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One hundred years
ago - the day which
we are now
celebrating with all
these public
demonstrations of
joy and pride - and
which tens of
thousands of our
brethren are
commemorating with
us, in every city
and town and village
throughout the
length and breadth
of this vast empire
- was hallowed in
the history of the
Masonic institution,
by the initiation
into its sublime
mysteries of the
Father of his
Country.
The scenes enacted
on that day in a
small and obscure
lodge of the Old
Dominion were then,
while the dark veil
of the futurity was
still undrawn,
supposed to be of an
ordinary character.
The minute book of
the Lodge at
Fredericksburg
presents no more
than the usual
record, that on the
4th of November,
1752, George
Washington was
initiated as an
Entered Apprentice.
The youth, who,
though even then he
had been honored by
a distinguished
appointment in the
military service of
his native State,
had not yet
developed the germ
of his future
greatness, passed
undoubtedly through
the solemn
ceremonies of
initiation into our
mystic rites,
without any
suspicion on the
part of those who
assisted in
bestowing on him the
light of Masonry,
that the transaction
then occurring was
to become an era in
the annals of our
institution, and
that a century
afterwards their
descendants would
ordain a jubilee, to
hail its memory with
shouts of joy and to
celebrate its
anniversary with
loud peans of
praise. But time,
whose lessons are
always progressive
and often
unexpected, has
since taught us that
the event of that
evening was among
the most important
in the history of
American Masonry. It
has furnished a
topic of angry
discussion to the
enemies, and of
grateful exultation
to the friends, of
our institution. It
has given an abiding
testimony of the
virtuous principles
of that society,
among whose
disciples "the
patriot, the hero
and the sage" did
not disdain to be
numbered. And while
time shall last and
Masonry shall
endure, that old but
distinctly legible
page in the record
book of
Fredericksburg Lodge
will be pointed to
with proud
satisfaction by
every Mason, as
indisputable
evidence that the
wisest of statesmen,
the purest of
patriots, the most
virtuous of men, was
indeed his brother
and bound with him
in one common but
mystic tie of
fraternity and love.
In the ancient
record book of the
Lodge at
Fredericksburg in
Virginia - a book
venerable for its
age as a relic of
the past -but still
more venerable for
the pages on which
the record is made,
will be found the
following entries.
The first entry is
thus:
No. 4th, 1752. This
evening Mr. George
Washington was
initiated as an
Entered Apprentice,"
and the receipt of
the entrance fee,
amounting to 2
pounds 3s is
acknowledged.
On the 3rd of March
in the following
year, "Mr. George
Washington" is
recorded as having
been passed a Fellow
Craft; and on the
4th of the
succeeding August
the transactions of
the evening are that
"Mr. George
Washington," and
others whose names
are mentioned, are
stated to have been
raised to the
sublime degree of
Master Mason.
These records of the
early Masonic career
of Washington are
inestimable to the
Mason as memorials
of the first
connection of the
Father of his
Country with our
institution. But if
the history of that
connection had there
ceased; if admitted
to our temple, he
had but glanced with
cold and indifferent
eye upon its
mysteries; and if
then, unaffected by
their beauty -
untouched by their
sublimity, and
unwakened by their
truth, lie had
departed from our
portals - the pride
with which we hail
him as a brother
would have been a
vain presumption,
and the celebration
of this day, a
senseless mockery.
But the seed of
Masonry which was
sown on the evening
of that November
fell not on a barren
soil. It grew with
his growth and
strengthened with
his strength, and
bloomed and ripened
into an abiding love
and glowing zeal for
our order, nor ever
withered or decayed
amid all the trials
and struggles, the
perils and
excitement of a long
life spent, first in
battling to gain the
liberties of his
country, and then in
counseling to
preserve them.
The evidence of all
this is on record,
and the genuineness
of the record cannot
be disputed.
Whatever the enemies
of Masonry may say
to the contrary -
however they may
have attempted in
the virulence of
their persecution,
to insinuate that
his connection with
our order was but
accidental and
temporary - first
formed in the
thoughtlessness of
youth and then at
once and forever
dissolved - there is
abundant testimony
to show that he
never for a moment
disowned his
allegiance to the
mystic art - and
never omitted, on
every appropriate
occasion, by active
participation in our
rites, to
vindicate the purity
of the institution
and to demonstrate
in the most public
manner, his respect
for its principles.
Years after his
initiation, when he
held the exalted
rank of leader of
our armies in those
deeply perilous
days, which have
been so well defined
as "the times that
tried men's souls,"
notwithstanding his
responsible duties,
his arduous labors,
his mental
disquietudes, he
would often lay
aside the ensigns of
his supreme
authority, and
forgetting for a
time "the pomp and
circumstance of
glorious war," would
enter the secluded
tent and mingle on a
level with his brave
companions, in the
solemn devotions and
mystic rites of some
military lodge,
where, under the
sacred influence of
Masonry, the god of
carnage found no
libations poured
upon his altar, but
where the heartfelt
prayer for the
prevalence of
harmony and
brotherly love was
offered to the Grand
Architect of the
Universe. We have
the authority of a
distinguished Mason
of Virginia, who has
elaborately
investigated the
Masonic life of
Washington, for
saying that
"frequently, when
surrounded by a
brilliant staff, he
would part from the
gay assemblage and
seek the instruction
of the Lodge." And
there was actually
living in Ohio a few
years ago a
revolutionary
veteran, Captain
Hugh Maloy, who on
one of these
occasions was
initiated in the
marquee of
Washington, the
Commander in Chief
himself presiding at
the ceremony.
In scenes like these
the great Napoleon
has been known to
appear, and the
lodges of Paris have
more than once
beheld the ruler of
the empire mingling
in their labors, a
willing witness of
the great doctrine
of Masonic equality.
But in the founder
of a new dynasty,
such condescension
might - and possibly
with some truth - be
attributed to the
policy of winning
popular applause. In
our true-hearted,
single- minded
Washington, no such
subservience to
man-worship could be
suspected. His only
motives were deep
love for the
institution, and
profound admiration
of its principles.
Permit me, before we
proceed to a review
of the later
portions of
Washington's Masonic
life, to invite your
attention to one,
other revolutionary
incident, reflecting
equal honor upon the
subject of our
address, and on the
order of which he
was so illustrious a
member.
A distinguished
brother who
faithfully and
valiantly served his
country, in the last
contest in which it
has been engaged,
once remarked, in an
address delivered by
him before the Grand
Lodge of this State,
that much as he
admired Masonry it
was only on the
field of battle that
he had really
learned to love it.
Wisely and
truthfully were
those words uttered.
For it is there,
amid loud hosannas
to the god of
slaughter, when "Men
with rage and hate
Make war upon their
kind, And the land
is fed by the blood
they shed, In their
lust for carnage
blind," that the
voice of Masonry
speaks in tones that
are heard above the
dull booming of
artillery, and the
shrill blast of the
bugle. It is there,
when the utterance
of humanity is
hushed - when
language, created by
its beneficent
author, to express
man's wants and
man's affections, is
exchanged for the
clashing of steel -
when the plunge of
the bayonet or the
thrust of the saber
is too often the
only reply to the
cry for mercy - and
when human sympathy
has been driven from
its throne in the
human heart - it is
there that the
whispered word may
make its strong
appeal, and the mute
yet eloquent sign,
will paralyze the
uplifted arm,
converting by its
hidden necromancy,
hate into love, and
binding in a moment
the conqueror and
the conquered with
these strong cords
of fraternal
affection which will
withstand the utmost
strain of national
enmity to snap
asunder.
Scenes and events of
this kind were of
course occurring in
our revolutionary
war - for there is
no contest among
civilized nations in
which they are not
present. But one in
which Washington was
more particularly
and immediately
engaged may serve to
show how perfectly
he understood and
appreciated this
beautiful feature in
the Masonic system.
In the 46th regiment
of the British army
there was a
traveling Lodge,
holding its Warrant
of Constitution
under the
jurisdiction of the
Grand Lodge of
Ireland. After an
engagement between
the American and
British forces, in
which the latter
were defeated, the
private chest of the
Lodge, containing
its jewels,
furniture and
implements, fell
into the hands of
the Americans. The
captors reported the
circumstances to
General Washington,
who at once ordered
the chest to be
returned to the
Lodge and the
regiment, under a
guard of honor. "The
surprise," says the
historian of the
event, himself an
Englishman and a
Mason, "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 music
playing a sacred
march - the chest
containing the
Constitution and
implements 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."
When the contest
which secured the
independence and
freedom of his
country was
terminated,
Washington, covered
with the admiration
and gratitude of his
fellow-citizens,
retired like another
Cincinnatus to the
shades of private
life. But he did not
abandon then his
interest in the
institution of which
he was an honored
member.
In 1788 he united
with others in
presenting a
petition for the
formation of a new
Lodge at Alexandria,
and the Warrant of
Constitution, as the
instrument
authorizing the
organization is
technically called,
is still in
existence, preserved
in the archives of
that Lodge, and has
been seen by
thousands.
That Warrant
commences with these
words - words which
now cannot be
altogether heard
with cold
indifference:
"I, Edmund Randolph,
Governor of the
State, and Grand
Master of the Grand
Lodge of Virginia,
do hereby constitute
and appoint our
illustrious and
well-beloved Brother
George Washington,
late General and
Commander-in-Chief
of the forces of the
United States of
America, and our
worthy Brothers
Robert McCrea,
William Hunter Jr.,
and Joseph Allison,
Esq., together with
all such other
brethren as may be
admitted to
associate with them,
to be a just, true
and regular Lodge of
Freemasons, by the
name, title and
designation of
Alexandria Lodge,
No. 22."
The Lodge is still
in existence and in
active operation,
but in 1805 it
changed its name in
honor of its first
Master to that of
"Washington
Alexandria."
No one acquainted
with the character
of Washington - with
his indomitable
energy, his
scrupulous
punctuality, and his
rigid adherence to
method in business,
will for a moment
suppose that he
would ever have
engaged in a labor
which he did not
ardently strive to
accomplish, or have
accepted an office
whose duties he did
not conscientiously
discharge. But his
general and well
known reputation for
these virtues is not
all that we possess
as a testimony of
the mode in which he
met the responsible
cares of presiding
over the Craft.
The Hon. Timothy
Bigelow, in an
eulogy delivered
before the Grand
Lodge of
Massachusetts, two
months after
Washington's death,
when there were
still living
witnesses of his
Masonic life, with
whom the speaker had
conversed, supplies
us on this point
with the following
evidence:
"The information
received from our
brethren who had the
happiness to be
members of the Lodge
over which he
presided for many
years, and of which
he died the Master,
furnishes abundant
proof of his
persevering zeal for
the prosperity of
the institution.
Constant and
punctual in his
attendance,
scrupulous in his
observance of the
regulations of the
Lodge, and
solicitous at all
times to communicate
light and
instruction, he
discharged the
duties of the chair
with uncommon
dignity and
intelligence in all
the mysteries of our
art." Incidents like
these, interesting
as they may be, are
not all that is left
to us to exhibit the
attachment of
Washington to
Masonry. On repeated
occasions lie has
announced, in his
letters and
addresses to various
Masonic bodies, his
profound esteem for
the character and
his just
appreciation of the
principles of that
institution into
which, at so early
an age, he had been
admitted. And during
his long and
laborious life, no
opportunity was
presented of which
he did not gladly
avail himself to
evince that he was a
Mason in heart as
well as in name.
Thus, in the year
1797, in reply to an
affectionate address
from the Grand Lodge
of Massachusetts, he
says: "My attachment
to the Society of
which we are members
will dispose me
always to contribute
my best endeavors to
promote the honor
and prosperity of
the Craft."
Five years before
this letter was
written, he had, in
a communication to
the same body,
expressed his
opinion of the
Masonic institution
as one whose liberal
principles are
founded on the
immutable laws of
"truth and justice,"
and whose "grand
object is to promote
the happiness of the
human race."
In answer to an
address from the
Grand Lodge of South
Carolina in 1791, he
says: "I recognize,
with pleasure, my
relation to the
brethren of your
Society," and "I
shall be happy, on
every occasion, to
evince my regard for
the fraternity." And
in the same letter
he takes occasion to
allude to the
Masonic institution
as "an association
whose principles
lead to purity of
morals and are
beneficial of
action."
In writing to the
officers and members
of St. David's
Lodge, at Newport,
R. I., in the same
year, he uses this
language: "Being
persuaded that a
just application of
the principles on
which the Masonic
fraternity is
founded must be
promotive of private
virtue and public
prosperity, I shall
always be happy to
advance the
interests of the
Society, and to be
considered by them
as a deserving
brother."
And lastly, for we
will not further
extend these
quotations, in a
letter addressed in
November, 1798, only
thirteen months
before his death, to
the Grand Lodge of
Maryland, he has
made this explicit
declaration of his
opinion of the
Institution:
"So far as I am
acquainted with the
doctrines and
principles of
Freemasonry, I
conceive them to be
founded in
benevolence, and to
be exercised only
for the good of
mankind. I cannot,
therefore, upon this
ground, withdraw my
approbation from
it."
If I have paused
thus long upon these
memorials of the
past, and if I have
borrowed thus
largely from these
evidences of
Washington's
opinions, it is
that, so far as this
audience at least is
affected, the
question of his
attachment to our
Order may be forever
put to rest, and
that the falsehoods
and forgeries of our
enemies may be
detected by a
reference to the
authentic
expressions in our
favor of the very
man whom they have
published to the
world as the enemy
of Freemasonry.
Henceforth the words
which have been
uttered here to-day
- to some of you
undoubtedly
familiar, but by
many now heard for
the first time -
will stand as
incontrovertible
evidence that
Washington was, in
very truth, a Mason
- in heart, in
affection and in
allegiance. Not
merely in name and
in outward bearing,
but one who wrought
with us in our hours
of labor, and whose
visits to our temple
were prompted by no
idle curiosity, but
by a warm devotion
to the interests of
the Craft, and a
philosophical
admiration of our
mystic system.
And is it not a
noble eulogy of our
institution that it
should have numbered
among its faithful
disciples one so
stainless in morals,
so devout in
religion, a patriot
so pure, a statesman
so virtuous, that
his life was the
admiration of the
world - his death,
the desolation of
his country?
There is, indeed, in
the whole pervading
spirit of
Freemasonry
something of that
"beauty of holiness"
which must have been
congenial to the
character of such a
man as he. His heart
was irresistibly
drawn to it by the
purity of its
principles, and the
sublime beneficence
of its design. He
could not but love,
because it was holy,
and he could not but
admire it, because
it was intellectual.
Though I will not
undertake to say
that Washington was
indebted for any of
those beautiful
traits which adorned
his character, to
the influence of
Masonic teaching
(because I know that
he derived them from
a diviner school),
yet there was
undoubtedly such a
similarity in the
most prominent
virtues that
illustrated his life
to those which
constitute the very
ground work of the
Masonic system, as
must have
readily won from him
respect and esteem
for our institution.
Unfaltering Trust in
God - an humble
dependence on the
wisdom and power of
the Supreme
Controller of the
Universe - is the
first as well as the
most indispensable
moral qualification
of every candidate
for our mystic
rites. And this
virtue, the
foundation and
suggester of every
other, was a
distinguishing
feature in the
religious
constitution of
Washington. In all
his private and
public letters, in
his official
correspondence with
the government, and
in his orders to the
army, this firm
reliance-this
trustful dependence
on Divine Providence
is prominently and
frequently referred
to as though it were
a topic on which he
could not too often
dilate.
Of Charity, which
has been aptly
called the cap-stone
of the Masonic
edifice, and which,
like the virtue
already spoken of,
is taught in the
most important
ceremonies of
initiation,
Washington was an
illustrious example.
Throughout his life
he sought rather for
opportunities of
discharging the
claims of his virtue
than for apologies
for its neglect, and
he uniformly acted
whenever the poor
and the deserving
were presented to
his notice under the
influence of that
great doctrine of
our Order, which
teaches us "to
soothe the unhappy;
to sympathize with
their misfortunes;
to compassionate
their miseries, and
to restore peace to
their troubled
minds."
And again, Brotherly
Love, that sublime
principle of
philanthropy, by
which, as it is
defined in our
ritual, "we are
taught to regard the
whole human species
as one family; the
high and low, the
rich and poor; who,
as created by one
Almighty Parent, are
to aid, support and
protect each other"
- was admirably
exemplified in his
humanity to the
prisoner, his
condescension to his
inferiors, his warm
friendship, his
general benevolence,
and his uniform
urbanity and
gentleness of manner
to all who
approached him. His
was indeed the
character to win
kindness from an
enemy, or to secure
fidelity in a
friend.
The Cardinal
Virtues, too, so
beautifully
inculcated in the
lectures of our
system, were
eminently prominent
in the character of
our beloved brother.
And when the
neophyte of our
order, standing
before the Pedestal
of the East, is
receiving from the
Master of the Lodge
those deeply
significant symbols
by which these
virtues are to be
impressed upon his
mind and heart, I
know not where
better the teacher
could seek for a
bright example of
Temperance than in
him who ever placed
a due restraint upon
the passions of his
humanity, and whose
mind was thus
proverbially freed
from the allurements
of vice - or of
Fortitude, than in
him whose noble
purposes of soul
enabled him to
undergo for the good
of his country every
peril, pain and
danger that beset
his path - or of
Prudence, than in
him whose whole life
was regulated by the
dictates of reason
and who was not more
a Fabius in the
field than he was a
Solon in the cabinet
- or of justice,
than in him who, in
the administration
of both private and
public affairs,
always accorded to
every man his just
due, without
And lastly, as to
that other great
Masonic virtue,
Truth, the "divine
attribute," which,
as Masons, we are
taught constantly to
contemplate, and by
which we are
directed to regulate
our conduct - where
or when lived the
man who, from his
very infancy, was
more influenced than
he by this holy
principle; or of
whom we might more
truthfully say that
his soul was its
throne - his whole
life its active
embodiment?
But why extend the
catalogue, or why
protract this
eulogium of him whom
now to praise were
indeed "to paint the
lily or to gild
refined gold." If on
the tomb of the
great architect of
St. Paul's, lying
beneath the
magnificent dome of
that proud temple
which his own genius
had created, it was
thought all
sufficient to
inscribe this
epitaph: "If you
would seek his
monument, look
around!" - may we
not, viewing this
goodly audience and
this large
assemblage of the
members of a mystic
fraternity, offering
up the holocaust of
their whole heart's
veneration - and
that, too, not here
alone, but in all
the widely separated
segments of this
vast empire - in the
North, in the South,
in the East, and the
West - all animated
by one common
feeling of joyous
exultation that the
most loved and
honored of our might
dead - was with us
and of us - bound
willingly and
cheerfully to
himself in our bond
of fraternity -
looking thus at all
that is around us,
in this public
display, and all
that is in us and
about us, in the
sentiment of honest
pride, that as
Masons warms and
animates us - may we
not point to this
day and to these
services as a
"monument more
perennial than
brass" of our own -
our venerated
brother.
The fact that
Washington was an
active and devoted
member of our
fraternity is in
itself a source to
us of gratulation,
because it furnishes
unanswerable
testimony (as one of
the ablest of our
opponents has
candidly admitted)
that "there is
nothing in the
institution at war
with
our duties as
patriots, men and
Christians." But,
while we thus
peculiarly honor the
greatest man of his
age, and assert that
in uniting with us
he vindicated by his
own virtue the
purity of his
principles, we may
be permitted to
indulge in the
consoling
consciousness that
such a vindication
was not altogether
wanting; but that
both before and
since the connection
of Washington with
the Craft the
history of
Freemasonry has
presented a
catalogue of
glorious names
inscribed upon its
proud escutcheon. It
is indeed with truth
that the ritual of
our Order declares
to each initiate
that "the greatest
and best of men in
all ages have been
encouragers and
promoters of the
art, and have never
deemed it derogatory
to their dignity to
level themselves
with the fraternity,
to extend their
privileges and to
patronize their
assemblies." Without
directing our
researches into that
remote antiquity
whose consideration
would involve us in
too elaborate an
inquiry, I may be
permitted to remind
the scholar and the
antiquary that
during the medieval
ages the art of
ecclesiastical
architecture was
carried by the
Freemasons to that
state of classic
beauty and
scientific
perfection that has
never since been
equaled by the
builders of
succeeding times -
that the invention
and the most
gorgeous examples of
the pointed gothic
are attributable to
our Masonic
ancestors - and that
throughout the whole
of Europe, from the
south of Italy to
the north of
Scotland,
cathedrals, abbeys
and churches lift
their tall and
graceful spires as
monuments of the
skill and ingenuity
of the fraternity -
or in their
magnificent ruins,
still "beautiful in
death," continue to
extort the
admiration of modern
taste or to defy the
rivalry of the
modern art.
It was then that
Popes and Bishops,
Kings and Nobles,
lavished their
patronage on our
Order, and vied with
each other in the
protection and
encouragement of the
institution. And
although at a
subsequent period
the church, from
motives into whose
character I will not
now stop to inquire,
withdrew its
friendly
countenance, and in
still later years
commenced a series
of unsuccessful
persecutions, many
notwithstanding, of
the good and wise,
the great and the
powerful in every
age and country,
have been found
among the disciples
of our mystic
school.
It is indeed with
somewhat more than
ordinary pride and
gratulation that we
claim as our
brethren, among a
host of others, such
men as Sir
Christopher Wren,
the builder of St.
Paul's - and Sir
Thomas Gresham, the
founder of the Royal
Exchange, the
princely gift to
London of one of
London's merchant
princes - and Elias
Ashmole, one of the
most learned of
English antiquarians
- and Helvetius, the
profound philosopher
and mighty thinker -
and Lalande, the
celebrated
astronomer of France
- and Goethe and
Schiller, the
immortal masters of
German poesy - and
Sir Walter Scott,
the great magician
of the North - and
Horsely, the
distinguished Bishop
of Rochester, who
boldly stood up in
the British
Parliament to
defend, when
assailed, that
fraternity of which
he proudly announced
himself to be a
member - and Sir
William Follet, the
learned and
exemplary
lawyer and the late
Attorney General of
England, who did not
hesitate to declare
his attachment to
our institution, and
to assign, as a
reason for that
attachment, "the
kindly sympathy and
widespread
benevolence and
cordial love" its
system created.
And the potentates
of earth have knelt
at our altar and
breathed forth our
vows. Frederick the
Great of Prussia,
and George IV of
England, with all
his uncles and
brothers, and Oscar
of Sweden, and
Christian of
Denmark, and Ernest
of Hanover, may be
named among the many
kings and princes
who have not only
been the patrons,
but the disciples of
our art.
And Napoleon, with
every marshal and
general of
Napoleon's camp; and
Nelson and
Wellington, whose
ashes are not yet
inured, and
Collingwood and
Napier, and every
distinguished leader
of England's army
and navy, have worn
the Mason's badge,
and learned the
Mason's sign.
In our own country
the roll of
distinguished Masons
is not less
honorable to the
fraternity. In the
revolutionary war
all the generals of
the American army,
both the children of
our own soil and
those noble and
kindred spirits who
came from France and
Germany and Poland
to assist us, were
bound together, not
only by the glorious
bond of common
struggle, but by the
additional cords of
Masonic fraternity.
And when in after
days, La Fayette,
that patriot of two
hemispheres, had
returned to the home
from which for our
cause, he had so
long been an exile,
he could find no
more appropriate
token of his
grateful
recollection to
convey to
Washington, his
venerated father in
arms, than a Mason's
scarf and a Mason's
apron, and which,
wrought by Madam La
Fayette, a Mason's
wife, were long
treasured and worn
by him to whom they
were presented, and
are now preserved as
sacred relics by the
Lodge at Alexandria.
In civil life we
claim an equally
noble catalogue.
More than fifty of
the signers of the
Declaration of
Independence,
several of our
Presidents and
judges, and many of
our most
distinguished
statesmen, have been
initiated into the
rites of Masonry.
Franklin, the chief
of our philosophers,
and Griswold, one of
the most pious of
our prelates, and
Clinton, the purest
of our patriots,
showed by their
steadfast attachment
to our institution
their just
appreciation of its
principles; and
Henry Clay, that man
of immoral mind,
whose death his
country is still
lamenting, is
recorded in our
annals as a Mason of
unfaltering
devotion, who, years
ago, sacrificed the
aspirations of
ambition to his love
of the Craft and
refused a nomination
for the Presidency
by what was then
supposed to be a
powerful party, when
the price of his
support was to be a
renunciation of
Freemasonry.
To men, to minds, to
hearts, like these
coming up in their
devotions to our
altars from all
times and from all
countries, Masonry
may proudly point,
as Cornelia did of
old to her children
and say, indeed with
truth, "These -
these are my
jewels."
One hundred years
have elapsed since
George Washington
knelt at the sacred
altar of Masonry, as
an humble thirster
after knowledge, and
then and there
imposed upon himself
those solemn vows of
obedience, and
fidelity, and
fraternity, which
entitled him to the
reception of our
mystic light. A
century has, since
then, been
irrevocably absorbed
in the measureless
abyss of time - and
a century, how full
of wonderful events.
How many old empires
have passed away,
and how many new
ones have been
ushered into
existence - how many
dynasties of kings
and Kaisers have
been blotted from
the herald book of
history, and how
many others have
been inscribed upon
its pages of mundane
glory! How many of
the wise and the
good, the noble and
the great, have
drifted in the
shattered bark of
life to the "shores
where all is dumb!"
How in that great
century, now forever
gone, has "Man put
forth His pomp, his
pride, his skill,
And arts that made
fire, flood and
earth, The vassals
of his will." How
many hearts that
then beat with all
the hopes of youth,
or with all the
ambition of age,
have ceased to
pulsate - and all
their throbs of love
and joy, or hate and
grief, been stilled
in the silence of
the tomb! What
millions of that
busy throng who then
peopled the earth's
surface have buried
all their struggles
and found a certain
rest for all their
varied labors in the
grave! What
revolutions have
there not been in
nations; what
changes in art and
science; how many
old theories have
been proved to be
fallacious; how many
new ones invested
with truth, since
that memorable
evening, when George
Washington was
initiated into our
sacred rites! And
he, too, with all
his energy and
endurance; with all
his wisdom and
purity; with all his
power and popularity
- even he has passed
away - has gone from
us forever, leaving
his glory and his
virtues as a legacy
to his country.
But time, which has
thus drawn into the
vortex of its mighty
gulf, the perishable
fabrics of man's
device, and buried
in one common wreck
- the inventors and
their inventions -
the players and the
stage on which they
strutted their
"brief hour," has
beaten in vain, with
all its rolling
billows against the
impregnable rock of
Masonry.
Though other things
have passed away,
that still remains;
now as it has ever
been indissoluble
immutable - no
landmark
subverted-no
fragment dissevered
from its perfect
mass; its columns
still standing in
strong support; its
lights still burning
with undiminished
splendor; its altars
still blazing with
their sacred fires;
its truth still pure
as in the day of its
birth hood; and when
the cycle of another
century shall have
revolved, and you
and I, and all that
are elsewhere
meeting on this
festival day, shall
have gone down to
the dust from whence
we sprung - another
generation will be
here - again to meet
upon a second
jubilee, and with
like hopes and joys,
and with like words
of granulation and
songs of triumph, to
celebrate the two
hundredth
anniversary of that
day which gave to
Masonry the noblest
of her sons, in him
who was "First in
war, first in peace,
and first in the
hearts of his
countrymen." |
