Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

We do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions of our Cor . respondents . All Letters mitst bear the name and address of the Writer , not necessarily for p >\ iblication , but as a guarantee of good faith . We cannot undertake to return rejected communications .

FREEMASONRY AND THE SAINTS JOHN . To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —We in England should absolutely know nothing of the Craft literature of America wero it not for your excellent paper . No doubt some brethren on this side of the Atlantio take in the American Masonio publications , but they are kept for private use , and but for the quotations you give now and again they

would be caviare to the Fraternity at large . I confess to a liking for the Keystone , not because I endorse altogether what it says , but because of the evident earnestness that characterises all its Masonio productions . Take the artiole on " St . John ' s Day , " printed in your issue of the 29 th ult ., for example . A proper distinction is there drawn between fact and tradition , and while fact alono is held up as

determining matters of history and practice , an affection is nevertheless displayed for tradition . The editor seems that he would fain oling to the belief that both St . John the Baptist and St . John the Evangelist were Freemasons . If it is not so , why does he refer to Masonio symbolism and the sun , to the zodiacal connection between " Cancer" and St . John the Baptist , and " Capricorn" and St .

John the Evangelist ? He appears to me to wish that the reasons given why the Craft should honour both Saints' days were true ; it is quite certain that the editor of tbe Keystone , if called upon to judge of the sanity of any one who should boldly assert as fact what tradition affirms , he would either observe that excellent motto" Silence , " or very mildly rebuke the enthusiast .

In dealing with facts , the editor in question is loyal to the patron saints . In that respect America generally is with him , at least so far as one of them is concerned—St . John the Evangelist . He rebukes the English and Scotch brethren for deserting the Saints John for St . George and St . Andrew , preferring , as he says , " patriotism " to " primitive practice . " If I might venture into the

realm of speculation , I would suggest that it is just possible that patriotism had little , if anything , to do with the change . We are reminded in the article I am quoting from that " the Grand Lodge of England was revived on St . John the Baptist's Day , 24 th June 1717 , " afterwards changed to "St . John the Evangelist ' s Day , 27 th December . " When the transfer of allegiance to St . George

took place , we are not informed , but with regard to St . Andrew , we are told that " The Festival of St . John the Baptist was kept , by the Grand Lodge of Scotland until 1737 , when the annual election was changed to St . Andrew's Day . " I am not at present concerned with Scotland , but with England , and it does appear that those who contend for the specific and dogmatic character

of Freemasonry , prior to the Constitutions of Anderson , may have better grounds for their belief than many writers on Masonic history yield to them . Nothing would be more natural—having changed the religions oharacter of the body—than to obliterate the names which personified tbe old faith . Bro . Hughan , in his " Memorials of the Masonic Union , " says , " The precise origin of the secession of

1730-52 has not yet been exactly ascertained , but we may safely assume that the disagreement which arose was mainly fostered by the Operatives , in whose practical minds the institution of the Society of Free and Accepted Masons on a cosmopolitan basis was evidently regarded aa directly opposed to their ancient customs and privileges . " I gather from this that the Operatives objected to being absorbed into the more

Speculative body , and thus lose their identity . But in the next sentence Bro . Hughan seems to furnish the key by which the conduct of the Operatives i 3 to be explained . He says : " The struggle for supremacy commenced in earnest on the Festival of St . John the Baptist , 1723 , when the election of the learned natural philosopher , Dr . Desaguliers , as Depnty Grand Master , met with opposition ,

forty . two adverse votes being registered out of a total of eightyfive . " The authority to Anderson to revise and complete the history and regulations of the existing old Constitutions was granted by Grand Lodge on the 29 ch September 1721 , and he finished his work in 1723 , just about the time , as Bro . Hughan says , " the straggle for supremaoy commenced in earnest . " It is a fact beyond dispute

that men cling to faith in religion long after they have sacrificed everything else ; it is the last stronghold to yield , and I am inclined to think that the change made by Anderson in the religious basis of the Order had more than anything else to do with the struggle that culminated finally in 1813 . It is significant also to notice that another edition of the Constitutions appeared in 1738 , when the Schism ,

which began nearly twenty years before , took a more active and defiant form , and resulted in the establishment of another Grand Lodge a few years later . Although the fundamental principles of Craft Masonry are the same all over the world , it is quite clear that the American brethren attach a Christian oharacter to it , such as does not exist in England .

They adhere to St . John ' s Day , and their Masonic literature abounds in allusions to Christ and the religious faith of Christianity . On the occasion of the Anniversary of the Grand Lodge of Massachusotts , held on St . John ' s Day , 27 th December 1882 , a poem was recited , entitled , " Through Death to Life , " in which , occurs the following verse : —

"You have heard these tales , shall I tell you one—A greater and better than all ?—Have you heard of Him whom the heavens adore ; Before whom tho hosts of them fall ?

Correspondence.

How He left the ohoirs and anthems above , For earth in its waitings and woes , To suffer the shame and pain of the Cross , And die for the life of his foes ? 0 Prince of the noble ! 0 Sufferer divine ! What sorrow and sacrifice equal to thine !"

Such an incident would be almost impossible in England , and were it to happen , no doubt it would give rise to muoh hot blood , because of the essential Theistio character of the Craft , which is here observed in letter as well as in spirit . While speaking of St . John's Day and America , I may just mention a very interesting ceremony that took place in St . John ' s Lodge ,

No . 1 , Providence , on the occasion of their 12 oth auniversary , held on the 27 th December 1882 . To celebrate the event a gold medal had been struck , and , judging from the eugraviugs I have seen of it , it must bo a very elegant memento . On one side of it there are the faces of the two Saints John , and insoribed round the border are the words— " Saint John ' s Lodge , Namber One , Providenoe , 1757 . " On

the other side are the arms of the Lodge , bearing the motto" Suivez raison , " with the inscription around— " One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Anniversary , 1882 . " On this oooasion , too , an elegant altar was ereoted , the brethren also returned to the old custom of wearing silver chain collars , to which were attaohed the jewels of their several offices . I have referred to these matters to show with

what reverence our brethren in America venerate the names of the two Saints John . From what I have said in a previous part of my letter , I infer that the religious charaoter of the Craft has undergone considerable changes , and that it is quite possible , nay , even probable , that , owing to those changes , much of the difficulty that arose in the revival period from 1717 onwards is to be attributed . I offer

the foregoing scattered thoughts for what they are worth , merely observing that I approach the subject with an open mind , and with , I trust , that respect which is due to those of my brethren who are entitled to speak with authority on all matters pertaining to the Craft . Yours humbly and fraternally , INQUIRER .

BRO . YARKERS HISTORY . To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICIE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —Considering that Bro . Yarker offers himself as an authority in Masonio History , it is ' astonishing how many and inexcusable are the mistakes into which he falls . He began by stating that Grand Master Payne was censured by Grand Lodge for attending Schismatic Lodges . It turned out that it was not Bro .

Payne , but Bro . Sayer , whom he intended . Then Bro . Sadler pointed out that Bro . Sayer was not guilty of tho charge of attending such Lodges , and now—that is , in his letter which appeared last week in your columns—he writes : " I might have strengthened my last letter by referring to the 1765 List of Lodges of the' Anoient ' Lodges . These may be found printed in the ' Freemason ' s Magazine

and Masonio Mirror , ' 19 th June 1896 . In it there are two Lodges dating prior to 1721 , as follows ;—" ' 1 . Queens Arms , St . Pauls Churohyard , Second Wednesday . Constituted Time Immemorial . Every fourth Wednesday there is a Masters' Lodge . It is also the West India and American Lodge . ' "' 2 . Horn , Westminster , second Thursday . '"

It is a great pity that Bro . Yarker does not carry his researches a little below the snrface . Had he done so in this instance , he conld hardly have failed to discover , and that without the slightest difficulty , that though the list he refers to is certainly headed " Ancient Lodges , " it refers to the " regular" Lodges holding under the 1717 Grand Lodge , not to the " Schismatic " Lodges . If this is not made

sufficiently clear by the explanatory note whioh immediately follows the title— "A New and Correct List of all the English Regular Lodges in Europe , Asia , Africa , and America , according to their seniority and constitution . By order of the Grand Master . Brought down to April 19 th , 1765 "—it is so by the internal evidence afforded by the List itself , as well as by a few other circumstances with

which an exponent of Masonic History may reasonably be expected to be acquainted . For instance , the 98 Lodges of the said list published on 19 th June 1869 , as aforesaid , and the 21 Lodges—to No . 119 inclusive—which appear in the "Freemasons' Magazine and Masonic Mirror " for the week following—are dated from " Time Immemorial" down to October 1740 , while , according to the

statement made by Bro . Gould in his " Atholl Lodges "—see page 5 of his work under Lodge No . 8 , now No . 15— " the Warrant of No . 8 seems to have been the first issued by the ' Ancients , ' and was signed by the Masters of Nos . 3 , 4 , 5 , and 6 , in 1751 . " At all events , as the date commonly assigned for the com . mencement of the Schism is about the year 1738 , it is

clear that by far the greatest number of these 119 Lodges , having been warranted before that year , cannot possibly have belonged to the " Schismatic " or so-called " Ancient" Grand Lodge . Then it does not need a pair of spectacles to discover that the Lodges Nos . 1 and 2 , noted by Bro . Yarker , are present Nos . 2 and 4 , both Time Immemorial , and the survivors of the "Four Old Lodges "

which founded the Grand Lodge of 1717 . Again , if it were possible there could be any doubts as to this list being one of "Regular " Lodges , as . it is described , and not a list of " Schismatic " Lodges , the names of very many of the places at which they met wonld show this , as they are to be found in other "Regular" Lodge lists ; aud though in one or two instances it may have happened that a " Regular" and

a " Schismatic Lodge met at one and tbe same place , it is most improbable that this should have been the case in dozens of instanoes . Moreover , according to Gould , the so-called "Ancients" did not publish a list of Lodges till 1807 , while the " Regulars " published annual lists from an early date—some time before there was a Grand Master to order the publication of a list of " Schismatic " Lodges .