The Order Of St. John.

THE ORDER OF ST . JOHN .

LONDON , SATURDAY , AVGVST 17 , 1867 .

NOTES BY A NOVICE . ' ( Continued from page 62 . ) It is Avell known that all Masonic lodges were formerly dedicated to St . John the Baptist and St . John the Evangelist , and this- custom , though

no longer practised in England , is still observed in Scotland , Ireland , and America . The origin of this dedication , Christian though it be , is supposed to be derived from the sun-AVorship of the ancient Magi , who commemorated in their rites the 21 st of June and the 22 nd of December—tho

periods of the summer and Avinter solstices ; and it is said that the early Christians , being unwilling to abandon the celebration of events of such astronomical importance , appropriated two days near these solstitial periods to the memory of the

Saints John , and thus accommodated themselves to the forms and usages of their Pagan ancestors . Gregory Nazianzen relates the manner in Avhich several heathen practices were thus adapted , or incorporated with , the Christian religion .

Tradition asserts that St . John the Evangelist was requested by a deputation from the general assembly of Masons , held in the city of Benjamin , to accept the office of Grand Master , and it is further alleged that the venerable saint ( who was

then more than ninetyyears old ) cheerfully complied with the wishes of the brethren . It is , hoAvever , far more probable that the custom of celebrating the festivals of the Saints John , and the veneration with Avhich . they are regarded by the Masonic

body , may be traced to the heliacal worship of the ancients , just as the practice of turning . to the East in their public prayers was retained by the primitive Christians as an act of homage to the source of light .

We find that all Masonic documents were formerly headed " Prom the lodge of the holy St . John of Jerusalem , " and certificates issued by the Grand Lodge of Ireland have , we believe , to this day a similar reference .

In Scotland the Craft degrees are termed " St . John ' s Masonry , " and the American system of Avorking is pervaded with allusions to the Baptist and the Evangelist . In the curious Masonic document entitled the " Charter of Cologne , " * it is stated that , before the year 1440 , Freemasons

were known by the name of " John ' s Brothers , " and after that time they wore called Free and Accepted Masons . We are well aware that the assumption of a particular title is no proof of its authenticity , but it is at least singular to discover

so many evidences of the alleged connection of the Masonic body with the Order of St . John . In an old diploma , granted at Dominica on the 10 th of March , 1785 , the following statement is expressly made in the preamble : —• " Whereas , by virtue of

a dispensation , dated in the East , the Gth of March , 5785 of Light , signed J . E . S . Galley , Secretary ; and in virtue of the power given us as faithful servants of our Lord Jesus Christ , as

Knights of the Temple of St . John of Jerusalem ; and in virtue of letters patent of encampment , dated at Gozzo , the 8 th January , 1757 , under the seal , & c , of the Grancl Master , Dotn Emanuel Pinto , and the Bailiffs Pinto and Pacs , aud the

Commandant Sylva , & c , granted to us from the great knoAvledge , goodness of heart , and integrity of our trusty and well-beloA edBro . John Campbell , being Master of all Orders and degrees , and has taken the Mass of the ' St . Esprit / to congregate ,

Avork , and , with the brethren , to grant certificates ; and whereas , our trusty and well-beloved Bro . James Barclay , being unanimously and duly elected and installed Grand Master of all Orders under the said dispensation . " t

From the tenor of this document it Avould appear that the Knights of St . John not only encouraged the rites of Freemasonry , but admitted the Masonic brethren to their own mysteries , Goza , or Gozzo , the place alluded to in the diploma , being an

appendage of the Maltese possessions of the Knights . In the Swedish Masonic system , the eighth degree is called " Favourite Brother of St . John , " and , in Zinnendorfs rite , the sixth grade bore a similar appellation . In England , seA ^ eral

Orders claim connection with thc valiant Hospitallers . Eagon , in his " Orthodoxie Maeonnique , " enumerates , among the chivalric degrees worked by English Masons , those knoAvn as " Knight of

Malta , " " Knight of the Eed Cross , " " Knight of the Holy Sepulchre , " & c . The first-named claims to be identical with tho ancient Order , and , if the dispensation granted by Dom Emanuel Pinto in 1757 be genuine , it certainly establishes a very satisfactory basis lor the assertion .