"The very grateful reception I have met among my brethren demands of me an expression of my most sincere and affectionate acknowledgements. Permit me to declare to you particularly, and the brethren of your Lodge, an unfeigned obligation for the very flattering regard you have been pleased to express for me.
"The science of Free Masonry, to which I have for many years been an humble votary, is wonderfully calculated to alleviate the many distresses and calamities to which mankind are exposed in their variegated and manifold duties in society, and when I recur to those scenes, to which you have been pleased so delicately to allude, I am constrained to acknowledge how much I have been cheered, sustained and animated in the various vicissitudes of my life, by the holy precepts and examples of our institution.
"That you and your Lodge may be blessed with prosperity and harmony, that the rising town of Macon may continue in its advancement, that Masonry may flourish, and the citizens enjoy all the social and intellectual blessings it so eminently inculcates, I pray you, sir, with the rest of my brethren to accept as my most sincere and ardent wish."
He remained in town but about two hours and a half, during which time, he in company with a large number of our citizens, partook of an excellent dinner prepared by Mr. Stovall. After dinner the following toast was given by Edward D. Tracy, Esq.:
"Our illustrious guest—the friend of our country, of liberty, and of man."
To which the General replied, and gave:
"The town of Macon—may its prosperity continue to be one of the strongest arguments in favor of republican institutions."
Very soon after dinner he bade an affectionate adieu to the gentlemen and ladies around him and resumed his carriage, at which time another national salute was fired. He was accompanied by the Committee, Commissioners of the town and a number of our citizens, on horseback, several miles on his way. It is understood he intended to lodge at the Agency; making the whole distance traveled during the day about sixty miles.
Singular Coincidence of Circumstances in the History Of Lafayette and Bolivar.