Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1861-07-04
BY GEN. L. v. BIERcE, P. O. NJ.


Brethren:
From the earliest DAYS Of which history givee us
any account, the experience of mankind has
taught the nations Of the earth the value of cele
brating anniversaries MS the most powerful means
Of impressng great truths, and principles upon the
popular mind, and of transmitting them TO poster.
ity. They are the broad and lcgible footprints OF
the past, indicating as upon a map, the waywaid
career of man during the long roll Of years which
have elapsed, like the sands Of an hou.-gass and
disappeared In the ocean of eternity.
Anniversaries have been observed, and ce'e
bPated by all people, In all ages, to preserve and
foster the national spirit, perpetuate national
glory and to invest patriotism, virtue and religion
with he tenderest emotions of the human heart
They have been observed and celeb ated by all
nations--alike amid the gorgeous services OF the
Temple in Judea, and under the bondage of the
stranger when the daughters of Israel sat down
BY the waters of Babylon, and wept. Thus; the
Greeks had their Olympics, the Romans their
Saturnaes the Mahonedans their Hegeira and
the Jews their Passover. Man is constituted
that unless he has something tangible and visible
TO keep alive the principles of virtue patriotism
aud r ligion he becomes forgctful of his own best
interests Patriotism is lost in the hustle of
every days concerns-vrtue is Forgotten in the
excitement OF passion, and religion is drowned
in the ocean OF worldly cares, and pursuits.
1t is right, and proper that nations should keep
up these anniversaries, and celebrations. They
are the yearly Sabbats in mans restless existence,
in which he may cease from his ou er world sensu-
Gus labors, and turn for commuing, and examina.
ton to that inner world of his own heart and mark
its workings and tendenc eA-its waywardness
and errors, and prepare for its reformation.
Fruitful of instruction, and interest are these
anniversaries if rghtfully considered, and i'm
proved-for while, to all minds of whatever char
acter, they teach the grand outlines oft past
ment of emulation to attain even beyond the point
their predecessors re ched, they are likewise in the
nature of tines finger boards, indicating the
worlds movements backward and forward, and to
the thoughtful and phosophic mind suggest ideas
pregnant with the welfare and hap mess of our
race. They point out what our duties are and
arouse the sleeping conscience to enquire how we
are discharging those duties.
If such are the valuable uses of The observance
of anniversaries to nations, how much more val
ueabe to COM unties of men, limited in nun
bers, aggregated into societies, or associations in
which the examples, the preceps and the special
virtues commemorated by such anniversary cele.
bratons come home intensified b, the direct, indi.
vidual, personal application with which the lesson
addresses itself, specially, to each member!
If nations may feel laudable pride when they
revive the recollections Of great men, and great
deeds with which their annals are adorned, may it
tiOt uc ptIuOlcu III us, us NIdSOlS, suCIl
occasions, that we have PAST; history to which
we can point without blush? That we, too have
annals, which when searched in the spirit of can.
dor and Justice will show that our Institution has
not ext ed in vain
1t is with such feelings, and for such purposes
that Masons have set apart the anniversary OF the
Saints John ms the appropriate time to hold their
semi annual festivities and to more particularly
enforce and inculcate the principles of our Order
It is accordingly provided in the constitutions of
Mason that the election of our officers shall take
place at the meeting next preceding the annversa-
ry fist John, the Evangelist, that the precepts ex.
ample and masonic character of that great uminary
in Mas nrv may be, thereby, recalled to mind and
more forcibly impressed on the minds of those to
whom tn government of the l. dges is committed
Should our friends, who are not members of our
Order, ask us why we celebrate the anniversaries
Of the Saints John. | answer, because we claim
them among the ancient patrons and Grand Mas
tevs of our Insttution-and fiom the earliest days
of the Christian Era there has been represented
in every regular and well conducted Lodge point
within circle; the circle bounded by two perpen.
dicuar, parallel lines; and on the top of the circle
is represented the Holy Scriptures In Masonry
the point repesents an individual Mason, the circle
the boundary line of his duty, in passing around
which he necessarily touches upOn these parable
lnes representing S John the Baptist, and St.
John the Evangelist, and upon the Holy Scriptures,
aud every Mason is taught that it is his duty to
ever keep his conduct thus circumscribed. From
that early period those parallels have been used rs
symbols of the Saints John, who have been claimed
as parallels in Masonry, well as in Christianity,
and to them have Masons, in Christian countries
ever since dedicated their Lodges
From the building of the first Temple at Jeru.
salem to the Bah onish captivity, Lodges were
dedicated to King Solomon; from that time to the
comm ncement of the Christian Era they were
la 4 Al. 4. Il
the Temple 10y Titus, in the reign of Nespatan
to the present they have been dedicated to the
Saints John.
The masSacres, and disorders consequent Ipon
the structon Of Jcrus,l M dispersed the breth
rem. Lodges were broken up and gene al decf nc
of Masonry followed In hopes of revi,ing the
q r, and concentrating the scattered meu bels,
the Craft, ut general meeting held in the city OF
Benjamin, appointed n delegation of the principal
members to wait upon the Evangelist who was
then Bishop of Elhesus, to request him to accept
the Office of Grand Master Tho cnfebled by age
he accepted the office; and thus became the par
allel of of the Baptist, and to them, jointly, have
Masons in Christian countries. dedicated their
Lodges and celebrat their anniversaries.
Should it he asked, as it naturally will be, what
evidence we have that ST. John was Grand Master
of Masons, answer; the same evidence we have
of any other historic fact Masonic history trans
mits the names of masonic rulers as national his
tory does the names of nat onal rulers. From the
earliest ages Of the Christian Era Lodges have
been dedicated to the Saints John, and they have
have been claimed as Grand Masters. This claim
has never been denied and was not when, ii untrue,
its falsity could have been shown by living wit
ne ses. This kind of evidence sreceived Of other
facts and considered conclusive. What evidence
is there that the Evangelist was Bishop of Ephesus
Church history, only-yet no one doubts it, for it
has been so claimed ever siilce that peli I'd. AMI
never disputed We do not look into political or
national history for record of such facts, they
do not treat Of them. National history speaks Of
masonry only in denunciation, and to record in
blood the prosecutions OF the Order. No other
evidence than ma sonic history could at this day
have been furnished of the existence, and office,
Of Jacques De Malay, Grand Master of Knights
Templars, had it not been for the bloody perSecu'
titn Of Philip Of France and Pope Clement he fifth,
by whom he was burnt at the stake in 1914 This
act transferred his name and Office 10 national his
tory; otherwise he would have remained unknown
except in masuric records. Such is the evidence
on which we claim the Saints John as masons, and
patrons of our Order.
We claim not only brotherhood with these
great patrons of our In titution, but we profess
to be governed by their precepts, and example
We acknowledge, and inculcate a belief in one
God, and an universal brotherhood of man, con,
nected together by certain fixed and Unchanged
BILE laws of universal application. The object OF
masonry is the improvement, and happiness of the
whole human race, without respect to country
rank, or creed Universal bencvOence is the es-
sential spirit of its being charity and truth the
bond of its preservation. Teaching no creed in
religion but that of belief in, dependence on, and
accountability to one Eternal, and Almighty God