Washington's Masonic Correspondence Part 3

=WAs.h.i.+NGTON'S HEADQUARTERS

NEWBURGH-ON-THE-HUDSON WHERE THE WATSON AND Ca.s.sOUL LETTER WAS WRITTEN, AUGUST, 1782.=

Owing to the uncertain intercourse between the two countries, it was almost seven months before Brother WAs.h.i.+NGTON received the Masonic ap.r.o.n, ornaments and letter from France. He at that time was in camp with the army at Newburg on the Hudson.[16]

In reply WAs.h.i.+NGTON sent the following autograph letter to the donors in Nantes, viz.:

"STATE OF NEW YORK "Augt 10th 1782.

"Gentn.

"The Masonick Ornamts "which accompanied your Bro- "therly Address of the 23d of "Jany last, tho' elegant in "themselves, were rendered "more valuable by the flattering "sentiments, and affectionate "manner, in which they were "presented.--

"If my endeavours to "avert the evil, with which this "Country was threatned by a "deliberate plan of Tyranny, "should be crowned with the suc "cess that is wished--The praise "is due to the _Grand Architect_ "of the Universe; who did not see "fit to suffer his superstructures "and justice, to be subjected to the "Ambition of the Princes of this "World, or to the rod of oppression, "in the hands of any power upon "Earth.--

"For your affectionate "Vows, permit me to be grateful; "--and offer mine for true Brothers "in all parts of the world; and "to a.s.sure you of the sincerity "with which I am

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

"Messrs "Watson & Cosson[17]

"East of Nantes"

This autograph letter from WAs.h.i.+NGTON to Messrs. Watson and Ca.s.soul is now in the possession of the Grand Lodge of New York, who purchased it from a member of the Watson family in the year 1866 or 1867 at a cost of approximately $1,000, and is now framed and secured between two sheets of gla.s.s in the collection of the Committee of Antiquities of the Grand Lodge F. & A. M. of New York.[18]

It is written upon two pages of an ordinary letter sheet, and was a copy of one written by WAs.h.i.+NGTON, with which he was not entirely satisfied, as shown by the changes made in the text before it was sent to France.

The first copy WAs.h.i.+NGTON retained, and is now in the Library of Congress, and is here given for comparison, viz:

"STATE OF NEW YORK, "Augt 10th 1782.

"_Gentn._,

"The Masonick Orna- "ments which accompanied your "Brotherly Address of the 23d.

"of the first month, tho' elegant "in themselves, were rendered "more valuable by the flattering "sentiments, and affectionate "manner, in which they were "offered.--

"If my endeavours to "avert the evil, with which "this Country was threatned, by "a deliberate plan of Tyranny, "should be crowned with the "success that is wished--the "praise is due to the _Grand "Architect_ of the Universe; who see fit to "who did not ^ suffer his superstruc "tures & justice, to be subjected ambition of the Princes of this world--or "to the ^ rod of oppression, in the "hands of any power upon Earth.

"For your affectionate "vows, permit me to be grateful; "and offer mine for true Brothers "in all parts of the world; and "to a.s.sure you of the sincerity "with which I am,

"Yrs.

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

Endorsed to "Messrs. Watson & "Cosson--Nantes "10th Augt 1782."

=FAC-SIMILE OF THE ORIGINAL DRAFT OF WAs.h.i.+NGTON'S LETTER TO WATSON AND Ca.s.sOUL, NEW YORK, AUGUST 10, 1782.=

A photographic fac-simile of the letter now in New York, and a photostat of the original copy retained by WAs.h.i.+NGTON are in the collection of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania.

The firm of Watson and Ca.s.soul of Nantes, France, acted as confidential agents of the American Government during the Revolutionary period, as is shown by their correspondence with Benjamin Franklin in the Franklin Mss. collection of the American Philosophical Society.[19] Elkanah Watson was also a bearer of despatches to Dr. Franklin.

Footnotes:

[13] "Men and Times of the Revolution, or Memoirs of Elkanah Watson,"

New York, 1856, pp. 135, 136.

[14] Cf. "Proceedings Grand Lodge of New York," 1867, p. 28.

[15] "Memoirs of Elkanah Watson," p. 135.

[16] Cf. "Itinerary of General WAs.h.i.+NGTON from June 15, 1775, to December 23, 1783," by William S. Baker, Philadelphia, 1892, p. 271.

[17] It will be noted that on both the draft and letter, WAs.h.i.+NGTON spells the name Ca.s.soul--"Cosson."

[18] Catalogue of Antiquities and Curios, Grand Lodge F. & A. M., New York, Cla.s.s J, No. 1, New York, 1905.

[19] Cf. "Calendar of the Papers of Benjamin Franklin in the Library of the American Philosophical Society," edited by I. Minis Hays, Volume V, p. 312.

II

CORRESPONDENCE WITH ALEXANDRIA LODGE, NO. 39, VIRGINIA, DECEMBER, 1783.

The next Masonic Letter of Brother WAs.h.i.+NGTON of which we have any knowledge is the one written in answer to a letter sent him, upon his return to civil life by the Brethren of Lodge No. 39, on the register of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, which met at Alexandria, Virginia.

December 23, 1783, General WAs.h.i.+NGTON presented himself to "The United States in Congress a.s.sembled," at Annapolis, Maryland, and resigned his Commission that he had received on June 17, 1775, as Commander-in-Chief of the Armies of the United States.

Upon Christmas Eve he returned to Mount Vernon, whereupon the Brethren at Alexandria, who, it must be remembered, were working under a Pennsylvania Warrant, at once sent the following Address signed by the Officers of Lodge No. 39, to Brother WAs.h.i.+NGTON at Mount Vernon,[20]

viz.:

"_Sir_: Whilst all denominations of people bless the happy occasion of your excellency's return to enjoy private and domestic felicity, permit us, sir, the members of Lodge No. 39, lately established in Alexandria, to a.s.sure your excellency, that we, as a mystical body, rejoice in having a brother so near us, whose preeminent benevolence has secured the happiness of millions; and that we shall esteem ourselves highly honored at all times your excellency shall be pleased to join us in the needful business."

"We have the honor to be, in the name and behalf of No. 39, your excellency's

"Devoted friends and brothers, "ROBERT ADAM, M.

"E. C. d.i.c.k, S. W.

"J. ALLISON, J. W.

"WM. RAMSAY, _Treas._"

"His Excellency General Was.h.i.+ngton."