The following passage from the Book of the Law is read:

"For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the market place, and said unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right, I will give you. And they went their way. And again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour, he went out and found others standing id.e, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the

vineyard and whatsoever is right, that shall ye re ceive. So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. And when they came, that were hired about the

eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more, and they likewise received every man a penny. And when they received it, they murmured against the good man of the house, saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong; didst thou not agree with me for a penny? Take that thine is, and go thy way; I will give unto this last even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with my own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen."

THE SYMBOLISM OF THE PARABLE.

THERE is no passage of Scripture recited in any portion of our ritual which is more appropriate to the ceremonies into which it is introduced, than is this sublime parable of our Lord to the whole extent and design of the Mark Master's Degree. We learn from it that the Grand Architect of the

Universe will make no distinction of persons in the distribution of His beneficence, but will give alike to each who sincerely seeks to obey the great law of His creation. Masonry regards no man on account of his worldly wealth or honors. It is the internal, and not the external qualifications that recommend a man to be a mason. No matter what may be the distinctions of place or office, the humblest shall receive as full a reward as the highest, if he has labored faithfully and effectually in the task set before him. And this arises from the very nature of the institution.

The lodge is the mason's vineyard; his labor is study, and his wages are truth. The youngest brother may, therefore, labor more earnestly than the oldest, and thus receive more light in Masonry as the reward of his earnest work. There was a young craftsman who had been idle all the week, doing no work whatsoever-the symbol of the profane, who has not yet been initiated into Masonry; yet, on the last day, at the eleventh hour, he found in the quarries and brought into the temple that stone which became the head of the corner. Thus did he more scrvice to the house of the Lord than all those who had labored from the rising even to the setting of the sun, and yet who could offer no more at the end of each day's work than the ordinary result of an ordinary man's labor.

The vineyard of Masonry is open to all. But he who works most diligently, though he began the latest, shall not be below him who, commencing earlier, has not put his whole heart into the task.

The design of all Masonry is the search after TRUTH, and every one who seeks to discover it, shall receive his reward in the attainment. However we may have endured the heat and burden of the day, if we have not labored wisely, with the true end in view-if our zeal has not been tempered with judgment-though first at the vineyard, we shall be last at the reward; for truth is to be found only by him who looks for it earnestly, and whose search is directed by wis

dom, and supported by faithful courage and unfaltering zeal. It is not the time that you have been a mason, but the way in which that time has been employed, that will secure the prize of intellectual light. He who, like the youthful craftsman in the quarries, has made one discovery in masonic science, is of more benefit as a member to the fraternity than he who, after long years, has learned nothing more than his ritual, just as the keystone was of infinitely more value than many ordinary blocks of stone.

So, then, let us all labor in the vineyard and the quarryin the lodge and in the study-so that, being called as initiates to seek masonic truth, we also may be chosen to find it.

CHARGE.*

BROTHER: I congratulate you on having been thought worthy of being advanced to this honorary degree of Masonry. Permit me to impress it on your mind, that your assiduity should ever be commensurate with your duties, which become more and more extensive, as you advance in Masonry. In the honorable character of Mark Master Mason, it is more particularly your duty to endeavor to let your conduct in the lodge and among your brethren be such as may stand the test of the Great Overseer's square; that you may not, like the unfinished and imperfect work of the negligent and unfaithful of former times, be rejected and thrown aside, as

*This charge, first published, in a more complete form, by WEBB, is taken substantially, and. in some portions, with literal exactitude, from the charge contained in the ritual of the Mark Master Mason of the Ancient and Accepted Rite. I am indebted to the same ritual for the prayer which closes the degree.

unfit for that spiritual building-that house not made with hands-eternal in the heavens.

While such is your conduct, should misfortunes assail you, should friends forsake you, should envy traduce your good name, and malice persecute you, yet may you have confidence, that among Mark Master Masons you will find friends who will administer relief to your distresses and comfort to your afflictions, ever bearing in mind, as a consolation under all the frowns of fortune, and as an encouragement to hope for better prospects, that the stone which the builders rejected, possessing merits to them unknown, became the chief stone of the corner.

PRAYER

AT THE CLOSING OF A MARK MASTER'S LODGE.

Supreme Grand Architect of the Universe, who sitteth on the throne of mercy, deign to view our labors in the cause of virtue and humanity with the eye of compassion; purify our hearts, and cause us to know and serve thee aright. Guide us in the paths of rectitude and honor; correct our errors by the unerring square of thy wisdom, and enable us so to practice the precepts of Masonry, that all our actions may be acceptable in thy sight. So mote it be. Amen.

END OF THE MARK DEGREE