Hints To Johannite Masonic Eulogists.

that was written about her was true ; so was Mahomet and many others known and believed to have been prophets . Bro . Murray praised the Baptist for his extraordinary

chivalry . Now 1 think that the prophet Joe Smith , and others I conld namo , wero at least as chivalrous as the Baptist , and the prophets Courtenay , Mahomet and others wero oven more chivalrous than the Baptist .

Abont the prophetess Santa Teresa referred to above , Henry Charles Lo : * , M-. D ., of Philadelphia , in his " Religious History of Spain , " printed in 1890 , says : —

Sometimes ahe asserted that Christ was with her ; sometimes that she herself was Christ , or that she was the bride of Christ . Often ahe held conversation with the Virgin , in whioh she spoke for both , and wonld ceremoniously contend abont precedence , as when passing throngh a doorway the Virgin wonld say , " the bride of so great a

son should go first , " to whioh she would reply , " If you had not borne Christ , I should not have been his bride , tbe mother of my spot-so must have every hononr . " ( page 220 . ) In the bull of canonisation of Saint Teresa , issued in 1622 , Gregory XV . not only accepts as indubitable her visions and

revelations , but tells us that Chrut formally took her as hw spouse ; that when receiving the sacrament she saw the body of Christ so perfectly that she in no way envied the blessed in heaven , who enjoyed the beatifio vision of God , that during life she shone iu miracles and cured the sick with a touch . At her death-bed the

bystanders saw her already in glory ; one beheld the bed surrounded by angels , another saw heavenly lights hovering over her , another witnessed figures in white garments entering her oell ; another saw a white dove fly to heaven from her mouth , while a withered tree

near the sanctified spot suddenly burst into full bloom . After her death she appeared to a nun , and said that sho had not died of disease , bnt of the intolerable fire of divine love . In the communications which she received from God sometimes future events were revealed to her , and these all came duly to pass , & o . ( Ibid , pp 231 , 232 . )

Now , as the St . Johns and other sectarian allusions are retained in tho American Masonic ritual , for the purpose of wheedling Jewish Masons into a belief in Christianity , I have a right to ask that if Christians could invent such marvellous stories about Santa Teresa , why could they not have invented the marvellous stories about Jesus too ?

hence , why should I believe in the miraculous appearance of the dove at the baptism of Jesus ? and why not believe in the story of the dove which flew out of the mouth of Santa Teresa ? and if Protestants have reason to laugh at the Santa Teresa dove story , may not a Jew have equal reason

to laugh at the other dove story ? The fact is , pure reason cannot be used in discussions about religion , and as it is no secret that persons may be venerated and worshipped as holy saints by one religious sect who are sincerely despised

as cranks or impostors by another religious sect , I have , therefore , come to tbe conclusion that a Masonic Lodge is not a proper place for lauding up either Christian or other sectarian saints , or for ventilating preferences for sectarian dogmas or creeds .

About the origin of the Baptist s connection with Free masonry onr credulous Rev . St . John eulogiser says : —

Early traditions [ what traditions ?] has given St . John the Baptist a special position in the Order as a burning shining light . Later traditions [ how late ?] has connected him with Masonry through the Crusaders . In the Wars of the Cross it is said [ by whom ?] that twenty-four thousand Scottish Masons were engaged side by side

with the Crusaders . They were inspired by the grand idea that the Temple would again be built on Mount Zion . After the struggles and deeds of valonr among the bravest in history , they [ the Masons ] were admitted into the Order of the Templars . In retnrn for the favour the Knights of the Temple were initiated into the mysteries

of Masonry , and thus have been joined , in the bonds of enduring Brotherhood , the Boyal Order of Templar Workers and the Boyal Order of the Cross . Amid the many battles which took place with the Turk and Saracen , was one on St . John ' s Day , and it proved to

be a victory in answer to earnest prayers on the part ofthe Crusaders . From that victory the Baptise has been regarded as conneoted with Masonry , and has been one of the patrons to whom Lodges of Masonry are dedicated .

Now , in the first place , the inflated oration of the Rev . Bro . Murray is more likely to convince a Jew that Christianity could not be perpetuated without Drag , bluff , and Jesuitism , than to impress him with any respect for the Christian religion . And , second , the last paragraph

above quoted must convince every well informed Mason that the reverend orator is not only totally unacquainted with the writings of Bros . Findel , Lyon , Hughan , and Gould , but that his hearers , the dignitaries of the New York Royal Arch Grand Chapter , must be equally ignorant

Hints To Johannite Masonic Eulogists.

of Masonic history . In short , the inflated oration of the Rev . Bro . Murray proves conclusively that in American Masonio assemblies ignorance of Masonio history is the rule ; and hence , as a rule , in the said assemblies , " The blind lead the blind . "

BOSTON , U . S ., 8 th September 1891

A New Masonic History.*

A NEW MASONIC HISTORY . *

IMMEDIATELY following Brother Hughan ' s " Introduction" is a page engraving , from Riley ' s " Yorkshire Lodges , " representing tho Arms of the " Moderns " Grand Lodge of England , and that of the "Ancients , " bettor known , and in use at tho present day . The main body of the work then commences , withan introductory chnpter , by

the Editor in Chief , on the Six Theories of " The Mysteries . " In this are sot out at length tho five principal theories of the relation which the Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons bears to the Ancient Mysteries , as classified by Dr . Mackey t io his Encyclopaedia , viz .: I . That

embraced and taught by Dr . Oliver , that they aro but derivations from that common source , both of them and of Freemasonry , the patriarchal mode of worship established by God himself ; II . leaving the origin of the Mysteries to be sought in the patriarchal doctrines , where Oliver has

placed it , finds the connection between them and Freemasonry commencing at the building of King Solomon ' s Temple ; III . the connection of Freemasonry indirectly with the Mysteries through tho intervention of the Crusaders ; IV . that they—the Anoient Mysteries—wero

seized upon by the secret societies of the Middle Ages as a model for their organization ; and , throngh those societies , are to be traced to Freemasonry ; and V ., " perhaps after

all the truest theory , " the discarding of all successive links in a supposed chain of descent from the Mysteries , and attributing their close resemblance to Freemasonry to a natural coincidence of human thonght .

To these are now added a sixth theory : " that m somo form the fundamentals which we call fraternity have always existed in a more or less imperative organism . " To support this theory the evolution of degrees in English , American , Scottish , and other rites , proving that tho mind

of the Craft was in a transitionary stage until a very late date , is advanced . The consideration of these theories will doubtless exercise the minds of those students who think it more important to trace , to the very limit of probability , the absolute source of a system , than to accept the

doctrinal points thereof as they find it m present use and application . For ourselves , we believe that a little less timo and labour devoted to what has been or might have been , and a little more to what is and may be , in connection with Masonic progress and practice , would prove of greater and

more immediate advantage to the Craft than lengthened arguments on points which are involved in doubt and can never be satisfactorily determined . "Ye need na gang back 'till the Paradise , " said a Scotch judge to a barrister well known for his habit of dragging the Court into

Antiquarian researches ; " suppose ye begin somewhere about the time of Noah ' s flood , 'twould be mair satisfactory ! " In like manner we need not " go back" to tho period of the world ' s creation , and those days when " men hid themselves in thickets of the woods , or dens and

caverns of the earth , " to find the source of the river of Freemasonry . It would be " mair satisfactory " to fix the point at which the course of that river took its present direction , and became the wide and beneficent stream which it ia our privilege to utilize and enjoy , and our bounden

duty to improve and purify on its further progress towards the ocean of everlasting truth . To that section of the Craft to which we have above referred this opinion , however , should in no wise detract from the value of Brother

Stillson ' s " Introduction . " It is a needful preface to what immediately follows , and if its author ' s arguments may not be necessarily conclusive to all readers , they will probably attract attention from many .