Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-04-19

the struggle for liberty, In welding closer
the bonds Of friendship In mitigating the
hardships Of army life and the horrors OF
war which It was powerless to prevent IN
impressing some of its principles upon the
organic law Of the land, and, finally, IN
healing the wounds in the body polite when
the struggle had ended.
Many and stirring were the events OF
that period in which the members Of our
fraternity took part. / mention one only.
That celebrated tea party in Boston harbor
OF November %, 1773-the first overt act OF
resistance upon the part OF the revolution
ists-was led by the famous Paul Revere. a
distinguished Mason, and 1t is said that all
the active participants on that occasion
were Masons.
TT is also stated on good authority that
all but three, I believe, of the signers Of
the Declaration of Independence were Ma
sons, as was the immortal Washington,
who indicated his attachment to the fra
ternity on many public occasions, but on
none perhaps more strikingly than when,
on the Both day of April, 1889. In the city
of New York. the oath of Office as Presi-
dent of the United States was admins
tered to him by Robert r. Livingston,
chancellor of the state Of New York and
grand master of Masons, and solemnly at
tested when he pressed his lips to the Holy
Bible brought for the purpose from the
altar of st. Johns Lodge-the oldest in the
state
"As of Washington so we may say of all
of his generals, without exception-that
they were Misunderstanding the generous
and chivalrous Lafayette, the masterful
Baron Won Steuben, and the intrepid sea
captain, John Paul Jones. And So too, of
Frederick the Great-that striking military
genius and contemporary of Washington
whose friendly disposition toward the COL
onles was clearly indicated in his refusal
to allow the Hessians to pass through his
Kingdom, on their way to take the field, as
mercenaries, against us.
Fraternity's Distinguished Representa-
tives.
''MasOns of all ranks were represented in
that patriot army, from the entered ap-
prentice up through the various grades, and
from the subordinate officers of obscure
lodges to the grand masters of states.
Among the most distinguished was the
country at Bunker HILL He was grand
master of Masons of Massachusetts,, and
as the Rev. Sidney Hayden has said Of his
death: 1t was the first grand offering Of
Masonry at the altar of Liberty, and the
ground floor of her temple was blood-stain-
ed at its eastern gate
ALAS, ere the struggle had ended the
blood of the brethren had dyed with Grim
son all the ga$ewdys Of her temple
While Masonry tnculcates those lessons
of virtue and morality which have their
highest exemplifcation in a belief in the
fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of
man, and which if followed by mankind
would result in the nations beating their
swords into plowshares and their spears
into pruning hooks, there Ia nothing in it's
precepts inconsistent with the Hottest pa
triotiSm, as a reference very briefly to some
of the Masonic patriots Of the revolutionary
period will indicate: but the time at my dis
posal is SO short as to compel me to limit
myself to mention Of the names of a few
only of those occupying high position, both
in Masonry and in the annals Of their coun-
try, and in memory Of whom both your So
ciety and mine can meet upon common
ground to do them reverence:
"Peyton Randolph provincial grand mas
ter of Pennsylvania and president Of the
Congress of Delegates; Paul Revere, grand
master of Masons OF MASSACHUSETTS,; Ben.
Franklin, grand master of Masons Of Penn
sylvania; Edmund Randolph, grand master
of Maso!:s of Virginia; Gen. VIM. Stephens,
grand master of Masons of Georgia; Gen.
Rufus Putnam, grand master of Masons of
Ohio; Gen. Mordecai Gist, grand master Of
Masons of South Carolina; Maj Gen. John
Sullivan, grand master Of Masons of New
Hampshire and governor of that state;
Gen. James Jackson, grand master of Ma
sons Of Georgia and governor Of that state
Gems. William Richardson Davie and Rich
ard Caswell, grand masters of Masons Of
North Carolina and governors OF that state.
"And l could name many other prom
inent patriots, and have not yet named a
man among the vast number of humber
members of the frat -rnity who participated
in the revolution. and who had received their
cities and villages of the colonies or in any
of the so-called army lodges which had
their meeting places on the tented field or
wherever the regiments to which they were
attached CHANGED to be temporarily sta
toned. 1t was in one Of these army lodges
No. 80 on the Pennsylvania roster-that
LAFAYETTE was raised to the sublime degree
of master Mason.
The Sword and the Trowel.
And so we feel that patriotism and
Masonry-symbolized by the sword and the
trowel-were so closely associated with the
lives of the persons whose history Is to be
preserved by the Society of the Daughters
of the American Revolution that we may
take an interest in the work you are doing
and in what this edifice shall stand for.
This gavel, which 1t has been my privt-
lege to employ in these ceremonies, was
made expressly for use in the laying Of
the corner stone of the United States Capt.
toll and was employed for that purpose by
President Washington, acting as grand
master of Masons on that occasion. 1t was
by him presented to Potomac Lodge of this
city by whose courtesy / am permitted to
use it today. 1t has been employed in the
ceremonies of laying the corner stones of
many of the federal buildings and other
structures and monuments in this and other
cities, and it seems to me that there is a
peculiar appropriateness in the circum-
stance that the gavel which was first used
by the foremost patriot in American his
tory in laying the corner stone of the Capt.
tol at the seat of government should today
be employed in laying the corner stone of
a building commemorative of the virtue
and patriotism of the men and women
whose efforts and sacrifices made this gov
eminent possible"
Mrs. Wolworth's Greeting.
Mrs. Wolworth the first of the founders
| to speak. said:
Twenty-three years ago, in New York
city, in April, 1881 / stood in the library of
the New York Historical Society building,
on I'd avenue, when Mr. John A Stevens
said to me: Il intend to organize Society
of Sons of the Revolution, and wish your
| brother. Gen. Hardin, to be member"
Very WELL" 1 replied, but we shall also
! have Society of the Daughters of the Rev
olution."
THAT is a capital idea" he answered
Three years later, 1884, he founded the
Sons of the Revolution in New York city.
Nine years later, $780, we, Miss Washing
| ton, Miss Desha and i, founded the Daugh-
| tiers of the American Revolution, on Au-
gust 8. in Washington city.
Two months later, October II, score and
| more of patriotic women, including the Of
fcers and managers we had appointed on
| August 8. met with us to strengthen and
perfect the organization Already in Au-