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Article COBBESPONDENCE. ← Page 3 of 5 →
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Cobbespondence.
Jewish dispensation was utterly abolished by the destruction * of the temple , the consequent discontinuance of the daily sacrifice , and the final dispersion of the Jews throughout all the nations of the earth ; " The sceptre had departed from Judah , and the lawgiver from between his feet . " The interval between these two memorable events was occupied by a series of such scenes as
the earth had never witnessed : every advocate for the truth became the victim of persecution , and the earth may be said to have been out of its course . Our Masonic tradition informs us , that in consequence of this awful state of things , Masonry fell into a most dilapidated condition , not one Lodge being left perfect . The Brethren assembled in the city of Benjamin , and sent a deputation to St . John the Evangelist , the last surviving apostle of our Lord , requesting him to become
their G . M ., and to which , the tradition informs us , he assented , and from that time all the Lodges throughout Christendom ( to which they were confined ) , have been dedicated to " the beloved disciple . " The Masonic Order , as well as " the Holy Church throughout all the world , " has adopted the Evangelist as their patron saint , because the distinguishing characteristic of his doctrine is " Agape /' now translated " Charity "—not merely that which bestoweth all her goods to feed the poor , but that which thinketh no evil , which reioiceth not in iniquity , but
rejoieeth in the truth . I enclose you the circular of one of our Lodges in the provinces , which will give you some idea of what Masonry originally was , and still remains where innovation is discountenanced ; and I must repeat that any inquiring Brother , in search of true Masonic light , may meet with it in the provinces ; but it would require the lamp of Diogenes to discover it among the London ^ Lodges , for there " the light shineth in darkness , but the darkness comprehendeth it not . " * ¦ ¦
Yours fraternally , December 18 th , 1857 . " Sit Lux . " [ We do not agree with our correspondent that the best working is to be found only in the country Lodges , though , doubtless , in many cases it may be so . "With regard to the observations of our correspondent , we may state that prior to the Union in 1813 , the Lodges in this country had to a great extent assumed an almost
entirely Christian character , and were dedicated to St . John . When the Union took place , in order to prevent the charge of sectarianism being brought against the Craft , that practice was discontinued , and the Lodges dedicated to King Solomon . Tradition informs us that prior to the Babylonish captivity , all Freemasons' Lodges were dedicated to King Solomon ; from the time of the return of the Israelites from
captivity to the coming of the Saviour , to Zerubbabel ; and afterwards , until the destruction of the Temple under Titus , to St . John the Baptist . The dispersion of the Hebrew nation caused the destruction of the Lodges , until the Brethren resident in 0 the city of Benjamin solicited John the Evangelist to become their G . M .
He , though he was then ninety years of age , having been initiated into the Order in early life took upon himself the office , and thus united the Masons together ; and from that time the Lodges were dedicated to St . John . We confess that to us this theory is not altogether satisfactory , inasmuch as at that time the Brethren must have consisted chiefly , if not altogether , of Hebrews : and it does not seem very
probable that they would have selected either John the Baptist or John the Evangelist as the head of the Craft . For the adoption of the 21 st of June and 21 st December we must look further back—to Zoroaster , to Pythagoras , and the Druids ; and from the science of astronomy we must borrow a theory . Ancient religious teachers introduced into their rites the adoration of the sun as the source of light and life and fertility , and the visible representative of the invisible creative and preservative principles of nature , To the early devotees of
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Cobbespondence.
Jewish dispensation was utterly abolished by the destruction * of the temple , the consequent discontinuance of the daily sacrifice , and the final dispersion of the Jews throughout all the nations of the earth ; " The sceptre had departed from Judah , and the lawgiver from between his feet . " The interval between these two memorable events was occupied by a series of such scenes as
the earth had never witnessed : every advocate for the truth became the victim of persecution , and the earth may be said to have been out of its course . Our Masonic tradition informs us , that in consequence of this awful state of things , Masonry fell into a most dilapidated condition , not one Lodge being left perfect . The Brethren assembled in the city of Benjamin , and sent a deputation to St . John the Evangelist , the last surviving apostle of our Lord , requesting him to become
their G . M ., and to which , the tradition informs us , he assented , and from that time all the Lodges throughout Christendom ( to which they were confined ) , have been dedicated to " the beloved disciple . " The Masonic Order , as well as " the Holy Church throughout all the world , " has adopted the Evangelist as their patron saint , because the distinguishing characteristic of his doctrine is " Agape /' now translated " Charity "—not merely that which bestoweth all her goods to feed the poor , but that which thinketh no evil , which reioiceth not in iniquity , but
rejoieeth in the truth . I enclose you the circular of one of our Lodges in the provinces , which will give you some idea of what Masonry originally was , and still remains where innovation is discountenanced ; and I must repeat that any inquiring Brother , in search of true Masonic light , may meet with it in the provinces ; but it would require the lamp of Diogenes to discover it among the London ^ Lodges , for there " the light shineth in darkness , but the darkness comprehendeth it not . " * ¦ ¦
Yours fraternally , December 18 th , 1857 . " Sit Lux . " [ We do not agree with our correspondent that the best working is to be found only in the country Lodges , though , doubtless , in many cases it may be so . "With regard to the observations of our correspondent , we may state that prior to the Union in 1813 , the Lodges in this country had to a great extent assumed an almost
entirely Christian character , and were dedicated to St . John . When the Union took place , in order to prevent the charge of sectarianism being brought against the Craft , that practice was discontinued , and the Lodges dedicated to King Solomon . Tradition informs us that prior to the Babylonish captivity , all Freemasons' Lodges were dedicated to King Solomon ; from the time of the return of the Israelites from
captivity to the coming of the Saviour , to Zerubbabel ; and afterwards , until the destruction of the Temple under Titus , to St . John the Baptist . The dispersion of the Hebrew nation caused the destruction of the Lodges , until the Brethren resident in 0 the city of Benjamin solicited John the Evangelist to become their G . M .
He , though he was then ninety years of age , having been initiated into the Order in early life took upon himself the office , and thus united the Masons together ; and from that time the Lodges were dedicated to St . John . We confess that to us this theory is not altogether satisfactory , inasmuch as at that time the Brethren must have consisted chiefly , if not altogether , of Hebrews : and it does not seem very
probable that they would have selected either John the Baptist or John the Evangelist as the head of the Craft . For the adoption of the 21 st of June and 21 st December we must look further back—to Zoroaster , to Pythagoras , and the Druids ; and from the science of astronomy we must borrow a theory . Ancient religious teachers introduced into their rites the adoration of the sun as the source of light and life and fertility , and the visible representative of the invisible creative and preservative principles of nature , To the early devotees of