Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1901-08-02
Strong are the Ties
te~-or-
Masonic Fraternity.

anu bnC
is also shown by the growth of the
order at this time. Masters Lodge
alone, at Albany, received eighty
three new members during the his
toric year of 1776.
ON THE FIELD OF BATTLE.
But the most important service, af
ter the Revolution was fairly launch
ed, was rendered by the lodges formed
in the Continental Army. There were
ten of these lodges; they were scat
tered along the camps from Massa-
ehusetts to North Carolina, and their
growth was fostered and encouraged
by the Commander-in-C WASH
ington himself attended their commu
nications frequently-now as a visi-
tor, meeting soldier brethren on
level, and now as Master, sitting in
the oriental chair and bringing can
didate to Masonic light. 1t was in
one of these lodges-American Union,
at Morristown, N. THAT Lafayette
is believed to have received his de-
grees.
Lodge meetings were sometimes
held in officers tents and sometimes,
as in the case Of the army encamped
on the Hudson, in q permanent build
ing specially erected for that purpose.
And so active were these military
Masons that movement was started
and several conventions held at Nor
ristown, with a view to establishing
an American general grand lodge
and making Washington Grand Mas
ter of the United States.
1t is difficult to overestimate the
strategic value of these army lodges
In the first place they promoted fel-
lowship and solidarity in the ranks
and sympathy between officers and
men. In an army where the humblest
private might sit in lodge on level
with the Commander-in-C Chief there
arose a spirit Of self-sacrifice, mutual
helpfulness and devotion-an esprit
du corps-which no hireling soldiery
could have. Where the distinctions of
rank were lost in the ties of brother
hood, even the sufferings of that ter
rible Winter at Valley Forge might be
made endurable. Again, the prevail
ence of Masonry in the patriotic arElS
insured secrecy in the plans of cam
paign and fidelity in their execution.
Councils of war, it is said were fire.
quently held in the lodge room, whore
their deliberations were under the
double seal of Masonry and patriot
ism. Generals could intrust their
dispatches TO couriers who were broth
er Masons. and feel certain that moth
ing would be divulged. Thus the
eighteenth century brethren formed
the strong army of the continental
service.
1t is claimed that nearly every Am
erican General was Mason; certain
ly the leading ones were. Even the
allies, Lafayette, the Frenchman, and
Steuben, and DeKalb, the Germans,
were members of the order. John Paul
Jones, the founder of our navy, is
known to have petitioned st. Ber-
nard's Lodge at Kirkcudbright, Scot
land, and probably was member OF
it. Had the Freemasons been with
drawn from the continental forces
the Revolution must have been dis
NAL failure.
But we must never forget that moi
all Freemasons of the Revolution
were enrolled in the patriotic ranks
that they were numerous in the in
Yading army as we'll. Ross, the his.
torian of the Grand Lodge of Now
York, records as operating during the
war in that State alone more than 81
British military lodges. And to the
fact that Masons were actively en-,
gagged on both sides is due some ot
the most gratifying incidents of the
war. 1t is said that the fairest flow.
prs are those tnat bloom over the wal
of party; but how much moro mus
be said of those that bloom amid thu
strife Of armies.
Early in tho war an event occurred
that proved the strength of the Ma
sonic tie. At tho Battle of the Cedars
, near Montreal, Col John McKinstry
a Freemason, was captured by ban,
, of Indians whose chief was the cele
{ brated Joseph Brand, also a Mason
, In accordance with savage custom
, the prisoner was bound to a stake
faggots were PILED about him, and tn
, torch was about to be applied, whel
he gave TO Chief Brant the sign whicl
/ Masons know the world around-th
: grand haillng sign of distress. Indial
: though he was, the chief recognize,
+ The sign and ordered the torture l.
Q cease, and he and his captor becam
r fast friends for the rest of their lives
a . pnir, In ITO .Insanh Pur,haua