Relations Of Sts. John To Freemasonry.

before the Reformation , it is now necessary to S ay something about Patron Saints . Catholics entertain a notion that every society should enrol itself under the protection of some saint . Usually saints were selected who were , in this world , ofthe trade or of the society or sodality

whom they were to be patrons of . The " four martyrs , " the poem says , were " architects , and gravers of images , too . " This , however , was not always adhered to ; for instance , the Baptist was the patron saint of the London tailors and drapers , without pretending that he ever handled

a tailor ' s goose or shears , or had ever presided over an assembly as a Grand Master Tailor . The idea of a patron saint , among Catholics , is that of a celestial ambassador , who , for the honor of the appointment , is expected to keep an eye , or both eyes , open to watch over the

welfare of the sodality who chose him for that office , and also to facilitate the entrance into Paradise of its departed members , and give them a comfortable place . Now this idea was rejected by the first Protestants . Hence , the first Masonic document written by a Protestant ,

viz . Matthew Cooke s MS . is minus the invocation , both of thc " Virgin Mary " and of " the four martyrs . " This author extended the history of the Craft to Enoch , and introduced a great many personages in it not found in older MSS ., including St . Alban , but makes

no mention of Saints or Saint John , or any kind of a patron Saint . The same may be said of those MSS . latel y published b y Bro . Hughan , which were , no doubt , the rituals ofthe pre-1717 Jlasons ; the oldest , probably , was written in the latter half of the sixteenth century and the

latest in 17 14 , and though each gives the history of the Craft from Enoch , they are all silent about St John , or patron saints of any kind . Three pre-1717 lodge records , however , do make mention of patron saints : ist Aberdeen Lodge in 1670 , revered the Evangelist as its

patron ; 2 nd . Kilwinning Lodge , in the seventeenth century , held its meeting on the 20 th December , and in 1679 , it resolved hereafter to hold its festival on the 21 st of December , this being St . Thomas ' s day ; and in 1701 , Alnwick Lodge , Northumberland , it is stated , revered

St . Michael , the Archangel , as its patron . We tlo not , however , know in what year these respective appointments were made . But the mere acknowledgement by a solitary lodge of one St . John as its patron , does not necessarily imply its belief of its patron having been a veritable

Grand Master , or even a Mason . This has already been shown in the case of the London Tailors ecrsns Baptist , and may further be illustrated by Alnwick Lodge , who , though it revered St . Michael as its patron , yet it could never have supposed that the Archangel had ever handled chisel or mallet , that he had ever decorated him

self with white apron and gloves , or that he had ever wielded the gavel as Grand Master of Masons . Thus far , then , no evidence exists to sustain the Sts . John legend , or ( hat Masons have dedicated lodges to both Sts . John , or indeed , of

having dedicated lodges at all . The inference , therefore is , that the said legends were invented b y very modern Masonic humbugs . 1 hey manufactured them not because of the old Catholic belief , to induce the saints to take an interest in the welfare of the Craft , and to furnish its

members with comfortable quarters in the next world , "lit to afford the piom ones a pretext to rant and cant in Masonic meetings about what they call i" Christianily ; " to mar the harmony of the ? "dge , and to destroy the universality ofthe institution .

! ' next examined Anderson ' s and Desagulier ' s ponslitutions of 1721 , 1723 , and 1738 . Ander-Fj'ti began the practice of dedicating lodges to the J'liptist . * He also enjoined the observance ofthe T l - - . « J \ . IUK'V / vll | OHlv , vi HIV . i _/ L / i .. V , j 1 ( I 11 V . I . KJL LI 11

f - Johns' days by Masons . He also manufactured the story of Masons having met in ij ; o 2 on S '' e Baptist ' s day ; and in . 1561 , Eli / . a-| ^' li ordered the breaking up of a lodge in 01 k on the Evangelist ' s day , and in 1663 , the

'Webb , in 1805 , dedicated his lodges to the : l Ptist only , and still another Monitor , of 1812 , 'tntions also the Baptist only at the dedi-

Relations Of Sts. John To Freemasonry.

Grand Lodge , under G . M . St . Alban ' s , also met on the Evangelist ' s day ; all which is purely apocryphal . Anderson had no authority whatever for those statements . The same Anderson also enumerates all the Grand Masters , Wardens , and Deputies from Adam up to his own time

which is also fictitious ; and yet , though he made every prominent man from the creation , into a Masonic Grand of some kind , he never alluded to the St . John ' s , as either having been G . Masters or even simple Masons . I next perused the several works written in

the last century by the most distinguished English Masonic authors , viz : " The Freemason ' s Pocket Companion " ( both English and Scotch editions ) , Dermott ' s " Ahiman Rezon , " Preston , Smith , Calcott , Hutchinson , and every publication I could find in the Massachusetts Grand Lodge Library , or that I could obtain

elsewhere . The first six authors named all give the early history of the Craft , or make profound comments ( Masonic fashion ) on the earl y history of Masonry ; but I could never find a solitary author of the last century who knew of the St . Johns' ever having been either Grand Masters or Masons .

Hutchinson says : " In modern Masonry it is given as a principle why our dedication of lodges is made to St . John , that the Masons who engaged to conquer the Holy Land chose that saint for their patron ; " and he continues : " We should be sorry to appropriate the Balsarian sect

of Christians to St . John as an explanation of this principle ; " and then goes on ; " St . John obtains our dedication [ not because he learned to eat dates among the Essenes , but ] as being the proclaimer of that salvation which was at hand by the coming of Christ * * * and in the name

of St John the Evangelist wc acknowledge [ not that he was G . M . whenupwards of 90 , but ] the testimonies which he gives to the divine logos , etc . " Here then , we see that Hutchinson , in 1775 , knew nothing at all about the Masonry of the Saints . One remark more about Hutchinson ;

he objects to the theory of the Masons in the Holy Land having introduced the Baptist as the patron saint , on account of his reluctance " to appropriate the Balsarian sect of Christians to St . John . " What he meant by it is more than I

can tell , as I do not belive that " the Balsarian sect of Christians" ever existed at all ; it is a bull , and yet that paragraph was quoted b y Oliver , and probably by others , without stopping to inquire who the Balsarians were .

I next obtained Thomas Smith Webb ' s Monitor of 1805 , ( the first of Webb ' s Monitors dates 1797 ) . Here I found for the first time in print , the Saints John Masonized : he says they ( the saints ) were parallels in Masonry as well as Christianity , or vice versa ; but even Webb was

ignorant of the cock-and-bull story so pathetically related in our lodges , of the Evangelist becoming Grand Master when upwards of ninety years of age . I next consulted another Monitor , published in Salem , Mass ., in 1822 , in which I learned no more about the Saints John than Webb gave ,

r \ ext , I inquired of a brother who was initiated in Massachusetts in 1821 , and who very soon after his initiation took oflice in the lod ge , and made himself well acquainted with the ritual ; that brother assured me that the delectable story of the Evangelist ' s Grand Mastership was unknown to him for some years after his initiation .

And last , when I acquainted Bro . W . S . Gardner , Past Grand Master of Massachusetts , with the result of my inquiry , Bro . Gardner ( who was certainly the best informed Grand Master that Massachusetts had had durinar the

last 30 years , remarked " 1 have not the slightest doubt that the story of the Evangelist ' s Grand Mastership was manufactured , either at the very close ofthe last century , or the begining of this . "

Ihe truth is , Anderson first began the practice of dedicating lodges to St . John the Baptist , and the Baptist only . Ramsay , in 17-3 $ , jumped therefore to the conclusion that the Masons must have been formerl y connected with the Templars , from whom they borrowed the Baptist as a Patron Saint , and this led Ramsay to manufacture Templar degrees , etc . Hutchinson , in 17751

Relations Of Sts. John To Freemasonry.

discarded the theory of Masons having derived their Patron Saint from the Templars , and candidly admitted that lodges are dedicated to the Sts . John on account of their having propagated Christianity . Dunckerley afterward manufactured the symbol of the " parallel lines , " when

he for the first time Masonized the saints , which Webb afterward copiedjnto his Monitor . This continued effort ' to Christianize Masonry doubtless created discontent among the then Jewish Masons . To be sure Christian Masonic luminaries then , as well as now , did not care , or

trouble themselves about Masonic consistency , but I am also satisfied that , though some of tlie fraternity at that time were bigots , there were also others who were disposed to preserve Masonry , not for the benefit of sects , but for mankind . For instance , Preston excluded

Christian prayers from his system , and in 1813 , the Grand Lodge of England itself abolished the keeping of saints' days , and of dedicating lodges to saints . It was about the period when these conflicting ideas agitated the minds of the active members of the Craft , or as Bro . Gardner thinks

either the latter part of the last , or the beginning of this century . About that time , a Masonic quack invented the fable of the St . John ' s Grand Mastership . This fable is as greedily seized by the Godl y St . John day lecturers of the Pierson kind ; it was voraciously swallowed by the pious

noodles , and it was welcomed by the conservatives ; a class who think more of expediency than principle , and who will not scruple to resort to the meanest dodges and quibbles in order to stop all kinds of reform . They welcomed the fable , imagining that it would serve as a soothing

balm to allay the irritated conscience of the Jewish Masons . _ So that their future grumbling about the violation of the promises received at their initiation mi ght be answered , as Bro . Mackay really did afterwards answer , " We do not dedicate lodges to the Saints John because they were Christian saints , but because they were eminent

Masons . " This , however , did not satisfy the Jews , and the result was , in 1813 , Dr . Flemming , an English clergyman , when ordered to revise the ritual , abolished the practice of dedicating lodges to the Saints John , and the Grand Lodge discontinued observing the saints' days as Masonic festivals .

Having proved that our Masonic legend mongers are either a pack of credulous and ignorant scribblers , or totally void ofthe principles of truth , honour , and justice , I shall here only add that the obstinate retention of those pious frauds in

our ritual b y our Grand Lodge luminaries , in spite of all demonstrations and remonstrances , must certainly tend ere long , to arouse an indignant contempt for the Masonic institution , both among Jewish Masons and the better minded portion of the Christian community .

PRESENTATION TO A BROTHER . —Last Friday evening , at the conclusion of a successful benefit entertainment for Bro . Sam . Hague , proprietor ofthe " Hague Minstrels " who then completed the third year of uninterrupted and genuine success at St . James ' s Hall , Liverpool ,

the whole of his company were entertained b y him to a magnificent supper at his residence . During the evening , Bro . ' 1 ' . D . Fenner ; Stage Manager , and interlocutor on behalfof the whole company , presented Bro . Hague with a splendid sterling silver tea and coffee service , and claret jug , cup , ike , as a token of thc esteem

111 which he is held as an enterprising manager and a thorough gentleman . Bro . Fenner sflso presented Mrs . Hague with a very handsome silver cup . Bro . Hague feelingly acknowledged the gifts , and assured every member of his troupe that he would strive to retain their esteem , and provide-entertainments which would be worthy the support of the public .

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