THE FRENCH IN FREEMASONRY 393 



established by Freemasons. When he was Grand Treas- 

 urer of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, 1810-19, he 

 gave his last year's salary, amounting to one hundred 

 and seventy dollars, to found a Charity Fund for the 

 Fraternity, to be used for the benefit of its members, or 

 of widows and orphans, in Ciise of need. 



V 



The name of Paul Revere is as familiar to the Paul Revere 

 present generation as household words. His Masonic 

 career began in the Lodge of St. Andrew in 1761. In 

 1782 he was a charter member of a new Lodge which 

 took the name of " Rising States." He was Grand Mas- 

 ter of Masons in Massachusetts for three years, 1795-1797, 

 during which time he signed the charters of twenty- 

 three new Lodges, all of which are now in existence ex- 

 cept two. 



Of Paul Revere as a Freemason, this is said by Charles 

 Ferris Gettemy, in Tlie True Story of raid Revere, just 

 issued : " In none of the civic activities of the time was 

 he more prominent than in the affairs of the Masonic fra- 

 ternity. One of the most eminent and widely known 

 Masons of the Revolutionary era, he, in the lan- 

 guage of a Masonic eulogist (G. Ellis Reed, W. M. of 

 Revere Lodge), ' served his country and his beloved Fra- 

 ternity with a spirit that should inspire every Brother ; 

 a spirit composed of the three great essentials, freedom, 

 fervency, and zeal.' ' In the Green Dragon Tavern,' says 

 E. Bentley Young in his oration at the Centennial cele- 

 bration of Columbian Lodge in 1895, ' where he first saw 

 Masonic light, he met his patriotic Brethren in secrecy to 

 devise means for impeding the operations of the British, 

 then in possession of the city. Masonry and patriotism 

 were identified in his person and in those of his compa- 

 triots who met him in retirement.' 



"Entering Masonry through St. Andrew's Lodge, Sep- 

 tember 4, 17G0, he maintained a zealous interest in the 



