Section 2

I told him that it was not too late now. "Well," said he, "as likely as not I shall apply to you some day to let me in."
He was the most pure hearted, honest, upright man I ever knew, and ought to have been a Mason. Had he been my own father I could not have lamented his death more sincerely than I do.
Very truly and Fraternally yours,
B. B. French.
An examination of the transactions of all the Grand Lodges of the United States in existence in 1865, shows some reference
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by the Grand Master to the death of Lincohi or some action by the Grand Lodge of the following jurisdictions:
Connecticut. Massachusetts.
District of Columbia. Nevada.
Indiana. New Hampshire.
Illinois. New York.
Iowa. Ohio.
Maine. Wisconsin.
As would be expected no notice of the death of the President was taken by any Southern State, but their transactions for 1805 afford pathetic reading of tales of fire and sword.
Other Grand Masters and Grand Lodges occupied themselves with matters of Masonic routine only.
These actions of the Masonic Grand Lodges of the United States upon the death of Lincoln have not until this time been brought together.
Comparison has been heretofore made between Abraham Lin- coln and one of our first most excellent Grand Masters, in his virtuous and amiable conduct, in his unfeigned piety to God and in his inflexible fidelity to his trust, the Hiram who was also slain, and like him, his memory is not dimmed by the passing years.
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APPENDIX.
CONNECTICUT.
From address of David E. Bostwick, G. M., May 10, 1865.
While our hearts were swelling with gratitude to God that the dark clouds seemed lifting with signs of a coming peace, we are again plunged into the depths of sorrow at the loss of our beloved chief magistrate, upon whom all seemed to lean with confidence in this great emergency, struck down by the hands of a cowardly assassin.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, MAY 2, 1865.
From address of George C. Whiting, G. M.
On the evening of the 11th of April — a day which had been previously observed by the Christian world as the anniversary of the cruel murder of the Prince of Peace — our honored and beloved President, whilst enjoying a brief relaxation from the responsibilities and cares of his high official station, was stricken down by the hand of a wretched and misguided man. His crime no mortal thought can measure, and none but Him who hath said "vengeance is mine, I will repay," can adequately punish. Pie stands before the bar of the Judge Eternal, and our just though puny anger is hushed in the awful wrath of offended Deity.
As members of a loyal and order-loving association, peculiarly bound to be peaceable subjects to the civil powers, and never to be concerned in plots or conspiracies against the peace and welfare of the nation, nor to behave undutifully to magistrates, are called to share in the deep and universal sorrow, it is meet that we should recognize the amiable and virtuous conduct, and the inflexible fidelity to his trust, which so marked him as the fit successor to our illustrious brother — the great and good Wash- ington— and in some appropriate form give expression to our sense of the loss our country has sustained — for, in the language of the great poet, he
"Plath borne his faculties so meek, hath been So clear in his great office, that his virtues
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Will plead like angels, trumpet-tong'd, against The deep damnation of his taking off; And pity, like a naked, new-born babe, Striding the blast, or heaven's cherubim, hors'd Upon the sightless couriers of the air. Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye That tears shall drown the wind."
That portion of the address of the G. M. alluding to the as- sassination of President Lincoln was referred to Brothers B. B. French, R. McCurdy, and P. Plooe, who retired and subsequently reported the following preamble and resolutions :
Whereas, on the evening of April l-fth, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of America, was stricken down in death by the hand of an assassin, by which a cloud of grief was spread over the people, in the deepest affection of whose hearts his many virtues had enshrined him ;
And zvhereas, although he was not a member of our order, by his pure, and honest, and upright life, every act of which was marked by charity, brotherly love, relief and truth, he illustrated all the attributes that should beautify the life of a Free and Ac- cepted Mason ;
Therefore does the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia deem it eminently proper to announce to their Brethren and the world, their public appreciation of the dread calamity which has befallen the nation in the tragical death of its Chief Magistrate, their sorrow for its occurrence, and their abhorrence and detes- tation for the crime which, and the criminal who so wickedly removed him from the scenes of earth.
Resolved, That while the blow of the assassin which struck down Abraham Lincoln, almost paralyzed the hearts of his fel- low-citizens, to which he seemed dearer than any man who has lived since Washington, it has in no wise disconcerted the action of the Federal Government, the existence of which depends not upon the life of any man, but ever lives in the patriotism of the American people.
Resolved, That this Grand Lodge can find no words of suffi- cient strength to express their horror and detestation of the act which. deprived our country of its good, and pure, and virtuous
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Chief Magistrate, nor of the wicked assassin by whose hand the awful deed was done, and who has gone to meet the penalty of his crime. "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord."
Resolved, That this Grand Lodge hereby expresses its high admiration of the character of the late President, whose life was without a blemish, and who passed away from earth in the very zenith of his fame ; the goodness and kindness of whose heart was a proverb, and shall live in the memories of a grateful peo- ple, and be handed down from generation to generation as long as time shall last.
Resolved, That the bereaved widow and children of our mur- dered friend, have our sincere and heartfelt sympathies, and our fervent prayer that the God of the widow and the fatherless will so temper this dreadful affliction with mercy as to enable them to sustain their burden with fortitude, and to say in submission and humility, "The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."
Resolved, That the officers and members of this Grand Lodge will wear the usual badge of mourning for six months, in testi- mony of their respect for the memory of the great and good man who has fallen.
Resolved, That the Grand Secretary be directed to cause these proceedings to be published in the National Freemason and the newspapers of this city, to have a copy of them properly en- grossed and signed by the proper officers, and, under the seal of the Grand Lodge, presented to the family of the deceased.
Which was received and the resolutions adopted.
INDIANA.
Tribute to Abraham Lincoln.
At meeting of the Grand Lodge May 24, 1865, Brother Al- bert Lange asked that the rules be suspended to permit him to offer the following which was granted :
Whereas, In the inscrutable Providence of Almighty God, Abraham Lincoln, the first citizen of the United States by official station, the first by the rectitude of his life and daily conduct, the first by his devotion to the honor, interest and integrity of the country, the first by the power and influence which he wielded
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with wisdom, sagacity and courage, has been stricken down by the hand of an assassin ;
And, zvhereas, It is due that this Grand Lodge, representing 328 subordinate Lodges scattered over the whole expanse of the State of Indiana, should give expression to their sentiments at the appalling blow, which, like a thunderbolt from a cloudless sky, struck the heart of the whole nation ; therefore.
Resolved, ^st. That we look with abhorrence upon the act, which took from us and the country, which he so faithfully served, the man who through four years of deadly strife, with an eye single to the maintenance of the Government, has guided and directed us, and who, with the haven of peace and security in sight, was by a dastardly act snatched from the full fruition of his labors.
Resolved, 2d. That we concur with freedom loving people all over the globe, in the expressions of regret and deep sorrow, which this event has called forth, and that we will cherish Abra- ham Lincoln as the great Emancipator of an oppressed race with undying affection, trusting, that history, poetry and art will unite to keep his memory green in the remembrance of virtuous men for ever and ever.
Resolved, od. That a copy of these resolutions be forwarded to the bereaved widow and family of the deceased in token of our heartfelt sympathy with the great loss, which they and the country at large have sustained.
Above unanimously concurred in and adopted.
ILLINOIS.
From address of H. P. H. Bromwell, G. M., Oct. 3, 1865.
On the 14th day of April, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, was slain by the murderous hand of a ruffian. He fell at a time when he could least be spared when all eyes were turned to "the good President" as to the only being who could restore the Union, heal the wounds of war, and set the Govern- ment in motion in harmony with the new order of things. At that moment God permitted him to be taken away, to teach us "that the Most High ruleth in the kingdoms of men and giveth it to whomsoever he will." Abraham Lincoln, the pure patriot,
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the wise statesman, the good President, the honest man, died a martyr to his country, to Hberty and truth, and was mourned for as no man has ever been mourned. He was not a Free Mason, but in his life and character he illustrated many of the virtues taught and cherished by the Craft.
I herewith submit a letter of sympathy and condolence from Renaissance Lodge working under the jurisdiction of the Grand Orient of France.
In October, 1867, the Grand Lodge of Illinois chartered Abra- ham Lincoln Lodge, No. 518, at Young America, Warren County, Illinois.
IOWA.
From address of Edward A. Guilbert, M. D., G. M., June 6, 1865. Forth from the furnace fires of the most terrible internecine struggle of all time, the nation has come, as came Jupiter out of the war with the Titans, endowed with resistless strength and power, with her noble escutcheon cleansed from the plague-spot which has so long polluted it, the republic stands proudly now in the light of God's approving smile, "redeemed, regenerated, DIS- ENTHRALLED."
"Now is the winter of our discontent Made glorious summer by our boys in blue; And all the clouds that low'r'd upon the land. In the deep bosom of the ocean buried. Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths, Our bruised arms hung up for monuments ; Our stern alarms changed to merry meetings ; Our dreadful marches to delightful measures. Grim-visaged war hath smoothed his wrinkled front. And now instead of mounting barbed steeds To fright the souls of fearful adversaries. He capers nimbly in a lady's chamber To the lascivious pleasing of a lute."
Truly, the cloud has turned a "silver lining" to the light, but yet like a scintillant diamond in a setting of jet, that "silver lin- ing" is bordered with the emblems of mourning. Even in the hour of victory, while the glad lo ! rang over the jubilant North
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and the recreated South, "there was death in the White House" ; the head of the nation — the wise and pure — the clement and faithful President was "done to death" by the assassin's bullet, and he who was fast becoming the idol of his countrymen, was not! Mournfully sublime was the instantaneous and universal transition from delirious joy to profoundest sorrow. In a mo- ment of time the notes of exultant clarions and the sonorous tenor of the republic's Te Deum changed into muffled drum- beats, and the thrilling baritone of heart-born wailing.
"He had borne his faculties so meek, had been So clear in his great office, that his virtues Did plead like angels trumpet-tongued, against The deep damnation of this taking olif."
Like a wounded hyena in its expiring throes, rebellion struck her last vicious blow at the nation's life, and thereby slew the truest friend the insurgents had. Yet how swift was the pun- ishment the fiendist agent of a fiendish cabal received. And how few there are that mourn because amid retributive physical pangs of the most exquisitely painful character, this modern Judas gave up his worthless life and went to his reward.
Let every true Mason praise the G. A. O. T. U. that the execrable conspiracy against the Government of our fathers, was in part unsuccessful, and that with scarcely a perceptible devia- tion from her direct course, the gallant ship of state went stead- ily on, albeit her pilot had fallen at her helm, a victim of one of the most damnable crimes of history. Could any fact more forcefully demonstrate the stability of the republic — more nota- bly evince the protecting care of the Omnipotent, — more grandly attest Columbia's title to emblazon on her shield the additional motto— ESTO PERPETUA! than that the warworn ship of state unchecked by that "sudden sound and shock" which would have precipitated almost any other country into the maelstrom of revolution, pursued her stately voyage, leaving as luminous a wake as ever behind her. God, Himself had given her a mis- sion to perform. He knew that
— "humanity with all its fears, With all its hopes of future years, Was hanging breathless on her fate";
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and in His good providence Fie saved her harmless from the shock, and capacitated the appalled people soon to see that it
"Was of the wave and not the rock!"
The helmsman was gone, but as ever "strong and great," the glorious ship sailed on ! her meteor flag to be sure was at half- mast in sorrow for her loss, but in mute, yet eloquent attestation of the worth of him who was receiving the sublimest funeral obsequies the world ever saw. And worthy was he of them :
For he won not power with the sword.
But by the love a nation bore For him whose very soul was stirr'd
With love for those he ruled o'er. With steady stride, onward he went,
The light of great deeds on him beaming; Up, up Fame's mountain's steep ascent
Its peak unto; and while around him streaming Were fruition's banners; from that summit high.
Like Moses who Pisgah ascended to die — He sprang from the earth to his home in the sky.
Masons' hands assisted to bear him to the "equal grave"; Masons' Lodges were clad in the emblems of mourning for de- parted worth, and Masons mingled their laments with those of the nation, which
— around his bier Are gather'd in sorrow and fear Longing to see of this stroke the end, And mourning a father and a friend! And their offspring in all coming time. Shall remember well the ruler brave And be guided by his star sublime. And shall make a shrine of his lonely grave!
And it was fitting that Masons should thus evince their love of country and their regard for its murdered ruler, who, though he was not a Mason, revered the Order, and was himself com- posed of the stuff out of which the most capable, the most be- nignant f raters are made.
The committee on the address reported as follows:
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Your committee recommend that we hereby express our sat- isfaction with the appropriate and timely eulogy on the death of President Lincoln, and that the thanks of this Grand Lodge are due to the M. W. G. M. for this portion of his address.
On motion of Bro. Parvin, G. S., the M. W. G. M. appointed as a committee to report resolutions expressive of the feelings of this Grand Lodge in regard to the assassination of our kite President the following brethren :
Col. John Scott,
Gov. Wm. M. Stone,
Lieut. Gov. E. W. Eastman.
The special committee on the assassination of President Lin- coln presented the following report and resolutions, which were unanimously adopted :
Your committee, appointed to express by resolution the sense of the Grand Lodge of Iowa in relation to the awful calamity which has befallen our nation in the murder of Abraham Lin- coln, late President of the United States, knowing that words are but a mockery, and cannot relieve the burdened heart, yet feel- ing that propriety and duty require that this Grand Lodge should not be silent, present the following resolutions :
1. Resolved, That in our lamented late President we recognize a patriot and statesman of purity and wisdom, who has safely carried our country through the most terrible ordeal of the past four years, earning the admiration of the world by his purity of intention and singleness of purpose, and the unbounded gratitude of thirty millions of his countrymen. That Abraham Lincoln should and will be revered while time shall last, as great and good among names not born to die.
2. Resolved, That as Masons we are taught to detest con- spiracies, plots and rebellions ; and in an especial manner to ab- hor assassination.