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a profound conviction of the immensity which should ever separate the name of Him, whom the heaven of heavens cannot contain, from the purest and best of mortals—but still I say, it was a holy lesson, and second only to that one, so much more holy, which teaches us to say, "Our Father who art in heaven." We will teach it to our children, and they shall teach it to theirs; and upon that glorious Monument of human hearts, it shall be borne onward until Time shall be no more. We erect not, then, this Monument of marble to enable us, or those who may succeed us, to remember Washington, but we erect it as a mark of our affection, our veneration for the memory of the great and good man whose name it bears; and it shall hereafter be viewed, by an admiring world, as the evidence to all future time that this republic is not ungrateful. We commence here, a great, a patriotic, a glorious work; and when it shall have been completed, who that shall visit this city, but will come to this spot, and while contemplating the Monument of a nation's affection, but will feel his bosom warm, and his heart expand with the holy fire of patriotism? His thoughts will not recur to him alone whose name it shall bear, but also to that galaxy of great names, who not only pledged everything, but risked everything, that we might stand here, this day, in the proud position which we occupy before the world.
Is there, then, a single individual among the millions who hail this as their common country, who, possessing the ability, will refuse the proffered honor of being permitted to contribute his mite to so noble, so patriotic an enterprise? I trust not one!
The fraternity of Freemasons can recur, with proud satisfaction, to our revolutionary struggle, when they remember that every general officer of the American armies, save one, was a Freemason—at least the pen of history has so made up the record, and he, whose eyes never beheld
"That hieroglyphic bright
Which none but craftsmen ever saw,"
died a traitor to his country![1]
- ↑ This portion of the address was extemporaneous, and the language used was such as the speaker's mind suggested at the instant. He ought, perhaps, to have said, traditioary rumor, instead of "the pen of history." Since the address was delivered, he has seen a newspaper statement that Gen. Arnold was a Freemason. He is sure that he was often seen the contrary stated. One rumor may offset the other, until proof is adduced, when no one will more cheerfully bow to the evidence than himself.—B. B. F.
