Round And About.

doubt , George R . Sims , who derives from the royalties on his plays this enormous limit . Mr . Sims is not a Mason , as several masonic prints persist in styling him , but his father was , I believe , a Prov . Grand Officer of Kent . Among the lawyers and barristers Mr . George Lewis and Sir Charles Russell are to the front . Sir Charles has had briefs marked 500 guineas , with refreshers of 200 guineas a day , and his fees for the Chetwynd-Durham case very nearly reached 2 , 000 pounds .

* # * An evening contemporary says : — " The names of Sir Edwin Arnold and Mr . G . A . Sala are sufficiently well known in connection with the Daily Telegraph staff , but the chief political leader-writer of 'the largest circulation' is Mr . J . Herbert Stack . Mr . Stack is an

Irishman , and commenced his journalistic career as editor of the Dublin Commercial Journal , for whicli newspaper he wrote ' Norwood Castle' and other popular stories . He then removed to London and became the sub-editor of the Globe , at that time the leading Whig evening newspaper , and also a contributor to the Spectator

and Saturday Review . In 1861 Mr . Stack was made the first editor of the Birmingham Daily Gazette , whence he passed to the Daily Te / egrafh . He has also written one or two booklets and some pamphlets on the Civil Service , in which he has two brothers holding important positions . One , Mr . Robert Stack , is Chief Clerk

in the Irish Board of Works , Dublin , and the other , Mr . Henry Aloysius Stack , is in the Exchequer and Audit Department , Somerset House . The latter has written a ' History of the American Civil War , ' and several very clever plays . '' Mr . Stack was initiated into the Craft in 1854 , but has never found time to

become aught but a Master Mason . * * * If any of my friends find themselves in London on a Sunday morning , and anxious to experience something that will impress them , let them attend the morning service at the Foundling Hospital and listen to the singing of the boys . THE DRUID .

The Senior Warden.

THE SENIOR WARDEN .

OF all the appointments to office it is in the power of a newlyinstalled Worshipful Master to make there is none of so much importance as that of the Senior Warden . The choice of the probable successor to the exalted dignity and grave duties connected with the chair of K . S ., is one that demands most careful consideration , and should not be made in any perfunctory manner .

The elevation of a Brother to the position of second officer in the Lodge should not depend upon mere rota , unaccompanied by any evidence of zeal and earnestness in the attainment of proficiency for command and ability to teach . And that Master of a Lodge most faithfully and efficiently discharges his first duty to the Craft

who has the judgment to determine where merit should receive promotion , and the courage to exert such judgment notwithstanding any supposed right of prescription , by service in subordinate capacities , any Brother may advance . The Senior Warden is the selected of many individuals to whom has been entrusted a power

which may tend to either make or mar his future prospects ; and the Brother who looks to be the object of the W . M . ' s choice should take care that he has fully qualified himself in every respect for the promotion he desires , and is able to be truly that Pillar of Strength to the Lodge which is required in the West . On the other hand , if during his service in the less important offices , he has negligently

omitted to make the requisite progress , but given reasonable cause for his efficiency to be doubted , he ought not to be either surprised or annoyed if the "fountain of honor " in his Lodge bars his further advancement , for the Brethren generally approve of their Master ' s decision . He will have failed to reap because he had not sown , and

to complain of the natural result of his negligence , and to designate it as an injustice done to him , would but proclaim that his self aggrandisement was of much more importance than a consideration of the best interests of Freemasonry .

The Senior Warden.

I have spoken of the Senior Warden as the Pillar of Strength , the second of the Three Great Pillars which support a Lodge . His prototype is Hiram , King of Tyre , who so effectually supported King Solomon in providing materials for the building of the Holy Temple at Jerusalem . His symbol is the Doric Column of Architecture , strong and massive , and represents that , as King Hiram

so assisted King Solomon , the Senior Warden ' s duty is so to support the authority of the Worshipful Master—to facilitate his designs , and to see that his commands are carried into full and permanent effect . For all purposes in relation to the ruling of the Lodge and the transaction of its business , except only in that of

initiating candidates or conferring degrees , the Senior Warden in the compelled absence or incapacity of the Worshipful Master is the supreme authority , as under similar circumstances affecting the Master and himself at the same time , would be the Junior Warden in the absence of both . However much it was a former custom in Freemasonry that failing the presence of the W . M . his authority

reverted to the I . P . M . or Senior Past Master then attending the Lodge , it has been now settled that the governing powers of the absent W . M . devolve on the Senior , and in his absence also on the Junior Warden . It should not be forgotten that the Warrant of Constitution is granted to the Master and Wardens and their successors in office , and not to the members of a Lodge ; and that

therefore the Lodge cannot be legally congregated without the authority of at least one of these officers . I may however say , that , in cases where the Warden is himself an Installed Master , he can perform all ceremonies and discharge all duties ordinarily devolving on the Master , but it is generally , out of respect and courtesy ,

customary for that officer to resign the Chair to a Past Master of the Lodge who derives his authority from the Warden . To meet any possible contingency resulting in the removal or absence of all three principal officers , the Constitutions of the Order ( Sec . 141 ) provide for the exercise of the necessary powers for congregating the Lodge , and conducting the ceremonies and business by a subscribing Past Master of or in the Lodge .

In view of the foregoing , it is not too much to say that the necessary qualifications of a Brother for the office of Senior Warden do not fall far short of those which should be absolutely possessed by the Worshipful Master . He should be perfect in ritual and ceremonial , " that the Brethren may not suffer from want of proper

instruction , " and should be well acquainted with the laws and constitutions of the order , " that he may be enabled to induce the Brethren to hold our ancient usages and customs in veneration . " All his attainments should be directed to the support of the Master , whether it be to assist him in some portions of his ceremonial

labors , or in obtaining a thorough knowledge of the ability and earnestness of those concerned in the work , and over whom he may in his turn , if found worth , be called upon to rule . An old charge to Wardens calls upon them to be careful to instruct those whom the Master may place under their care , " neither to palliate nor

aggravate their offences , but , in all cases , to judge with candour , admonish with friendship , and reprehend with mercy . " In former days the Senior Warden had more scope for the exercise of a governing power and more to do with the work than at present seems to be granted to him in many Lodges . In some , however ,

it is the laudable practice to permit the Wardens to share the W . M . ' s work , and many of the addresses and explanations of the working tools and charges are delivered from their respective pedestals , affording to the Brethren generally a pleasing variation , to the Master himself a sometimes sorely needed relief , and above all to

those who are qualifying for the chair of K . S . incitement to a perfect understanding of our symbols and allegories , and a confidence which will be found eventually of inestimable advantage .

The jewel of office of the Senior Warden indicates his duty . It is the symbol of equality—the level—the moral tendency of which , as a speculative emblem , is so graphically expressed in the course of our Sectional Lectures , demonstrating our common origin as members of the same human family , " partaking of the same nature , and sharing in the same hope . " It is the type of that