Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-06-29

above-nauFg-Ir, r.. I call il SEE
Christianize the~s3 a. digary case
was the first that o. 49, %! =
spirit of Masonry, and en- =
form the work Of the 3
be revised the Lectures. Z -. l1.iS9 roe,
trations" the Saints JohntS1e:p' the q
70, and the Prayers are purely Masonic.
These Lectures continued in vogue until
the union Of the two Grand Lodges
in England in 1913. When the Rev.
DR.. Samuel Hemming, in conjunction
with others, produced what is known in
England as the Union work, - or Lee
lures, since then the names of the saints
are not alluded to either as patrons or
parallels, nor are the Saint Johns days
observed as festivals. "The NJ. w. G..
Lodge Of England" says Bro. Mellen,
was the first to adopt the patronage,
ETC., of the Saint Johns. and has been
the first to discard it.n " The Preston
lectures" " says a writer in the Masonic
Monthly, vol l, page 20, "were COM
municated to Thomas Smith Webb in the
latter part of the last century" Accord
ing to Webb's testimony be made but
little change in his first edition of his
" Freemason's Monitor" published 1897.
In that edition Webb dedicates to Ma
sonry in the name of the Great Jehovah,
neitheriS there any dltJisiOB 10 the Saints
John IN 0By 1Cdy. The first edition Of
the constitution, published by the Grand
Lodge of Massachusetts,, 1892, mentions
only constituting and consecrating
Lodges, and nothing about dedicating.
The first word we find in relation to the
matter is contained in the Massachusetts
constitution, published in 179S, and then
thew dedicated to only one Saint John.
fs, asp Fan 20
sets formula. In 1916 he Webb dedi-
Gates three times first, in the name of
the Great Jehovah 10 Masonry; second,
in the name of the holy Saint John to
virtue and third, in the name of Frater-
nity to Universal BenevOlence. In IS43 q
convention was held Of Representatives of
all the Grand Lodges in the United States
in Baltimore or Washington, for the pUr-
poses OF establishing uniformity through
out the United States, and some comprO-
mise was effected for that purpose; but
in 1913 Massachusetts resolved to return
to her own system, when a discussion
took place in the Grand Lodge, among
the old lecturers, as to their ancient
landmarks ~ some believed that Saint
John (our saint was the proper express
sion; others asserted Saint Johns, the
most proper; and third party gave the
ulCLuLl hlldb ioaluLS JOlln was llt CIluO-
dox mode, and it was adopted accord
ingiy. The question here naturally sug-
gests Itself, Whence originated the fiction
that the Saints John were Masons that
it is a fiction, no rational man will I'M
dertake TO dispute; but how did their
names become connected with Ma
sonry? The reader has noticed that the
"point within a circle" which Anderson
alluded to almost pdTeatteticdily, when
in describing the point, line, superfces,
and solids, how this slight idea has be-
come amplified, and what a theological
superstructure has been raised upon that
slightfouDdation We may reasonably inter
that the casusi introduction Of the name
Of Saint John, in connection with a So
eiety Of Masons Of former period, and
the observance Of the Saints John days as
festivals by the Fraternity in England
during the middle ages, these two Incl
dents were seized by the pious lecture
makers the legend was invented, the
religious christians welcomed and gladly
adopted it, and neOphytes Of course be-
lieved; and these two points have since
formed the main arguments Of the J0han-
mite advocates. tits not, however diff
cult 10 trace the causes why in two or
three instances certain Lodges of Aasons
vsere known by the appellation Of " st.
.iohns' BRETHREN nor the reason why
The MasoHs in England observed the
Saint Johns days. First: Il is very
natiraI when a body of workiugmeia
were employed for years in erecting q