"TO THE MASTER, WARDENS, AND BRETHREN OF "KING DAVIDS LODGE IN NEWPORT RHODE ISLAND." "_Gentlemen_, "I receive the welcome which you "give me to Rhode Island with pleasure, and I "acknowledge my obligations for the flattering "expressions of regard, contained in your address, "with grateful sincerity. "Being persuaded that a just "application of the principles, on which the Masonic "Fraternity is founded, must be promotive of "private virtue and public prosperity, I shall "always be happy to advance the interests of "the Society, and to be considered by them as "a deserving brother. "My best wishes, Gentlemen, "are offered for your individual happiness."[33] "Go. Washington" =FAC-SIMILE OF NOTICE SENT TO BROTHER WASHINGTON AT MOUNT VERNON TO ATTEND HIS LODGE. TREASURED BY THE WIFE OF PRESIDENT MADISON UNTIL HER DEATH. ORIGINAL IN ARCHIVES OF GRAND LODGE OF PENNSYLVANIA. MSS. VOL. A, FOLIO 81.= Footnotes: [27] A copy of the Extracts from the Records of King David's Lodge, No. 1, as made by Ara Hildreth, Esq., is in the Archives of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, Mss. Volume Q, R.I. 7. Cf. also a verified copy of the Minute in "Proceedings of the Anti-Masonic Republican Convention of Massachusetts, Boston, 1832," p. 22. [28] _Vide_ "The Jews and Masonry in the United States," by Samuel Oppenheim, New York, 1810, p. 22 _et seq._ [29] Cf. "Catalogue of the Washington Collection in the Boston Athenaeum," Boston, 1897, p. 331. [30] Letterbook II, p. 29. [31] Cf. "Washington after the Revolution," W. S. Baker, Philadelphia, 1898, p. 192. [32] Cf. _Pennsylvania Packet_, August 30-31 1790. [33] Copy of Address in Letter Book II, pp. 27-28, Photostat of same in Archives of Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania. V CORRESPONDENCE WITH ST. JOHN'S LODGE, NO. 2 AT NEWBERN, N. C., APRIL, 1791. The next Masonic letter of President WASHINGTON was written, in answer to an address by the brethren of St. John's Lodge, No. 2, at Newbern, North Carolina, during his southern tour in 1791. April 7, 1791, WASHINGTON started on a tour through the Southern States, by way of Fredericksburg, Richmond, and Petersburg, Virginia; Halifax, Tarborough, Newbern, and Wilmington, North Carolina; Georgetown, and Charleston, South Carolina; and Savannah, Georgia. When advice of this proposed presidential visit reached Newbern, the brethren of St. John's Lodge, No. 2,[34] at the stated meeting held on April 1, 1791, passed the following resolution. "_Resolved_, that an address shall be presented to Brother GEORGE WASHINGTON, in behalf of this Lodge, on his arriving in this town."[35] Upon his arrival at Newbern, N. C., April 20, following address was presented to the President,[36] which, together with the reply, has thus far never been in print or noted: "TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.