In 1788 Dr. Dick retired from the East to enable WASHINGTON to assume the office of Worshipful Master, and on his retirement, on St. John's Day, December 27, 1789, Dr. Dick again became the Master. He was succeeded by Col. Deneale, who was installed December 27, 1799; but before investing him with the emblems of that office, Dr. Dick delivered an address, an extract from which is here given: "But, on the present occasion, my brethren, a cloud of SORROW surrounds our prospect. A recent and heavy calamity has obstructed every avenue to mirth. Our great and good Master is no more! He who hath so often united in our annual celebrations is gone, to return not again! He whose presence was wont to inspire surrounding multitudes with reverence and admiration; he who was but lately the boast of his own country and the wonder of the world, now lies cold and prostrate in his tomb! Thus, my brethren, is lost from the treasure of the universal lodge its brightest jewel! Feeble is the language of euolgium when applied to a character of such uncommon worth. Statues of marble will prove the love and gratitude of his survivors; but his own virtues and his services have already implanted a monument far more durable than these in the bosoms of his countrymen. May it be particularly nurtured by the fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons to the end of time! So mote it be!"

The installation of the officers having been concluded, the Lodge, accompanied by Brooke Lodge, No. 47, was escorted by the military to the Presbyterian Church (Dr. Muir's), where a

was delivered by Rev. William Matfit. Similar services were held at the same church on Sunday, December 29, 1799. In the forenoon a sermon was delivered by Rev. Thomas Davis. and on the following Sunday, January 5, 1800, the Rev. Mr. Tallison delivered a discourse on the DEATH OF WASHINGTON.

The 22d of February, 1800, was observed throughout the country in accordance with a recommendation of Congress. At ten o'clock that day the Lodge assembled, and having received Brooke Lodge, No. 47, formed in procession, and under a military escort, commanded by Col. Deneale, W.M., officer of the day, marched to the Presbyterian Church. where an oration on the "Day and Decease of WASHINGTON" was delivered by Past Master Dr. Elisha C. Dick, which concluded as follows:

"Modest and unassuming, yet dignified in his manners; accessible and communicative, yet superior to familiarity, he inspired and preserved the love and respect of all who knew him. For the promotion of all public and useful undertakings, he was singularly munificent. The indigent and distressed were at all times subjects of his sympathy and concern. His charity flowed in quiet but constant streams from a fountain that was at no time suffered to sustain the smallest diminution. No pursuit or avocation, however momentous, was permitted to interrupt his systematic attention to the children of want. His anxious solicitude on this score is pathetically exemplified in a letter, written in 1775, at a time when the unorganized state of the army might have demanded his exclusive concern. Addressing himself to the late Lund Washington. he writes:

" 'Let the hospitality of the house be kept with respect to the poor. Let no one go away hungry. If any of this kind of people should be in want of corn, supply their necessities, provided it does not encourage them in idleness. I have no objection to your giving my money in charity, when you think it will be well bestowed. I mean that is my desire that it should be done. You are to consider that neither myself nor my wife are now in the way to do these good offices.'

"Such, my fellow-citizens, was the man whose memory we have assembled to honor. It has been your peculiar felicity often to have seen him on the footing of social intimacy. That the inhabitants of Alexandria held a distinguished place in his affection you have had repeated testimony. You have seen his sensibility awakened on occasions calculated to call forth a display of his partiality. The last time we met to offer our salutations and express our inviolable attachment to the venerable sage, on his retiring from the Chief Magistracy of the Union, you may remember that, in telling you how peculiarly grateful were your expressions, the visible emotions of his great soul had almost deprived him of the power of utterance.

"But Heaven has reclaimed its treasure, and America has lost its first of patriots and best of men; its shield in war, in peace its brightest ornament; the avenger of its wrongs, the oracle of its wisdom, and the mirror of its perfection. His fair fame, secure in its immortality, shall shine through countless ages with undimished lustre. It shall be the statesman's polar-star, the hero's destiny, the boast of age, the companion of maturity, and the goal of youth. It shall be the last national office of hoary dotage to teach the infant that hanges on his trembling knee to lisp the name of WASHINGTON."