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r ^^^^^^^^ 23 GEEAT QUEEN STREET , W . C .

Washington As A Mason.

WASHINGTON AS A MASON .

( REPRINTED FROM THE KEYSTONE . ) An Oration delivered before St . John ' s Lodge , No . 1 , F . and -4 J ¥ ., Newark , Neiv Jersey , on the occasion of the ¦ Ei ghty-ninth Annual Celebration by that Lodge of the Birthday of Washington , 22 nd February 1801 , by Bro . Marshall B . Smith , Past Grand Master of Masons , Neiu Jersey .

( Continued from page 327 . ) narnn ?' ro f ° anded a 3 the Capital of the Nation had received the ™ Washington , aa the ono of all others most appropriate at that

Washington As A Mason.

period ; and on the eighteenth of September 1793 , in Masonio clothing and with Masonic Ceremonies , he laid the corner-stone of the Capitol . Tho Gavel used by him on that occasion became a treasured relic of Georgetown Lodge of the District of Columbia , which Lodge was represented at the ceremony by its officers and members . ° Thns , with representatives of the Grand Lodge around

him , and holding the highest civic office on this Continent—may we not say on the globe—he woro tho insignia of tho Craft , and wrought in one of its most impressive acts of labour . He had laid tho foundations of tho Ropnblic , and laid them on the enduring Masonio bases of Troth and Brotherhood ; he now laid , with Masonio Rites , the corner-stono of a fabric which was to symbolize the power and

dignity op law and order . A fabric which is to-day—notwithstanding the corruption that may bo fonnd , and perhaps always will be found within it—a witness to tho Nations of tho unity and tho perpetuity of this Republic . On the determination of Washington to retire finally from public life being made known , the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania , with the

leading members of which he wa 3 personally acquainted , addressed him under date of 27 th December 1796 . I quote from the Reprint of their Proceedings a portion of their address : MOST R ESPECTED SIR AND BROTHER : Having announced your intention to retire from Public Labour to that Refreshment to which your 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 wbich we can hope for an immediate communication with you , to join the grateful voice of onr Country in acknowledging that you have carried forth the principles of the Lodge into every walk of your life , by your constant labours for the prosperity of that Country ,

by your unremitting endeavours to promote Order , Union , and Brotherly Affection amongst ns , and lastly , by the vows of yonr farewell address to your brethren and fellow-citizens ; an address which we trust our children and our children's children will overlook upon as a most invaluable legacy , from a Friend , a Benefactor , and o Father . " *

The reply of Washington—which , in his own handwriting , is now in the Grand Secretary ' s office in the Masonio Temple Philadelphiawas as follows : — " Fellow Citizens and Brothers of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania : I have received your address with all the feelings of Brotherly affection mingled with those sentiments 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 trne principles of Government , is only to have shared with many others in a labour the result of which , let ns hope , will prove through all ages a sanctuary for Brothers , and a Lodge for the Virtues .

" Permit me to reciprocate yonr prayers for my temporal happiness , and to supplicate that we may all meet hereafter in that Eternal Temple whose builder is the Great Architect of the Universe . " The same lofty sentiments find expression in his replies to addresses , from the Grand Lodges of Massachusetts ( 12 th June 1797 ) , and Maryland ( 8 th November 1798 ) .

He was again summoned , in view of impending dangers , to take charge of the army ; bnt bis eventfnl life was now drawing to a close . " Into every walk of it , " he had indeed , to nse the language of the Pennsylvania address just quoted—" carried forth the principles of the Lodge ; " yes , more , the principles of that First Great Ligbt of Masonry , the inspired and infallible Word of God . It was well ,

doubtless , that a centnry so franght with interest in the world ' s history should be rounded off by the completion of tho earthly career of one whose lifo had constitnted so large a part of its record . A short illness , from a seemingly trivial cause , and death came gently to one who had faced it without a tremor in many a scene of peril and privation and on many a field of battle . Surrounded by his household , with no blot upon his life record , in the confidence of faith ,

" He gave his honours to the world again , His blessed part to heaven , and slept in peace . " It waa the fourteenth of December , seventeen hundred and ninety , nine . The century had well nigh gone , bearing with it ages of superstition , oppression and arrogance ; leaving behind it a home for the oppressed and the wronged , the memory of heroic deeds , grand

incentives to higher thoughts and a truer manhood ; and opening a Future , whose wondrous things are onr strength and enjoyment in the Present of to-day . On the eighteenth of December 1799 the mortal remains of the "FATHER OF HIS COUNTRY" were laid to rest with the impressive ceremonial of Freemasonry . The symbolic evergreen , significant reminder of the soul ' s immortality , was deposited in the tomb , and the

mission of the Fraternity was , in this respect , completed . It had entrusted its secrets to one who had nobly kept them ; it had imparted its lessons to an apt scholar , whose life had been one of their highest exemplifications ; it had rejoiced in the elevation of one who was never elated by promotion or corrupted by official surroundings ; it laid him to rest when his works were ended , feeling nobler for having had snch a life loaned to it by the Divine Life Giver .

The Grand Lodges of Pennsylvania , New Jersey , New York , and Massachusetts , successively took action in favour of a day of Commemoration ; the latter of these selected the day chosen by your Lodge , while the Grand Lodge of New Jersey appointed 14 th December , the day of Washington ' s death , as a day of Annual Observance . !