1From George Washington to the Masons of King David’s Lodge, Newport, Rhode Island, 18 August 1790 (Washington Papers)
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...