t WASHINGTON was equally scrupulous in dating his letters,
and it is believed that not one can be found, which is without a
date."[5]

It appears that the chairman of a committee of citizens of Boston called
upon the officers of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts to submit their
two Washington letters to Jared Sparks for his inspection. This the
Grand Officers refused to do.

In return Sparks sent the following letter to the Chairman:

"Boston, February 18, 1833.

"_Sir_,--I received this morning your letter of the 15th instant, in
which you inquire:

"Whether I have yet seen or had in my possession any original letter
or letters, in the hand writing of General Washington, addressed to
any body of men denominating themselves Freemasons.

"In reply, I can only state that I have seen no letters from General
Washington of the kind described in yours, nor received any
communication on the subject, either verbal or written.[6]

"I am, Sir,
"Very respectfully,
"Your ob't servant,
"JARED SPARKS."

How Sparks could have overlooked the numerous entries in the letter
books whose numbers and folios are here quoted, also the drafts of
replies in WASHINGTON's hand-writing and signed by him (copies of which
are here given in this work), can only be accounted for by the fact that
he must have been carried away by the political excitement of the day.

WASHINGTON's connection with the Masonic Fraternity has been
exhaustively traced by Brother James M. Lamberton, Past Master of
Perseverance Lodge, No. 21, in his address "WASHINGTON AS A FREEMASON,"
from the day of his entrance into Fredericksburg Lodge, No. 4, of
Virginia, September 1, 1752, until the day of his death, December 14,
1799, before the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, at its celebration of the
Sesqui-Centennial Anniversary of the Initiation of Brother GEORGE
WASHINGTON into the Fraternity of Freemasons,[7] held in the Masonic
Temple, in the city of Philadelphia on Wednesday, November 5, 1902.

It must also be remembered that WASHINGTON made a public profession of
his membership in Philadelphia, Monday, December 28, 1778, when he
walked in procession with his brethren of the Grand Lodge of
Pennsylvania, from the College at Fourth and Arch Streets to Christ
Church on Second Street above Market Street, Philadelphia, where, after
a prayer by Rev. William White, a sermon