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Article MASONIC ANECDOTES. Page 1 of 2 →
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Masonic Anecdotes.
MASONIC ANECDOTES .
GENERAL PUTNAM . " MY native town , Brooklyn , Conn ., was formerly the residence of Sen . Maj .-Gen . Israel Putnam , a true patriot and a devoted Mason . He was ploughing in a field not a mile from where I am now writing , when he received intelligence of the skirmish at Lexington—what followed is a matter of history . But there is one incident connected with his lifewhich is not so generallknown . In the ' French and Indian
, y AVar / Putnam commanded a corps of partizans oh the frontiers . In a severe skirmish , it was his fate to become a captive to the Indians . So gallant a warrior was worthy of no ordinary death . After being insulted and tortured in their villages , he was led to the stake . The faggots were piled around him ; the flames leaped and played over his wasted form . He had taken his last look of earth , and was consigning his soul to God , when he beheld a French officer approaching . As a last resort
he hailed him , in a way that speaks with more than trumpet tones to tbe heart of a genuine Brother . Quick as lightning the cords were severed , the burning faggots were dispersed ,-and the officer rescued Putnam at the imminent peril of his own life . So powerful is the word that binds oar " Brethren in the hour of peril ! Putnam always said that he owed his life to Masonry , as he felt confident the Frenchman never would have incurred the risk of displeasing the Indians so much
, to save any but a Brother . Through life his zeal and services to the ' Good Cause , ' were equal to the debt he owed , and after a long life spent in the service ^ ojf his ^ country , on the square , he met the grim tyrant with the firmness " of " a " Mason , and the hopeful resignation of a Christian . "—Freemason ' s Mag . ( U . S . )
Eugene Marie Lagratia , a Spanish Creole , was following his occupation as a general merchant in Port au Prince , in the republic of Hayti , was in prosperous circumstances , ancl highly respected , when , a few months since , the revolution took place in that country . Notwithstanding his reputed character for being free from political bias , he was suspected of being hostile to those who sought for a change in the government , and being fearful of consequences he meditated escape ,
but was arrested before he could effect it . His intention to escape was pleaded as sufficient reason for the punishment of DEATH , ancl he was ordered for immediate execution . The fatal guard was ready , the unhappy man knelt on his coffin in prayer previous to being blindfolded ; ancl in this attitude , while lost to all hope but that of futurity , he felt himself suddenly seized in the arms of some one , when he swooned . On recovering his senses he found himself in the guard-housein the
, custody of the Haytian officer who commanded the fatal guard , and who , while struck with the awful scene of the sufferer while imploring Heaven in the last agony , observing his features , recollected having met him in open Lodge ; one look was enough—on his own responsibility he bore him away , and hacl the further happiness to preserve his life , the
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masonic Anecdotes.
MASONIC ANECDOTES .
GENERAL PUTNAM . " MY native town , Brooklyn , Conn ., was formerly the residence of Sen . Maj .-Gen . Israel Putnam , a true patriot and a devoted Mason . He was ploughing in a field not a mile from where I am now writing , when he received intelligence of the skirmish at Lexington—what followed is a matter of history . But there is one incident connected with his lifewhich is not so generallknown . In the ' French and Indian
, y AVar / Putnam commanded a corps of partizans oh the frontiers . In a severe skirmish , it was his fate to become a captive to the Indians . So gallant a warrior was worthy of no ordinary death . After being insulted and tortured in their villages , he was led to the stake . The faggots were piled around him ; the flames leaped and played over his wasted form . He had taken his last look of earth , and was consigning his soul to God , when he beheld a French officer approaching . As a last resort
he hailed him , in a way that speaks with more than trumpet tones to tbe heart of a genuine Brother . Quick as lightning the cords were severed , the burning faggots were dispersed ,-and the officer rescued Putnam at the imminent peril of his own life . So powerful is the word that binds oar " Brethren in the hour of peril ! Putnam always said that he owed his life to Masonry , as he felt confident the Frenchman never would have incurred the risk of displeasing the Indians so much
, to save any but a Brother . Through life his zeal and services to the ' Good Cause , ' were equal to the debt he owed , and after a long life spent in the service ^ ojf his ^ country , on the square , he met the grim tyrant with the firmness " of " a " Mason , and the hopeful resignation of a Christian . "—Freemason ' s Mag . ( U . S . )
Eugene Marie Lagratia , a Spanish Creole , was following his occupation as a general merchant in Port au Prince , in the republic of Hayti , was in prosperous circumstances , ancl highly respected , when , a few months since , the revolution took place in that country . Notwithstanding his reputed character for being free from political bias , he was suspected of being hostile to those who sought for a change in the government , and being fearful of consequences he meditated escape ,
but was arrested before he could effect it . His intention to escape was pleaded as sufficient reason for the punishment of DEATH , ancl he was ordered for immediate execution . The fatal guard was ready , the unhappy man knelt on his coffin in prayer previous to being blindfolded ; ancl in this attitude , while lost to all hope but that of futurity , he felt himself suddenly seized in the arms of some one , when he swooned . On recovering his senses he found himself in the guard-housein the
, custody of the Haytian officer who commanded the fatal guard , and who , while struck with the awful scene of the sufferer while imploring Heaven in the last agony , observing his features , recollected having met him in open Lodge ; one look was enough—on his own responsibility he bore him away , and hacl the further happiness to preserve his life , the