Excerpt from Letters and Addresses on Freemasonry This kindness of Mr. Gridley was never forgot ten by my father; I trust it never will be forgotten by his children. From that day forth, while Mr. Gridley lived, he was the intimate friend, per sonal and professional, of my father. He died in 1767. My father often resorted to him for friend ly counsel, and, as he was grand master of the lodge, once asked his advice, whether it was worth his while to become a member of the society. In the candor of friendship Mr. Gridley answered him, No, adding that by aggregation to the soci ety a young man might acquire a little artificial support, but that he did not need it, and that there was nothing in the Masonic institution worthy of his seeking to be associated with it. So said at that time the Grand Master of the Massachusetts Masons, Jeremy Gridley; and such, I have repeatedly heard my father say, was the reason why he never joined the lodge. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.