human
That all the letters said to be written by Washington to Lodges are spurious. This is rendered nearly certain: First, by the non-production of the originals: Second, by the absence of copies among the records of his letters: Third, by their want of dates: Fourth, by the fact that his intimate friend and biographer, Chief Justice Marshall,[81] (himself a Mason in his youth,) says that he never heard Washington utter a syllable on the subject, a matter nearly impossible, if Washington had for years been engaged in writing laudatory letters to the Grand Lodges of South Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts.