) a Lodge was char- 
 tered in the same place by the Grand Lodge of 
 Pennsylvania, which still exists as No. 61, at Wilkes- 
 barre. 
 
 General SULLIVAN proceeded soon after on his expe- 
 dition, following up the Susquehanna to its junotion 
 with the Tioga. Here, while awaiting the arrival of 
 General CLINTON who was to meet him with additional 
 forces at this point, a Masonic funeral sermon on the 
 death of Captain DAVIS and Lieutenant JONES was 
 preached by Dr. EODGERS, one of the chaplains of the 
 
335 
 
 expedition. This service was held on the 18th of August, 
 and the text was from the seventh verse of the seventh 
 chapter of Job, " Eemember that my life is wind." The 
 progress of Masonry was thus following the footsteps 
 of war- in its advancement into the American wilder- 
 ness. The sound of its gavel was renewed at old Tioga 
 Point under a warrant granted by the Grand Lodge of 
 Pennsylvania in 1796, for Lodge No. 70, which is still 
 working but a few rods from where this Masonic ser- 
 mon was preached in Fort Sullivan in 1779. 
 
 From the commencement of General SULLIVAN'S wilder- 
 ness march, the scouts of BEANT and his Tory associates 
 JOHNSON and BUTLER had watched his progress. They 
 no doubt knew his design was to penetrate the heart of 
 the Indian country, and perhaps proceed to Niagara. 
 His superior numbers had now gained him an admis- 
 sion to their House, as they termed their country, the 
 south-door of which they said was at " Tioga Point." 
 There General SULLIVAN had. been joined by two thou- 
 sand men under General CLINTON, making his number 
 then five thousand. 
 
 With this strong force BEANT, JOHNSON, and BUTLEE 
 saw General SULLIVAN enter the south-door of the Iro- 
 quois, and proceed up the Tioga. When near what 
 was afterwards called Newtown (now Elrnira), they laid 
 an ambuscade and prepared to give him battle. His 
 strength overcame their cunning and bravery, and de- 
 feated and disheartened they fell back before his vic- 
 torious army, and saw him destroy their cornfields, cut 
 down their orchards, and burn their towns without 
 again offering a united resistance. One of the inci- 
 ;1 nts of this devastating march is painfully interesting, 
 
;-5 ".<) WASHINGTON'S MASONIC 
 
 and of a el'ur.'cl'T entitling it to a place in Ma 
 narrative. 
 
 After General Si LUYAX had passed into the h:t; 
 the Indian country, and was near the Genesee River, he 
 sent Lieutenant BOYD \vith a guide and twenty-six men 
 to reconnoitre an Indian town six miles ahead. His 
 guide mistook the way, and on the return of the party, 
 they were drawn into an ambuscade by BRANT and 
 BUTLEE with several hundred Indians and rangers, as 
 the' loyalists were called, and nearly all his men were 
 killed. BOYD was wounded, and with one of his party 
 taken prisoner. He had been captured once before at 
 the storming of Quebec, but then was exchanged. 
 From the private ranks he had risen to that of lieuten- 
 ant of a rifle company of the Pennsylvania division, 
 and was about twenty-two years of age. He was the 
 largest and most muscular man in his company, but 
 having been wounded, he was now in the power of the 
 enemy. Lieutenant BOYD was a Mason, and knowing 
 the ferocity of the Indians after seeing their towns 
 burned, he gave to BRANT, who was also a Mason, a 
 sign of the Fraternity, claiming protection. The dusky 
 chief recognized it and at once promised him his life. 
 But being called away soon after, BOYD was left in the 
 care of General BUTLER, who, as before stated, had 
 formerly been a member of St. Patrick's Lodge on the 
 Mohawk. BUTLER demanded of the captive informa- 
 tion which his fidelity to his own commander would 
 not allow him to give. The scene became one of tragic 
 interest. Enraged at the silence of BOYD, BUTLER had 
 him placed before him kneeling upon one knee, with an 
 Indian on each side holding his arms, and another 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEEKS. 337 
 
 standing behind him with a tomahawk raised over his 
 head. BUTLER inquired the number of SULLIVAN'S* men. 
 "I cannot answer you," was BOYD'S reply. He then 
 inquired how his army was divided and disposed. " I 
 cannot give you any information, sir," again replied 
 the heroic captive. Again, for the third time, BUTLER 
 harshly addressed him : 
 
 " BOYD, life is sweet ; you had better answer me." 
 
 " Duty forbids," was the reply ; " I would not, if life 
 depended on the word." 
 
 Reader, contemplate the scene. Both were Masons ; 
 the one haughty, imperious, and forgetful of his vows ; 
 the other a captive in his hands, with fortitude un- 
 daunted and fidelity unshaken, thrice refusing to be- 
 tray his trust. His last refusal cost him his life ; for 
 before BRANT returned to his captive, and unknown to 
 him, BUTLER delivered him into the hands of the in- 
 furiated Indians about him, and, amidst tortures too 
 horrid to describe, he fell a martyr to his trust. Thus 
 fell Lieutenant BOYD on the 13th of September, 1779. 
 His remains were found on the following day, and 
 buried by order of General SULLIVAN on the borders of 
 a small stream, where they -lay undisturbed until 1841, 
 sixty-two years after the event, when they were identi- 
 fied, collected in an urn, and reinterred with much cere- 
 mony in Mount Hope Cemetery at Eochester. 
 
 General SULLIVAN proceeded no further on this ex- 
 pedition than the Indian towns on the Genesee, and 
 returned to Tioga, still, burning wigwams, and de- 
 stroying every means for subsistence within his 
 reach. So dreadful and widespread was the devasta- 
 tion he made, that he was afterwards called by the 
 
 15 
 
338 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 Indians " The Town Destroyer." General SULLIVAN 
 was absent from the headquarters of the army in this 
 expedition about five months, and on his return re- 
 ceived the thanks of Congress for his services ; but he 
 was dissatisfied with the action of the Board of "War, 
 pleaded ill-health, and resigned his commission in the 
 army. He then retired to private life, and resumed his 
 former profession. He was, however, immediately 
 elected by the State of New Hampshire a delegate to 
 Congress, and took his seat in that body in 1780. He 
 left Congress after one year's service, and again re- 
 turned to his profession. In 1783 he was appointed 
 attorney-general of his State, helped to form its con- 
 stitution, and was chosen a member of its council. In 
 1786 he was elected governor of New Hampshire, and 
 hold the office for three successive years. 
 
 During the last year that General SULLIVAN occupied 
 the gubernatorial chair of his State, an independent 
 Grand Lodge was formed in that jurisdiction, and he 
 was elected its first Grand Master. Masonic lodges 
 were not numerous in New Hampshire at that time ; 
 but five having then been organized in the State, and 
 but one of these (St. John's at Portsmouth) preceding 
 the Revolution. During the same year that General 
 SULLIVAN was Grand Master of the State, he was also 
 Master of this old lodge at Portsmouth. In Octo- 
 ber of 1790, at a meeting of this Grand Lodge, Gen- 
 eral SULLIVAN communicated to that body by letter 
 the fact, that the alarming state of his health would 
 no longer permit him to serve as Grand Master, at 
 the same time expressing his grateful acknowledg- 
 ments for the honor they had conferred upon him. 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 339 
 
 Dr. HALL JACKSON was therefore elected Grand Master 
 in his stead. 
 
 General SULLIVAN soon after received an appointment 
 as Federal judge of his district, and held that office 
 till the close of his life. He died on the 23d of Janu- 
 ary, 1795, in the fifty- sixth year of his age. Twenty 
 years of his life had been spent in public service, but 
 still he had found time to acquire a fund of general 
 literature, and had been honored by the university at 
 Dartmouth with the degree of Doctor of Laws. He 
 led a life of usefulness, and his death was felt as a pub- 
 lic loss, 
 
GENERAL JAMES JACKSON, 
 
 GOVERNOR, AND GRAND MASTER OF GEORGIA. 
 
 THE incidents of human life are sometimes so 
 strange, that a faithful narrative of them seems a work 
 of romance rather than reality. Many a protraiture of 
 heroes of the Eevolution is rich with such incidents ; 
 and of names thus characterized, stands that of JAMES 
 JACKSON, of Georgia. 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEEES. 
 
 He was born in Devonshire, in England, on the 21st 
 of September, 1757. His father emigrated to America 
 in 1772, and settled in Georgia, and young JACKSON, 
 then fifteen years of age, became a student of law in 
 Savannah. He loved his adopted country, and when 
 its liberties were threatened by the English govern- 
 ment he shouldered his muskefc to defend them. Pre- 
 vious to the Revolution, Savannah had been a military 
 station of the British troops ; and in 1774, when the 
 controversy between the colonies and the English 
 government began to be serious and threatening, the 
 royal grenadiers proudly marched the streets of that 
 city. This did not, however, deter the patriotic in- 
 habitants from organizing as " Sons of Liberty" in 
 common with the patriots of other colonies ; and early 
 in 1776, the royal governor of Georgia found his au- 
 thority there at an end. 
 
 It was at this period that young JACKSON left his 
 studies, took up his musket, and became a soldier. He 
 was active in repelling the invading force that threat- 
 ened Savannah, and so well did he perform his duties, 
 that in 1778, when but twenty-one years of age, he was 
 appointed brigade-major of the Georgia militia. In 
 this capacity he saw active service, and was wounded 
 in the skirmish on the Ogeechee, in which General 
 SCKIVEN was killed. 
 
 At the close of that year, the British made an attack 
 on Savannah, and it fell into their hands. Major JACK- 
 SON fought in its defence, but when compelled to yield 
 to a superior force, he was among those who fled to 
 South Carolina, and joined General MOULTRIE'S brigade. 
 The account of that dismal flight is full of romantic 
 
342 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 incidents. Hunger and fatigue liad rendered his ap- 
 pearance wretched and suspicious, and his foreign ac- 
 cent induced some of the Whigs to suspect that he was 
 a British spy. He was accordingly arrested, sum- 
 marily tried, and condemned to be hung. He was 
 taken to the fatal tree ; a rope was prepared, when a 
 gentleman of reputation from Georgia recognized him 
 and saved his life. 
 
 Major JACKSON was soon after active in the terrible, 
 but unfortunate siege of Savannah by the American 
 and French forces in October of 1779 ; and in August, 
 1780, he joined Colonel CLARK'S command, and was at 
 the battle of Blackstocks. In 1781, General PICKENS 
 made him his brigade-major, and his zeal and patriot- 
 ism infused new spirit into that corps. He was at 
 the siege of Augusta in June of that year, and when 
 the American forces took possession of it, he was left 
 in command of its garrison. After this he was in com- 
 mand of a legionary corps, and well sustained his repu- 
 tation as a skilful officer. Afterwards he joined Gen- 
 eral WAYNE at Ebenezer on the Savannah, and was the 
 right-arm of his force until the evacuation of the 
 Georgia capital by the British in 1782. 
 
 Major JACKSON retired on the return of peace to Sa- 
 vannah, and his patriotic services during the war were 
 so highly appreciated, that the legislature of Georgia 
 gave him a house and lot in that city. He was mar- 
 ried in 1785. It was at this period of his life that we 
 find our first records of his Masonic history. King 
 Solomon's Lodge at Savannah, which had commenced 
 its work under an old oak-tree in 1733 when the firv; 
 settlement in Georgia began, had belonged to the 
 
WASHINGTONS MASONIC COMPEEES. 
 
 branch of Masons denominated Moderns; but in 
 February, 1785, it was proposed by Major JACKSON, 
 who was then one of its members, that they form 
 themselves into a lodge of Ancients. The proposi- 
 tion was referred to a committee, and was subse- 
 quently agreed to, and the brethren were duly con- 
 stituted by the usual ceremonies a Lodge of Ancient 
 York Masons. 
 
 In 1786 an independent Grand Lodge was formed in 
 Georgia by the former Provincial Grand Master, Gov- 
 ernor SAMUEL ELBEET'S relinquishing all authority as 
 such ; and of the new Grand Lodge thus formed, Gen- 
 eral WILLIAM STEPHENS was Grand Master, and General 
 JAMES JACKSON (who had the same year been promoted 
 to the rank of a brigadier-general), was his Deputy. 
 The following year he was elected Grand Master, and 
 held the office by re-election until the close of 1789. 
 During the first year that he served as Grand Master 
 he was elected governor of his State ; but he declined 
 the honor on account of his youth and inexperience, 
 being then less than thirty years of age a rare in- 
 stance 'of genuine modesty that perhaps has no parallel 
 in the history of our country. He was, however, elected 
 soon after to a seat in the Federal Congress, and from 
 1792 to 1795 was a member of the United States Senate. 
 In the mean time he received the appointment of major- 
 general. 
 
 In 1798 he was a member of the convention that 
 framed the constitution of the State of Georgia ; and it 
 is said that that instrument was the work of his hand 
 and brain. He was elected the first governor under it, 
 and held the office until 1801, when he was again 
 
344 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 elected to the Senate of the United States, and held that 
 position until his death, ^-liich occurred in the City of 
 Washington on the 19th of March, 1806, in the forty- 
 ninth year of his age. His remains were at first buried 
 a few miles from the city, but were subsequently re- 
 moved and deposited in the congressional burial-ground 
 at Washington. Upon the stone which marks the spot 
 is an inscription by his friend and admirer, JOHN RAN- 
 DOLPH, of Roanoke. 
 
 The record of his life is deeply engraven on the Ma- 
 sonic, as well as general history of our country. It 
 was during his Grand Mastership, and under his direc- 
 tion, that the Grand Lodge of Georgia made strong 
 efforts to unite all the Grand Lodges in America under 
 one general head ; and his correspondence on this sub- 
 ject is still to be found in the archives and on the 
 record-books of most of the then existing Grand 
 t Lodges. The project, however, failed, and though at 
 various times during the present century it has been 
 publicly recommended by distinguished Masons, it has 
 never ^yet been accomplished. 
 
 There have been other distinguished American Ma- 
 sons by the name of JACKSON, whose identity has some- 
 times been confounded with his, where the name has 
 been found in old lodge-records and documents. One 
 of these was Dr. JAMES JACKSON, of Massachusetts, who 
 was Junior Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge of An- 
 cients in that State in 1780. Another was General 
 ANDREW JACKSON, late President of the United States, 
 who was in 1822-3 Grand Master of Masons in Ten- 
 nessee. Dr. HATT. JACKSON was the second Grand 
 Master of New Hampshire. 
 
WILLIAM RICHARDSON DAVIE, 
 
 GOVERNOR OF NORTH CAROLINA, AND GRAND MASTER OF MASONS 
 IN THAT STATE. 
 
 WILLIAM 'KiCHARDSON DAYIE, governor of North Caro- 
 lina, and Grand Master of Masons in that State, 
 was of English birth, having been born at Egremont, 
 near White Haven, in England, on the 20th of June, 
 1756. His father brought him to America when he 
 was but five years of age, and left him to the care of a 
 15* 
 
346 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 maternal uncle, the Eev. WILLIAM RICHARDSON of South 
 Carolina, by whom he was adopted as a son. There in 
 the old Palmetco State he was reared and educated 
 until he was fitted for college, when he was sent to 
 Princeton, New Jersey, where he graduated in tho fall 
 of 1776, in tho twenty-first year of his age. 
 
 During his senior year in college, the storm-cloud of 
 war burst on our land ; and when tho British army 
 was advancing upon the city of New York, he left his 
 class, and became for a time a volunteer soldier ; but 
 after the battle of Long Island, and tho capture of tho 
 city, he returned to Princeton and completed his 
 studies. His concluding lessons v.viv taken within the 
 roar of the British cannon, and he left Princeton just 
 before WASHINGTON and his broken awny passed through 
 that town in their flight towards the Delaware. 
 
 The young graduate then returned to his Southern 
 home; but he carried with him the remembrance of 
 scenes he had witnessed at the North, and resolved to 
 enter the field in defence of his adopted country, and 
 resist the aggressions of his fatherland, as soon as an 
 honorable post could be found. No position worthy of 
 his talent at once offering itself, he engaged in the 
 study of law at Salisbury, in North Carolina. But the 
 fire of patriotism still burned in his breast, and as the 
 war-clouds thickened, he joined a corps of dragoons as 
 lieutenant, and marched towards Charleston, in South 
 Carolina, to join the legion of PULASKI. In the battle 
 of Stono Ferry, a few miles from Charleston, he was 
 wounded in the thigh, and confined with his wound in 
 the hospital for five months. 
 
 When he recovered, he returned to Salisbury, and 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 347 
 
 resumed the study of law. In 1780 a regiment of cav- 
 alry was raised by the State of North Carolina, and he 
 received in it a commission as major. In the equip- 
 ment of this troop, he is said to have expended the last 
 shilling of his own private means, and as he mounted 
 his war-horse, he had nothing but that mettled steed 
 and his own good blade that he could call his own. 
 He nobly aided SUMTER in his operations on the Ca- 
 tawba, and was at the battles of Hanging Rock, Ram- 
 sour's Mills, and at Wahab's Plantation. For his ser- 
 vices in ihat campaign, he was rewarded with the office 
 of colonel. 
 
 When General GREENE took command of the South- 
 ern army in 1781, he appointed Colonel DAVIE his com- 
 missary-general, and he was with that officer in his cele- 
 brated retreat, and at the battles of Guilford, Hobkirk's 
 Hill, and Ninety-six. It was at this trying hour, when 
 the fate of the Southern army seemed to hang upon a 
 brittle thread, when its numbers were reduced, its am- 
 munition nearly exhausted, and its commissariat empty, 
 that General GREENE sent DAVIE to represent his con- 
 dition to the government of North Carolina, charging 
 him to give " no sleep to his eyes, nor slumber to his 
 eyelids," until relief could be obtained. But the dark 
 days of Southern despondency soon passed away, and 
 when the peace of 1783 smiled on the land, the heroes 
 who had won American liberty returned to their former 
 homes and peaceful avocations. 
 
 Colonel DAVIE left the army in the autumn of 1783, 
 married a daughter of General ALLEN JONES, and com- 
 menced the practice of law in Halifax, North Carolina. 
 In this profession he soon became eminent, and was 
 
348 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COM REEKS. 
 
 
 
 chosen a delegate to the convention that framed the 
 Federal constitution. He was also commissioned in 
 1797 a major-general of the militia of the State, and 
 in 1798, he was appointed under WASHINGTON a briga- 
 dier-general in the army of the United States. In 
 the same year he was also elected governor of the State 
 of North Carolina, and was soon after appointed by 
 President ADAMS an associate envoy extraordinary to 
 France, with ELSWORTH and MURRAY. 
 
 Governor DAVIE was a Mason, but we are unable to 
 state at what time, or in what lodge, he became a mem- 
 ber of that Fraternity. He was twenty-seven years of 
 age when he settled as a lawyer in Halifax. .An old 
 lodge had existed since 1767 in that town, but tho 
 sound of its gavel had ceased during the Revolution. 
 When peace was established, the old lodges of North 
 Carolina resumed their labors, and in 1787 they all 
 united to form an Independent Grand Lodge for that 
 State. Of this Grand Lodge, Governor DAVTE became 
 the third Grand Master, a position wjiich he held for 
 many years, and until he was sent as ambassador to 
 France in 1799. It is presumed he was made a Ma- 
 son in the " Royal White Hart" Lodge at Halifax. 
 
 Governor DAVIE took a deep interest in the educational 
 interests of his State, and was one of the founders of 
 the " North Carolina University," at Chapel Hill, tho 
 corner-stone of which he laid, as Grand Master of the 
 State, on the 14th of April, 1798, in presence of all the 
 civil and Masonic dignitaries of North Carolina. 
 
 This stone, Masonic records state, was laid at the 
 southeast corner of the edifice, according to Masonic 
 usage at that day. 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 349 
 
 The procession was composed of the 
 
 " Architect, 
 Mechanics and Peasants, 
 
 Grand Music, 
 Teacher and Students of Chatham Academy, 
 
 Students of the University, 
 
 The Faculty of the University, 
 
 The Gentlemen of the Bar, 
 
 The Honorable the Judges, 
 
 The Honorable the Council of State, 
 
 His Excellency the Governor, 
 
 The Trustees of the University, 
 
 The Masonic Craft, with 
 
 The Grand Master." 
 
 It was the most important public Masonic ceremony 
 in North Carolina during the last century, and the iiev. 
 Dr. CALDWELL, a member of the Faculty of the Uni- 
 versity, delivered an oration on the occasion. 
 
 When Governor DAYIE returned from France, he 
 was engaged by President ADAMS in some Indian 
 treaties ; but upon the death of his wife, in 1803, he 
 withdrew from public life, and died at Tivoli (some 
 authorities say Camden), in South Carolina, in Decem- 
 ber of 1820, in the sixty-fourth year of his age. On 
 his retirement from the office of Grand Master, a lodge 
 was chartered in Lexington, bearing the name of "Wil- 
 liam R. Davie" lodge. It is still in existence. Another 
 lodge called "Davie" was soon after chartered in Bertie 
 County, but it has since ceased to exist. 
 
RICHARD CASWELL 
 
 GOVERNOR OF NORTH CAROLINA, AND GRAND MASTER OF MASON'S 
 IN THAT STATE. 
 
 BICHARD CASWELL, governor of North Carolina, and 
 Grand Master of the Masons in that State, was born in 
 Maryland, on the 2d of August, 1729. His father was 
 a merchant, and having met with some reverses in busi- 
 ness, his son, BICHARD, left the parental roof to seek his 
 fortune in the new colony of North Carolina. His 
 education and social standing must have been good, 
 for he bore letters of commendation from the governor 
 of Maryland to Governor JOHNSTON, of North Carolina, 
 and received employment in one of the public offices. 
 He was appointed deputy surveyor of the colony, and 
 also clerk of the court of Orange in 1753. He was 
 then twenty-four years of age. 
 
 He soon afterwards married, and settled in Dobbs 
 (now Lenoir) County. His first wife bore him one son, 
 WILLIAM, and died. He married a second wife, who 
 was SARAH, the daughter of WILLIAM HERRITAGE, an emi- 
 nent attorney, and under him he studied law, and was 
 licensed to practise in the courts of that colony. In 
 1754 he had been chosen a delegate to represent the 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 351 
 
 county of Johnston in the Colonial Assembly, and 
 vvas honored with .a continuance of that appointment 
 for sixteen successive years, the ten last of which he 
 was speaker of the Lower House. He also bore a com- 
 mission as colonel of the militia of his county, and as 
 such, was joined with Governor TEYON in suppressing 
 an uprising of the people in the first stages of colonial 
 discontent at their taxations by the English govern- 
 ment. 
 
 CASWELL was then in the meridian of life, his 
 education and position were such as to give him in- 
 fluence in the colony, and he no doubt looked with dis- 
 favor on the first opposition that was shown in North 
 Carolina to the powers of the royal government. He 
 could not, however, have long remained an advocate of 
 the royal pretensions ; for in 1774 he was one of the 
 delegates from his State to the General Congress at 
 Philadelphia, and was continued in this office in 1775. 
 In September of that year he resigned his seat in Con- 
 gress, to fill the office of treasurer of North Carolina. 
 
 The old colonial government under Governor MAR- 
 TIN, the last of the royal governors of North Carolina, 
 had lost all its power after the second meeting of the 
 General Congress at Philadelphia, and a body, calling 
 itself the Provincial Congress of North Carolina, as- 
 sumed the powers of government in that common- 
 wealth. A declaration of rights, and a constitution, 
 were adopted in 1776, and EICHARD CASWELL was 
 elected the first governor under it. He had been a 
 member of the Provincial Congress that framed this 
 constitution, had presided over that body as its pre- 
 sident, and had also received from it the appoint- 
 
352 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 ment of brigadier-general of the militia of the district 
 of Newbern. He was continued as governor of North 
 Carolina through the years of 1777, '78, and '79, and 
 refused to receive any compensation for his services 
 beyond his expenses. 
 
 In 1779 he took the field as brigadier-general, led the 
 troops of North Carolina under General GATES, and was 
 engaged at the disastrous battle of Carnden. He after- 
 wards was a member of the Senate of his State, was chosen 
 its speaker, and held other offices of public trust, until 
 1784, when he was again elected governor of his State, 
 and again held the office for two successive years, at 
 the close of which, by the provisions of the constitu- 
 tion, he became ineligible. In 1787 he was elected by 
 the Assembly a delegate to the convention that framed 
 the 'Federal Constitution in the city of Philadelphia, 
 with power to appoint a substitute if he could not at- 
 tend. WILLIAM BLOUNT was selected by him as his 
 substitute, and his name "stands on the national 
 records as a delegate from North Carolina, instead of 
 that of KICHAUD CASWELL. In 1789 he was again elected 
 to the Senate of his State, and also a member of the 
 convention that finally ratified for North Carolina the 
 Federal constitution. 
 
 When the legislature of his State met in 1789, lie 
 was again speaker of the Senate : 
 
 " But his course was run. His second son, RICHARD, had 
 been lost on his passage by sea from Charleston to New- 
 bern, and the father certainly entertained the opinion that 
 he had been taken by pirates, and carried to Algiers, or 
 murdered. This, and other events, threw a cloud over his 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 353 
 
 mind from which he never recovered. While presiding" in 
 'lie Senate, on the 5th of November, he was struck with a 
 paralysis, and after lingering speechless till the 10th, he 
 expired in the sixtieth year of his age. His body was, after 
 the usual honors, conveyed to his family burial-place in 
 Lenoir, and there interred with Masonic honors." 
 
 His funeral oration was delivered by FRANCIS XAVTER 
 MARTIN, of which the following is a copy : 
 
 " WORSHIPFUL SIRS AND WORTHY BRETHREN Bereft of him 
 who conducted our works, we are met to discharge the 
 tribute of a tear due to his memory. How deeply the rest 
 of the community sympathizes with us., on this melancholy 
 occasion, the attendance of a respectable number of our fel- 
 low-citizens fully testifies. 
 
 " Shall our griefs terminate in sterile tears ? Shall this 
 discourse, sacred to the memory of the Most Worshipful and 
 Honorable Major-General RICHARD CASWELL, Grand Master of 
 the Masons of North Carolina, be, like the song of the un- 
 tutored savage, the mere rehearsal of a warrior's achieve- 
 ments ? No. In admiring the virtues that have rendered 
 his death, like JOSIAH'S lamented in Judea and Jerusalem, let 
 us, as Christians and Masons, be stimulated, not to offer idle 
 adulation to his manes, but to imitate, in the practise of 
 every virtue, so bright a pattern. 
 
 " Nothing excites more powerfully to virtuous deeds, 
 than the examples of those whom they have rendered con- 
 spicuous. Man generally desires what he finds applauded 
 in others. And, either because virtue appears more noble 
 when he hears it praised, or less difficult when he sees 
 it practised, he is stimulated thereto as the labor is 
 not without reward, and remissness would be without 
 
 3XCUSC. 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 " The examples of the dead are no less powerful than 
 those of the living. .We look upon the virtues of the former 
 with a greater degree of veneration, as we view those 
 of the latter with a greater degree of envy ; perhaps, 
 because, death having crowned them, we are willing to 
 relieve that posterity praises without flattery, as it praises 
 without interest or rather (for why should the real reason 
 be concealed in this temple of truth ?) because our pride 
 will not suffer us to acknowledge them. 
 
 "To convene the people when some illustrious popular 
 character has terminated his career, and to improve the op- 
 portunity of exciting them to patriotic virtues, is an ancient 
 custom, frequent instances of which occurred in sacred and 
 profane history. The heart of man, however obdurate, when 
 operated upon by gtief, or the idea of a future state, is pre- 
 pared to receive such favorable impressions ; as the stiff and 
 close-grained stone becomes pliant and ductile when heated 
 by the fire of the furnace. 
 
 "Thus we read that the corpse of C.ESAR, having been 
 brought into the Forum of the then metropolis of the world, 
 ANTONY, holding up that Dictator's garment, addressed the 
 Roman people : ' You well know,' said he, ' this mantle. I 
 remember the first time C^SAR put it on. It was on the day 
 he overcame the Nervii. If you have tears to shed, prepare 
 to shed them now.' 
 
 " With as much propriety can I rise to-day, and address 
 ing you, say : 
 
 "You well know these badges. They are the insignia 
 of Masonry of a society which, for its antiquity and utility, 
 acknowledges no equal among the institutions of the sons 
 of man. Behold the white apron that was girded on him, 
 the loss of wfrom we bemoan, on the day he became a Ma- 
 son ! He has left it to you unsullied. He has left it to you, 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEEKS. 355 
 
 decorated with those marks of dignity to which merit alon 
 gives title. 
 
 " If you have tears to shed, prepare to shed them now. 
 
 " He is no more. No longer shall he, like the eastern sun, 
 illuminate our lodges ; no longer shall he plan or direct our 
 works. 
 
 "You well know, fellow-citizens, that sword, emblem 
 atical of Supreme Executive Authority. I remember the first 
 time it was delivered to him. It was on the day we shook 
 off the British domination and became a People. 
 
 " If you have tears to shed, prepare to shed them 
 now. 
 
 " He is no more. No longer shall he wield the sword of 
 justice attempered by mercy. No longer shall he preside in 
 your councils, or lead you to the hostile field. 
 
 "To enter here into a minute detail of the services he 
 rendered you, would be to premise that they may be ob- 
 literated from your memory you remember them. Breth- 
 ren and fellow-citizens, they cannot have been forgotten. 
 
 " It was he who headed you on the day you broke down 
 the superior phalanx of Scotch troops, at Moor's Creek ; and 
 thereby preserved the cause of freedom from the deadly 
 blow this re-enforcement would have enabled our enemies to 
 strike. 
 
 " It was he who presided in the Assembly of Patriots, 
 who framed that instrument, which defined your rights arid 
 the authority of your rulers, and has secured your liberties 
 to this day. 
 
 " It was he whom your united voices twice called to the 
 supreme magistracy of this State and it was he who, but 
 a few days ago, still filled the chair of your Senate. 
 
 " If his public character affords a vast field to the pane- 
 gyrist's fancy, his private one deserves no less attention and 
 
356 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 praise In it we shall always find an example worthy of 
 imitation. 
 
 " Public virtue may procure a more shining reputation, 
 but domestic virtue gives a more solid merit. The former, 
 when unsupported by the latter, is, in the warrior, a thirst 
 of glory in the civil ruler, a thirst of power. 
 
 " A single instance of momentary intrepidity may make 
 a name to the chieftain ; but a continued spirit of modera- 
 tion alone characterizes the virtuous individual. 
 
 " Valor is a noble passion, which evinces a greatness of 
 soul. But too oft it is a vain generosity excited by am- 
 bition, and which has for its aim the mere gratification of a 
 selfish pride ; an inconsiderate boldness justified by success ; 
 a blind ferocity which stifles the voice of humanity, and by 
 the tears it causes to il\v, and (lie blood of its victims, tar- 
 nishes the laurels of the vanquisher. 
 
 " Domestic virtue, on the contrary, is so perfect, that it 
 is laudable even in its excesses. It is peaceable and con- 
 stant, and springs from a meekness and tenderness which 
 regulate desire ; and giving the virtuous individual the 
 command of his own, causes him to reign over the hearts of 
 others. The one excites astonishment and fear ; the other 
 commands reverence and love. 
 
 "The Swede boasts of the name of CHARLES XII., but Messes 
 that of GUSTAVUS VASA. 
 
 " In him, of whom the hand of death has bereft us, pub- 
 lic and domestic virtues were ever united. Not satisfied 
 in watching with unremitted attention over the welfare of 
 the community, he anxiously endeavored to promote the 
 felicity of its members. Blest with a complacency of dis- 
 position and equanimity of temper which peculiarly endeared 
 him to his friends, he commanded respect even from his 
 enemies. The tender sensibility of his heart was such, that 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 357 
 
 he needed but to see distress, to feel it and contribute to its 
 relief. Deaf to the voice of interest, even in the line of his 
 profession, whenever oppressed indigence called for his as- 
 sistance, he appeared at the bar without even the hope of 
 any other reward than the consciousness of having so far 
 promoted the happiness of a fellow-man. 
 
 "Such is, Worshipful Sirs and worthy brethren, the char- 
 acter of one whose lessons shall no longer instruct us, but 
 the remembrance of whose virtues will long continue to 
 edify us. 
 
 " Such is, fellow-citizens, the character of one who bore 
 so great a share in the Revolution by which you became a 
 nation ; who, during his life, was ever honored with some 
 marks of your approbation, and whose memory will, I doubt 
 not, be embalmed in your affections. 
 
 " Shades of WARREN, MONTGOMERY, arid MERCER ! and ye 
 shades of those other Columbian chiefs who bore away the 
 palm of political martyrdom 1 attend, receive, and welcome, 
 into the happy mansions of the just, a soul congenial with 
 those of your departed heroes, and meriting alike our es- 
 teem, our gratitude, and our tears." 
 
 Governor CASWELL was a Mason, and as such had 
 received the highest honors of the Fraternity in his 
 State, being the second Grand Master of North Carolina 
 after its Independent Grand Lodge was formed in 1787, 
 and holding the office at the time of his death. He 
 had been preceded, as Grand Master, by SAMUEL JOHN- 
 STON, who was governor of North Carolina at the death 
 of Governor CASWELL; and his successor, as Grand 
 Master, was WILLIAM KICHAKDSON DAVIE, who held 
 the office for nine years, during the last of which, he 
 was also governor of the State. Thus from the in- 
 
358 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 dependence of that State, until the last year of the 
 century, each of her three governors was also the 
 Grand Master of the Masons of North Carolina. To 
 commemorate the Masonic virtues of its first two Grand 
 Masters, a lodge was chartered at Warrenton with the 
 name of " Johnston-Caswell Lodge ;" and another in 
 Caswell County, was called " Caswell Brotherhood," 
 botli of which are now extinct. 
 
DR. JAMES MILNOR, 
 
 GRAND MASTER OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 DR. JAMES MILNOR was the son of WILLIAM MILNOR 
 of Philadelphia. He was born in that city on the 20th 
 of June, 1773, and was by birthright a Quaker. His 
 education was received at the public-schools in Phila- 
 delphia and in the university of Pennsylvania. At the 
 age of sixteen he left the university and commenced 
 the study of law, and before he was twenty years-one of 
 
360 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 age was admitted to the bar. This was in 1794, and 
 he settled in the practice of his profession in Norris- 
 town, a few miles from Philadelphia. Norristown was 
 then a small Tillage but ten years old. It was in a 
 German district, and the inhabitants there, when 
 JAMES MILNOB settled in it as a lawyer, mostly spoke 
 the German language. He had acquired a knowledge 
 of that dialect in the schools of his native city, and 
 was thus enabled to accommodate himself to the wants 
 of a community where the common business was trans- 
 acted in Gorman. He soon rose to distinction in his 
 profession, and had the confidence of his fellow-citizens 
 as an able and honest lawyer.- While thus engaged at 
 Norristown, lie was made a Mason in old Lodge No. 
 31, of that place. His initiation took place in August, 
 1795. He was then twenty-two years of age. He was 
 soon after elected Master of this Lodge ; but on re- 
 moving the following year to Philadelphia, he became 
 a member of Lodge No. 3, in that city. His affiliation 
 with this Lodge was on the 6th of September, 1796, 
 and he was afterwards its Treasurer. 
 
 When Mr. MILNOB returned to Philadelphia, he 
 engaged in the practice of his profession in that city. 
 In 1799 he married a lady who was by education an 
 Episcopalian ; and as the marriage ceremony was per- 
 formed by a clergyman of that denomination, it gave 
 offence to his Quaker brethren that he should be mar- 
 ried by a " hireling priest," and this being contrary to 
 their established "discipline" he was "disowned" and 
 his membership with the Quakers ceased forever. 
 
 In 1805, Mr. MILNOB was chosen a member of the 
 city council, and held the position from 1805 until 1809, 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 361 
 
 during the latter year being its president. He was 
 very popular with the people, and in 1810 yielded to 
 the earnest wishes of his political friends, and reluc- 
 tantly consented to become a candidate for Congress. 
 He was elected, and his great popularity is shown by 
 his being the only Federal candidate on the city ticket 
 that succeeded. He remained in Congress until 1813, 
 and was a steady opponent of the war and the bel- 
 ligerent measures of the administration. HENRY CLAY 
 was then speaker of the House ; and taking great 
 offence at some remark of Mr. MILNOR, he challenged 
 him to a duel. Mr. MILNOR declined the proffered 
 combat ; for he would not consent that any one should 
 presume to call him to account for words spoken in 
 debate, and he also, deemed duelling a cowardly prac- 
 tice. Mr. CLAY did not press the matter further ; and 
 in after-years they met on the most friendly terms. 
 
 On becoming Master of Lodge No. 31, Mr. MILNOR 
 became a member of the Grand Lodge of Pennsyl- 
 vania ; and although he had at the time been a mem- 
 ber of the Order but about two years, he was put upon 
 a committee to revise the " Eules and Regulations" of 
 the Grand Lodge of that State. In 1798 he was 
 elected Senior Grand "Warden ; in 1799 and 1800 he 
 was re-elected to the same office ; in 1801 and 1803 
 he was Deputy Grand Master ; and in 1805 he was 
 elected Grand Master of Pennsylvania, and continued 
 to hold that office by annual re-election, until the close 
 of 1813. During his Grand Mastership he was also, 
 ex-qfficio, Grand High Priest of the Grand Chapter of 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
 No Grand Master of Pennsylvania ever took a 
 16 
 
362 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 deeper interest in the welfare of the Grand Lodge 
 and the good .of Masonry than JAMES MILNOK. His 
 charges and addresses were full of instruction, and 
 his constant theme was the inculcation of charity and 
 brotherly love. During his Grand Mastership the 
 old Masonic Hall in Chestnut-street was erected ; and 
 on its dedication on the 24th of June, 1811, he deliv- 
 ered, at St. John's Church, a public oration. At its 
 close, a distinguished friend and Brother said to him, 
 as they were leaving the church : " Why, Right Wor- 
 shipful, you are cut out for a clergyman." Little did 
 that Brother then dream that the thought would one 
 day be realized. 
 
 In December, 1811, Mr. MILNOR was invited, as 
 Grand Master of Pennsylvania, to visit the Lodge at 
 Alexandria, Virginia, of which WASHINGTON was for- 
 merly Master. On this occasion Colonel DENEALE, the 
 Master of the Alexandria Lodge, welcomed its distin- 
 guished visitor with an address, from which we give the 
 following extract : 
 
 " Lost in amazement must be that brother, when reflecting 
 on his own imperfection, upon finding. he has been called, 
 by the partiality of his brethren, to a station where once 
 presided the ornament, and in whom centred the universal 
 love of Masons; who condescended to level himself down 
 from his exalted and towering eminence, and square him- 
 self here with his brethren in Masonry, laboring with them 
 till midday, and, when called from labor to refreshment, 
 entering into all the festive gayety, and innocent amusement 
 of the Craft, even in his latter days; and although that fell 
 destroyer, Time, has mowed down and removed from us, 
 and, we hope, exalted to the high degree of companions 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 363 
 
 with him in the Grand Lodge above, most of the brethren 
 and companions of his juvenile days, yet they have left us 
 an example worthy of imitation. The few survivors, by 
 whom the sacred charge of this charter was committed to 
 our care, have been rendered by age incapable of laboring 
 with us in the meridian sun. They have retired to the 
 shade, rich in the affection of their younger brethren, and 
 ornaments to that society in which they move. These will 
 undoubtedly prove ample incentives to the officers who 
 shall ever preside here, to respect religion; walk in obedi- 
 ence to the precepts of the great book of the law given us 
 as the rule of our faith; to preside with parental care; ad- 
 monish with temperance; check vicious propensities; extend 
 the hand of charity in silence ; and induce the brethren to 
 labor justly." 
 
 To tliis Grand Master MILNOK replied : 
 
 " WORSHIP* UL MASTER AND BRETHREN The associations 
 connected with the present meeting, are of the very oppo- 
 site kinds. To receive and to reciprocate the friendly at- 
 tentions of my brethren; to recognize in that portion of them, 
 whose respected call has brought me amongst them, the 
 neighbors, the friends, the associates of our sainted WASH- 
 INGTON; to enjoy communion with the body over which his 
 mild virtues and dignified, yet fraternal manners, have so 
 often shed a lustre; and to add to these causes of gratu- 
 lation, the pleasing recollection of your having originally 
 emanated from the Grand Lodge with whose honor and inter- 
 ests my feelings are so nearly allied, furnish causes of exulta- 
 tion and delight, which can be felt better than described.* 
 
 * The Lodge at Alexandria first worked under a charter granted 
 by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania in 1783 ; in 1788 it took a new 
 charter from the Grand Lodge of Virginia. 
 
364 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 "Yet how is this combination of enlivening circumstances 
 clouded by the sad remembrance that the great man, whose 
 labors in the field and in the cabinet purchased independence 
 and all its blessings for his country, and unfading renown 
 for himself, while the benevolent graces of his personal 
 demeanor in the bosom of the Lodge secured the fond attach- 
 ment of his brethren, no longer adorns the East of this 
 sacred temple! Ah! my brethren, your loss is not a com- 
 mon one. In the revolutions of the political scene, the 
 mind is lost amongst the confused whirl of many objects, 
 and the departure of even a mighty orb appears but little 
 to derange the general system. Even WASHINGTON seems 
 almost forgotten by his country. Not so in the Lodge. 
 Your hearts will find around you a thousand mementoes of 
 the singular honor and happiness you have enjoyed in work- 
 ing as fellow-laborers with a man who, whilst the admiring 
 eyes of a universe were upon him, could, with the most 
 amiable condescension, descend from his exalted and tower- 
 ing eminence, and level himself with his brethren in Ma- 
 sonry, sharing with them in their toils, and entering with 
 them, at the close of their labors, into all the festive gayety 
 and innocent amusements of the Craft. 
 
 " Permit me, worshipful sir, to congratulate this Lodge 
 on tne pre-eminent honor it has enjoyed, in being so nearly 
 allied to this illustrious hero, patriot, and statesman; to 
 pray that all his virtues may descend upon his successors 
 here ; and that your consequent prosperity may be lasting 
 and imperishable, as upon the bright roll of Masonic fame 
 will ever stand emblazoned the name of WASHINGTON !" 
 
 During his congressional life, his thoughts had been 
 much occupied upon religious subjects, and at the 
 close of his term he determined to relinquish the pro- 
 fession of law, and devote himself to the Christian 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEEES. 365 
 
 ministry. This involved a great sacrifice of pecuniary 
 interests and worldly aspirations, for lie was on the 
 flood-tide of success, and political fame and fortune 
 seemed to be within his reach. He hesitated not, 
 however, at what seemed to him the call of duty, and 
 turned his bark into a gentler channel, and cheerfully 
 looked for a haven of rest and peace. 
 
 He was accordingly ordained a deacon in the Epis- 
 copal Church in 1814; in 1815 he was ordained a pres- 
 byter, and labored for a year as assistant minister 
 in the Associated Churches in Philadelphia ; and in 
 1816, he was called to the rectorship of St. George's 
 Church, in New York City. Here, in his new field of 
 labor, he devoted himself to the promotion of Christian 
 benevolence. The Bible Society, the American Tract 
 Society, the Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, the 
 Orphan Asylum, the Home for aged indigent Females, 
 and many kindred associations, felt his fostering care. 
 
 In 1830, he visited England as a delegate to the 
 British Bible Society, and while in Europe, he visited 
 also France, "Wales, Ireland, and Scotland, and was 
 everywhere received as a distinguished American phi- 
 lanthropist. He felt that his mission on earth was to 
 do good, and few labored more zealously, or more suc- 
 cessfully for that purpose. 
 
 During the long period that he was Grand Master 
 of Pennsylvania, his whole soul had been absorbed in 
 the inculcation of the moral precepts of Masonry. 
 "When called by his divine Master to fill a higher post 
 of duty as a Christian minister, he but labored to per- 
 fect and adorn a temple upon whose foundation walls 
 he had wrought in the lodge-room. To other hands 
 
3G6 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 lie committed the bands of workmen who still wrought 
 in the Masonic temple, that he might devote his whole 
 time to a higher calling. He did not, however, for- 
 get his former associations with his Masonic brethren. 
 After he resigned the chair of the Grand Lodge 
 of Pennsylvania, he was elected Grand Chaplain of 
 that Body, and continued to perform the duties of 
 that office while he remained in Philadelphia, and a 
 costly and appropriate jewel was voted him by the 
 Grand Lodge, as a testimony of respect and attach- 
 ment. After he removed to New York to assume the rec- 
 torship of St. George's Church, he was appointed Grand 
 Chaplain of the Grand Lodge of the State of New York, 
 and continued to hold the office for some years. 
 
 During the anti-Masonic excitement a few years 
 after, he was importuned to renounce his connection 
 with the Fraternity, but he stood firm. A brother 
 clergyman from the country called on him one day to 
 consult him on the propriety of withdrawing from the 
 Order. He stated that his congregation were all anti- 
 Masons, and he was fearful, even if he did not lose his 
 situation, that his usefulness would be destroyed. 
 
 "Do you wish to renounce Masonry?" asked Dr. 
 MILNOE. 
 
 "No," was the reply, "I love Masonry too well!" 
 
 " Then do as I do," was the rejoinder. " Put down 
 your foot firmly, and say, 'I am a Mason, and am 
 proud of it !' and if any one asks you what Masonry 
 consists in, tell them, ' love to God, and good-will to 
 man!'" 
 
 The advice was followed, and the country clergyman 
 kept his place undisturbed 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEEES. 367 
 
 Such is a brief sketch of the life of Dr. JAMES Mn> 
 NOR. He labored zealously in his Master's work until 
 1845, when he died on the 8th of April, in the seventy- 
 third year of his age. After his death, a testimony of 
 respect was sent to the vestry of St. George's Church 
 by his old Lodge No. 3, at Philadelphia, of which he 
 had been a member nearly fifty years before. A son 
 of his, Dr. WILLIAM MTLNQB, afterwards became Grand 
 Master of New York. 
 
308 
 
 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 DR, SAMUEL SEABUBY, 
 
 THE FIRST EPISCOPAL BISHOP IN AMERICA. 
 
 EEV. SAMUEL SEABURY, D. D., first bishop of Con- 
 necticut and Rhode Island, and also the first conse- 
 crated bishop in America, was born near New London, 
 Connecticut, in 1728, and graduated at Yale College in 
 1751. His father had been a Congregational minister, 
 but changed his ecclesiastical connection and became 
 the rector of the Episcopal church at Hempstead, on 
 Long Island. Here his son SAMUEL was appointed his 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 369 
 
 assistant and catechist as early as 1748, with a salary 
 of ten pounds a year. 
 
 At this period the contest between Puritanism and 
 Prelacy was so bitter and virulent, in the Anglo- 
 American colonies, that it became the key-note to 
 political liberty. A " society for propagating the Gos- 
 pel in foreign parts" had been established in England 
 in 1701, which was believed by the Puritans of New 
 England to be a mere disguise for the introduction 
 into America of lords spiritual, with hated tithes and 
 oppressive hierarchy. 
 
 After young SEABUKY had graduated at Yale, he was 
 recommended as rector for a vacant church in New 
 Brunswick, New Jersey, and in 1753 he proceeded to 
 England to receive orders from the Episcopal authori- 
 ties there. He returned to America in the following 
 year, -as rector of the church at New Brunswick ; but 
 in 1757 he was removed to the church at Jamaica, 
 Long Island, and in December, 1766, was instituted, at 
 his own request, rector of St. Peter's church in "West- 
 chester, New York. 
 
 As the religious and political controversies of that 
 period were closely interwoven, many of the Episcopal 
 clergy in America, and among them Dr. SEABURY, 
 entered strongly into the field of polemic warfare. He 
 wrote political pamphlets, under the nom de plume of 
 " A Farmer." These were widely circulated, and gave 
 great offence to the liberals, or " Sons of Liberty," as 
 they were called, while they were much applauded by 
 the loyalists. 
 
 This was at the commencement of the American 
 
 Revolution, and a party of Whigs, from Connecticut, 
 
 16* 
 
370 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 who were bitterly incensed against Dr. SEABURY and 
 other loyalists, crossed over to Westchester, took them 
 prisoners, and carried them to New Haven ; but they 
 were soon reclaimed by the provincial authorities of 
 New York, as they deemed it an unwarrantable action 
 in the then existing state of affairs, more especially 
 the removal and imprisonment of Dr. SEABURY, " con- 
 sidering his ecclesiastic character," say they, " which, 
 perhaps, is venerated by many friends of liberty, and 
 the severity that has been used towards him may be 
 subject to misconstructions prejudicial to the common 
 cause." 
 
 Dr. SEABURY was accordingly set at liberty, and 
 returned to his parish ; but here he was subject to 
 occasional visits from armed parties, who would offer 
 one hundred dollars for the discovery of that " vilest of 
 miscreants, 'A Farmer.'" Independence being de- 
 clared, he considered it more prudent to close his 
 church, as he determined there should be "neither 
 prayers nor sermon until he could pray for the king." 
 
 This was the period during which WASHINGTON held 
 possession of the city of New York, and nearly all the 
 Episcopal churches in the northern colonies were 
 closed by their rectors, as their customary prayers for 
 the king and royal family gave great offence to the 
 patriots of that day, who could see in them only a 
 stubborn and servile adherence to English tyranny. 
 That King George needed prayers they probably did 
 not doubt, but these they evidently desired should bo 
 for his conversion rather than his confirmation. 
 
 When WASHINGTON evacuated New York, after the 
 battle of Long Island, in 1776, Dr. SEABURY withdrew 
 
WASHINGTON'S -MASONIC COMPEERS. 371 
 
 within the British lines, and was engaged by General 
 CLINTON, in furnishing plans and maps of the roads 
 and streams in the county of Westchester, to assist 
 the British army in their movements. He also served 
 as a chaplain in a regiment of loyalists, commanded 
 by Colonel FANNING, caUed the " King's American 
 Regiment." This regiment was stationed in New 
 York, and Dr. SEABUBY continued to reside there until 
 the return of peace. 
 
 Dr. SEABUBY was a Mason, but we have never learned 
 when or where he was made one. Local and Military 
 Lodges existed in New York while the British troops 
 held possession of that city, and records still exist 
 which show that they not only held theii stated 
 communications, but that the Masonic festivals of St. 
 John were observed by them. The pre-revolutionary 
 Provincial Grand Lodge of New York, having become 
 extinct during the war, a new Provincial Grand Lodge 
 was established in the city of New York in 1782, under 
 a warrant from the Grand Lodge of Ancients in Lon- 
 don, bearing date, September 5, 1781, and before 
 this Grand Lodge Dr. SEABUBY delivered an address, 
 December 27, 1782, as seen by the following record 
 of that body. 
 
 " Resolved unanimously, that the thanks of this Lodge be 
 given to our Rev. Bro. Dr. SEACURY, for his sermon delivered 
 this day, before this and other Lodges, convened for the 
 celebration of St. John the Evangelist. 
 
 " That tnc thanks of this Lodge be presented to Rev. Dr. 
 INGLIS, rector of New York, for the very polite aud obliging 
 manner in which he has accommodated this and other Lodges 
 
872 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 with the use of St. Paul's chapel, for the celebration of Di- 
 vine services this day." 
 
 In the following June, the " Loyal American Kegi- 
 ment," of which Dr. SEABURY was chaplain, received a 
 warrant for a new Military Lodge, and of this, it is 
 probable, he was also a member. 
 
 In 1784, he went to England to obtain consecration 
 as a bishop, but meeting with some difficulties at the 
 hands of the English dignitaries, he proceeded to Scot- 
 land, where he was consecrated at Aberdeen, in Novem- 
 ber, by some non-juring bishops, as the first bishop 
 of America. He returned to this country and settled 
 in New London, near his native town, as the first 
 bishop of Connecticut and Rhode Island, and con- 
 tinued to discharge his duties as such in an exemplar} 7 
 manner until his death. He died on the 25th of Feb- 
 ruary, 1796. His monument stands in the churchyard 
 at New London, bearing this inscription : 
 
 " Here lyeth the body of SAMUEL SEABURY, D. D., Bishop 
 of Connecticut and Rhode Island, who departed from this 
 transitory scene, February 25th, Anno Domini 1796, in the 
 sixty-eighth year of his age, and the twelfth of his Episcopal 
 consecration. 
 
 " Ingenious without pride, learned without pedantry, good 
 without severity, he was duly qualified to discharge the 
 duties of the Christian and the bishop. In the pulpit he 
 enforced religion ; in his conduct he exemplified it. The 
 poor he assisted with his charity; the ignorant he blessed 
 with his instruction. The friend of men, he ever designed 
 their good; the enen^ of vice, he ever opposed it. Chris- 
 tian! dost thou aspire to happiness? SEABURY has showu 
 the way that leads to it." 
 
373 
 
 Dr. SEABURY received his degree of Doctor of Divin- 
 ity from the college of Oxford in England, and he be- 
 came entitled to a fund of one thousand pounds, which 
 had been left by Archbishop TENNISON in his will, in 
 1715, towards maintaining the first bishop who should 
 be settled in America. This fund was afterwards in- 
 creased by an equal amount, left in the same manner, 
 for that purpose, by Archbishop SECKER ; but we do 
 not know whether Dr. SEABURY ever received or applied 
 for it. 
 
 That he continued his support to the Masonic Fra- 
 ternity, until his death, is seen from a sermon which 
 he preached at the installation of Sumerset Lodge 
 at Norwich, Connecticut, on the 24th of June, 1795, 
 before a special session of the Grand Lodge of that 
 State. This he published, with the following dedica- 
 tion to WASHINGTON : 
 
 "To the Most Worshipful President of the UNITED STATES 
 OF AMERICA, the following discourse is respectfully inscribed, 
 "By his affectionate brother, 
 
 " And most devoted servant, 
 
 " SAMUEL SEABURY." 
 
 From the above dedication, we are induced to believe 
 that in his later years this distinguished bishop and 
 good brother prayed as fervently and heartily for 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON, as in former years for the royal 
 GEORGE of England. 
 
 Bishop SEABURY was succeeded, in 1797, by the 
 Right Reverend ABRAHAM JARVIS, D. D., who was also 
 a Mason. Dr. JARVIS was a native of Norwalk. He 
 
was born May 5, 1739, graduated at Yale, in 1761, 
 and became rector of the Episcopal church in Middle- 
 town about 1764. There he remained until after he 
 was consecrated as bishop in the place of Dr. SEABURY. 
 In 1798 he was appointed Grand Chaplain of tho 
 Grand Lodge of Connecticut. In 1799 he left Middle- 
 town, and removed to Cheshire, and from thence to 
 New Haven, in 1803, where he died, May 3, 1813, at 
 the age of seventy-three years. The first Episcopal 
 ordination by Bishop SEABURY was that of the Reverend 
 ASHBEL BALDWIN, in 1785. It was the first Episcopal 
 ordination in the United States. Mr. BALDWIN was 
 also a graduate of Yale College, and a zealous Mason. 
 He was the first Grand Chaplain of the Grand Lodge 
 of Connecticut, and interested himself much in the 
 prosperity of the Craft. He died at Rochester, New 
 York, on the 8th of February, 18-16, at the age of eighty - 
 nine years. 
 
GENERAL RUFHS PUTNAM, 
 
 FIRST GRAND MASTER OF OHIO. 
 
 FEW names on the pages of our country's history 
 are suggestive of purer patriotism and bolder deeds 
 than that of PUTNAM. Two who bore it have rendered 
 it immortal in the historic annals of America. These 
 were ISRAEL and BUFUS, both officers of the Kevolution, 
 and both Masons. KUFUS, who is the subject of this 
 sketch, became the First Grand Master of Ohio. 
 
376 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 He was born in the town of Sutton, Worcester 
 County, Massachusetts, on the 9th of April, 1738. He 
 lost his father before he was seven years old, and went 
 to live with his maternal grandfather in Danvers, 
 where he enjoyed the privilege of a district-school for 
 two years. At this time his mother married again and 
 took him home. His stepfather was an illiterate man, 
 and desired to keep all over whom he had control in 
 the same situation. Young PUTNAM was, therefore, 
 denied all further opportunities for education while 
 under his roof. Before he reached his sixteenth year 
 his stepfather died, and his mother apprenticed him 
 to a millwright. In his indentures no provision was 
 made for his education, and his master was as indiffer- 
 ent to his mental improvement as his stepfather had 
 been. 
 
 But although the path of science was thus hedged up 
 to him, he sought every means to improve his mind with 
 useful knowledge. He had tasted the Pierian spring 
 during the time he lived with his grandfather, and had 
 learned to read with considerable accuracy. While 
 with his stepfather, who kept a public house, he gained 
 much information by listening to the conversation of 
 travellers to whose wants he was required to attend ; 
 and the little sums of money they sometimes gave him 
 for his obliging attention to their wants, were ex- 
 pended by him in the purchase of books. A thirst for 
 knowledge thus grew so strong in his mind, that 
 during his apprenticeship every leisure hour was de- 
 voted to the elementary branches of an English edu- 
 cation. When the toils of the day were over, he sought 
 retirement for study ; and when the morning sun arose, 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 377 
 
 he resumed his labors with a mind attentive to his 
 duties, but still free to improve itself by reflection on 
 the lessons he had learned the evening before. 
 
 In the prosecution of his trade, a knowledge of 
 mathematics was very serviceable to him, particularly 
 that which was connected with geometry ; and it was not 
 long before a knowledge of circles, squares, and angles 
 enabled him to draft plans, and comprehend the most 
 complex machinery on which his labor was employed. 
 While he was engaged in his apprenticeship, the old 
 French and Indian war commenced, and the accounts 
 he heard from time to time of the incidents of its cam- 
 paigns, awoke in his mind a military ardor, and he 
 longed to be like his brother ISRAEL, an actor in those 
 exciting scenes. 
 
 At the age of nineteen, he therefore enlisted as a pri- 
 vate soldier in the provincial army. His commander 
 was Captain EBENEZER LEONARD, whose company con- 
 sisted of one hundred men, many of whom had been 
 young PUTNAM'S associates. They were soon re- 
 quired to rendezvous on the Hudson Kiver a few miles 
 below Albany ; and the young soldier, who kept a daily 
 journal, states the praiseworthy fact, that his captain 
 prayed morning and evening with his men, and on each 
 Sabbath read a sermon to them. The details of his 
 military adventures during this war are far too numer- 
 ous for this sketch. He was in military service four 
 years, and shared with his comrades in all their priva- 
 tions and dangers. 
 
 When the term of the first enlistment of his com- 
 pany expired, the British commander sought to pro- 
 long their services by arbitrary measures. The men. 
 
378 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 however, left him in a manner not justifiable by military 
 rules, although they were entitled to an honorable dis- 
 charge. Mr. PUTNAM in after-life saw and condemned 
 the mistake. In their homeward march they fled like 
 fugitives, and as it was in the depth of winter, suffered 
 much from hunger and cold ; but at last they reached 
 their homes. The military ardor of Mr. PUTNAM wa? 
 not all expended by one campaign, and in a few month* 
 he enlisted for another, and at its close for still an- 
 other ; but in 1761 he left the army, married a wife, 
 and engaged in farming, mill-building and surveying. 
 He was now twenty-three years of age ; and with a 
 body hardened by toil, and a mind enriched by study 
 and observation, he resumed his peaceful avocations, 
 but at the same time devoted all his leisure moments 
 to the acquisition of more knowledge from books. 
 
 In 1773, Mr. PUTNAM had become so proficient as a 
 surveyor, that he received an appointment from a land 
 company to explore and survey some lands in Florida 
 which had been granted to troops engaged in the pro- 
 vincial war. He was accompanied in this expedition 
 by his brother ISRAEL and a Captain Exos. He was 
 kindly treated by the governor of Florida, appointed 
 by him deputy surveyor of that province, spent eight 
 months there, and then returned home. The rich lands 
 of the sunny South, which have since produced all the, 
 varied productions of that flowery clime, were then 
 dense forests, or thick-grown cane-brakes, where no 
 path was found except the Indian trail, or the track of 
 the wild animals that made them their haunts. But 
 on the report of Mr. PUTNAM of their climate, fertility, 
 and beauty, several hundred families from New Eng- 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC - COMPEERS. 379 
 
 land emigrated there to form a settlement. They 
 were doomed to disappointment, for before their arrival 
 the land-office was closed against them. 
 
 About two years after Mr. Putnam's return from the 
 " Yazoo country," the war of the Eevolution com- 
 menced, and he left his home and rural pursuits to join 
 the gallant bands of New England's sturdy yeomanry, 
 who were arming in defence of their rights. He 
 entered the army at Cambridge as a lieutenant-colonel, 
 soon after the battle of Lexington, and was stationed 
 at Eoxbury, in General THOMAS' division. The British 
 army had at that time possession of Boston, and Col- 
 onel PUTNAM was employed by his commander in plan- 
 ning and constructing lines of defence for the provin- 
 cial troops who surrounded the city. He at this time 
 professed no skill as a military engineer ; but the lines 
 were surveyed and defences erected with such good 
 judgment, that when General WASHINGTON took com- 
 mand of the army a few weeks afterwards, and he and 
 General LEE viewed the works of the amateur engineer, 
 they received their highest commendation. 
 
 General WASHINGTON at once employed PUTNAM to 
 draw a map of the enemy's fortifications at Boston, 
 and all the American defences around it, and from 
 this he arranged his plans for future action. So great 
 was WASHINGTON'S confidence in the good judgment of 
 this self-taught engineer, that he often consulted him 
 before he determined on changes in the position of his 
 forces. 
 
 He received from Congress, in August, 1776, a com- 
 mission as engineer, with his previous rank as colonel, 
 and was the chief-engineer until 1778. He was then 
 
380 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 succeeded by KOSCIUSKO, the brave Polander, 
 frequently consulted him in planning works of defence. 
 It was to PUTNAM'S engineering skill that the military 
 works at West Point owed much of their efficiency, 
 for he changed the plan of construction that had been 
 adopted by foreign engineers. He was principally en- 
 gaged as an engineer during the war, but at one time, 
 in 1778, was in command as colonel of troops in the 
 northern division of the army. By both WASHINGTON 
 and LAFAYETTE he was highly esteemed as an officer 
 and a man. With both he became connected in the 
 fraternal bonds of Masonic fellowship. He was not a 
 Mason when he entered the army of the Revolution, 
 but he became one in the summer of 1779. 
 
 The festival of St. John the Baptist was celebrated 
 by the Masonic brethren in the army that year upon 
 the Hudson, near West Point, and WASHINGTON joined, 
 as was his custom, with the Military Lodge there 
 on that occasion. Many other distinguished officers 
 of the American army were present as Masons, and 
 the ceremonies were highly impressive. Two days 
 after this, Colonel PUTNAM applied to the lodge under 
 whose charter these proceedings were held, to be made 
 a Mason. It was the "American Union Lodge," 
 which was instituted in the Connecticut line of the 
 army at Eoxbury, in 1776. Colonel PUTNAM'S ap- 
 plication was favorably received, and, at the same 
 meeting of the lodge at which it was presented, he 
 was made a Mason. It was the 26th of July, 1779. 
 On the 26th of August he was made a Fellow Craft, 
 and on the 6th of September a Master Mason. The 
 place of meeting of the lodge when he received his 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 381 
 
 degrees, was at the " Robinson House," on the east 
 bank of the Hudson, about two miles below West 
 Point. The fortunes of this lodge during the Revolu- 
 tion, and after its close, have a highly romantic in- 
 terest, and are worthy of a place in the history of 
 our country. Colonel PUTNAM'S connection with it was 
 continued to the close of the war, and we afterwards 
 find him cherishing its privileges and maintaining its 
 chartered rights on the banks of the Ohio, as the 
 pioneer of Christianity and civilization. 
 
 As the dangers of the country lessened, in a like 
 degree were lessened the exertions of the different 
 States to pay their troops, and early in 1783, Colonel 
 PUTNAM contemplated a retirement from the army in 
 consequence of a delinquency by the State of Massa- 
 chusetts in providing funds for this purpose. Gen- 
 eral WASHINGTON sympathized with his distressed offi- 
 cers and soldiers, but used every means to persuade 
 them to continue in the field till peace should be con- 
 firmed. When he heard of the contemplated retire- 
 ment of Colonel PUTNAM, he wrote him an affectionate 
 letter, proffering him promotion in the army, and he 
 soon after received a commission as brigadier-general. 
 This office he accepted, more on account of his personal 
 regard for WASHINGTON than for its honors or emolu- 
 ments, and he honored it with devotion to his country 
 till the army was disbanded. After this, he was con- 
 sulted by WASHINGTON as to the best manner of 
 arranging a military peace establishment for the 
 United States. He was also a prominent member of 
 the Society of the Cincinnati. 
 
 From the close of 1783 to the commencement of 
 
382 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC coMri;i:i;,-. 
 
 1788, General PUTNAM was engaged in organizing a 
 company to settle on the far oif "but fertile banks of 
 the Ohio, and in the spring of 1788 he went there as 
 general agent of a New England company, accom- 
 panied by about forty settlers. They pitched their 
 tents at the mouth of the Muskingum River, formed a 
 settlement there, and called it Marietta. Here sus- 
 pecting hostility from the neighboring Indians, they 
 built a fort, and called it Campus Martins. They also 
 planted that year one hundred and thirty acres of 
 corn. This was the beginning of that tide of emigra- 
 tion to the Ohio which soon spread over all its rich 
 valleys ; and General PUTNAM may justly be regarded 
 as the father of its pioneers. 
 
 Soon after the first settlement of Marietta, the old 
 charter of the "American Union Lodge," which Gen- 
 eral PUTNAM had joined in 1779, was used to convene 
 a Lodge in that place. JONATHAN HART, the last Mas- 
 ter of the Lodge during the Be volution, and many of 
 its members, had removed since the war to the new 
 settlements on the Ohio, and here they reopened their 
 Lodge. Of this Lodge at Marietta, General PUTNAM 
 became the first Junior "Warden. In 1789, President 
 WASHINGTON appointed him judge of the Supreme 
 Court of the Northwest territory, and in 1792, he was 
 appointed a brigadier-general under General WAYNE. 
 In 1796 he was made surveyor-general of the United 
 States, and held that office until the accession of Mr. 
 JEFFERSON to the presidency in 1804. He was also 
 a member of the convention that formed a con- 
 stitution for the State of Ohio in 1802. In every 
 situation of honor or trust with which he was honored 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 383 
 
 by his country, he was found capable, faithful, and 
 true. 
 
 General PUTNAM still continued an officer or active 
 member of the " American Union Lodge," and when, 
 in 1808, Lodges had been multiplied in that new State, 
 and a convention met to form a Grand Lodge there, 
 they unanimously made choice of him as their first 
 Grand Master. He never enjoyed the honor, however, 
 of presiding over that body, for he was then three- 
 score and ten years old, and the infirmities of age were 
 upon him. At the next annual communication, there- 
 fore, he resigned the office, by the following letter to 
 the Grand Lodge. 
 
 " To THE GRAND LODGE OF THE MOST ANCIENT AND HONORABLE 
 SOCIETY OF FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS FOR THE STATE 
 OF OHIO, YOUR BROTHER SENDETH Greeting : 
 
 " It was with high sensibility and gratitude I received 
 the information that the Grand Convention of Masons at 
 Chilicothe, in January last, elected me to the office of 
 Grand Master of our Most Ancient and Honorable Fra- 
 ternity. But however sensibly I feel the high honor done 
 me by the Convention, and am disposed to promote the inter- 
 ests of the Craft in general, and in this State in particular, 
 I must decline the appointment. My sun is far past its 
 meridian, and is almost set. A few sands only remain in 
 my glass. I am unable to undergo the necessary labors of 
 that high and important office. I am unable to make you 
 a visit at this time, without a sacrifice and hazard of health 
 which prudence forbids. 
 
 " May the great Architect, under whose all-seeing eye" 
 all Masons profess to labor, have you in his holy keeping, 
 that when our labors here are finished, we may, through 
 
384 
 
 tlic merits of Him that was dead but is now alive and lives 
 forevermore, be admitted into that temple, not made with 
 hands, eternal in the heavens. Amen. So prays your friend 
 and brother, 
 
 "Rurus PUTNAM. 
 " MARIETTA, December 26, 1808." 
 
 With this letter, so full of touching tenderness, wo 
 close our Masonic record of General PUTNAM. He sur- 
 vived for many years, and when, upon the first day of 
 May, 1824, he died, all said a good man had gone tc 
 his rest. "With him it was indeed a rest to which he 
 had long looked forward, confidently believing, that 
 when death divested him of his earthly robes, his 
 Saviour, in whom he trusted, would stand by him to 
 reinvest him with the robes of immortality. 
 
AARON OGDEN, 
 
 GOVERNOR OF NEW JERSEY. 
 
 AMONG the gallant sons of New Jersey whose patriot- 
 ism was thoroughly tried during the Revolution, and 
 who were rewarded with high civil office by that State 
 after its close, stands the name of AAEON OGDEN. He 
 was born at Elizabethtown on the 3d of December, 
 1756, and graduated at Princeton/in 1773, at seven- 
 
 17 
 
386 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 teen years of age. Princeton College was at that time 
 the nursery of patriots, and Doctor WITHERSPOON, its 
 president, had the proud satisfaction, when the Kevolu- 
 tion commenced, of seeing many of his pupils and 
 graduates enrolled in the service of their country. 
 Among these was AARON OGDEN, the subject of this 
 sketch. 
 
 One of the early revolutionary incidents in which he 
 bore a part, was the capture of a British vessel called 
 the "Blue Mountain Yalley," lying off Sandy Hook, 
 and bringing her into Elizabethport in the winter of 
 1775-6. At what time he entered the regular army we 
 have no records to determine. He received a commis- 
 sion in the spring of 1777 (then in his twenty-first 
 year), in the First New Jersey regiment, and continued 
 in the service during the war. He was with General 
 SULLIVAN in the attack upon the Tory forces on Staten 
 Island in August of 1777, at the battle of Brandywine 
 in the following month, and at the battle of Monmouth 
 in the summer of 1778. In this last battle he held the 
 rank of a brigade-major, but served as assistant aid-de- 
 camp to Lord STERLING. s 
 
 In 1779 he accompanied General SULLIVAN in his ex- 
 pedition against the Indians of New York, in the capa- 
 city of aid-de-camp to General MAXWELL. In 1780 he 
 was at the battle of Springfield, in New Jersey, where 
 he had a horse shot under him while on the field as aid 
 of General MAXWELL. When that general resigned his 
 commission in August of that year, OGDEN was ap- 
 pointed to a captaincy of light infantry under LA- 
 FAYETTE. While in this capacity, he was Entrusted by 
 WASHINGTON, his commander-in-chief, with the execu- 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEEBS. 387 
 
 tion of a delicate commission relating to ANDRE and 
 ARNOLD. It was while Major ANDRE was under sen- 
 tence of death as a British spy, and ARNOLD, a fugitive 
 for his treachery, was in the British camp, that feel- 
 ings of strong commiseration for ANDRE, and a greater 
 desire to inflict a merited punishment on ARNOLD than 
 on him, induced General WASHINGTON to desire to ex- 
 change the condemned spy for the arch-traitor. He 
 well knew that a formal proposition to this effect would 
 not be received by the British commander ; he there- 
 fore inclosed an official account of the trial of ANDRE, 
 together with a letter from the condemned officer, 
 in a package, and under a flag of truce transmitted 
 them to the British headquarters at New York. The 
 execution of this trust was committed to Captain 
 OGDEN. The package he carried contained no allusion 
 to a meditated exchange of ANDRE for ARNOLD, but he 
 was instructed to incidentally suggest to the officer to 
 whom he might deliver the package the idea that such 
 an exchange might perhaps be made. 
 
 Captain OGDEN proceeded to execute his trust, and, 
 as was anticipated, while awaiting at the lines of the 
 British army near New York for an answer to his 
 communications, the conversation turned upon the un- 
 fortunate ANDRE. 
 
 "Is there no way to save his life?" asked the British 
 officer. 
 
 " Perhaps it might be done," replied OGDEN, " if Sir 
 HENRY CLINTON would give up ARNOLD." 
 
 He told the officer, however, that he had no assurance 
 from YVASHINGTON to this effect, but he believed it might 
 be effected if desired. " The British officer immediately 
 
388 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 left Captain OGDEN, and hastened to General CLINTON 
 with the suggestion ; but military honor would not per- 
 mit, what, perhaps, both parties would gladly have done, 
 had not military rules forbid. A request for a parley 
 was, however, sent from CLINTON to WASHINGTON by 
 Captain OGDEN, and three British officers of rank re- 
 paired under a flag of truce near the American head- 
 quarters, to confer with a corresponding deputation of 
 American officers ; but General GREENE who headed the 
 American deputation, refused to confer with the British 
 officers except as private gentlemen, as he assured them 
 that the case of an acknowledged spy admitted of no 
 military negotiation, and the conference ended. The 
 unfortunate ANDRE paid the penalty of a spy, while his 
 more vile accessary, was permitted to hold a military 
 commission in the British army. 
 
 Captain OGDEN afterwards accompanied LAFAYETTE 
 in his memorable campaign in Virginia, in 1781. At 
 the siege of Yorktown he gallantly led his company, 
 in storming the left r.edoubt of the enemy, and received 
 from WASHINGTON his marked approbation. The mili- 
 tary operations of the American contest were virtually 
 closed after the capture of CORNWALLIS, but the army 
 was not disbanded until peace was confirmed. During 
 this interim a number of new Masonic lodges were 
 formed in the army, and of one of them Captain 
 OGDEN was a Warden. He had previously been made a 
 Mason, but of the time and place we have no record. 
 On the 2d of September, 1782, the records of the 
 Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania state : 
 
 " A petition, signed by twenty brethren, officers in the 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEEKS. 389 
 
 Jersey Line, was read, praying for a warrant to hold a 
 travelling Military Lodge, to be attached to said line. 
 
 " The same was unanimously granted. The proposed 
 officers were the Rev. ANDREW HUNTER, for Master ; JOSEPH 
 J. ANDERSON, Senior Warden, and Captain AARON OGDEN, 
 Junior Warden. To be numbered 36." 
 
 After the close of the war Captain OGDEN studied 
 law, and rose rapidly in the legal profession. He was 
 popular with the people, and in 1800 was one of 
 the presidential electors ; a state senator, in 1801 ; and, 
 in 1812, he was elected governor of the State of New 
 Jersey. He died in 1839, at the age of eighty-three 
 years. 
 
 The Eev. ANDREW HUNTER, the Master of the Mili- 
 tary Lodge of which Governor OGDEN was Warden, 
 became after the war a chaplain in the navy, and died 
 at Washington in February, 1823, at the age of 
 seventy-five years. 
 
GENERAL MORDECAI GIST, 
 
 AN OFFICER OF THE REVOLUTION AND GRAND MASTER OF SOUTH 
 CAROLINA. 
 
 GENERAL MORDECAI GIST was one of the patriots of 
 the Revolution whose name is alike honorably con- 
 nected with the annals of Masonry and with the his- 
 tory of our country. His ancestors emigrated from 
 England to Maryland at an early day, and settled in 
 Baltimore. He received a mercantile education, and 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 391 
 
 was employed in that business when the war of the 
 Eevolution commenced. It is not known at what age, 
 or in what lodge, he became a Mason. Two lodges of 
 Ancient York Masons were chartered in the city of 
 Baltimore, by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, in 
 1770, and it is probable he was made in one of these, 
 as he had risen to the rank of "Worshipful Master 
 previous to the Eevolution. 
 
 When the war of the Eevolution commenced, the 
 young men of Baltimore formed an independent com- 
 pany, of which they elected MORDECAI GIST as captain. 
 This was the first military organization in Maryland for 
 the defence of American liberty. In 1776, Mr. GIST was 
 appointed major of a battalion of Maryland regulars, 
 and bravely led his men in the terrible conflict on 
 Long Island in that year. For his bravery on that 
 occasion he was commissioned as a colonel in 1777 ; and 
 in 1778, while in command of his Maryland troops, at 
 Locust Hill, near New York, he was attacked by the 
 combined forces of Generals SIMCOE, EMERICK, and 
 TAELETON, of the British army, but he discovered their 
 approach in time to escape from their hands. He was 
 engaged in the battle of Paoli, where the terrible mas- 
 sacre of American troops took place, and distinguished 
 himself soon after at the battles of Germantown and 
 Whitemarsh. 
 
 In January of 1779 he was appointed by Congress a 
 brigadier-general in the Continental army, and was 
 honored with the command of the second Maryland 
 brigade. In the winter of 1779-80 he was encamped 
 with his command at the general headquarters of the 
 American army at Morristown in New Jersey. 
 
392 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 
 
 While in their winter-quarters here, the Masonic 
 Brethren in the army celebrated the festival of St. 
 John the Evangelist. The meeting was held under the 
 charter of the American Union Lodge, and WASHINGTON 
 and a large number of distinguished officers of the 
 American army, who were Masons, attended on the 
 occasion. The Masonic Lodges of America had for- 
 merly all owed their existence to, and been dependent 
 upon, the Grand Lodges of Great Britain ; but the mis- 
 fortunes of war had caused all intercourse to cease be- 
 tween them and their parent head ; and although some 
 provincial Grand Lodges still existed in this country, 
 they were regarded but as the subordinates of the 
 Masonic powers in Great Britain by whom they were 
 created. 
 
 At this army festival of the Masonic Brethren in 
 1779, a petition was presented, setting forth the condi- 
 tion of Masonry in the new political state of the coun- 
 try, and expressing a desire that a general union of 
 American Masons might take place under one general 
 Grand Master of America. A committee was ap- 
 pointed to take the subject into consideration, consist- 
 ing of distinguished Masons from each division of the 
 army. 
 
 The Committee met in convention on the 7th of 
 January, 1780, and chose General MORDECAI GIST as 
 their President, and General OTHO HOLLAND WILLIAMS 
 as their Secretary. An address to the different Grand 
 Masters of the United States was drawn, considered, 
 and adopted on the occasion, setting forth the same 
 general views as those embraced in the petition they 
 were called on to consider, and asking that measures 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 393 
 
 might be taken to secure a union of all the Lodges of 
 the country under one American head. Copies of this 
 address were sent to the different Grand Masters in 
 the United States ; and although the Convention had 
 delicately forborne to, mention the name of WASHING- 
 TON as their choice for General Grand Master, yet it 
 was well understood that such was their wish. 
 
 In the following spring, General GIST was sent with 
 his command to assist General GATES in South Caro- 
 lina. "While at the North, he and the Brethren in his 
 troops had enjoyed Masonic privileges in the different 
 Masonic Lodges in the army. No Military Lodges 
 existed in the Southern army, and he therefore 
 applied to the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania for 
 a warrant ^o hold one in the line under his com- 
 mand, and a warrant was granted, constituting him 
 its Master. This Lodge was numbered 27 on the. 
 Pennsylvania Grand Lodge registry. Its warrant bore 
 date, April 4, 1780. 
 
 During the same year the battle of Camden, in South 
 Carolina, occurred, in which, . although the Americans 
 were defeated by CORNWALLIS, General GIST won for 
 himself an imperishable renown. Even after the battle 
 was irretrievably lost, it is said that he rode from point 
 to point, amidst a storm of fire, and by his own enthu- 
 siasm and bravery preserved his broken troops from 
 annihilation. He was afterwards engaged in the con- 
 flict at Yorktown, in 1781, and had the proud satisfac- 
 tion of seeing the haughty CORNWALLIS become a 
 captive to American bravery. 
 
 After the capture of CORNWALLIS, General GIST joined 
 the southern division of the army under General 
 
394 WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEL 
 
 GBEENE ; and when the army was remodelled in 1782, 
 General GREENE gave him the command of the " light 
 corps." It was a part of his command, under General 
 LAURENS, that dealt one of the last blows to the enemy 
 in an engagement on the banks of the Combahee. Thus 
 was it the fortune of General GIST to fight gallantly for 
 his country from the commencement to the close of the 
 war. He had heard its first clarion notes and its last 
 battle-shout ; and when it was closed, he retired to a 
 plantation which he had purchased near Charleston, 
 in South Carolina, and, like WASHINGTON, engaged in 
 agricultural pursuits. 
 
 The warrant from the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania 
 to General GIST, empowering him to hold Lodges in 
 the Maryland line of the army, was, by resolution of 
 that Grand Lodge, vacated at the close of the war ; 
 but in 1786 another was granted to him to hold a 
 Local Lodge, with the same registry number (27), at 
 Charleston, South Carolina, by the same Grand Body. 
 This warrant constituted General MORDECAI GIST, Mas- 
 ter, and THOMAS B. BOWEN and EPHRAIM MITCHELL, 
 Wardens. In 1787 the Lodges of Ancient York 
 Masons in South Carolina united to form an Inde- 
 pendent Grand Lodge for that State; and of this 
 Grand Body General GIST became the first Deputy 
 Grand Master. 
 
 The Hon. WILLIAM DRAYTON, chief-justice of the 
 State, was at the same time Grand Master. He was 
 the first Grand Master of Ancient York Masons in that 
 jurisdiction. General GIST was his Deputy in 1787-88- 
 89, and succeeded him as Grand Master in 1790, and 
 held the office for two years, when he was succeeded 
 
WASHINGTON'S MASONIC COMPEERS. 395 
 
 by Major THOMAS B. BOWEN, who had been his first 
 Senior Warden under his Pennsylvania local Lodge 
 warrant. 
 
 It was while General GIST was Grand Master, in 
 1791, that WASHINGTON visited, as President, the 
 Southern States, on which occasion the Masonic cor- 
 respondence between these two distinguished Brothers 
 took place which we have given in our sketch of WASH- 
 INGTON. It was the last official act of General GIST 
 which we have seen. He died in the following year, 
 in September (1792), leaving two sons, one of whom he 
 named INDEPENDENT, and the other, STATES. He was, 
 at the time of his death, fifty years of age. 
 
 V 
 
 of 
 
INDEX, 
 
 Abbot, Mrs. Lydia, 243. 
 Aberdeen. Scotland, 372. 
 Academy at Alexandria, Va., 107, 108. 
 
 Chatham, N. C., 349. 
 Adam, Eobert, 99, 100, 104, 107. 108, 203. 
 Adams, John, 40, 163, 185-187, 188, 34-S, 
 
 349. 
 
 Nathaniel, 224. 
 Addison, Eev. Mr., 200. 
 Addresses, Miscellaneous . 
 
 Alexandria Lodge to Washington, 173, 
 
 174. 
 Army Convention to American Grand 
 
 Masters, 56-58. 
 
 Bland, William, on the death of Pey- 
 ton Eandolph, 270. 
 Boston, Collection of, 131, 147. 
 Clarke, Joseph, at Washington, 154- 
 
 158. 
 
 Davis, Thomas, on the death of Pey- 
 ton Randolph, 272. 
 Deneale, Colonel, to James Milnor, 
 
 Grand Lodge of Massachusetts to 
 
 Washington, 146, 147, 170. 
 Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania to 
 
 Washington, 141-143, 163-166. 
 Grand Lodse of South Carolina to 
 
 Washington, 133, 134. 
 Hitchcock, Eev. Dr., to Military 
 
 Lodge, 52. 
 Hull, Major William, to Military 
 
 Lodge, 52. 
 King David's Lodsre to Washington, 
 
 131, 132. 
 
 King Solomon's Lodge to Washing- 
 ton, 87. 
 Martin, Francis Xavier, on the death 
 
 of Eichard Caswell, 853-358. 
 Mifflin, General, to Washington, 97. 
 Milnor, James, to Alexandria Lodge, 
 
 363, 864. 
 
 Muir, Eev. Dr., at Alexandria, 138, 139. 
 Varnnm, General, at Ehode Island, 
 
 3:31. 
 
 Address of Washington on resigning his 
 
 commission, 96. 
 Addresse? on the death of Washington : 
 
 Biselo\v. Dr. Timothy, 223. 
 
 Blake, George, 223. 
 
 Chaudron. Simon, 215, 216 
 
 Day. Benjamin, 227, 228. 
 
 Dick, Dr., 204, 205. 206-208. 
 
 Grand Master of Pennsylvania, 211- 
 214. 
 
 La Grange, Joseph de, 215. 
 
 Lee. General Henry, 214. 
 
 Meweli, Jonathan, 224. 
 
 Morris, Gouverneur, 219. 
 
 Morton, General Jacob, 217. 
 
 Swift, Eev. Mr., 225. 
 Ahiman Eezon : 
 
 Smith's, Pa., 72, 73, 229. 
 
 Maryland, 176, 229. 
 
 Virginia, 141. 
 Albany, 83, 235, 252. 
 Albert's Tavern, 174. 
 Alden, Captain, 327. 
 
 Alexandria, Ya., 99, 120, 123, 1:37-140, 150, 
 200, 205. 
 
 Academy at, 107,108. 
 
 Masonic Lodges at, 93-100, 103-105, 
 107, 108, 109-116, 136-139, 150-15S, 
 160-162, 173-176, 195, 196, 197-19U, 
 204-208. 
 
 Allen, William, 238, 284, 285, 295, 302. 
 Allison, John, 99, 110, 113. 
 American George Lodge, 141. 
 American Kniglithood proposed, 90, 91. 
 American Union Lodge. (See Military 
 
 Lodges.) 
 
 Anderson's Constitutions, 2S3, 290. 
 Andre, Major, 387, 888. 
 Anderson, Jos. J., 339. 
 Annapolis, Md., 35, 95-98, 314. 
 Anne, Queen, 234. 
 Apron, Washington's Masonic, 83-85, 105- 
 
 107, 162. 
 
 Army Lodges. (See Military Lodges.) 
 Army Masonic Convention, 56-59, 392, 88& 
 Arnold, General B., 387. 
 August a, Ga., 342. 
 
398 
 
 LNDKX. 
 
 Babcock, Colonel, 249. 
 
 Dal I, Colonel, 10. 
 
 Baldwin, Uov. Asbbel, 374. 
 
 Baltimore, 1*3. 890, W I. 
 
 r,;irnicl, A1.1H-, 1 73-184. 
 
 r.arilett, Josiah, 147, 185, 221, 18ft, 
 
 I'.ayntcr, 1'eter, 67. 
 
 r>i-!e!,i-r, Governor, Mass., 23?. 
 
 hi'lch.T, Andrew, 289. 
 
 IWton, William, 187, 188. 
 
 Bemley, Rev. Brother, 228. 
 
 Berwick, Me., 829. 
 
 Bfverley. Susan, 261. 
 
 LJilile of Washington's Ancestors, 15, 16. 
 
 * Fredericksburg Llsr..-. _. 
 
 British Military Lodge, 80, 81. 
 
 " bt. John's Lodge, New York, 124- 
 
 126. 219. 
 
 Sir William Johnson, 20S. 
 i;i.-sc!l, Ozias, 45. 
 MiiM'low, Dr. Timothy, 75, 223. 
 Blackstocka, battle ot S42, 
 B'air. John, 47, (ID, 'J' 
 Wake, George, 
 Blaml, Rev. William, 270. 
 B!aiu>v, Lord, 254, g 
 Bloiiut, William, 852. 
 Bond, Dr. Thomas, 295. 
 Boston, 22, 28,42,61,180,147, 171,185, 219- 
 
 228, '_>:!9-243, 232, 2S7-290, 294, 314, 370. 
 I.owen, Thomas B., 894. 
 Bowen, Jabez, sketch of, 821-823. 
 Bovd, Lieutenant Thomas, 886, 337. 
 BrAddock, General, 28, 262, 804 
 Brandvwine, battle of, 47, 830, 886. 
 Brant, Joseph, 251, 388, 885, 386, 337. 
 
 Moll?, 251. 
 
 British Military Lodges, 80-82, 75-77. 
 Brooke Lodge, Va., 193, 205, 206. 
 Brooklyn, 880. 
 Brooks, Captain Christopher, 16. 
 
 " John, Colonel, b6. 
 Brown, Prentice, 56. 
 Brown, Dr., 195. 
 Brunswick, Lodges of, C4. 
 Buchan, Earl of, 148. 
 Bunker Hill, battle of, 41. 
 Butler, Colonel, 833, 835-337 
 JJvles, Daniel, 295. 
 " " itev. Dr. Mather, 811. 
 
 Caldwell, Eev. Dr., 849. 
 Cambridge, Eng., 24. 
 
 Mass.. 41, 297, 380, 379. 
 Camden, S. C., 349 352, 393. 
 Campbell, Daniel, 23. 
 ('amp Lodges. (See Military Lodges.) 
 Canada, 80, 25S, 316, 830, 882. 
 'nnotocnrius, Washington's Indian name, 
 
 ?ape Francois, 70. 
 
 United States, 139, 140, 150-160. 
 
 Carroll, lion. Daniel, i:J7, 158. 
 
 Carp, John, 2S7. 
 
 Carthagena, 19. 
 
 CassouT. (See Watson to. Cassoul.) 
 
 Caswell Brotherhood, N. C., 858. 
 
 < V\vdl, Kichard, sketch of, 350-309. 
 
 Catawba River. 
 
 Caughnawaga, 246, 247. 
 
 Cave, Washington Masonic, 82. 
 
 Cayugas. (See Iroquois.) 
 
 Chase, Major Thorn , 
 
 Chapel Hill, N. C., 84a 
 
 Chapman, James, 45. 
 
 Charleston, B. C., 23, 153-185, 847, 8G 
 
 894. 
 
 Charlton, Edward, 265. 
 Chatham Academy, 849. 
 Chatidron. Simon, 215. 
 Cheshire, Ct, 874 
 Christ church, Phila., 299. 
 Cincinnati, Society of, 89, 90, 02, 93, 129 
 
 210, 8S1. 
 Clap, President of Yale, 313. 
 
 " Mary,8ia 
 
 Clark, Peleg, G. M., R. I., 226. 
 " Colonel Joel, 42, 45, 46. 
 " Colonel, 842. 
 Clarke, Joseph, G. M. p.t, Md., 150, 15i-l0 
 
 - County, Va., w. 
 Clans, Colonel Daniel, 251, 252, 383. 
 Clay, llenry, 861. 
 Cleaveland, William, 45. 
 Clinton, General, 331, 334, 871. 
 
 Sir Henry, 8^7 
 Coat of arms, Washington's. 7 
 
 Frco Masons', 71, 7'.'. 
 Coats, John, 50. 
 Colden, CadxvalladerD., 218. 
 College, Cambridge, Mass., 297. 
 
 Princeton, N. J., 818, 319 847, 3SG. 
 " Providence, P^. I., 32L 
 Union, N. Y., 319. 
 " William and Mary, Va., 19, 261 
 
 271. 
 " Yale, Conn., 812, 818, 321, 868 
 
 869, 874. 
 
 Columbia, District of, 136-140, 193. 
 Combahee Eiver, 894. 
 Commissioners on D. C.. 137-140, 150-160 
 Common Council, New York, 216. 
 Concord, Mass., 40. 
 Conecogeague, 140. 
 Connecticut, Grand Lodge of, 190, 317, 318' 
 
 820, 874. 
 " Grand Master of, 317, 818-320 
 
 Lodges of, 314, 315, 319, 820. 
 Constitution Island, 52. 
 Constitutions, Masonic, 71-73, 109, 141 
 
 145-148, 176, 265, 2S3, 290, 861. 
 Convention, Army, Masonic, 50-59 
 Cooper, Rev. Dr., 250. 
 Copenhagen, Lodges at, 64. 
 Cornbury, Lord, 285. 
 
 Corner-stone of Alexandria Academy, 108, 
 bridge at WiUUmsbun', 
 Va., 26^i 
 
INDEX. 
 
 399 
 
 Corner-stone of Capitol, 149-160. 
 
 " Federal District, 136-139. 
 
 " University of North Caro- 
 
 lina, 348, 349. 
 
 Cornwallis, Lord, 7S-SO, 277, 3SS, 393. 
 Coxe, Daniel, 43, 234-236, 246, 204. 
 Craik, Dr. James, 195. 196. 
 Cranston, Lord, 314. 
 Cromwell, Oliver, 16. 
 Culpepper County records, 19. 
 rummings, Captain, 314. 
 Gushing, Judge, 149. 
 Custis, Daniel Parke, 34. 
 
 Martha, widow of, 34. 
 " Martha, daughter of, 84, 79. 
 " John Parke,"son of, 79, 189. 
 " George Washington Parke, grand- 
 son of. 80. 
 ' Elenor Parke, grand-daughter of, 
 
 80, 1S9. 
 Cutler, John, G. M., Mass., 147, 143. 
 
 J). 
 
 Danvers, Mass., 376. 
 
 Dartmouth University, 339. 
 
 Davie, William 11., sketch of, 345-349, 837. 
 
 Davis, Rev. Thomas, 197-201, 272. 
 
 Day, Benjamin, 227, 223. 
 
 Death of, Barton, Colonel William, 343. 
 
 Braddock, General, 28. 
 
 Bovven, Jabez, 323. 
 
 Boyd, Thomas, 337. 
 
 Chapman, James, 45. 
 
 Clark, Joel, 46. 
 
 Coxe, Daniel, 2:36. 
 
 Custis, John Parke, 79. 
 
 Custis, Martha, 79. 
 
 Davis, Captain, 333, 3-34. 
 
 Edwards, Jonathan, 319. 
 
 Edwards, Pierpont, 320. 
 
 Franklin, Dr. Benjamin, 299. 
 
 Franklin, William, 310. 
 
 Fry, Colonel, 27. 
 
 Gleason, Micajah, 45. 
 
 Gridley, Jeremy, 241. 
 
 Johnson, Sir William, 253. 
 
 Johnson, Sir John, 259. 
 
 Jones, Lieutenant, 333, 334. 
 
 Montgomery, Richard, 51. 
 
 Oxnard, Thomas, 241. 
 
 Price, Henry, 243. 
 
 Randolph, Edmund, 278. 
 
 Randolph, Sir John, 261. 
 
 Randolph, Peyton, 41, 96, 209, 273. 
 
 Sullivan, General, John, 309. 
 
 Warren, General Joseph, 41. 
 
 Washington, Augustin, 16. 
 
 Washington, George, 194-196, 209, 2 16, 
 219,224, 225,226,228,229. 
 
 Washington, Lawrence, 20. 
 " his daughter, 20. 
 
 Wooster, General David, 51, 316. 
 Dedications, Masonic, to Washington : 
 
 1st, Smith's sermon, 50. 
 
 Dedications, Masonic, to Washington : 
 
 2d, Penn. Ahiman Rezon, 73. 
 
 3d, Masonio constitution, N. Y., 109. 
 
 4th, " " Virginia, 141. 
 
 5th, " " Mass., 145. 
 
 6th, Dr. Seabnry's address, 191, 374. 
 
 7th, Rev. M. L. Weem's Pamphlet, 
 
 191-193. 
 Deneale, Colonel George, 114, 197, 204, 
 
 Detroit, 256. 
 
 Devonshire, Eng., 341. 
 
 Dick, Dr. Elisha Cr, 99, 137-139, 153, 160, 
 
 195-203, 204, 206-208. 
 Diggs, Mr., 90. 
 DiTlen, Charles, 266. 
 Dobbs County, N. C., 350. 
 Downs, Miss Elizabeth, 306. 
 Drayton, William (Chief-Justice), 394. 
 Dumfries, Va., 191. 
 Dunrnore, Lord, 268, 276. 
 Dunn, Samuel, 186, 220. 
 Duplessis, La Barbier, Peter, 143, 164. 
 Durham, N. II., 330. 
 
 E. 
 
 Ebenezer, Ga., 342. 
 Edinburg, University of, 297. 
 Edwards, Pierpont, sketch of, 318-320. 
 " Rev. Jonathan, 318, 319. 
 " Henry W., 320. 
 Elsworth, Mrs., 348. . 
 Egremont, Eng., 345. 
 Efbert, Samuel, 343. 
 Eliot, John, 315. 
 Ellicott, Mr., 137, 138. 
 Elizabethtown, N. J., 385. 
 Eitham, Va., 79. 
 Emerick, General, 391. 
 England, Grand Lodges of. (See Grand 
 
 Lodges.) 
 Enos, Captain, 878. 
 
 F. 
 
 Fairfax Lord, 20. 
 
 " County, records of, 229, 230, 
 Falkirk, battle of, 148. ' 
 Fanning, Colonel, 371. 
 Farewell of Washington to his army, 93. 
 " to the country, 162-160. 
 
 " to his mother, 121. 
 
 to his officers, 94. 
 to the presidency, 167, lt>8. 
 to the Continental Congress 9fi 
 Federal City, 140. 
 
 District, 136-140, 198. 
 Lodge, D. C., 150, 198. 
 Fiunie, William, 266, 268. 
 First Lodge of Boston, Mass., 22, 242. 
 
 Charleston, S. C., 22. 240. 
 Philadelphia, 22, 240, 28-4, 
 
 285, 287-290, 301. 
 Fitzvrliylsonn, William II., 116, 
 
400 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Florida, 378. 
 
 Kort Campus Martiua, 382. 
 " Cumberland, 88. 
 " l>uquesne,2S, 29. 
 - Necessity. 27. 
 > Niagara, 832. 
 " Washington, 882. 
 France. 77, 82, 83, 105, 176, 173, 179, 298, 
 
 811.815,848,849,865. 
 Francis, Emperor of Germany, 804 
 Franklin, Dr. Benjamin, 48, 90, 235, 264, 
 
 800-306,811. 
 sketch of, 281-299. 
 " William, sketch of, 800-311. 
 " William Temple, 810. 
 " Chapter, Connecticut, 820. 
 Fredericksburg, Va., 16, 20, 24, 80. 121, 227. 
 Fredericksburg Lodge, 21, 23, 24, 82, 2-J7. 
 Frederick the Great, 148. 
 freemason's coat of arms, 71. 
 
 " Magazine (London), 173. 
 
 French Lodges, 25, 298. 
 Fry, Colonel, 27. 
 Funeral ceremonies of Richard CttwrC, 
 
 853-357. 
 Funeral ceremonies of Franklin, Benjamin, 
 
 299 
 Funeral ceremonies of Randolph, Peyton, 
 
 J 7 1,272. 
 
 funeral ceremonies of Washington in 
 Alexandria, 203-208, 
 Boston, 21 ! 
 Connecticut, 226. 
 Fredericksburg, Va., 227-22:>. 
 Mount Vernon, 199-208. 
 New Hampshire, 223-22.1. 
 New York, 216-219. 
 Philadelphia, JJW-21G. 
 Rhode Island, 226. 
 Vermont, -J 
 
 G. 
 
 Gait, James, 266-26S. 
 Gait, John Minson, 265, 266, 268. 
 Gates, General, 830, 852, 893. 
 General Grand-Master. (See Grand Mas- 
 ter General.) 
 Genesee, N. Y., 337. 
 George, king of England, 370, S'3 
 Georgetown, D. C., 123, 139, 150, 98. 
 Georgia, 86, 841. 
 
 " Grand-master of, 340. 
 Germanicus, 80. 
 
 Gtrmantown, Pa, 47, 296,331, 391. 
 Germany, 65. 
 Giles, James, 109. 
 
 Gillis, Dr. James, 161, 173, 174, 203. 
 Gilpin, Colonel George, 200. 
 Gist, Mordecai, 56, 133-136. 
 
 " sketch of, 890-395 
 Oilman, Governor, 224. 
 Gleason, Micajah, 45. 
 Goelet, Fjancis, 246. 
 Golden Urn, 221-223. 
 Golden Medal, 223. 
 
 Gore, Nathaniel, 45. 
 Graham, Charles, 55. 
 Grand Lodges: 
 
 Connecticut, 190, 315-32". 
 England (Moderns), 23, 31, 32. 
 
 A 314, 
 
 893. 
 
 England (Ancients), 89, 72, 2-* 1. 
 Franco, L'Orient o{ 
 Georgia, 84 
 Ireland, 80, 89, 75. 
 Maryland, 150, 176-178, 187. 1- 
 Massaohusetts (Ancient.-), 39, 46, 47, 
 
 58, 60-69, 8*4 
 Massachusetts (Modern*), 23. 
 
 58, 'J: -515. 
 
 Massachusetts (United), 145-148, 170- 
 
 17-.', 1*5-187,21!' -: 
 New Hampshire, 224, 225, 329, 388. 
 New Jersey. 
 New York (Ancient^), 108, 109, 124, 
 
 216-219, 866. 867, 871. 
 New York (Moderns), 46, 246, 254- 
 
 256,:'-71. 
 
 North Carolina, 345-349, 350-359. 
 Ohio, 883. 
 Pennsylvania (Ancient*), 39, 49, 60, 
 
 58-74, 90,109-111, 135,141-144 168- 
 
 166, 211-215, 229, 299, 361-866, 888, 
 
 891, 894 
 Pennsylvania (Moderns). 89, 4C, 2S4, 
 
 2S7-290, 296, 299, 801, 306. 
 Khode Island, 226, 323. 
 Scotland, 81, 82, 89. 
 South Carolina, 133-180. 
 Sweden, 64. 
 Vermont, 226. 
 Virginia, 47, 58, 60, 67, 109-116, 141, 
 
 7S868. 
 Grand Masters, Provincial : 
 
 Coxe, Daniel, 43, 234-237, 240. 
 
 Elbert, Samuel, 843. 
 
 Franklin, Benjamin, 43, 2S1-299. 
 
 Goelet, Francis, -M<'>. 
 
 Gridley, Jeremy, 241. 
 
 Harrison, George, 77, 24G, 252, 256. 
 
 Johnson, Sir John, 46, 254-259. 
 
 Oxnard, Thomas, 23, 295, 814, 315. 
 
 Price, Henry, 22, 23, 234-244, 2S6- 
 
 290. 
 
 Randolph, Peyton. 41, 46, 260-274. 
 Rigijs, Richard, 246. 
 Rowe, John, 42. 241, 322. 
 Tomlinson, Robert, 241. 
 Warren, Joseph, 41, 46. 
 Grand Masters, Independent (American) 
 Adams, Nathaniel, 224. 
 Bartlett, Josiah, IS6, 221. 222. 
 Blair. John, 47, 60. 
 Uowen, Jabez. 321-323. 
 Caswell. Richard. 350-359. 
 Clark, Peleg, 226 
 Cutler, John, 147, 148. 
 Davic, William R., 845-849. 
 Day, Benjamin, 227-229. 
 Drnvton, William, 394. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 401 
 
 Grand Masters, Independent (American): 
 
 Dunn, Samuel, 220. 
 
 Edwards. Pierpont, 318-320. 
 
 Gist, Mordecai, 133-135, 390-398. 
 
 Greenleaf, Simon, 53. 
 
 Jackson, Andrew. 344 
 
 Jackson, Hall, 344. 
 
 Jackson, James, 340, 343, 344. 
 
 Judd, William, 320. 
 
 Livingston, Eobert E., 124, 126. 
 
 Miluor, Rev. Dr. James, 359-363. 
 Dr. William, 368. 
 
 Putnam, Eufus, 875-3S4. 
 
 Randolph, Edmund, 110, 112-114, 275- 
 280. 
 
 Eevere, Paul, 171, 221, 222. 
 
 Smith, Jonathan Bayard, 143,211-215. 
 
 Smith, William Moore, 164-166. 
 
 Stephens, William. 343. 
 
 Sullivan, General John, 329, 338. 
 
 \Varren, John, 221, 222. 
 
 Webb, Joseph, 47, 60-69. 
 Grand Masters (foreign) : 
 
 Blaney, Lord, 255. 
 
 Buchan, Efirl of, 148. 
 
 Cranston, Lord, 314. 
 
 Frederick the Great, 148. 
 
 Montacute, Lord, 237. 
 
 Norfolk, Duke of, 234. 
 
 Petre, Lord, 264-266. 
 Grand Master General of America, Wash- 
 ington proposed as, 51, 58-71, 78, 159, 
 392. 
 
 Grange, Joseph de la, 215. 
 Greene, General Nathaniel, 90, 330, 346, 
 
 388, 394. 
 Greenleaf, Captain Moses, 52. 
 
 " Simon, 53. 
 Greenway, Joseph, 116. 
 Gregory, Mrs. Mildred, 16. 
 Gridley, Colonel Eichard, 42. 
 
 " Jeremy, 241. 
 Gulford, battle of, 346. 
 Gustavus Third of Sweden, 92. 
 
 II. 
 
 Ilalkerson, Dr. Eobert, 23, 
 
 llallate, Stephen, 153. 
 
 Halifax, Lord, 806. 
 
 Halifax. N. C., 846, 348. 
 
 Hamburg, 64. 
 
 Hamilton, James, 287, 291. 
 
 Hancock, John, 40, 130, 269. 
 
 Handy, John, 226. 
 
 Hanging Eook, battle of, 346. 
 
 Harmony Council, 320. 
 
 Hart, Jonathan, 42, 45, 55, 382. 
 
 Harrison, George, 77, 246, 252, 256. 
 
 llurvvood, Thomas, 265, 263. 
 
 Hawkins, William, 69. 
 
 Haswell, Anthony, 225. 
 
 Haven, Dr. Samuel, 125. 
 
 Hays, Moses M., 77, 78. 
 
 llaywood, Humphrey, 266. 
 
 tlcmpstcad, L. I., 368. 
 
 Hendrick, Indian chief, 243, 249. 
 
 Henry, Patrick, 40, 278. 
 
 Herbert, William, 104. 
 
 Heritage, William. 350. 
 
 Hiram" Lodge, New Haven, 314, 315, 317, 
 
 319, 320. 
 
 History of Printing. 146. 
 Hitchcock, Eev. Dr. Euos, 52. 
 Hoban, James, 153 
 Hobkirk's Hill, battle of, 346. 
 Hodgson, William. 116. 
 Hoffman, Martin. 218. 
 Holland Lodge, New York, 1 18-121. 
 Hopkins, Klisha, 45. 
 
 " Governor, 321. 
 Hopkinson, Thomas, 287, 294. 
 Hull, Major William, 52. 
 Humphrey, Colonel David, 129. 
 Hunter, Eev. Andrew, 389. 
 
 " William, jr., 110-116. 
 
 " Governor, 235. 
 Hunting Creek, 137. 
 Husseltine, James, 266. 
 Hutchings, Mr., 90. 
 
 Illuminism, 178-189. 
 
 Indian name of Washington, 27. 
 
 Sir William John-son, 247. 
 
 " " the site of the city oj 
 
 Washington, 140. 
 Inglis, Eev. Dr., 371. 
 Ireland, Grand Lodge of, 30, 39, 75. 
 
 " Military Lodge of, 30, 31. 
 Iroquois, 246, 247, 258, 331-338. 
 Irving, Peter, 218. 
 Isham, Mary, 261. 
 
 J. 
 
 Jackson, General Andrew, 344. 
 Jackson, Dr. Hall, 339, 344. 
 Jackson, Dr. James, of Mass., 844. 
 Jackson, General James, sketch of, 340 
 
 344. 
 
 Jacobins of France, 178. 
 Jamaica, L. I., 370. 
 Jarvis, Eev. Dr. Abraham, 373, 374. 
 Jefferson, Thomas, 278, 382. 
 Jenney, Dr., 303. 
 Jewett, Joseph, 45. 
 
 Johnson, Sir William, sketch of, 245-258 
 254, 255, 258. 
 
 " Sir John, sketch of, 254-259, 46. 
 
 250,332,335. 
 
 Colonel Guy, 250, 252, 253, 032. 
 Hall, 253. 
 Johnston-Caswell Lodge, N. C., 358. 
 
 " County, 351. 
 
 " Samuel, 350, 357. 
 Johnstown, N. Y.. 254. 
 Jones, General Allen, 346. 
 Jones' Point, 137. 
 Judd, William, 320. 
 Junto, 291. 
 
402 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Kennelly Thomas, '_'.;:. 
 King David's Lodge. R. I., 77, 78, 130-132. 
 Kin- Su!oiiion'> LniLv, (Jr'.rL'i a. ::!_'. 
 King Solomon's Lodge, Ponghkccpsie, 86, 
 
 81, 256. 
 Knox, General Henry, 89, 94, 166, 167, 169, 
 
 170. 
 Ko^ciusko, General, 381. 
 
 Lafayette, General, 78, 82, 88, 103-107, 229, 
 
 . : 5-28, 880, 866. 
 
 L'AmtoittLodmt Philadelphia, 215, --'I.',. 
 Lnncaster, Pa., Lodg<- 
 Lanijhton, .Ii>M'|>h. 171, IM'I. 
 Laurens, Genera 
 Luwronce, John, 56. 
 Lear, Tobias, 102, 195, 199, 221, 222. 
 Lee, General Ih-nry, -".. IMI. -Jll, -_M4. 
 Lee, General Uiarl.-s. ::-J7. :'.:;. 
 Leganbrepad, Baron, 64. 
 Leney, Mr., rj.\ 
 L'Enftrat, Major. MI'. 
 Lenoir County, N. D..S60. 
 Leonard, Captain K.. ;!77. 
 Letters from Washington to 
 
 Alexandria Lodge, 100, 101. 174. 
 Grand Lodge of IfaaMChOMtttL 147, 
 
 14S, 171. IT'.'. 
 
 Grand Lodge of Maryland, 176, 177. 
 " " Pennsylvania, 144, 
 
 165, 166. 
 " " South Carolina, 135 
 
 (noted), 895. 
 his wife (noted), 40. 
 King David's Lodge, 182, 133. 
 Snyder, Rev. G. W., 181, 182, 188. 
 Watson & Cassou!, 83. S4. 
 Weems, Rev. M. L, 192. 193. 
 Extracts from various others, 100-102. 
 Letter to Washington from 
 
 Alexandria Lodge, 99, 172, 173, 174. 
 
 Cape Francois (noted), 70. 
 
 Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, 146, 
 
 147, 170, 171. 
 Grand Lodge of Maryland (noted), 
 
 176. 
 Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, 143, 
 
 164, 165. 
 Grand Lodge of South Carolina, 133, 
 
 134 (noted), 395. 
 
 King David's Lodge, R. T., 131, 132. 
 Snyder, Rev. G. W., 179, ISO (noted 
 
 i->). 
 
 Watson & Cassoul, 83, 84. 
 Weems, Rev. M. L., 192, 193. 
 Letters Miscellaneous : 
 
 Adams, Mr., to Grand Lodge, Massa- 
 chusetts, 187. 
 Alexandria Lodge to Grand Lodge, 
 
 Virginia, 111. 
 
 Babcock, Colonel, to Eev. Dr. Cooper, 
 (extract), 250. 
 
 Lcit.Ts Miscellaneous: 
 
 Franklin, Dr., to Grand Lodge, Mosaa- 
 
 luiM'tts 283. 289. 
 Franklin, Dr., to Henry Price, 290 
 
 " his father (extracts 
 
 " Rev. Dr. Byles (ex- 
 
 Grand Lodge, Mass., to John Adams, 
 
 Grand Lodge, Mass., to Mrs. Wash- 
 
 ington, -J-JI. 
 Grand Lodge, Pennsylvania, to John 
 
 Blair (noted), 60. 
 Grand Lodge, Pennsylvania, to Colo- 
 
 iu-1 William Malcolm (noted), 60. 
 Grand Lodire. Pennsylvania, to Joseph 
 
 NVt-b!.. 
 
 Mr. Lear to Grand Lodge, Massacbu- 
 
 sett> 
 Mr L.-nr to Lodirc No. 71, Pennsylva- 
 
 nia, 216. 
 Lodge No. 71, Pennsylvania, to Mrs. 
 
 Washington, -ji:>. 
 Nrttliunrarmy U-t tors (noted), 88. 
 Stra!ia-i, Mr, to Mrs. Franklin, "(ex- 
 
 trac! 
 Webb, Mr., to Grand Lodge, Pennsyl- 
 
 v.iiii:i.(Jl,62. 69. 
 Williams, Mr, to Alexandria Lodge, 
 
 (noted), 160,161. 
 Lewis, Lawrence, 107, 1S9. 
 
 " Lorenzo, 107. 
 Lexington, Mass:, 40, 879. 
 
 N. C.,849. 
 Lincoln. General, 90. 
 Little, William, 186. 
 
 " Colonel Charles, 197, 200. 
 LittlefleM, William, 131. l:J2. 
 Livingston, Robert R., 109, 124, 126. 
 
 Edward, 118, 119. 
 Locust Hill, 891. 
 
 Lodges, Grand. (See Grand Lodges.) 
 Lodges, Military. (See Military Lodges.) 
 Lodges, English, 188. 
 Lodct-s, list of: 
 
 Alexandria, No. 89. Virginia, 98-100, 
 105, 107-109, 112, 120, 
 
 203. 
 
 " No. 22, Virgi n ia, 1 06-1 07, 
 
 1 10-1 16. "137-139, 150- 
 162, 172-175, 197-20S, 
 862. 
 
 AmericAn George, N. C., 141. 
 Annapolis, Maryland, 814. 
 Brooke, Virginia, 198, 205. 
 Caswell Brotherhood. N. C.. 858. 
 Davie, William R., North Carolina,349. 
 Davie, 349. 
 Detroit, 256. 
 Federal D. C., 150,198. 
 First Lodge in Charleston. S. C., 240. 
 First Lodge in Philadelphia, 240, 2S4, 
 
 285,287-290,801. 
 
 Fredericksburg, Va., 23, 24, 227-229. 
 Hiram, Ct., 814, 315, 317, 319, 820. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 403 
 
 Lodges, list of : 
 
 Holland, New York, 118-120. 
 Ineffable, Albany, N. Y., 252, 253. 
 Kin? David's, Rhode Island, 77, 78, 
 
 130, 132. 
 
 King Solomon's, New York, 80, 87, 256. 
 King Solomon's, Georgia, 342. 
 L'Amenite, Pennsylvania, 215, 216. 
 Lancaster, No. 43, Pennsylvania, 43. 
 Masters, Boston, 242. 
 Montgomery, New York, 77. 
 No. 2, Philadelphia, 117, 113. 
 
 ' 3, Philadelphia, 800, 367. 
 
 " 9, Virginia, 78. 
 
 ' 31, Pennsylvania, 300, 861. 
 
 " 50, Virginia, 191. 
 
 " 59, Virginia, 211. 
 
 " 61, Pennsylvania, 83 4. 
 Potomac, D. C., 150, 153, 193. 
 Royal George; North Carolina, 141. 
 Royal White Hart, 34S. 
 
 at St. James's, Eng , 255. 
 
 Rural Arnity, Pennsylvania, 3o5. 
 
 St. Andrew's, Boston, 183. 
 
 St. George's, New York, 256. 
 
 St. John's, Boston, 225, 239, 240, 314. 
 
 Newport, It. I ., 314 
 " Newark, N. J . 190. 
 
 New York, 124, 126. 
 " Portsmouth, N. H., 240, 314, 
 
 338. 
 " Providence, E. I., 321-323, 
 
 327, 331. 
 St. Patrick's, New York, 246, 252, 253, 
 
 254, 255, 333. 
 
 Somerset, Connecticut, 373. 
 Warren. Maine, 67, 68. 
 Williamsburg, Virginia, 264-274, 276. 
 Wooster, Colchester, Ct., 317. 
 
 " New Haven, Ct, 317. 
 Lodge Alley, Philadelphia, 301, 302. 
 London Freemason's Magazine, 75, 173. 
 Lyman, Elisha, 315. 
 
 Mnebias, Maine, 67, 63. 
 
 Machin, Thomas, 56. 
 
 Mackay, Mungo, 147. 
 
 Maffit, Eev. William, 200, 205, 208. 
 
 Maine, 67, 68, 329. 
 
 Malcolm, Colonel William, 60. 
 
 Mansfield, Samuel, 315. 
 
 Marietta, Ohio, 382-385. 
 
 Mark Master's Circle, 106. 
 
 Marsteller, Colonel Philip, 200. 
 
 Marshall, John, 78. 
 
 Martin, Francis Xavier, 354. 
 
 Martin, Governor, 351. 
 
 Miiryland, 66, 74, 135, 150, 153, 154, 176, 177, 
 
 1S7, 229, 314, 350. 
 Masonic aprons of Washington. (See 
 
 aprons.) 
 
 Masonic constitutions. (See constitutions.) 
 Masonic Grand Lodges. (See Grand 
 
 Lodges.) 
 
 Masonic Lodges. (See Lodges.) 
 Masonic Grand Masters. (See Grand Mas- 
 ters.) 
 Masonic medals of Washington. (See 
 
 medals.) 
 
 Masonic portrait of Washington. (Front- 
 ispiece.) 
 
 Masonic Army Convention, 55, 56. 
 Masons' Hall, Philadelphia, 801, 302. 
 Massachusetts Grand Lodges. (.See Grand 
 
 Lodges.) 
 Massachusetts Grand Masters. (See Gran 
 
 Masters.) 
 
 Massachusetts Lodges. (See Lodges.) 
 Maxwell, General, 3S6. 
 McCrea. Robert, 110, 203. 
 Medal Masonic, 70, 223, 29S. 
 Mercer, General, 857. 
 Mewell, Jonathan, 224. 
 Middleton, Dr. Peter, 256. 
 Middletown, Conn., 374. 
 Mifflin, General, 96, 97. 
 Milnor, Dr. James, 10s : sketch of 359- 
 
 307. 
 
 Milnor, Dr. William, 867. 
 Military Lodges, list of 
 American : 
 
 ' St. John's Regimental, 44, 55, 
 
 56, 74. 
 " American Union, 42-46, 52. 
 
 54-58, 74, 86. 380-382, 392. 
 " .Washington No. 10, 52. 55, 56, 
 
 74, 86, 141. 
 " No 19, Pa., 74. 
 " No. 20, Pa., 74. 
 " No. 27, Pa., 74, 135, 393, 394. 
 " No. 28, Pa., 74. 
 " No. 29, Pa., 74. 
 " No. 31, Pa., 74. 
 " No. 36, Pa., 74, 389. 
 British, 30. 31, 32, 75-77, 371, 372. 
 Mitchell, Ephraim, 395. 
 Mohawk Valley, 246, 247, 250, 252, 333 
 
 " Indians. (See Iroquois.) 
 Monmouth, battle of, 8S6. 
 Montacute, Lord, 237, 239. 
 Montgomery, General, 51, 317, 357. 
 Montgomery Lodge, New York, 77. 
 Moultrie, General, 341. 
 Mount Hope Cemetery, 337, 
 Mount Vernon, 19, 30, 35, 40, 98, 105, 11", 
 121, 123, 133, 169, 176, 181, 182, 192, 194- 
 203, 215, 222. 
 Morris, Colonel, 23, 29. 
 Morris, Gouverneur, 219. 
 Morristown, N. J., 46, 54, 55, 56, 58, 83 
 
 135, 391. 
 
 Morse. Rev. Jedediah, 188, 189. 
 Morton. General Jacob, 124, 216-218. 
 Muir, Rev. James, 138, 200, 205, 203. 
 Murray. Mr., 348. 
 Museum, Alexandria, 200. 
 
 Nantes, 83. 
 Neale, Joseph, 19a 
 
 N. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Neilson, John, 23. 
 
 Nelson. General Tboitltt,7& 
 
 Nelson's Point, 52. 
 
 Newbern, N. ('.. 
 
 New Brunswick, N. J., 869. 
 
 Ncwl.urg, 52. - 
 
 New Hampshire, 62, 66, 224,240 330, 833. 
 
 New Haven, Ct., 870, 874. 
 
 New Jersey, 46, 74, 234-286, 800, 807-310, 
 
 819, 847. 
 
 New London, Ct., 868, 872. 
 Newport, U. I., 73, 180-133, 314, 825, 831. 
 New Providence, Governor of, 8U- 
 Newtown, (Elmira), 885. 
 New Windsor. 52. 
 New York city. _'-. ::i, 4.\ 4fi, 93, 118-121, 
 
 123-127, 180^ 216-219, 810, 830, 365, 870, 
 
 887. 
 
 New York, State of, 84, 85, 86 216, 234, 
 237, 246, 247, 254, 257, 259, 819, 881. 
 
 " Grand Lodge of, 44, 46, 10S, 1U9, 216- 
 219. 
 
 " Grand Masters of, 124, 126, 25T>, 256. 
 
 " Lodges of, 74, 113-120, l'24-r.'G. '15, 
 
 J.V2. 253, 254-256, 836. 
 Niair:ira, 332. 
 
 Nicholas, Mi^s Betsey, 277. 
 Ninety-six, battle of, 846. 
 Norfolk, Duke of. 234. 
 Norristown, Pa.. 860. 
 Norwjtlk, Ct., 373. 
 Norwich, Ct,, 190, 873. 
 Nova Scotia, 29. 
 
 0. 
 
 Ou'don. Aaron, sketch of, 3S5-8S9. 
 
 Ogeeche?, 341. 
 
 Ohio, 26, 27, 29, 8S1, 382. 
 
 Oliver, Daniel, 171, 186, 220. 
 
 Oneidas. (See Iroquois.) 
 
 Onondaeas. (See Iroquois.) 
 
 Orange County, N. C., 850. 
 
 Overton. Mr., 325. 
 
 Oxford University, 297, 80fi, 873. 
 
 Oxnard, Thomas, 23, 241, '295, 314. 
 
 P. 
 
 Palfrey, Colonel William, 60, 61, 63. 
 Paoli/Battle of, 391. 
 Parsons, Colonel Samuel II., 42. 
 Park, Major John, 42, 51. 
 Patterson, General John, 52, SO 
 Payne, Colonel, 200. 
 Payne, Mr., 90. 
 
 Peale, C. Wilson, 263, 269, 274. 
 Pennsylvania, State of, 89, 46, 48, 56, 92, 
 110, 163-165, 229, 234, 237, 236. 
 " Grand Chapter of, 861. 
 
 Grand Lod<;e of, 36, 89, 49, 50, 
 58-67, 69-75, 90, 110, 141. 142, 
 211-214, 299, 834, 361, 866. 
 " Grand Masters of, 143, 164, 165, 
 211-214, 231, 2S7-296, 302. 304. 
 Pennsylvania, Lodges of, 23, 74, 117,' 118, 
 215, 216, 238, 210, 802, 3C5, 884. 
 
 Pepperell, Colonel, 813. 
 
 Peter the Gre.-i 
 
 Petre, Lord, 264-266. 
 
 Petrekin, Thomas, 19a 
 
 Philadelphia, 2.J, 39, 47 49, 1 10. 117, US 
 
 183, 137, 14-', 141 11'.'. H51-KJC. 109, 20i)- 
 
 '216, 851, 859, 860, 365, 866, 867. 
 Philanthropist, 191. 
 Philosophical Society, 291. 
 Phillip.-e, Miss. 28, , 
 Phillips, Mr., 250. 
 Pickens, General, 342. 
 Pierce, Colonel John, 55. 
 Pierpont, Rev. Jaint-. 
 Plumsted, William, 294. 295. 
 Poor Richard's Almanac, 286. 
 Port Tobacco, 1 '.:>. 
 Port Kent, N. Y., 85. 
 Portrait of '.Y^hm-ton, Masonic (Frontis 
 
 piece), 160. li'.-J. 
 
 Portsmouth, N. H.. 224, 240, 330, 833. 
 Potomac Lodge, No. 9. D. C., 150, 158, 
 
 193. 
 
 Ponghkeepsie, N. Y , 86, S7, 256. 
 Powi-M. Mr, 111. 
 Pratt, Henry. 294. 
 1'iVM-ott. General. 324-327. 880. 
 Price, Henry, sketch of. 233-244. (Noted, 
 
 !-.. -JM5, 290, 295) 
 Princeton. N. J.. 4(1. 
 Proctor, Colonel Thomas, 51, 60, 164, 214. 
 
 881. 
 
 Proofs of a Conspiracy, 179-181, 229. 
 Providence, R. I., 821-323, 824. 
 Pulaski, General, 347. 
 Putnam, Israel, 875, 877, 878. 
 PiitnHin, General Kufus, sketch of, 375- 
 
 884. 
 
 Quaker host of Washington, 48. 
 
 " " General Prescott, 826. 
 
 Quann, John. 
 Queen Anne, '2ol. 
 
 i:. 
 
 Ramsey. William, 09. 200. 
 Ramsoi.r's Mills, battle of, 34C. 
 Randolph, Peyton, sketch of, 260-274. 
 (Noted, 40, 41, 46, 275, 276.) 
 " Edmund, sketch of, 275-2SO. 
 
 (Noted, 260). 
 Mrs. Edmund, 277-279. 
 Harrison, 265, 2G6. 
 John, 275, '270. 
 John, of Roanoke, 844. 
 Sir John, 261. 275. 
 Susan, 261. 
 William, 261. 
 Reading, Ct, 51. 
 Revere, Paul, 44, 171, 221, 222. 
 Richards, George, 116. 
 
 Rev. George, 225. 
 Richardson, William, 847. 
 Richmond, Va., Ill, 115. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 405 
 
 Ridgcfleid, 317. 
 
 Kiggs, Hi chard, 246. 
 
 Roanoke, 344. 
 
 Robison, Professor John, 178-189. 
 
 Robinson, Colonel Bcverley, 28. 
 
 Mr., 263. 
 
 Uobinson House, 52, 381. 
 Rochester, N. Y., 337, 374. 
 Rodgers, Dr., 334. 
 lloslin Castle, 334. 
 Rowan, Lodge at, 298. 
 Rowe, John, 42, 241, 322. 
 Uowsey, John, 265, 266, 268. 
 Uoxbury, Mass., 42, 43, 379. 
 Uoynl White Hart Lodge, N. C., 348. 
 Royal Lodge, Eng., 255. 
 Rutledge, Mr., 40. 
 
 S. 
 
 Sadler, Mr., 163. 
 
 Salisbury, N. C., 347. 
 
 Sanford, John, 56. 
 
 savannah, 341, 342. 
 
 Scotland, 32, 70, 145, 804, 306. 
 
 Scott, Captain Ezekiel, 42. 
 
 Scott, Robert G., 78. 
 
 Seabury, Dr. Samuel, sketch of, 368-374. 
 
 (Noted, 190, 191.) 
 Seal of American Union Lodge, 43, 44. 
 
 " Fredericksburg Lodge, 24. 
 Seeker, Archbishop, 373. 
 Seixas, Moses, 131, 132. 
 Senecas. (See Iroquois.) 
 Sherburne, Henry, 131, 182. 
 Shippen, Joseph, 294, 295. 
 Simeoe, General, 391. 
 Simins, Colonel Charles, 111, 197, 200. 
 Skinner, Abraham. 218. 
 Smith, Jonathan Bayard, 143, 211-215. 
 
 Rev. Dr. William, 49, 50. 60-67, 
 
 71-73, 89, 90, 141, 164, 303. 
 " William Moore, 164, 165. 
 Snyder, Rev. G. W., 179, 184. 
 Social Club proposed by Franklin, 283- 
 
 286. 
 
 Society of the Cincinnati, 89-93, 129, 210. 
 South Carolina, 133, 341. 
 
 Grand Lodge of, 36, 133. 
 Grand Master of, 133-136. 
 Lodges of, 23, 136, 240. 
 Sorrow Lodge, 215. 
 Sowrs, Christopher, 296. 
 Spanbergen, Dr. Frederick, 116. 
 St. Andrew's Lodge, Boston, 183. 
 St.. George's church, New York, 865-367. 
 St. George's Lodsre, N. Y., 256. 
 St. John's Lodge, Boston, 225, 239, 240. 
 ' Newark, N. J., 190. 
 " " Newport, R. I., 314. 
 
 " " New York, 124-126. 
 
 u " Portsmouth, N. II., 240, 
 
 314, 338. 
 
 M Providence, E. I., 821- 
 823, 327, 331. 
 
 St. John's Regimental Lodge, 44, 56, 74. 
 St. John the Baptist, Festivals of, 52, 86, 
 
 104, 237, 242, 266, 286, 287, 302-304, 380 
 St. John the Evangelist, Festivals of, 49 
 
 50, 54, 86, 98-100, 103, 141, 142, 163-165; 
 
 203-205, 270, 322, 371, 392. 
 St. Louis, 90. 
 St. Patrick's Lodge, N. Y., 246, 252, 253. 
 
 254, 255, 333, 336. 
 St. Paul's church, New York, 127, 219, 31<\ 
 
 372. 
 
 St. Peter's church, New York, 369. 
 St. Petersburg, 64. 
 Sta^g, John, 118, 120. 
 Staten Island, 386. 
 Stephens, William, 343. 
 Stephenson, Clotworthy, 150. 
 
 Rev. Mr., 229. 
 Stirling, Lord, 386. 
 Steuben, Baron, 89, 118, 119. 
 Stuart, Hon. David, 137, 153. 
 Stono Ferry, 347. 
 Straban, Mr., 305. 
 Sullivan, General John, sketch of, 329-881 
 
 886. 
 
 Somerset Lodge, Ct., 373. 
 Sumter, General, 346. 
 Sundermania, Duke of, 64. 
 Sweden, Grand Lodge of, 64, 65. 
 Swift, Rev. Mr., 225. 
 Syng, Philip, 295. 
 
 T. 
 
 Tarleton, General, 391. 
 Taylor, John, 258. 
 Temple, Masonic, 85, 86, So. 
 Tennison, Archbishop., 373. 
 Thomas, Isaiah, 146, 171. 
 Thomas, General, 379. 
 Thompson, Charles, 90. 
 Thompson, Brigadier-General, 310. 
 Tichenor, Isaacr 225. 
 Tinker, John, Governor, 804. 
 Tiosra, 334, 335, 337. 
 Toasts, Masonic, 51, 52, 139, 175, 804. 
 Tollison, Rev. Mr., 205. 
 Tomlinson, Robert, 241. 
 Townsend, Mass , 243. 
 Trenton, N. J., 46. 
 Trumbull, Governor, 310. 
 Tryon, Governor, 316, 351. 
 Tudor, George, 56. 
 Tun Tavern, 284. 
 " Lodge, 285. 
 
 Tupper, Colonel Benjamin, 52. 
 Turner, John, 265. 
 Tuscaroras. (See Iroquois.) 
 Tuttle, Jehiel, 315. 
 
 U. 
 
 Union College, 319. 
 
 Union of Mass. G. Lodges, 145. 
 
406 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 United party for /irtue proposed by Frank- 
 lin, 2S5. 
 University of N. C., 848, 319. 
 
 " Fa., 859. 
 Urn, Golden, 221-223. 
 
 V. 
 
 Valley Forge, 47, 48, 831. 
 
 Vanden Broeck, 118-120, 213. 
 
 Varniun, General, 823, 881. 
 
 Varus, 80. 
 
 Vernon, Admiral, 19. 
 
 Vernon, Mount, I 1 .'. JW, 86, K '.'% I' 1 ."-, 117, 
 
 1-21, 123, 183, 16i), 170, 1S1, 1S2, 1!'-', I'Jl, 
 
 _MH, '215, 222. 
 
 vV.ldill, William, 114. -JIM-2GS. 
 IValrib's Plant.il ion. 347. 
 IVallace, Sir William, IK 
 iValter, Rev. Dr., ! 
 Ward, Colonel, 83. 
 IVarraghiiyagey, 247. 
 Warren, Sir Peter, '.'17. 
 John, 2J1, -22-2. 
 Joseph, General, 41. 4f., I 
 
 273, .S17, 857. 
 Lodge, 67, 63. 
 Warwick Point, 825. 
 Vashinu'ton Benevolent Society, 100. 
 " Chapter, 120, 121. 
 
 " City of, 140, 153, 198, 844, 839. 
 
 Coat of Arras, 72, 73. 
 Lodge, Military, 52, 74, 86. 
 Masonic Cave, 82. 
 " John, first American ancestor 
 
 of George, 16. 
 " Lawrence, grandfather of 
 
 George, 1C. 
 " Augustine, father of George, 
 
 10, 17, ia 
 
 " Mary, mother of George, 1C, 
 
 18, 19, 20, 80. 81, 121. 
 
 " Martha, wife of George, 34, 40, 
 
 41, 79, 195, 215, 21(5, 230-822. 
 
 " Lawrence, brother of George, 
 
 19, 20. 
 ' Lnnd, 20T. 
 
 Washington, George, his birth, 15, 16; 
 Baptism, 16; Death of his father, 16; ! 
 Parental instruction, 17; His love of 
 truth, 17, IS ; Faithfulness of his mother, j 
 18 ; Early education, 19 ; Obtains com- ; 
 mission as midshipman, 19 ; Engages as ' 
 land surveyor, 19, 20; Accompanies his 
 brother to Barbadoes, 20 ; Inherits Mount 
 Vernon, 20 ; Commissioned as militia- ; 
 officer, 21; Character at manhood, 81; 
 Candidate for Masonry, 21 ; Becomes a 
 Mason, 23; Sent to the Ohio, 26, 27; His 
 Indian name, 27; Takes command of 
 Virginia troops, 27; First campaign and 
 capitulation, 27; Joins General "Brad- 
 dock, 28; Visits Boston, 2S; Becomes 
 
 enamored with Miss Phlllipse, 29; Hi? 
 ' Lowland Beauty," 29; Again enters the 
 army. _".; BetifM to private life, 80; 
 British Military Lodge claims to have 
 made him a Mason, 30, 81, 32 ; Masonic 
 cave, 82 ; Elected member of the Colo- 
 nial Assembly, 88: ::4, 85; 
 io life, 85, 86; Member of Con- 
 tinental Congress, 89, 40; Electe(J Com- 
 mander-in-chief, 40; Tkcs command, 
 41 ; Military Lodge formed, 42; His army 
 evacuates New York, 4U ; Recommended 
 to Lod'.'e of Virginia as Grand M 
 
 IT; At pray 
 
 His statuo Bt Lancaster, Pa., t8: Attends 
 ecU-hnitioM nt Philadelphia, 49, 
 ;.i>; Sermon dedicated to him, 5'J ; 1'arkN 
 ode, 51 ; Masonic vit.-iuls 
 
 <v!ebr:ilion mi tin 1 Htidson, 68; 
 At Morristown, 55; Army Masonic con- 
 vention?, 5.J-5S; Elected by Pennsylvania 
 G. G. Master. - letters from 
 
 Cape Francois, asking for lodge warrant, 
 TO; 11s Masonic fame in Scotland, 70 ; 
 His Masonic medal, 7<>; His coat of ai in.-, 
 72, 78; Masonic constitution of Pennsyl- 
 vania dedicated to lii:n, . 
 
 M;i:id, 77, 7.s ; i.'aptures Cornwal- 
 Lo^es his stepson, and adopts his 
 two youngest children, 79, 80 ; V 
 mother at Fredericksburg, 80, 81 ; Re- 
 ri-ivis letter and Masonic regalia from 
 Watson <fe Cassoul, 83; His rcj. 
 Orders "Temple" built, 86; Visits lodge 
 in Potighkeepsio, 86, 87; Scenes at New- 
 burg, bT-s' ; Beeomei President of the 
 Cincinnati, 89; Proposed honors of Amer- 
 ican knighthood, iK 91 ; His farewell tD 
 his officers, 93-95; liesigns his commis- 
 sion, 95-97; Returns to Mount Vernon, 
 98; Receives invitation to visit lodge in 
 Alexandria, 99 ; His feelings on returning 
 to private life, 100; Visits Alexandria 
 Lodge, and elected honorary member, 
 104, 105; Presented with Masonic rega- 
 lia by Lafayette, 105-107 ; New York 
 Masonic constitution dedicated to him, 
 1U9; Becomes Master of Alexandria 
 Lodge, 110-116,- Elected President of 
 U. 8., 117; Elected honorary member 
 of Holland Lodge, 1 18-120; Visits his 
 mother, 121, 122; Goes to New York, 
 I--, Iii4; Inaugurated as President, 124- 
 127; His inaugural address, 128; Re- 
 plies to it, 123 ; His title, 128 ; Etiquette 
 of Presidential intercourse established. 
 128, 129 ; Visits the New England States, 
 129; Misconception of Governor Han- 
 cock as to his reception, 130; Visits 
 Rhode Island, 130; Address to him from 
 King David's Lodge, 130-133; Returns 
 to Mount Vernon, 133 ; Visits the South- 
 ern States, 133-1 ;j6; Receives letter from 
 Grand Lodge of South Carolina, 133, 
 134; his reply to it, 134, 135; Returns 
 again to Mount Vernon, 136; Appoints 
 
INDEX. 
 
 407 
 
 Commissioners to lay out the Federal 
 District, 137; Favors their choice in lo- 
 cating the capitol on the north side of the 
 Potomac, 139-140; It receives his name, 
 140; His name extensively used for 
 towns, lodges, etc., 140, 141; Masonic con- 
 stitution of Virginia dedicated to him, 
 141 ; Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania ad- 
 dresses him, 141-143; His reply, 144; 
 Mass, constitutions dedicated to him, 
 145 ; Address from Grand Lodge of Mas- 
 sachusetts, and his reply, 146-148; Re- 
 re.ives presents from Frederick, the 
 Great, and the Earl of Euchan, 148; Is 
 re-elected President, 149 ; His second 
 inauguration, 149; Lays the corner-stone 
 of the Capitol, 149-160 ; General Grand 
 Master, 159; His Masonic portrait by 
 Williams, 160-162. His Farewell Ad- 
 dress, 162; Makes allusions in it to se- 
 cret societies, 162-163 ; Receives Address 
 from Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, 
 163-166; Ketires from the presidency, 
 167, 168 ; Returns to Mount Vernon, 169 ; 
 Receives address from the Grand Lodge 
 of Massachusetts, 170, 171 ; His reply, 
 171, 172; Receives letter from his own 
 lodge in Alexandria, 172, 173; Attends 
 the Lodge, 173; Address and ceremo- 
 nies, 173-175; His employments at 
 Mount Vernon, 175, 176; Appointed 
 commander of provisional army, 17(T; 
 Receives letter from Grand Lodge of 
 Maryland, with a copy of its constitu- 
 tion, 196 ; His reply, 196-197; Receives 
 letter from Mr. Snyder, with a book, en- 
 titled, "Proofs of a Conspiracy," 179; 
 His correspondence with Mr. Snyder, 
 179-183 ; His Masonic character publicly 
 known, 188-189; His birthday anniver- 
 saries, 189-190; Dr. Samuel Seabury 
 dedicates Masonic address to him, 190- 
 191 ; Rev. Mr. Weems dedicates pamphlet 
 to him, 191, 192 ; Their correspondence, 
 191-193; His last summer and autumn, 
 194; Sickness and death, 194-197 ; Fune- 
 ral, 198-203 ; Ceremonies at Alexandria 
 204-208; News of his death reaches Phil- 
 adelphia, 209, 210; Congress appoint a 
 day for funeral ceremonies, 211 ; Masonic 
 fraternity invited as mourners, 211 ; Ma- 
 sonic ceremonies in Philadelphia, 211,219: 
 New York, 216-219 ; Boston, 219-222 : 
 
 Lock of his hair deposited in Golden 
 Urn, 220, 222 ; Funeral ceremonies in 
 New Hampshire, 224, 225; In Vermont 
 225; In Rhode Island, 226; In Connec 
 ticnt, 226; Virginia, 227,228; Masonic 
 articles inventoried in his estate, 229-230 
 
 Washington, George, noted in Compeers 
 261, 262, 272, 276, 278, 307, 321, 326, 330 
 332, 333, 348, 373, 379, 382, 3S6-3S8, 892- 
 395. 
 
 Watson, Elkanah, 83-85, 103. 
 
 Watson & Cassoul, 83, 84, 106, 107, 1G2, 
 229. 
 
 Wayne, General Anthony, 90, 342, 3S2. 
 
 Webb, Joseph, 47, 60-67. 
 
 Weems, Rev. M. L , 191-193. 
 
 Weise's tavern, 104. 137. 
 
 Weiser, Conrad, 296. 
 
 Westmoreland, Va, 16, 211. 
 
 Westchester, 369, 370. 
 
 West Point, 52, 86, 380, 3S1. 
 
 Whitehaven, Eng., 345. 
 
 White, Rev. Dr.," 214. 
 
 Whitemarsh, 391. 
 
 Whittier, the poet, 328. 
 
 Whiting, Mrs. Beverlcy, 16. 
 
 Wilcocks, William, 118-120. 
 
 Williams, Otho II., 45, 56, 392. 
 
 Williams, Mr., portrait-painter, 160-162. 
 
 Williams, Mr., of Philadelphia, 163. 
 
 Williamsburg, Va., 26, 35. 
 " Lodge, 47. 
 
 Williamson, Collin, 153. 
 
 Willard, Rev. Mr., 224. 
 
 Witherspoon, Dr., 90, 386. 
 
 Wolcott, Mr., 140. 
 
 Wooster, General David, 51 ; sketch of, 
 
 312-317. 
 
 4i Thomas, 317. 
 " Mrs. Mary, 315. 
 
 Wyllys, Colonel Samuel, 42. 
 " John P., 45. 
 
 Wyoiaing, Pa , 334. 
 
 Y. 
 
 York, Pa., 4S. 
 
 Yorktown, Va., 78, 87, 189, 38S 
 
 Zion Church, 214. 
 
i i 
 
 POPULAR WORKS. ON FREEMASONRY 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE 
 
 MASONIC PUBLISHING AND MANUFACTURING CO. 
 
 432 BROOME STREET, N. Y. 
 
 Any book in this list sent by mail to any address in the United 
 States, free of postage, on receipt of the price, 
 
 A CYCLOPEDIA OF FREEMASONRY ; containing Definitions of 
 
 the Technical Terms used by the Fraternity. With an account of the 
 rise and progress Qf Freemasonry and its Kindred Associations an- 
 cient and modem : embracing OLIVER'S DICTIONARY OF SYMBOLICAL 
 MASONRY. Edited by EGBERT MACOY, 33d. Illustrated with numer- 
 ous Engravings. Cloth, gilt side, $3 00. Half Morocco $4 00 
 
 GUIDE TO THE ROYAL ARCH CHAPTER ; a complete Monitor 
 
 for Royal Arch Masonry. With full instructions in the degrees of 
 Mark Master, Past Master, Most Excellent Master, and Royal Arch, 
 according to the text of the Manual of the Chapter. By JOHN 
 SHEVILLB, P. G. H. P., of New Jersey, and JAS. L. GOULD, D. G. 
 H. P., of Connecticut. Together with a Historical Introduction. 
 Explanatory Notes, and Critical Emendations. To which are added 
 Monitorial Instructions in the Holy Order of High-Priesthood in Royal 
 Arch Masonry, with the Ceremonies of the Order. By JAS. L. GOULD, 
 M. A., 33d. Cloth gilt back and side 1 50 
 
 THE MASONIC HARMONIA; a Collection of Music, Original 
 and Selected, for the use of the Masonic Fraternity. By HENRY 
 STEPHEN CUTLER, Doctor in Music, Director of the Cecilian Choir, 
 etc. Published under the auspices of St. Cecile Lodge, No. 568, 
 City of New York. Half-bound-cloth sides, $1 00 per doz.10 00 
 
 THE GENERAL AHIMAN REZON AND FREEMASON'S GUIDE, 
 
 containing Monitorial Instructions in the Degrees of Entered Appren- 
 tice, Fellow-Craft, and Master Mason, with Explanatory Notoa, Emen- 
 dations, and Lectures : together with the Ceremonies of Consecration 
 and Dedication of New Lodges, Installation of Grand and Subordinate 
 Officers, Laying Foundation Stones, Dedication of Masonic Halls, 
 Grand Visitations, Burial Services, Regulations for Processions, Ma- 
 sonic Calendar, etc. To which are added a RITUAL for a LODGE OF 
 SORROW and the Ceremonies of Consecrating Masonic Cemeteries ; 
 also an Appendix, with the Forms of Masonic Documents, Masonic 
 Trials, etc. By DANIEL SICKELS, 33d. Embellished with nearly 300 
 Engravings and Portrait of the Author. 
 
 Bound in fine Cloth extra large 12mo 1 50 
 
 Morocco, full gilt, for the W. Master's table, with appro- 
 priate insignia of the East 3 00 
 
 THE HISTORICAL LANDMARKS and other Evidences of Free- 
 masonry, explained in a series of Practical Lectures, with copious 
 Notes. By GEORGE OLIVER, D. D. 2 vols. Large duodecimo with 
 Portrait of the Author. Cloth, $5 00. Half Morocco 7 00 
 
 WASHINGTON AND ms MASONIC COMPEERS. By SIDNEY 
 
 HAYDEN, Past Master of Rural Amity Lodge, No. 70. Pennsylvania. 
 Illustrated with a copy of a Masonic Portrait of Washington, painted 
 from life, never before published, and numerous other engravings. 
 Cloth- TJnjform Style, $2 50. Cloth full gilt-gilt edges, $3 50. Mo- 
 rocco full gilt 5 00 
 
THE LIGHTS AND SHADOWS OP FREEMASONRY ; consisting of 
 
 Masonic Tales, Songs, and Sentiments, never before published. By 
 ROB. MORRIS, &. T. Cloth, $175. Barf Morocco ..................... $250 
 
 MANUAL OF THE ORDER OP THE EASTERN STAR, containing 
 Symbols, Scriptural Illustrations, Lectures, etc., adapted to the Ameri- 
 can system of Adoptive Masonry. By ROBT. MACOT, National Grand 
 Secretary. Beautifully Illustrated. Gilt Edges and Illuminated Cover 1 00 
 
 ANCIENT CONSTITUTIONS OP FREEMASONS. By JAMES AN- 
 DERSON. Verbatim copy of the original edition of 1723. Cloth, $1 00. 
 Half Morocco .......................................................... 2 00 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS OP MASONRY. By WM. PRESTON. With 
 copious Notes and Additions. By REV/GKORGB OLIVER, D. D. Cloth, 
 $1 75. Half Morocco ............... .......................... * ....... 3 00 
 
 NEW YORK MASONIC CODE; containing the Old Charges, 
 compiled in 17*1 ; Constitution! and General Regulations of the Graud 
 Lodge of New York, and the Resolutions and Decisions now in force 
 in that M. W. Grand Body. Collated by R. W. WILLIAM T. Woou- 
 RUFF. Plain binding, 35 cents. Cloth, 50. Tack ................ .... 1 00 
 
 THE USE AND ABUSE OP FREEMASONRY. A work of the 
 
 greatest utility to the Brethren of the Society, to mankind in gen- 
 eral, and to the ladies iu particular. By CAPT. GEO. SMITH. Cloth, 
 $1 25. Half Morocco ................................................. . 2 50 
 
 THE HISTORY OP INITIATION, in Twelve Lectures, comprising 
 
 a Detailed Account of the Rites and Ceremonies, Doctrines and Disci- 
 pline of the Secret and Mysterious Institutions of the Ajicient World. 
 By GEORGE OLIVER, D. D. Cloth, $1.50. Half Morocco .............. 2 50 
 
 THE THEOCRATIC PHILOSOPHY OP FREEMASONRY, in Twelve 
 
 l.fctun^ on its Speculative. Operative, and Spurious Branches. By 
 GEO. OLIVER, D. D. Cloth, $1 60. Half Morocco .................... 250 
 
 FREEMASON'S MONITOR; containing the Degrees of Free- 
 masonry, embraced in the Lodge, Chapter, Council, and Cornmandcry, 
 embellished wi;h nearly 300 Symbolic Illustrations. Together with 
 Tactics and Drill of Masonic Knighthood. Also, Forms of Masonic 
 Documents, Notes, Songs, Masonic Dates, Installations, etc. By 
 DANIEL SICKELS, $3d. Tuck .......................................... 1 50 
 
 TRADITIONS OP FREEMASONKY and its Coincidence with the 
 
 Ancient Mysteries. By A. T. C. PIEHSON, 83d, Past Grand Master, Past 
 Grand High-Priest, etc. Illustrated. Large 12mo. Cloth ............ 2 00 
 
 THE HISTORY OP MASONIC PERSECUTIONS, in different quar- 
 
 ters of the Globe. By VARIOUS AUTHORS. With an Introductory 
 Essay on the Usages and Customs of Symbolic Masonry. By REV. 
 GLO.' OLIVER. D. D. 
 
 MASONIC INSTITUTES. By Various Aut7iors. With an intro- 
 dnctorv Essay and Explanatory Notes. By Rev. GEO. OLIVER, D. D. 
 &T fwo useful works in one volume. Cloth, $2 00. Half Morocco, 8 OH 
 
 THE TRUE MASONIC CHART; or, Hieroglyphic Monitor; 
 
 containing all the emblems explained in the degrees of Entered Ap- 
 prentice, Fellow-Craft, and Master Mason. Designed and arranged 
 agreeably to the Lectures. By JEREMY L. CROSS, Grand Lecturer. 
 With a Memoir and Portrait of the Author. Edited by DAMKL 
 SICKELS, 33d. 12mo. Cloth .......................................... I 25 
 
 THE MYSTIC TIE ; or, Facts and Opinions illustrative of the 
 Character and Tendency of Freemasonry. By A. G. MAOKET, 31. D. 
 Cloth, $150. Half Morocco ........................................... 
 
 THE SYMBOL OF GLORY, showing the Object and End of Free- 
 
 masonry. By GEORGE OLIVER, D. D. Cloth, $1 50. Half Morocco.... 9 ; 
 
SIGNS AND SYMBOLS, Illustrated and Explained in a Course 
 of Twelve Lectures on Freemasonry. By GEORGE OLIVER, D. D. 
 doth, $150. Half Morocco ........................................... $250 
 
 DIGEST OF MASONIC LAW ; being a complete Code of Regu- 
 lations, Decisions, and Opinions upon questions of Masonic Jurispru- 
 dence. By GEO. W. CHASE. 12mo. Cloth .......... . ................ 150 
 
 A MIRROR FOR THE JOHANNITE MASON. In a series of letters 
 
 to the Right Honorable the Earl of Aboyne. By Eev. GEO. OLIVER, D. D. 
 
 THE STAR IN THE -EAST. By Rev. GEORGE OLIVER, D. D. 
 {SIT* Two interesting and valuable works drought together in on* 
 volume. Cloth, $1 50. Half Morocco ................................. 250 
 
 A COMPARISON OF EGYPTIAN SYMBOLS WITH THOSE OF THE 
 
 HEBREWS. By FREDERICK PORTAL. Translated from the French, by 
 JOHN W. SIMONS.- Illustrated with some fifty cuts, representing the 
 Ancient Symbols, and accompanied with extended explanations, 
 which rentier it very entertaining and instructive. Contents : Prin- 
 ciples of Symbology ; Application to Egyptian Symbols, Symbol of 
 Colors, Symbol of the Bible, etc. Cloth, |l.OO. Half Morocco ........ 2 00 
 
 THE SPIRIT OF MASONRY. By WILLIAM HUTCHINSON, 
 
 F.^A. S. With copious Notes, critical and explanatory, by Rev. 
 GEORGE OLIVER, D. D. Cloth, $1 50. Half Morocco ................. 2 50 
 
 BOOK OF THE COMMANDERY ; a Monitor for the Orders of 
 Masonic Knighthood ; containing its Burial Service ; an improved Sys- 
 tem of Tactics and Drill ; the Ceremonies of Installation for Grand and 
 Subordinate Commanderies ; a List of the Orders of Knighthood 
 throughout the World ; and the Forms of Complaint and Appeal. By 
 JOHN W. SIMONS, P. G. M. Flexible Cover full gilt, 75 cents. Tuck 
 full gilt ............................................. . ................. 1 00 
 
 MANUAL OF THE CHAPTER; a Monitor for Royal Arch 
 
 Masonry, containing the Degrees of Mark Master, Past Master, Most 
 Excellent Master, and Royal Arch ; together with the Order of High- 
 Priesthood ; the Ceremonies for Installing the Officers of a Chapter, 
 with Forms of Masonic Documents. By JOHN SHEVILLE, Past Grand 
 High-Priest of New Jersey, and JAMES L. GOULD, Deputy Grand High- 
 Pneet of Connecticut. 32mo. Scarlet and gold ....................... 75 
 
 SIGNET OF KING SOLOMON ; or, the Freemason's Daughter. 
 By AUG. C. L. ARNOLD, LL.D. Splendidly Illustrated ................ 1 25 
 
 FREEMASON'S MONITOR ; or, Illustrations of Masonry. By 
 THOMAS SMITH WEBB, Masonic Lecturer. With Portrait,, and Embel- 
 lished. Cloth ......................................................... 75 
 
 THE REVELATIONS OF A SQUARE, exhibiting a graphic dis- 
 
 play of the Sayings and Doings of Eminent Free and Accepted Masons, 
 From the Revival in 1717, by Dr. Desaguliers, to the Reunion in 1813. 
 By GEO. OLIVER, D. D. Royal duodecimo. Cloth, $1 50. Half 
 Morocco .......................................................... .... 2 50 
 
 FAMILIAR TREATISE ON THE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF 
 MASONIC JURISPRUDENCE. By JOHN W. SIMONS, P. G. M. Cloth... 1 50 
 
 RATIONALE AND ETHICS OF FREEMASONRY ; or, the Masonic 
 
 Institution considered as a means of Social and Individual Progress. 
 
 By Aua. C. L. ARNOLD, LL.D. Cloth, $1 50. Half Morocco .......... 2 50 
 
 FREEMASON'S HAND-BOOK. By WM. H. DREW ---- Cloth. 75. 
 Tuck ......................................... . ........................ 1 00 
 
 ORIGIN AND EARLY HISTORY OF MASONRY. By G. "W. 
 
 1 00 
 
 STATUTES OF THE ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED RITE. By A. 
 
 PlKB... .. 3 00 
 
THE BOOK OP THE ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED SCOTTISH RITK 
 OP FREEMASONRY: containing Instructions in all tho Degrees 
 from the Third to the Thirty-third and Last Degree of the Rite, to- 
 gether with Ceremonies of Inauguration, Institution, Installation, 
 Grand Visitations, Refections, Lodges of Sorrow, Adoption, Consti- 
 tutions, General Regulations, Calendar, etc. By CHARLES T. McCLEN- 
 ACHAN, 33. Embellished with, upwards of 300 finely-executed en- 
 gravings, nearly all of which art from original designs. Cloth, gilt, $5 00 
 
 MASONIC LAW AND PRACTICE, WITH FORMS. By LUKE A. 
 
 LOCKWOOD, Past Grand High-Priest of Connecticut 1 00 
 
 DEB FREIMAURER'S HANDBUCH (German) 73 
 
 MORAL DESIGN or FREEMASONRY. By S. LAWRENCE 1 00 
 
 BOOK OF THE CHAPTER. By A. G. MACKEY, M. D 175 
 
 M AJONIO VOCAL MANUAL. By ROBERT MACOY per doz. 3 00 
 
 MANUAL DE LA MASONERIA (Spanish). By A. CABSARD 10 00 
 
 HISTORY OP THE ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED RITE. By ROBT. B. FOLOER. 6 00 
 
 LEXICON or FREEMASONRY. By A. G. MACKEY 3 00 
 
 MASONIC JURISPRUDENCE. ByA.G. MACKEY 200 
 
 I POCKET LIBRARY AND WORKING MONIT OR. By CHASE 1 50 
 
 ' MANUAL OP THE LODGE. By A. G. MACKEY : 1 75 
 
 I FREEMASON'S MANUAL. By K. J. STEWART 1 60 
 
 MASONIC TREBTLE-BOARD. By C. W. MOORE. . .' 1 73 
 
 KEYSTONE OP THE MASONIC ARCH. By CHARLES SCOTT 1 2o 
 
 MASTER WORKMAN. By JOHN K. HALL Tuck, 75 
 
 MASONIC HARP. By GEORGE W. CHASE 1 00 
 
 JURYMAN MASON. By an ENGLISH RECTOR 25 
 
 OUTLINES OP SPECULATIVE FREEMASONRY. By TOWN 20 
 
 MASON IN HIGH PLACES. By an ENGLISH RECTOR 20 
 
 Printed Blank Books for Lodge, Chapter, or 
 Commandery. 
 
 LODGE OR CHAPTER REGISTER < each, 2 50 
 
 RECEIPT BOOKS FOR LODGE OR CHAPTER " 350 
 
 PROPOSITION BOOKS " " u 4 00 
 
 DRAFT BOOKS FOR LODGE OR CHAPTERS " 3 50 
 
 VISITORS' BOOK 3 50 
 
 BLACK BOOK 8 50 
 
 ODE CARDS FOR THE LODGE per dozen, 1 50 
 
 ODE CARDS FOR THE CHAPTER 4i 150 
 
 PETITIONS FOR MEMBERSHIP per 100, 1 25 
 
 LEDGERS AND MINUTE-BOOKS. LARGE AND SMALL BIBLES. 
 
 MASONIC LEDGERS a new article per Quire, 2 50 
 
 SECRETARY'S RECEIPTS 8 50 
 
 BOOK OF MARKS FOR CHAPTERS 4 00 
 
 QUESTION BOOKS FOR COMMANDERY 4 00 
 
 GOODS OP ALL KINDS FOR 
 
 LODGE, CHAPTER, COMMANDERY, ETC., 
 
 ON HAND AND MADE TO OEDEB. 
 

^STTY OF r * T T^ORNIA T TB*? N 
 
 RETURN CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT 
 
 TO* 202 Main Library 
 
 LOAN PERIOD 1 
 HOME USE 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS 
 
 1 -month loans may be renewed by calling 642-3405 
 
 6-month loans may be recharged by bringing books to Circulation Desk 
 
 Renewals and recharges may be made 4 days prior to due date 
 
 DUE AS STAMPED BELOW 
 
 30 
 
 
 CIR 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY 
 FORM NO. DD6, 60m, 12/80 BERKELEY, CA 94720 
 
YB UbDIO 
 
IBr 
 
 
 
 
 fnngH