The " Red Apron " Lodges.

Thus the first recorded appointment of Grand Stewards is in 1723 , when their number is six , and the Premier Book of Constitutions gives their appointment to the Grand Master , but without specifying their number . At the Feast of 24 th June , 1724 , 12 Stewards acted , of whom six were the Stewards of thc previous year . The following year 110 Stewards were

appointed , and Brother John James He'idcgger was ordered " to prepare thc Feast in thc best Manner ; " and the ncxt year there were " no Stewards , but Brother Edward Lambert undertook to prepare the Feast . " The same Brother again prepared the Feast in 1727 ; and on 26 th November , 172 S , " Brother Desaguliers moved to revive thc Office of Stewards to assist the Grand Wardens in preparing the Feast , and that their number be 12 , which was readily agreed to . " ( Anderson , 1738 , parrc 123 . )

From this time there were 12 Stewards regularly appointed for each Annual Feast , until on 29 th May , 1 S 15 . 18 were appointed , which has continued to be the number ever since ; except in 1 S 46 , when the G . Master refused to accept the nomination made by Lodge No . 30 , and only 17 Stewards were appointed , and in the next year only 16 were appointed ,

for what reason I do not know . ( G . Lodge Reports . ) ( Bro . Hughan says in the " Masonic Register , " page 40 : " From 1735 to 1813 12 Stewards wcre annually selected ; " but he is surely in error as to the first date , for Anderson gives the names of 12 Stewards regularly on from 1728 , except for 1730 , when there was no Feast , owing to the absence of the Grand Master , the Dukeof Norfolk , at Venice . )

'Ihe distinctive clothing now worn by Grand Stewards was first allowed to them on 17 th March , 1730-1 , when "the Stewards for the year were allowed to have Jewels of Silver ( tho' not guilded ) pendent to Red Ribbons about their Necks , to bear White Rods , and to line their White Leather Aprons with Red Silk . " Hence the lodges which now furnish Grand

Stewards are known as " Red Apron Lodges . The next privilege they obtained was that each Steward might name his successor in office for the following year . This was granted to them on 2 nd March , 1731-2—( Anderson , 173 S , page 167)—in order , as Preston says , to encourage gentlemen to accept the office of Steward . ( Illustrations , Ed . 1801 , page 231 . )

Next it was agreed on 31 st March , 1735 , that ail Grand Officers , the Grand Master excepted , should be elected from those who had served as Stewards—( Gould ' s "Four Old . Lodges , " page 31)—and this great privilege was confirmed to them on 3 rd February , 1779 , when the Master and other brethren of the Stewards' Lodge complained that of late years those who served as Stewards had declined to join the Stewards' Lodge , and to remedy this the following resolution was agreed to : " Whereas it appears ,

from the book of Constitutions , to have been the invariable usage of the society to appoint the officers of the grand lodge from such brethren only who have served the office of grand steward , Resolved , that in future no brother be appointed a grand officer until he shall have served the office of steward at a grand feast ; nor unless he be an actual subscribing member of the stewards' lodge at the time of his appointment . " ( Constitutions , 17 S 4 , page 328 . )

The year 1735 was apparently that in which the Stewards were most influential , for besides the privilege of providing the Grand Officers , they also obtained in that year the formation of the Stewards' Lodge , which was granted on 24 th June , 1735 , in compliance with an address to Grand Lodge from former Stewards . " In consideration of their past Service and future Usefulness" Grand Lodge ordained : —

1 . "That they should be constituted a Lodge of Masters , to be called the Stewards Lodge , to be register'd as such in the Grand Lodge Books and printed List , with the Times and Place of their Meetings . 2 . " That the Stewards Lodge shall have the privilege of sending a

Deputation of 12 to every Grand Lodge , viz ., the Master , Two Wardens and Nine more , and Each of the 12 shall vote there , and Each of ' em that attends shall pay Half a Crown , towards the Expence of the Grand Lodge . 3 . " That no Brother who has not been a Steward shall wear the same Sort of Aprons and Ribbons .

4 . "That each of the 12 Deputies from the Stewards Lodge shall , in the Grand Lodge , wear a peculiar jewel suspended in the Red Ribbon ; the Pattern ol which was then approved . 5 . " That the 12 Stewards of the current year shall always attend the Grand Lodge in their proper Clothing and Jewels , paying al the Rate of four Lodges towards the Expence of the Communication : But they are not to vote , nor even to speak , except when desired , or else of what relates to the ensuing Feast only . " ( Anderson , 1738 , p . 16 S . )

Accordingly at the Grand Lodgeof nth December , 1 735 , "Sir Robert Lawley , Master of the Stewards Lodge , with his Wardens and nine more , with their new Badges , appeared full 12 the first time . " However , there was much dissatisfaction felt at these extraordinary privileges being granted to the Stewards ; it is stated in the Freemasons ' Calendar for 1783 ( p . 22 ) that the 12 Stewards who appeared in December ,

1735 , were not allowed to vote , though it is not clear to me whether this refers to the Deputation from the new Stewards Lodge or to the 12 Stewards of the current year , who are clearly distinct bodies ; and a vigorous attempt was made to cancel the new privileges by a refusal to confirm the minutes of the June meeting . But , " In the course of the collecting the votes on

this occasion , there appeared so much confusion that it was not possible for the Grand Ofiicers to determine with any certainty what the numbers on cither side of the question were . They were therefore obliged to dismiss thc debate and close the lodge . " ( Extracted from Grand Lodge Minutes by Bro . Gould . " Four Old Lodges , " p . 31 . )

But the minutes apparently were confirmed at some time , for the neiv Stewards' Lodge appears in the Grand Lodge List for 1736 as No . 117 ( Gould , p . 5 ) , but when the numbers of the Lodges were altered by order of the Grand Lodge on 1 Sth April , 1792 , it was placed at the head of the list without a number ( Freemason ' s Calendar for for 1793 ) , the position it now occupies ; though Preston ( Illustrations , Ed . 1 S 01 , p . 237 ) says this privilege

was " a measure very incompatible with the original Constitutions , and which can never be sanctioned by thc rules of the Society . Several Lodges have entered protests against it in their private books ; which at some future time may have an effect , and probably induce a re-investigation of the subject . " It is worth while lo pause hero to recapitulate the privileges obtained by

the Grand Stewards during the first 12 years of their existence ; they were first appointed in 172 . 3 by the Grand Master , their number was fixed at 12 in 1728 , ihey obtained distinctive clothing in 1730-1 , in the following year they were allowed to name their successors , in 1735 they got a monopoly of all the offices in Grand Lodge , and in the same year the Stewards' Lodge was

The " Red Apron " Lodges.

formed with the privilege of sending 12 members with individual votes to Grand Lodge . Their next privilege was gained when " On February , 1770 , the grand lodge resolved , that the stewards' lodge be allowed the privilege of sending a number of brethren , equal to any olher four lodges , to every

future committee of charity ; and that as the master alone of each private lodge only has a right to attend , in order to make a proper distinction between the stewards' lodge and the other lodges , the master and three other members of that lodge be permitted to attend at every succeeding , committee on behalf of the said lodge . " ( Constitutions , 17 S 4 , page 383 . )

At the Union in 1813 its monopoly of supplying Grand Officers was apparently tacitly withdrawn from the Stewards' Lodge , though its right to send to Grand Lodge twelve Grand Stewards from its members existing at the Union was preserved to it , but with the proviso " it being . understood and agreed that , from and alter the Union , an annual appointment shall be made of the Stewards if necessary . " ( Articles of Union , Art . vii . ) Accordingly on 29 th May , 1 S 15 , eighteen Grand Stewards were

appointed , being nominated by the Grand Master ( Grand Lodge Reports ) and the appointment of their successors , in 1816 , was also made by the Grand Master ( Constitutions , 1 S 27 , page 42 ); this being the last instance of the appointment of Stewards by him , for on 24 th April , 1816 , the Stewards for the ensuing year were presented by their predecessors , being one from each of the eighteen lodges from which the Grand Master had made his last appointments ; and the Grand Stewards have been annually selected in this way ever since .

The eighteen lodges from which the Stewards were appointed in 1816 were : No . in 1 S 16 . Present No . 1 . The Grand Masters' Lodge ... ... 1 2 . Antiquity ... ... ... ... 2 4 . Royal Somerset House and Inverness ... 4 6 . Friendship ... ... ... ... 6 5 . British ... ... ... ... ... S

14 . Tuscan ... ... ... ... ... 14 22 . Emulation ... ... ... ... 21 25 . Globe ... ... ... ... ... 23 29 . Castle Lodge of Harmony ... ... 26 34 . Old King ' s Arms ... ... ... 28 35 . St . Alban's ... ... ... ... 29 40 . Corner Stone ... ... ... ... 5

( United in 1 843 with No . 5 . ) 75 . Felicity ... ... ... ... ... 58 82 . Peace and Harmony ... ... ... 60 142 . Regularity ... ... ... ... 91 156 . Shakspeare ... ... ... ... 99 435 . Pilgrim ... ... ... ... ... 23 S

493 . Princeof Wales ... ... ... ... 259 The above are now the " Red Apron Lodges , " except that in 1 S 34 the " Pilgrim " Lodge lost its privilege , and was replaced by the "Jerusalem " Lodge , now No . 197 , no reason being given in Grand Lodge Reports for the change , but it is stated in thc Freemasons' Quarterly Review for 1834 ( p . 51 ) , that the " Pilgrim" Lodge declined to send a Steward for that

year ; and on 28 th April , 1 S 52 , the Grand Master announced that the "Old King ' s Arms" Lodge had lost its privilege by not submitting a name in lime , and that he had selected the " Old Union " Lodge , now No . 46 , in its place . An attempt to reverse this decision was made at the following meeting , but failed . ( Grand Lodge Reports . ) 1 have now traced , clearly , I hope , the privileges granted at various times to the Grand Stewards , and have shown that the present " Red

Apron " Lodges were , with two exceptions , selected by the Grand Master in 1816 , and will conclude with saying that on 19 th April , 184 S , it was proposed that all London lodges should be allowed to furnish Grand Stewards —eighteen lodges to be taken in rotation annually . The motion was lost by a majority of 40 . Great amusement was caused by one speaker , who said that " the present Red Apron Lodges were in possession of all the wealth , all the talent , and all the education to be found in Masonry . ( Freemasons' Quarterly Review , 1848 , p . 172 . )

A Visit To The British Ophthalmic Hospital, Jerusalem.

A VISIT TO THE BRITISH OPHTHALMIC HOSPITAL , JERUSALEM .

On the Bethlehem-road , about 10 minutes' walk from the Jaffa Gate of Jerusalem , stands a building which at once attracts attention not only on account of its substantial character , but also from the splendid situation it occupies . Thoroughly Oriental in style , indeed more so than usual , it yet lacks that appearance of having been thrown together—with windows stuck in anywhere—that general look of unevenness which we have hitherto so

frequently observed . Massive and square in its outline , with large windows heavily ironed , regular parapets , and a castellated tower—the "keep "as it were—one might readily imagine it to be a kind of outlying fortification , and it really appears as if it could stand a fair siege . Surrounding it and stretching away towards Bethlehem is a large orchard , full of olive , fig ,

walnut , and other trees , with innumerable vines , planted wherever one can be placed ;—the whole presenting a most refreshing aspect , and evidence of cultivation most unusual in this part of Palestine . Over the gateway floats a large flag , wilh the white Maltese cross on a crimson ground , while over the door , carved in stone , is a shield with a similar device .

This is "The British Hospice of St . John , " as it is generally termed by ihe inhabitants , or more fully , " The British Ophthalmic Hospital established by the English Langue of the Order of St . John of Jerusalem ; " a Society which in its charitable work recognises no difference of nationality or creed , but is thoroughly unsectarian , its members desiring only , as far as their

means permit , to do whatever is possible in mitigation of that universal suffering which , in some form or other , is thc common lot of humanity , and thus to perpetuate the humane and generous purpose of the chivalrous and ancient Order from which they take their name , and which is in them revived .

A ring at the bell brings a turbanned and baggy-lrowsered attendant with a heavy grey moustache to the gate , who , to our enquiry , informs us that the doctor is at home , and invites us to enter . We descend a short flight of steps and lind ourselves in a large courtyard , surrounded on all sides by buildings and overlooked by terraces . On one side of this courtyard extends a series of rooms opening from it , which belong to the outpatients' department . At the further end is a covered archway , from which i open the kitchen and store rooms . On the opposite side , a door leads tq