"there were many reservations about having that kind of thing."
No, not really. For a long time, being a freemason was seen as a patriotic duty.
I do realize that because Washington's remarks were along those lines. At the time I first read about the Freemasons, I wondered why there was such reluctance to involve them in things. However, there was an uneasiness in the way Washington said things about the Masons, as if those kind of people could easily lose their sense of self-discipline, even though, as you stated, being a Freemason was a patriotic duty. It just didn't all come together until becoming aware of the disarray in D.C. Today, I think we are seeing what Washington feared most...