ing reply, accepting the fraternal
invitation.

"MOUNT VERNON, June 19, 1784.[24]

"_Dear Sir_: With pleasure, I received the invita- tion of the
master and members of Lodge No. 39, to dine with them on the
approaching anniversary of St. John the Baptist. If nothing
unforeseen at present interferes, I will have the honor of doing it.
For the polite and flattering terms in which you have expressed
their wishes, you will please accept my thanks."

"With esteem and respect,
"I am, dear sir,
"Your most Ob't serv't
"Go. Washington"

"Wm. Herbert, Esquire."

=PLACE OF MEETING OF ALEXANDRIA LODGE, No. 39, ON PENNSYLVANIA REGISTER,
ALEXANDRIA VIRGINIA, WHERE GENERAL WASHINGTON ACCEPTED HONORARY MEMBERSHIP,
JUNE 24, 1784.=

No copy of this invitation nor acceptance, has thus far been found among
the Washington papers.

The original of this letter is also said to be among the relics of
Alexandria-Washington Lodge, No. 22. As no fac-simile copy was
obtainable, an engrossed copy for same was substituted in the collection
of Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania.

This banquet was held at Wise's tavern[25] and was participated in by
WASHINGTON, who upon this festive occasion was elected an honorary
Member of Lodge No. 39, upon the Pennsylvania register, and thus became
a Pennsylvania Freemason, and his name is duly recorded as such upon the
minutes of Lodge No. 39.

This fact further contradicts the Anti-Masonic arguments based upon the
Snyder letter so extensively used during the years 1826-1833, that
WASHINGTON never belonged to any Masonic Lodge, after his initiation in
the Fredericksburg Lodge in 1752.

The above note as recorded upon the Minutes of Alexandria Lodge, No. 39,
shows that WASHINGTON was in complete harmony with the Masonic
Fraternity; further, that by his acceptance of membership, WASHINGTON
became a Pennsylvania Mason.

Among the cherished relics in the Alexandria Lodge, there is none more
valuable than the Masonic portrait of Brother WASHINGTON, which forms
the frontispiece of this volume. This was painted from life in pastel,
by William Williams, at Philadelphia in 1794.

In the year 1910 a fac-simile of this portrait was made in oil by Miss
Fanny M. Burke, an artist of repute, and a great-granddaughter of Thomas
Jefferson. This replica made for the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania is the
only one ever made of this portrai