Washington's Masonic Correspondence Part 15

"_Sir_,

"Many apologies are "due to you, for my not acknowledging "the receipt of your obliging favour of for "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 ne- "farious & dangerous plan, & doctrines "of the Illuminati, but never saw the "Book until 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, name- "ly, the multiplicity of matters which me "pressed upon before, & the debilitated "state in which I was left after a se "vere fever had been removed, and "which allows me to add little more now, "than thanks for your kind wishes and "favourable sentiments, except to cor- "rect 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 thirty "once or twice, within the last years.

"I believe notwithstanding, that "none of the Lodges in this Country are "contaminated with the principles as- "cribed to the society of the Illuminati."

"With respect "I am, Sir, "Your Obedt Hble Servt

"Go. Was.h.i.+ngton"

"The Revd Mr Snyder.

Endorsed to "The Revd Mr. Snyder.

"25th Sep. 1798."

=FAC-SIMILE OF PRESS COPY OF WAs.h.i.+NGTON'S SECOND LETTER TO REV. G. W.

SNYDER.--OCTOBER 24, 1798.=

In this letter WAs.h.i.+NGTON was correct in stating that he had not presided over the "English Lodges in this Country," undoubtedly meaning as Grand Master General.

Where WAs.h.i.+NGTON says "_The fact is I preside over none_," he meant that he did not then preside over any individual lodge, as he at that time was a Past Master of Alexandria Lodge, No. 22, of Virginia.[68]

Where he says "_Nor have I been in one_, [meaning an individual lodge]

_more than once or twice within the last thirty years_," he obviously had in view his occasional visits to the various lodges during that period, and that he could not, on account of his official duties and other conditions, attend any lodge regularly.

As a matter of record, WAs.h.i.+NGTON was a member of Alexandria Lodge, No.

39, of Pennsylvania,[69] and attended some of its meetings at Alexandria in 1783 and 1784, as is shown by the Minutes of the Lodge, and the records here presented.[70] Further, that when the Brethren of Alexandria Lodge, No. 39, changed their allegiance from Pennsylvania to Virginia, General WAs.h.i.+NGTON was especially named in the warrant, after his consent having been first obtained,[71] and thereby became the Warrant Master of Lodge No. 22, under the Virginia jurisdiction, April 28, 1788, serving as such until December 20 following, when, as the minutes of that date show,[72] he was unanimously elected to succeed himself for the full term, serving in all about twenty months.

The records further show that, in 1778, WAs.h.i.+NGTON occupied the chief position in the procession at the celebration of St. John the Evangelist by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia in 1778, in which more than three hundred Brethren joined.[73]

He also occupied the same position when he laid the corner stone of the present capitol at Was.h.i.+ngton, September 18, 1793, clothed with the Masonic Ap.r.o.n presented by Lafayette, which is now in the Museum of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania. Upon both of these occasions, WAs.h.i.+NGTON made a public profession of his members.h.i.+p in the Masonic Fraternity.

Records show that WAs.h.i.+NGTON was present at the meeting of American Union Lodge (a Military Lodge), at Morristown, N. J., December 27, 1779;[74] at American Union Lodge at Nelson's point on the Hudson June 24, 1782;[75] at King Solomon's Lodge of Poughkeepsie, December 27, 1782, and occasionally at Alexandria Lodge, No. 39, in 1783-1784, and the Virginia Lodge, No. 22, between the years 1788 and 1797.[76]

WAs.h.i.+NGTON in the next paragraph of his letter to Snyder makes his meaning absolutely clear, that while he had not attended any Lodge regularly during the past thirty years he plainly states: "I believe notwithstanding, that none of the Lodges in this Country are contaminated with the principles ascribed to the society of the Illuminati."

This belief is further accentuated by the letter to the Grand Lodge of Maryland a few weeks after the above letter was written to Snyder.

In addition to above records, there are numerous traditions of WAs.h.i.+NGTON's occasional visits to Masonic Lodges and functions:[77] all of which fall within the thirty years mentioned in the Snyder Letter.[78]

Further, WAs.h.i.+NGTON's great interest in Freemasonry is shown by the many addresses received from different Grand and Subordinate Lodges throughout the Union, all of which he acknowledged in fraternal terms, also by the various Masonic const.i.tutions and sermons dedicated to him, which he received with thanks and were preserved in his library.

It will be noted that in the fifth line from the bottom, "_Within the last thirty years_," which in all Anti-Masonic publications is printed in italics, the word "_thirty_" was not in the body of the letter as originally written, but was an afterthought and interlined before the press copy was taken.

In the press copy of this letter, it will be noted that the word written over the words "_last years_," is almost indecipherable; in the photostat it is completely so. This has led some investigators to question whether the interlined word is really "_thirty_."

The surmise that the blur in the press copy of WAs.h.i.+NGTON's letter to Snyder, was "thirty" was first promulgated by Jared Sparks, when he furnished the text of the letter to the Anti-Masonic agitators, during the political excitement which swept over the New England States in the second decade of the nineteenth century.

Snyder, upon receipt of this letter, undoubtedly after consultation with persons who were politically opposed to WAs.h.i.+NGTON or antagonistic to the Masonic Fraternity, wrote a second letter and sent it to Mount Vernon under date of October 17, 1798; no copy of this letter has thus far been found among the WAs.h.i.+NGTON papers in the Library of Congress.

WAs.h.i.+NGTON immediately sent the following sharp reply to Snyder, in which he plainly sets forth his belief that the Masonic Lodges in the United States were not interested in the propagation of the tenets of what was then known as Jacobism or the Illuminati. The words as underscored in the original letter by WAs.h.i.+NGTON were to emphasize his meaning upon this subject.

Photostats of both of the above letter press copies are in the Archives of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania.

"MOUNT VERNON 24th Oct. 1798.

"_Rev. Sir_,

"I have you favor of the tive "17th instant before me and my only mo: "to trouble you with the receipt of this let "ter, is to explain, and correct a mistake "which I perceive the hurry in which I "am obliged, often to write letters, have "led you into.--

"It was not my intention to doubt "that, the doctrines of the Illuminati, and "principles of Jacobism had not spread "in the United States. On the contrary, no "one is more, fully satisfied of this fact "that I am.

"The idea I meant to convey, was, "that I did not believe that the _Lodges_ "of Free Masons in _this_ Country had, as "_Societies_, endeavoured to propagate the "diabolical tenets of the first, or the per- "nicious principles of the latter, (if they "are susceptible of separation) That "individuals of them may have done it, or "that the _founder_, or _instrument_ employ "ed 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 "but little leisure is allowed me to read News "Papers, or Books of any kind. The reading "of letters and preparing answers, absorb "much of my time.--

"With respect,--I remain, "Revd Sir, "Your Most Obedt Hble Servt

"Go. Was.h.i.+ngton"

"The Revd.

"Mr Snyder."

Endorsed to "The Revd Mr Snyder, "24th Oct. 1798."

It is a historical fact that WAs.h.i.+NGTON had always retained the highest respect for the people of Maryland, and especially the citizens of Frederick County. No man ever stood higher in the estimation of the people of Maryland than WAs.h.i.+NGTON, and his death awakened genuine sorrow. On February 22d, 1800, memorial services were observed in the Reformed Church at Fredericktown.[79] It was a solemn day and the whole County was in mourning; at which time Ex-Governor Thomas Johnson p.r.o.nounced the funeral oration. Snyder took no part in these services.

The two letters to Snyder were chiefly relied upon by the Anti-Masons to support their political claims.

"That Was.h.i.+ngton was never in a Lodge but twice, in his life; that he paid no attention to Masonry during the war; that in 1781 he declined being addressed by Masons as a brother Mason, and in 1798 was very particular to insist upon the fact that he had not been in a Lodge, but once or twice in 30 years, and knew nothing of their principles and practices."[80]

How false these statements so frequently made, is shown by the many proofs here presented in fac-simile of the originals, which also absolutely controvert the statement in Governor Ritner's Vindication?

viz:--

"That all the letters said to be written by Was.h.i.+ngton to Lodges are spurious. This is rendered nearly certain: First, by the non-production of the originals: Second, by the absence of copies among the records of his letters: Third, by their want of dates: Fourth, by the fact that his intimate friend and biographer, Chief Justice Marshall,[81] (himself a Mason in his youth,) says that he never heard Was.h.i.+ngton utter a syllable on the subject, a matter nearly impossible, if Was.h.i.+ngton had for years been engaged in writing laudatory letters to the Grand Lodges of South Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Ma.s.sachusetts."[82]

The movement to elect General WAs.h.i.+NGTON a Grand Master over all the Brethren in the United States originated at a meeting of American Union Lodge, held at the encampment of the American Army at Morristown, New Jersey, December 15, 1779. This Lodge was a Regimental Lodge of the Connecticut Line, originally warranted by the Provincial Grand Master of Ma.s.sachusetts.

This movement continued to find favor amongst the craft, especially in Pennsylvania, and culminated in a motion to that effect at a General Grand Communication of the Grand Lodge, December 20, 1779.

This resulted in a Grand Lodge of Emergency being convened January 13, 1780, when the following action was taken:[83]

"This Lodge being called by Order of the Grand Master, upon the request of Sundry Brethren, and also in pursuance of a Motion made at the last General Communication, to consider the Propriety as well as the necessity of appointing a Grand Master over all the Grand Lodges formed or to be formed in these United States, as the Correspondence which the Rules of Masonry require cannot now be carried on with the Grand Lodge of London, under whose Jurisdiction the Grand Lodges in these States were originally const.i.tuted; The Ballot was put upon the Question: Whether it be for the Benefit of Masonry that 'a Grand Master of Masons thro'out the United States'

shall be now nominated on the part of this Grand Lodge; and it was unanimously determined in the affirmative.