Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1859-01-06
sT JOHN,s DAY.

This memorable period in the Masonic calendar
the twenty seventh Of. December-was celebra,
ted by the fraternity in York'ille, with becoming
spirit Other duties prevented our attendance,
and we have therefore to rely, for aparagraph,
upon others more fortunate.
| Preceded by Master RoBRRr's SaI Horn Band.
the procession "walked" from the Hall to the In
dependent Presbyterian Church, where, after
prayer by Rev. w. ". CARorHERs the address
was delivered by Rev. E. J. MEYSARpIs. Mr..
MEYNAnDIE seldom fails to please and to irstrucs
his auditory, and on this occasion he was equal to
the duty lis brethren imposed upon him. As an
essay, inculcatng the highest truths of the Nst'er
and the reciprocal duties Of the -h-Trnerhood the
effort was adnirable-~7so It i, reported to us.
After the installation Of the officers of Philan-
chronic lodge the procession returned to the
Hall and in the evening, after the installation Of
the officers of Mackey Chapter, the members and
a large number of invited guests partook of o
sumptuous banquet, which was discussed with
spirit, of course, and yet soberly. Thus closed
the day.
From the Charleston Courier, of the 9th, We
take the following sketch Of the Evangelist. The
learned will find something in it news:
THE twenty seventh of December is the Anni-
versary of st. John, the Divine. 1t is fitting that
his memory should be celebrated during the peri
cd set apart for the grand and animating redec.
tions that belong to the Nativity. He WAS nearly
related to the Immaculate mother of our Lord,
and was favored on many occasions with distin-
gushing marks of the Mastere love. He, his broth
er James and Peter were selected by Christ to
witness the proof of His divinity, by the resusci
tion Of Jairus' daughter; these three disciples
were with Him on the Mount Of TRANSPORTATION,
and they we're also chosen as His companions in
the Garden of Olives when he suffered the agony
they could not share or even assuage by the re-
motest sympathy. And lie was the chosen of the
chosen three. At the Last Supper, he pillowed
his head lovingly on the Savior's bosom, and just
before He dismissed His spirit He honored this
favorite follower with the highest mark of His af
fection, by bidding him receive as his own mother
the woman who gave him birth.
St. John was the son of Tebedee and Salome
His father professed his belief in Christ as the
promised Shiloh, in the first year Of the Savior's
ministry. His mother belonged to that glorious
band of heroines who stood in the shadow Of the
cross until the fearful agony was over, and who
composed the weeping train that followed the
remains of the Savior to Joseph's tomb. The
mother of two apostles WIS also with Mary of
Maclala and the other women at the sepulchre,
| early in the morning, for the purpose of embal-
ming the body of their adored Master. Such a
woman was worthy to be thu mother of the exile
in Patmos, and the proto. msrtyr Of the apostles.
John and James, Peter ard Andrew, were cal.
| led to the discipleship on the same day. They
were all fisherman; and when summoned by the
Savior, the former were engaged in their lowlY
occupation, and the latter were mending their
nets. St. James was murdered by Herod Autipas,
nephew of Heroi whose hands where stained with
! the blood of Christs Herald
St. John witnessed the death-agonies Of the Re-
deemer, and outstripped Peer in his eager haste
to visit the sepuchre the morning after the cruci-
fxion. He was present when the Redeemer made
his first appearance among the disciples he was
also in the closed room when after an interval of
eight DAYS, he stood in the midst Of the terror
striken group and by the instinct of love, he re-
copnized the divine form on the shore of Tiberias,
when, the other disciples supposed it was the
voice of a stranger that bade them "cast the net
on the right side of the ship
st. John founded Churches in Ephesus, Smyr-
na, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and
Laodicia He resided principally, however, at
Ephesus, and was called the Bishop of that city.
The Gospel that bears the name of this eminent
Evangelist furnishes strong proofs of having been
written near the close of his long life, when all
the actors in the events narrated in that book were
dead. Having been accused of Atheism to Domi.
tian, by the order of that Emperor he was sent
bound TO Rome That tyrant condemned the grey
haired preacher to be cast into cauldron of boil
ing OIL But the God of Shadrach was with him,
and the diabolical design was frustrated. Not
withstanding this miraculous interposition, Domi-
tian banished the Apostle to the Isle of Patmos in
the iEgean Sea. While there, he wrote the
Apocalypse. Neroz resciuded the edict Of his
predecessor, and on being recalled from Danish
ment, St. John returned to Ephesus, and died in
tba of ohonf m m