On The Excessive Influence Of Womem.

this world , and still advance , as they only can-advance , the happiness and well-being of mankind . We shall recur to this subject in our next .

Our Archaeological Corner.

Our Archaeological Corner .

THE PENNY OF THE MARK MASTER . BRO . ROB . MORRIS . From the "Masonic Jewel . "

IN my visits for thirty years to Royal Arch Chapters , I have invariably observed that in the ceremonial of the Mark Master ' s degree , the " penny" used ancl the " penny " descanted upon in the lectures following is a coppper coin—either our American coin worth one centor a

, British coin worth two . And the impression made by using the copper coin , and its allusions , is that the workmen iir the parable were greatly underpaid . A facetious lecturer indeed , whose knowledge in archceology was equal to his

knowledge in Masonry , boldly averred that " he considered that the fellows who came in at the eleventh hour and toiled sixty minutes in the grape business , got not a cent too much ; while all the others were confoundedly cheated ! " AVhereat

the hearers , who were paying him " ten dollars a clay ancl found " for his wisdom , ancl the only ones who lost by the transaction , laughed till the ambers ran out the corners of their facial orifices . Now a joke is a joke , ancl I don't even

object to a joke that bears down hard on Sampson , or on Tiglath-Pileser . If men put themselves in the way of getting laughed at , they must stand the consequences , as you and I do . But when the fun is at the expense alike of Scripture truth and archteology facts , I for one

demur , as I did that night in the Mark Master ' s Lodge , ancl as I always will do when folly usurps the place of " light in Masonry . " The " penny " of the Mark Master is the denarius of the Roman , the drachma

of the Greek . It is a silver coin of very pure metal . I have just weighed six of them , ancl here are the results in grains , Troy weight : 39 , 50 , 59 , 40 , 48 , 44 . The average size is seen in the engraving . We learn in history that the Romans

styled this coin denarius , because it was equivalent in value to ten ases—the as , a copper coin , weighing in the time when the parable was written , half an ounce . As the as was in value about a oenfc and n

half ( Federal money ) , it follows that the denarius was worth about fifteen cents , and that is about the average . value in weight of the silver contained in each of the six specimens before me . If they vary in weight , as I have said , from 39 to

59 grains , it is partly because of the difference in wear and tear , partly in the different circumstances of Rome at different ages , partly perhaps in the process of filing the edges which they undergo at hands of the Arabs , & c , who collect them , and can sell them to us at just as good a price after reducing the wei ght as before .

The first idea that I wish to impress upon your readers is , that the penny in Bible times was a silver coin . Afterward gold pennies were struck ( certainly in England A . D ., 1257 , ancl for ten years afterward . ) These were worth from 1 dollar 50 cents to 1 dollar 00 cents

( Federal ) or thereabouts . It was not until quite recently that a copper coin styled a penny was struck . The picture at the head of this article represents a penny , a drachma , a denarius , A silver penny- — -a penny of the reign of

Tiberius , who was Emperor of the Roman Empire at the time Jesus gave utterance to our parable . Let us first explain the characters upon it : The face of the Emperor Tiberius is seen upon the head of the money , lookinw

to the right . His head is bound around with a laurel wreath . His countenance is good-humoured enough . He rei gned from A . D . 14 to A . D . 37 , and was succeeded by Caligula , very much as A . B ., who was a