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Article CORRESPONDENCE. Page 1 of 5 →
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Correspondence.
COBBESPONDENCE .
THE TWO ST , JOHNS . TO THE EDITOR OP THE FREEMASON'S' MAaAZlNE AND MASONIC MIRROR . Dear Sir and Brother , —Among your notices to correspondents in your last number , there is one to which I cannot readily assent . "A Young ¦ Mason" asks "Why is St . John the Evangelist styled our Grand Master ? " to which you reply , that , In no part of either Craft Masonry or the Holy Royal Arch , as
[ The EditOB does not Midi himself responsible for my opinions entertained by Correspondents . ^
practised in England , is the name of St . John introduced ; excepting that , in some Lodges , on the occasion of the installation of the W . M ., it is mentioned that the annual election takes place as near the feast of St . John the Evangelist as possible . " I , in common with many others , entertain a different view . The installation takes place on St . John ' s day , because the Lodges have been , from time immemorial , dedicated to St . John , either the Baptist or the Evangelist .
You admit that prior to the Union in 181 . 3 all the Lodges were dedicated to St . John the Evangelist , hut do not assign any reason why the usages and customs of Masonry , adopted and continued from , the earliest authenticated period , should , through the caprice of a few designing individuals , be made the subjects of innovation . You speak above of Masonry as practised in England : say , rather , in London . It has been well observed , that if a Brother wishes to learn anything of genuine
Masonry , you must refer him to the provinces—indeed , to anywhere rather than London , where innovations are repeatedly taking place , and that , too , without the knowledge and consent of the Lodges in the provinces . In one of our Lodges , held a short time ago , it was remarked by a Brother who had recently visited London , that the Masons of London had decreed that "It was not necessary that a Freemason should be freeborn . " Of what use , then , are the ancient landmarks ? Such an innovation is at direct variance with them . After assigning a reason for
the custom of dedicating our Lodges to St . John , by reference to an ancient tradition preserved in our Lodge lectures , you go on to say that " This assumption is merely traditional . * ' Agreed . But what portion of Masonry is not so—what but traditional is the whole legend of the 3 rd Degree ? Many of the Brethren , who do not give the subject their due consideration , imagine that they are reciting a series of facts , while , at the same time , they are merely following the shadow for the substance .
The legend is indeed a sublime truth veiled in allegory , but representing the death of Christ , the Great Architect , as he is termed in all the editions of the Book of Constitutions prior to the Grand Mastership of the Duke of Sussex ( during whose Masonic monarchy Masonry in England , and in England alone , was turned upside down ) ; and between the symbols we make use of to illustrate the
untimely death both in the type and antetype , the analogy is so closely connected as scarcely to escape the observation of any Brother who will pay the slightest attention to the esoteric portion of our mysteries . But to return to St . John . The same tradition to which you referred Ci A Young Mason , " speaks also of a succession of grand patrons , beginning with Solomon , then Zerubabel , afterwards
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Correspondence.
COBBESPONDENCE .
THE TWO ST , JOHNS . TO THE EDITOR OP THE FREEMASON'S' MAaAZlNE AND MASONIC MIRROR . Dear Sir and Brother , —Among your notices to correspondents in your last number , there is one to which I cannot readily assent . "A Young ¦ Mason" asks "Why is St . John the Evangelist styled our Grand Master ? " to which you reply , that , In no part of either Craft Masonry or the Holy Royal Arch , as
[ The EditOB does not Midi himself responsible for my opinions entertained by Correspondents . ^
practised in England , is the name of St . John introduced ; excepting that , in some Lodges , on the occasion of the installation of the W . M ., it is mentioned that the annual election takes place as near the feast of St . John the Evangelist as possible . " I , in common with many others , entertain a different view . The installation takes place on St . John ' s day , because the Lodges have been , from time immemorial , dedicated to St . John , either the Baptist or the Evangelist .
You admit that prior to the Union in 181 . 3 all the Lodges were dedicated to St . John the Evangelist , hut do not assign any reason why the usages and customs of Masonry , adopted and continued from , the earliest authenticated period , should , through the caprice of a few designing individuals , be made the subjects of innovation . You speak above of Masonry as practised in England : say , rather , in London . It has been well observed , that if a Brother wishes to learn anything of genuine
Masonry , you must refer him to the provinces—indeed , to anywhere rather than London , where innovations are repeatedly taking place , and that , too , without the knowledge and consent of the Lodges in the provinces . In one of our Lodges , held a short time ago , it was remarked by a Brother who had recently visited London , that the Masons of London had decreed that "It was not necessary that a Freemason should be freeborn . " Of what use , then , are the ancient landmarks ? Such an innovation is at direct variance with them . After assigning a reason for
the custom of dedicating our Lodges to St . John , by reference to an ancient tradition preserved in our Lodge lectures , you go on to say that " This assumption is merely traditional . * ' Agreed . But what portion of Masonry is not so—what but traditional is the whole legend of the 3 rd Degree ? Many of the Brethren , who do not give the subject their due consideration , imagine that they are reciting a series of facts , while , at the same time , they are merely following the shadow for the substance .
The legend is indeed a sublime truth veiled in allegory , but representing the death of Christ , the Great Architect , as he is termed in all the editions of the Book of Constitutions prior to the Grand Mastership of the Duke of Sussex ( during whose Masonic monarchy Masonry in England , and in England alone , was turned upside down ) ; and between the symbols we make use of to illustrate the
untimely death both in the type and antetype , the analogy is so closely connected as scarcely to escape the observation of any Brother who will pay the slightest attention to the esoteric portion of our mysteries . But to return to St . John . The same tradition to which you referred Ci A Young Mason , " speaks also of a succession of grand patrons , beginning with Solomon , then Zerubabel , afterwards