The Arkansas banner., 1847-07-05
AnI1RESS

trnh of our excelleat order. We pay our gannnal tribute to his memory, show ous af- pgeciasior of hts exalted virtues, and emu
 fate each other to initiate them. As AmeFi- can cilIxens, on the reeurrence Of the birth days Of the great noYERs and CONDUCTORS of the Reyoiu,ion, who devoted their lives lt0 the cause Of freedom, we weaye fresh gHr~.
 lands for their memories and, in she same spifit, as Masons, we perpetnaie d remesnr
 bfanre of ihe illussFious LiGHTs of tlse EFaes serniiy, by saisabie celebrations upon their Our. .knowiedge ef the fife and character Iof ST. Josis, is derived from sacred history land tnasonie tradition. He lived before the finvcntion of that wonderful ar, which is' Ihooding this age with books, and scattering flight tlsroughout the wide empire of dark l ness, consequently but limited biography of him has been transmitted to US. He cane.
 to our planei, not, as all Alexander or Napo- leon, to lead victorious armies in triumph
 oser the wreck of yielding kingdoms
 to oyerturn empires, and build others upon
 their Fuins-nor even as Newton, Locke
 oE Milton, So extend the dominion Of phi
 losophy, widen the fields of science, or enn-
 beElish the gardens of literature-but he
 came, rather, upon q great moral mission :. l The sacred his.erians presen. his history in
 four brief acfs Fua: The angel Gabriel,
 Heavens favorite old trumpeter, is comlnis-
 stoned to earth to announce 10 the aged
 Zaeharias the promise of a son, who was to
 be the harbinger of mans REpEEMER Se- cond The friends of the pious Elizabeth are
 assembled 10 rejoice over the young stranger,
 and marvellous remarks go forth from know
 ing seers and observing malrons, as to the des- tiny of one whose birth had been so miracu-
 lously attended Here history pauses for thirty years, and then we have the third act ::
 The infant has now become man-his mind IS well stored with asasoary and theoiogy =
 His voice is heard in tiie wilderness of Judea.
 and upon the coast of Jordan great multi
 tudes crowd 10 listen to his oyerpowering eloquence; and multiplied thousands receive at his hands an ordinance mathematical of
 the purity Of that religion of which he
 was the herald Vice and superstition shrink ] abashed before him, types and shadows ice away, the pillars of Judaism crumbie to dust, and the sons of Jacob are pointed to the STAR or BETHLEHEM which rises brightly and serenety above the eastern horizon
 1 The 4h act, has two scenes: 1si. l gloomy old dungeon, gray with moss, and terrific from bloody associations! Through Its massive
 grates. by feeble light, we see man in chains; his brow Is pale, patience, foriitude
 and resignation are upon his features, and he 1 bends over an Gaeieni alaRHscript, as if absor- bed with its conients,---we at once recognize f the Baptist, and in his hand the coastitataoa I of masonrn' The 2ad scene is the palace of
 IIerod, petty provincial governor. IL is his
 birih-day, and Folly and Fasaion are reyel-
 ing in his halls. The daughter of his cruel land unlawful wife, pays court to the vanity
 of ,ke iyrant. by dancing before him in all l the wiichsry of beauty The unfeeling mo- i ther ,chispers ia her ear; an order Is pro-
 cured 10 the erecatioaer, and in an hour the mariyred Baptist is on his way to the su- bilns Lodge above, where all good piasons
 hope .o meet him.
 ] That ST. .JoHN was mason. and an emi-
 nent patron of the order, Is auested, ls, i By a reliable Tradition, accredited amoug the
 Fraternity throughou, christeudom: and, 2nd.
 By the fact that, from an early period in ihe christian era, rnasons have dedicated their
 Lodges 10 the g.. Johns. Pfior to that period
 Masonic Lodges were dedicated to king Solo mon, one of the principal founders of the
 institution, and the change would hardly
 have been made in favor of men indifferent
 to the order, Communities, and individuals, . dedicate their temples, books, &c, to emi- nent men of the same faith or calling. Thus we have St. PanI's, SL Peter's, and SI john -s Church, bu. who ever heard of Zeno's, Pla- to's or Calo's Church, Philosophers might dedicate their halls to these illustrious names, l but surely Christians would not call their Churches for thcm. Legal authors dedicate their books to men eminen. in the profession,
 not 10 those who worship al the shrine ol
 the muses, nor does the son of song dedi- cate his easkss of gems, or bouquet Of foaeers
 to the dry disciple of Bacon and Coke' Not would masons have dedicated their Lodges 10 the St. ,IoAss had they not been greal LiaHTs of the Order
 Let us pause for moment, my brethren, l and call to mind some of the features of the character of St. JoAa tAe Bapiisi, which are worthy of our imitation.
 First: He was remarkably temperate in hii
 habits. s.ilis meat was locusIs and wild
 honey, and he drank neither iriss or strong drinkn 1t will De remembered that TEMPE. RANCE is incuicaied, in the first degree o Masonry, as one of the cardinal rirtses ol the Order. lniemperance units man fol the study or practice of Masonry. h blunt. the nobler pnwerssof sfis soul, beclouds ths intellect, crashes the lofty emotions of ths : heart, deranges the physical constitution
 drags man from the high road to fortune
 and fame, aud prosirales all his hopes. How
 often does tkis deadly vampire prey upof
 the opening bud of genius, and blast the sx, banding powers of master spirit.
 Secondly: ST. JOHN must have devoted
 himself arinously to the acquisition of usefu
 knowledge. Sec the vast muititudes that wer, cnchained by his preaching, and the grea numbers who were induced to abandon shei