What was his creed?.

He left a load of anthracite
In front of a poor widow's door
When deep snow, frozen and white,
Wrapped street and square, mountain and moor,
This was his deed-
He did it well;
"What was his creed?"
I cannot tell.

Blest "in his basket and store,"
In sitting down and rising up;
When more he got he gave the more,
Withholding not the crust and cup.
He took the lead
In each good task;
"What was his creed?"
I do not ask.

His charity was like the snow,
Soft, white and silken in its fall;
Not like the noisy winds that blow
From shivering trees the leaves; a pall
For flower and weed,
Dropping below.
"What was his creed?"
The poor may know.

He had great faith in loaves of bread
For hungry people, young and old;
And hope inspired kind words, he said
To him he sheltered from the cold,
For the must feed,
As well as pray.
"What was his creed?"
I cannot say.

In words he did not put his trust-
In faith his words he never writ;
He loved to share his cup and crust
with all who needed it.
In time of need
A friend was he.
"What was his creed?"
He told not me.

He put his faith in Heaven—he
Worked on with hand and head;
And what he gave in charity
Sweetened his sleep and daily bread.
Let us take heed,
For life is brief.
"What was his creed—
What his belief?"

Try the Square.

[By Bio. David Barker in the Keystone.]

Is a Brother off the track?
Try the Square;
Try it well on every side.
Nothing draws a craftsman back
Like the Square, when well applied.
Try the Square

Is he crooked, is he frail?
Try the Square.
Try it early, try it late;
When all other efforts fail,
Try the Square to make him straight—
Try the Square.

Does he still persist in wrong?
Try the Square.
Loves he darkness more than light?
Try it thorough, try it long
Try the Square to make him right—
Try the Square.

Fails the Square to bring him in?
Try the Square.
Be not sparing of the pains;
While there's any work to do.
While a crook or knot remains—
Try the Square.

The Wages of the Craft.

There is a mine of wealth in the verbiage of Masonry. To ordinary observers the surface indications may be slight, but to the thoughtful Mason every word contains a nugget of ore. Often the Senior Warden of a lodge is regarded as a greatly inferior office, with little authority, and merely a sort of deputy Master, a lay figure, unless the Master be absent. Not so; he tells us so, and what he tells is true, and indicates a deeper truth than he tells. The Senior Warden is the paymaster of the Craft, now nominally, once really. He is a sort of stranded Masonic official on the shores of time. His vocation is largely gone. But what he now asserts of himself gives us a hint of what he once really was. It proves that he was an historic character, that time, the great page 7 lever, has lessened his authority; that his office was not created in the present or in the last century, but originated with Freemasonry itself, in the remote past. The language used by the Senior Warden proves that he is a kind of fossil. When does he ever pay the Craft wages now? But he did once—aye, and as long as three thousand years ago, if there is anything in Masonic tradition, or in Masonic philology. This carries us back to the building of King Solomon's Temple.

According to the traditions of the lodge, which are fortified in certain respects by the facts and traditions of Mark Masonry as well, there were two classes of stone-hewers and squarers, or Fellow-crafts, at the building of Solomon's Temple—first, a superior class, of skilled workmen, who were each in possession of an individual "Mark," and who always designated their work by this mark; and second, an inferior class, of probably younger and less experienced workmen, who had no mark, and probably performed only the rough work of the quarries. The former received their pay in silver, the latter in corn, wine, and oil. It was the duty of the Senior Warden of the lodge to pay these wages, and he did it on the sixth day of the week (Friday) at the sixth hour (High Twelve), when the Craft was called off from labour to refreshment. Now that the Mark Degree has been severed from the Fellow-Craft Degree, and made a special degree, the Senior Warden's vocation in the Fellow-Craft or Master Mason's lodge is gone. He has no wages to bestow, and no craftsmen to pay. Nevertheless he retains the old language, which indicates what his duty once was, and thereby testifies to the antiquity of his station, and the dignity with which he was once clothed.

But let it not be inferred that Freemasons no longer receive wages. Far from it. There is no man who receives better wages than a Freemason. He is a member of that ancient and honoured fraternity which has no rival, whose wealth—intellectual, moral, social, and material—is untold, and which dispenses its wealth with a liberal hand. Let us see what the wages of the Craft now are, and to whom they are paid.

The non-affiliate gets nothing, and merits nothing. He is a backslider, out of all sympathy with his fellows. He comes not near the lodge, and of course can receive no wages. Neither does the habitual absentee from the lodge who is in good standing receive any wages. Seeing is receiving, and he never sees. Hearing is receiving, and he never hears. No one receives wages but the brother who is dutiful to his lodge. But what does he receive? Most liberal wages. He is enriched in mind, in body, and in spirit. The sublime truths taught in the Craft, by sign and symbol, by word and act, are impressed again and again on his memory, so that he cannot forget them. Every devoted Freemason should be a noble man. He has no excuse for turpitude. He unfailingly knows what is right, and cannot err through ignorance. Besides this he is enriched in spirit, by communion and fellowship with his brethren. He has their sympathy. He sits with them both at labour and refreshment. The convivial joys of the banquet room are his. He is enriched also in body. Often the wages are material in form. He partakes of the viands which upbuild the body page 8 and rejoice the heart—the corn, the wine, and the oil of the Craft. His wages often include all these payments. Can any brother under these circumstances go away dissatisfied? Can he be aught than happy, yea, delighted? Is the fraternity a useless one which can offer such rewards to its initiates—truth for the mind, nourishment for the body, encouragement and inspiration for the spirit, the emotional nature? Aye, and its wages are larger still. Does fortune fail, do friends fall away, does penury follow sharply on the heels of misfortune, then heaven-born charity is dispensed by the Craft. Then the wages are in shekels, as well as in the corn of nourishment, the wine of refreshment and the oil of joy. The unfortunate brother is paid the wages of both classes of Fellow-Crafts, those with Marks and those without; he is paid in specie and he is paid in kind.

Were Freemasons ever better paid than now? Were their wages ever larger. We would rather be a Freemason to-day than to have been one in the days of King Solomon. We would rather enjoy the labour and refreshment of the lodge now, than that which our primitive brethren enjoyed. The best times are these times, all that is said about the "good old times" to the contrary notwithstanding. All Freemasons are entitled to receive their wages, and if they do not, it is owing to the wilful neglect of their duties; it is their fault, and not the fault of the craft.—Ex.

Leading Principles of Masonry.

Belief in God, who will reward virtue and punish vice.

Fraternity, or the brotherhood of men.

The obligation resting upon all men to obey the moral law.

The exercise of that toleration which grants to others the same right to entertain and express opinions which we claim for ourselves.

The equality of all men before God and in natural right and in the eye of the law, and the exercise of that liberty of action, opinion and speech, which, regulated by wise laws, is necessary to the pursuit of happiness.

The promotion of peace and the amicable adjustment by arbitration of all difficulties, State or individual, where possible, by mutual friends instead of a resort to law or to arms.

Respect for and obedience to the civil government and the laws under which we live.

The cultivation and practical application of that broad charity which "thinketh no evil," and bestows upon the needy with open hand.

On such principles, all men disposed to be just, and inclined to peace, may unite and together work for the good of all. This institution does not build its platform of principles so high that none but such as are already saints having wings can get up to it, nor so narrow that few can stand upon it when they get there; but it is made for mortal men, full of infirmities, and is broad and strong, and may be reached by "all sorts and conditions of men" who are worthy and desire to be made wiser and better and to do good to others.

Subscribe for the New Zealand Masonic Journal. Subscription, Five Shillings per annum, in advance.

The Difference.

Cardinal Gibbons says: "We hold that if a man joins a society swearing never in reveal any of its workings no matter how criminal, and to obey the dictates of its officers blindly, he surrenders his personal liberty, becomes a slave to his fellow-man, and cannot partake of the sacraments of the church. On the other hand, if a man joins an organization swearing to keep its working, with the proviso that nothing therein shall be contrary to the laws of the land, his conscience and religious tenets, we hold that his action is perfectly justified."

Now, as any Masonic obligation comes under the latter conditions, as a Mason is taught that nothing is to interfere with his duty to God, his country, his neighbour, or himself, the Cardinal must approve our order as "perfectly justified" to be consistent and true to his own utterances.

Home News.

At the last quarterly communication of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, the Special Committee appointed on the subject of the "Mark," reported that in answer to several communications reported by Grand Secretary, it was agreed to recommend to the Grand Committee to rule that "it is incompetent under the Scottish Constitution to work the Mark in so-called Mark lodges with office-bearers other than those of the Craft lodge, and having separate books and accounts, but that the degree shall be conferred on Master Masons as a section of that of the Fellow Craft, and that all such admissions to the Mark shall be recorded in the ordinary minute book of the lodge. Further, that it is competent to lodges to give the mark to regularly recorded Master Masons of other lodges under the Scottish Constitution, as well as to their own qualified members." This was approved.

The Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of England has just granted warrants for the following new lodges: The Ruahine Lodge, Woodville, Hawke's Bay, and the Lodge of Harmony, Otahuhu, Auckland.

We referred some time ago to the position that the Mark o ocupies amongst the recognised Masonic Degrees, under the Grand Lodge of Scotland. The matter has again been considered by that body. The Grand Committee has ruled that "it is incompetent, under the Scottish Constitution, to work the Mark in so-called Mark lodges, with office-bearers other than those of the Craft lodge, &c., also that the page 10 Degree shall be conferred on Master Masons as a section of that of the Fellow Craft and that all such admissions to the Mark shall be recorded in the ordinary minute book of the lodge. Further, that it is competent to lodges [Craft] to give the Mark to regularly recorded Master Masons of other lodges under the Scottish Constitution as well as to their own qualified members." The position of the Scottish Mark Degree, or ceremony, is thus unique. It is recognised by the Grand Lodge of Scotland, the subordinates of which are permitted to work the Degree so long as the Craft minute book is used for its records, and Master Masons of Scottish lodges are eligible for "advancement," even in lodges to which they do not subscribe as members. The fiction of its being a "section of the Fellow Craft" is still persisted in, but that is not of much moment. Then the Mark Degree is recognised by the Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Scotland, it being a necessary prerequisite for "exaltation;" and, the two Grand Bodies having agreed to work the same ritual, should a Mark Master of Scottish lodge a desire to join a Royal Arch Chapter, his being in possession of the Degree thus conferred in a Craft lodge renders it unnecessary for him "to take it a second time"; so that the Grand Lodge and the Grand Chapter work most amicably together though they both exercise jurisdiction over Mark Masonry in Scotland. Had it not been for the "Articles of Union," it is just possible a somewhat similar arrangement would have prevailed in this country, but as it is, the Mark Degree cannot be actually recognised by the Grand Lodge of England. It has, however, all the recognition that is desirable by H.R.H. the Prince of Wales being the Grand Master of both organizations. We fail to see what more can possibly be wanted, and have little patience with those who rail at "unrecognised Degrees," yet would tolerate any ceremony which obtained recognition, however modern, useless, or un-Masonic in character.—The Freemason.

The Chaine'd Union says—A Masonic ball, in aid of the poor at Constantinople was held recently at the new theatre in that city; 450 persons were present, including many Masonic notabilities, and the affair was a great success; 600 Turkish lire were netted, including a donation of 100 lire from the Sultan.