Illuminating Power Of Freemasonry.

The symbology of Freemasonry is , also , one of the surest proofs of its antiquity . The earliest language was sj'raboYic . Things were made before words . Men talked by signs before they talked by word of mouth . And to this day he speaks most forcibly who employs the language of symbol , metaphor , poetry , imagination .

Fieemasonry illumines the understanding . Of itself it is a liberal edncation to him who pursues its study witb diligence . It inspires nobility of mind . It introduces to the company of the learned , the proficient , the thoughtful . It inculcates wisdom—the wisdom of Solomon ,

traditionally ; the wisdom of the "First Great Light , " in thought , word and deed , actually . And then , whoever pursues the history of tho Craft—as every Freemason should—in these days , when such Masonio histories as those of Gould , Fort , Lyon , Findel , Steinbrenner and Stillson are so

easily to be obtained , and almost every Masonio jurisdiction has its Masonic journal , another light dawns upon the mind . The investigator basks in perpetual sunshine . The student of Freemasonry finds a fourth groat light shining upon him , the light of past history , to explain

the present , and enable him to enjoy all of its usages and customs . Freemasonry came out of the past , and no Freemason who lives merely in the present secures all of the instruction snd enjoyment to which , aa a Craftsman , he is entitled . He should have among his intimates Willliam of

Sens , the architect of Canterbury Cathedral ; William of Wykeham , that of Winchester ; Elias Ashmole , the earliest known English speculative Freemason ; Benjamin Franklin , the early and all-round Freemason , who served the Craft in all of its stations , from Secretary of his Lodge to

Grand Master of his Grand Lodge . By familiarising ourselves with tho Masonic records of such great men and Masons we may make them our associates , receive inspiration from their words and works , and rejoice in their active connection with our Fraternity .

The sun rises and sets upon Freemasons ; who that is one of them should not rejoice in his heritage of glory ? The sun brightens our morning hours , and gilds our evening labour and refreshment . The three Great Lights of the

Craft illuminate the life of every brother who is a true " son of Light , " and make him a brighter , happier , holier man , a man who is a thinking , speaking , acting embodiment of " sweetness and light . "—Keystone .

Hints To Johannite Masonic Eulogists.

HINTS TO JOHANNITE MASONIC EULOGISTS .

Bv BRO . JACOB NORTON .

I HAVE road , perhaps , some scores of oratipns and essays about the Saint Johns' connection with Masonry , but I found them so insipid , so destitute of common sense , that I ceased troubling myself with them , save and except occasionally to remind Bro . MacCalla

that his historical narratives about tbe Saint Johns were not O . K . But I happened to notice in the FREEMASON ' CHRONICLE of 8 th August an address on St . John the Baptist by the Rev . James Byron Murray , Grand Royal

Arch Chaplain of New York , delivered before the New York Grand Chapter , on 4 th February 1891 , filling four columns of the paper , and winding up with " To be continued : " and in the next number I found five and-a-half

more columns occupied with the same address , and knowing that &\ l the information found in the gospels about the Baptist might be pi'inted in about a column and-a-half of the FREEMASON ' CHRONICLE , I wondered , therefore ,

in the first place , at the extraordinary length of the address . Second , I could not understand why a St . John ' s oration should bo delivered on the 4 th February ? And , third , I wanted to know what St . John had to do with Chapter

Masonry ? For the above reasons I was induced to wade through the nine columns and-a-half in the two numbers of the FREEMASON ' CHRONICLE . But I am sorry to say that I found the said columns filled with the same kind of flummery and nonsense which is peculiar to that class of Masonic oration .

But , putting religious prejudices and sensitiveness aside , I mean to say that from beginning to end of the address the doings and merits of the Baptist are ridiculousl y magnified and exaggerated . Indeed , I cannot see that John the Baptist taught anything either new or marvellousor

, that he did anything that was wonderful . It seems that

Hints To Johannite Masonic Eulogists.

John , who was doubtless a sincere enthusiast , imagined that , imitating Elijah , he could induce sinners to repent of their sins . Now Elijah , Elisha , and what is called "the school of prophets" ( which they founded ) , were dressed in a peculiar uniform . Elijah ' s dress , says

Millman , " was that of a desert herdsman ; he had long wild hair , the sheepskin and tbe leathern girdle around his loins , tho coarse mantle of haircloth which fell from and hung in its dark folds around his massive shoulder . " St . John also wandered in a desert , and

" was clothed with camel's hair , and with a girdle of skua about his loins ; " Elijah , when in the wilderness , was fed by ravens , St . John lived in the wilderness upon " locusts and wild honey . " Elijah ' s aim was to destroy idolatry among the Jews . In the time of John , idolatry no longer

existed among the Jews ; but then , as now , somo were rich and some wero poor , and then , as now , the former were more or less selfish , and more or less tyrannical and unjust to tho poorer class . I do not suppose that the per centage of sinners in Jerusalem in those days exceeded or even

equalled the per centage of sinners that may be found to-day in our large cities . For instance , if we look among our politicians , lawyers , merchants , and even parsons , we find amongst them a large per centage of sinners , and if we take a glance at what is called our slums , I think we shall

find in those quarters more atrocious sins committed than could be found in Judea in tho days of the Baptist . However , there is no doubt that some of the Jews in those days ought to have been better men that they were , and tho Baptist probably imagined that by imitating Elijah he

might effect somo further reforms ; and so , attired in the old prophet-fashioned uniform , the Baptist called upon sinners to repent , and to be baptized . There was nothing new in the " idea of asking sinners to repent , and there was nothing original or divine in the idea of baptism ; for

that rite was practised among pagans , aud purifying in a bath was not unknown among Jews . To be sure , according to the Book of Matthew , by prophetic influences John is aaid to have recognised Jesus , and said to him , " I have need to be baptized of thee . " But , on the other hand ,

Lnko tells us , that when John was in prison , and heard of somo of the doings of Jesus , he sent two disciples to investigate the question , and told them to ask Jesus , " Art though ho that should come ? " and the above implies that John was no prophet at all .

In Josephus there is a paragraph about Christ which is generally admitted to be a forgery or an interpolation there is also a short account of John the Baptist in Josephus , about which opinion is divided . Assuming ,

however , that every word thereof was written by Josephus , the reason he gave for John ' s death differs from that given in . the gospels . Now , the question is , first—which of these accounts is correct ? and second—is either of the said

accounts strictly true ? Again , from the earliest times prophets existed in every country under tho son ; there wero prophets in Egypt , India , China , Greece , and Rome . They had oracles , pythons , sibyls , soothsayers , astrologers , and interpreters of

dreams . In Greece and Rome men of as high intelligence as our St . John ' s eulogisers possess believed in their oracles just as much as our Masonic lecturers believe in the divine inspiration of the Baptist . They had prophets in the middle ages , and we have hundreds , or may be

thousands of prophets living now . For instance , we have here in Boston a church composed of " Christian Scientists , " who claim to be able to cure all disease which flesh is heir to by their prayers . Again , the lately published Memoirs of Laurence Oliphant and of Elis his wife , inform us of an

American prophet , viz ., Rev . Thomas Lake Harris . We have also hundreds of Spiritualists in Boston , who not only communicate with invisible spirits , but with materialised spirits to . And who has not heard about the American Morman prophet Joseph Smith , who was murdered by a wicked

mob of American " Gentiles ? " and who has not heard of the prophet Sir William Oourtenay , who , with his faithful disciples , was shot in Canterbury , •by wicked English soldiers ? Again , the Anabaptist prophets were

slaughtered wholesale m the days of Luther . St . Loyola is claimed by all good Catholics to have been an inspired prophet , and so was Santa Teresa , one of the Patron Saints of Spain , * an . undoubted prophetess ; that is , if all