THE FEENCH IN FREEMASONRY 387 



tial music, amid the greatest display and wildest enthusi- 

 asm on the part of the people. On the following day, 

 Laftiyette was made an honourary member of the Freder- 

 icksburg Lodge, which was organized in 1752. This 

 lodge has the honour of being General George Washing- 

 ton's '' Parent Lodge," and the records state that on the 

 fourth day of November, A. L., 5752, the " light of 

 Freemasonry " first burst upon his sight. Visitors to the 

 library of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, A. F. & 

 A. M., in the Masonic Temple, Boston, look with deep 

 interest upon the Masonic relics treasured there. Among 

 them is a Masonic apron worn by the Marquis de Lafay- 

 ette at the laying of the corner-stone of the Bunker Hill 

 Monument, June 17, 1825. Thus, among the other at- 

 tachments which bound the gallant Frenchman so closely 

 to Washington were the ties of Masonic brotherhood. 

 Another apron to be seen in the Temple, is one that was 

 worn by General Oliver, of Boston, at a lodge meeting 

 when General Washington was present. 



It is an interesting fact that the French Lodge, Lodge 

 L^Amenite, in Philadelphia, was the first to hold a lodge PhtiTdeTphia 

 of sorrow in this country, and did so upon the death of 

 Washington in December, 1799. This French Lodge was 

 chartered by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, and in- 

 cluded in its membership a large number of Huguenot 

 descendants, one of whom, Simon Chaudron, delivered 

 before the lodge a funei-al oration on George Washington, 

 on January 1, 1800. He said in part : 



A new spectacle bursts on the eye of philosophy. The whole uni- oration on 

 verse perhaps, for the first time, will unite in offering a tribute of vvashington 

 gratitude to the memory of a mortal . . . the modest Hero, 

 whom impartial truth this day proclaims the defender of the human 

 race. . . . He took up arms only for the defense of the soil that 

 gave him birth, and only to prevent its devastation. It was without 

 doubt that, then fighting against Frenchmen, he learnt what powerful 

 aid might be derived from that brave and generous nation for the es- 

 tablishment of liberty in the new world. . . . To us Frenchmen, 



