Washington As A Mason.

WASHINGTON AS A MASON .

iu Oration delivered before St . John ' s Lodge , No . 1 , v . and A . M ., Newark , New Jersey , on the occasion , of the Eig hty-ninth Annual Celebration by that Lodge of the Birthday of Washington ; 22 nd February 1801 , b y Bro . Marshall B . Smith , Fast Grand Master of Masons , New Jersey .

( REPAINTED "FROM TOE KEYSTONE . ) WoEsniPTUT . MASTER ANII BRETHREN ov ST . JOHN ' LOOM ? , No . 1 Your Lodge , standing at the head of tho Roll in this jurisdiction and made venerable by its one hundred and twenty years of history , * has indeed proved faithful to its trust as a Masonic custodian of the memory of Washington . While he still lived and—ns we have reason to

believe—before any other body of men had instituted this commemoration , your Lodge kept his birthday on tho twenty-second of February 1792 ; and on February twenty-second 1800 it was determined by the Lodge that the 22 d of February should be for ever observed " for tho purpose of solemnizing so great an event aa the death of that great and good man . " More than fourscore years have

passed away , nnd wo aro here to keep the letter and tho spirit of that resolution . As we stand to-night in a period nearly three generations removed from the timo at which this annual observance originated , there are strong inducements to bring into contrast tho two epochs of Masonic history—THEN , and Now . Then there were in the State of New

Jersey nine Lodges and a few hundred Masons ; Noio there are one hundred and forty-seven Lodges in active existence , with a membership of some thirteen thousand . Then , there was one Lodge in Newark—St . John's ; Noiv , there are seventeen Lodges , with a membership of nearly twenfcy-two hundred . To this brief Masonic retrospect—which I deem a fitting introduction to the chief themes of

the evening—permit me to add a few words from the Address of Grand Master Beatty , delivered to the Grand Locige of New Jersey in 1792 , f in which , after enumerating his official visits , he says that he "found the Brethren of St . John's Locige numerous and respectable , its officers intelligent and active , and the members zealously attached to the principles of Masonry . He mentions with particular pleasure

the growing state , good order , and symmetry of this Lodge . Such was'Masonry in Newark , and such was Sfc . John's Locige in the year 1792 . I am not here , however , to rehearse the history of this venerable mother of Lodges , or to remind yon how its records link together the Masonic life of pro-revolutionary and postrevolutionary times . My work , to night , lies not among the illustrious

names npon your Roll of those who havo held high social , civil or religious position , aud at the same time have shared in the labours or ruled in onr ancient Craffc ; or among names equally worthy of reverence , representing as they do the less conspicuous but not less useful parts of onr Mystic Temple . It is nofc within tho lines marked ont for me this evening , to tell of

the wondrous growth of this City , of tho Commonwealth , and of the Republic : of the wondrous revelations of science , the progress of human thought , and the marvellous triumphs of mechanical skill and industrial art ; or of the temporary eclipse of our Institution ; and the baptism of blood which sealed onr Nation ' s unity ; in these fourscore-and-ten years of life and of commemoration . These wonderful

things of the century , are the structures which the hand of manguided , strengthened and blessed by the great Artificer of the Universe —has reared . These great achievements and great thoughts are the outgrowth of germs planted and fostered into growth under the Mind of God . Our theme to-night is a human illustration of what may grow out of such germs of thought , ancl life , and truth , as those from whence came , under God , all the wonders of the century that now is .

The first commemoration of Washington by this Lodge had reference to the date of his birth ; tho subsequent commemorations on the same date were to have reference , as the Resolution shows , to the event of his death ; but the real thing to be remembered , was that which lay between these two—a useful , elevated , heroic , noble , and symmetrical life . It was not only the Man—hero , patriot , and in the

proper sense of the word gentleman , though he was—but the Craftsman , a Brother not ashamed of the Mystic Tie , that your Masonic and patriotic fathers would have the men of their day and the men of our day to honour and reverence . It is with his Masonic history , therefore , that we have principally to do on this occasion ; a part of his life no less authentically attested by undeniable proofs

Washington As A Mason.

than the better known features , but too frequently ignored b y his biographers . The graceful pen of Irving , and the strong hand of Chief Justice Marshall , himself a distinguished Craftsman , havo invested tho public and private life of Washington with all tlio interest of romance ; tlio records of the Nation havo kept his Civic nu 1 Military services from oblivion ; and tho chief events of his

Ma .- 'uuio history are written in tho scattered , though sacredl y preserved records and archives of many Grand and Subordinate Lodges . George Washington , I need scarcely remind you , was born in Virginia , iu the year 1732 . We need not dwell upon the early events and legends of his youth , so woll known to every American schoolboy ,

bnt may proceed at onco to roview his Masonic record . " Before Washington camo to manhood , " says Brother Sydney Hayden , " a Lodge had boon organized in Fredericksburg , under authority from Thomas Oxnard , Provincial Grand Master of Boston , whoso authority also extended over all the English Colonies in America ; and in 1752 , when Washington sought admission to thia

Locige , its officers were Daniel Campbell , Master ; John Neilson , Senior Warden ; and Dr . Robert Halkerson , Junior Warden . " * * " The records of Fredericksburg Lodge show the presence of Washington , for the first time in the Lodge , on the 4 th November 5752 , leaving no doubt that he was initiated on that day , as on the sixth of November the record continues :

" ' Received of Mr . George Washington for his entrance £ 2 : 3 . ' " * March 3 d , 5753 . — -George Washington passed Fellow Craft . ' " 'August 4 tb , 5753 . —George Washington raised Master Mason . ' " * You will notice that he was not quite twenty-ono years of ago when he was initiated ; a departure from the general custom , permitted in special cases by the English Law under whioh he was made a Masou . f " The old record book of the Locige is sttll preserved [ or mas tip to

the time of the late war ] , also the Bible on which he was obligated , and the Seal of the Locige . The Bible is a small quarto volume and bears date ' Cambridge : ' printed by John Field , Printer to tlie University , 1 G 88 , " J a year memorable in the history of Civil : v . v Religious Liberty in England . Passing over a period of thirty-six years—a period nofc without its records and traditions of Masonic interest , but one moro especially filled with heroic deeds on the field of battle , ancl

withself-sacrific-imlabours for the founding of a free Republic—wo come down to i lie year 1788 . On the 28 th of April in this year , a Warrant was granted by the Grand Lodge of Virginia to Alexandria Lodgo , No . ii ( formerly known as No . 39 , un the Registry of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania ) , with—to use the language of Edmund Randolph , Esq ., Grand Master , who issued tho Warrant— "Our illustrious and well beloved Brother George Washington , Esquire , lato General aud Commander-in-Chief of tho Forces of the United States of America .,

ancl our worthy Brethren Robert McCrea , William Hunter , Jr ., & c , & c , as the first Master and Wardens . On tho old records of Alexandria Locige , which subsequently , by consent of tho Gra-. d Lodge , changed its name to " Alexandria Washington Lodge , " was

the following entry , under date of December 20 , 1788 : * ' His Excellency General Washington unanimously elected Master ; Robert McCrea , Senior Warden ; Win Hunter , Jr ., Junior Warden ; Wm . Hodgson , Treasurer ; Joseph Greenway , Secretary , & c . " § The old Lodge in Alexandria , though unfortunate of late years in the loss of many valuable Masonic Rolics , was long the custodian of abuadant

proofs of the intimate relations of Washington with our Brotherhood . || From the long-sought retirement of private life , Washington was called by the Electoral College , echoing the will of the people , to the highest office in the people ' s gift . His inauguration as the first President of tho United States took place in the City of New York , on the 30 th April 1789 . General Jacob Morton who acted as Chief

Marshal on the occasion , ancl who was Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of New York , ancl also Worshipful Master of St . John's Lodge , No . 1 , of New York City , brought the Bible from the altar of his Lodge to the place where tho oath was to be taken , and upon ifc the President was obligated to discharge the high and responsible trust committed to him as the Chief Magistrate of a Nation whose

independence had been largely achieved by himself . " A memorial leaf , " says Bro . Hayden , " was then folded at the page on which Washington had devoutly impressed his lips ; and the volume was returned to St . John ' s Locige , ancl plae . ed 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 Masonic Brethren of New York City ,

who met to pay funeral honors to the memory of Washington . It is still in possession of Sfc . John's Lodge , No . 1 , who value it highly ns a sacred memento . "t Tho opinion which Washington entertained of Freemasonry may be determined from a letter written by him to the Master , Wardens , and Brethren of King David's Locige , Newport , Rhode Island . This

was in reply to one from them , dated 17 th August 1790 . He says : — " Being 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 happy to advance the interests of tho Society , ancl to bo considered by them as a deserving Brother . " In similar terms ho replied to an address , dated 2 nd May