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CONTENTS . L EADER— PAGE Withdrawal from Festival Stewardship ... ... .,. ... 1 S 3 Masonic Jurisprudence ... ... ... ... ... ... 1 S 4 Masonic jottings during the Siege of Ladysmith ... ... ... 1 S 5 Conseciation of the Elmete Lodge of Royal Ark Mariners at Leeds ... lSG Scotland ... ... - — - 1 S 7 Ladies' Night of the Victoria Lodge , No . 2761 ... ... ... 1 S 7

the Annual Supper of the Earl of Lathom Lodge of Instruction .-JWo . 1922 ... 1 S 7 M ASONIC N OTESMasonic Jottings during the Siege of Ladysmith ... ... ... 1 S 9 The Recent Benevolent Festival ... ... ... ... 1 S 9 The Masonic Service at St . Giles ' s Cathedral , Edinburgh ... ... 1 S 9 Laying' the Foundation-Stone of the new Buildings for the Boys' School at Bushey ... ... ... ... ... ... 190 Correspondence ... ... ... ... ... ... 190

Masonic Notes and Queries ... ... ... ... ... 190 Reviews ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 190 Craft Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... 190 Mark Masonry .., ... ... ... ... ... 193 Royal Arch ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 194 Instruction ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 194

The Recent Benevolent Festival ... ... ... ... ... 195 Ladies' Night of the Lebanon Lodge , No . 1326 ... ... ... 195 Allied Masonic Degrees ... ... ... ... 195 Obituary ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 195 Science , Art and the Drama ... ... ... ... ... 196 Masonic and General Tidings ... ... ... .., ... 198

Withdrawal From Festival Stewardship.

WITHDRAWAL FROM FESTIVAL STEWARDSHIP .

Most of our readers are able to form a tolerably fair idea of the labours devolving on the Secretaries of our Institutions in connection with one of their most important duties—that of organising the Boards of Stewards for successive Anniversary

Festivals . Ihcy need only to glance from time to time at the reports of provincial and private lodge and chapter meetings , which are published in our columns , and they will become aware that , during the period which commences some time in September

when the lodges are beginning to resume their labours after the mid-summer holidays , and the end of the following June or thereabouts , when the Festival campaign is over , these brethren are to be met with here , there , and everywhere , soliciting support

lor the Chanties they respectively represent , or expressing thanks for support already given . We imagine there are few who envy them the discharge of these duties , however much they may in time become reconciled to it by the hearty welcome they

are certain to meet with , and the success which sooner or later invariably attends their advocacy . They , of course , enjoy opportunities which are not given to people who are less ubiquitous than themselves of renewing old acquaintances and forming

new ones , which in time , perhaps , may ripen into lifelong friendships . Th (; y not only enjoy a large amount of personal popularity , but they are looked up to as the representatives of Institutions which are beloved of all loyal English Craftsmen .

Unfortunately , the . personal and official popularity these hearty welcomes everywhere indicate form only one side of the picture and the other side is by no' means so attractive . This constant journeying from London to all parts of the country , after

the duties of the office have been arranged for , at all seasons of the year and in all weathers , involves no small amount of bodil y fati gue and not unfrequentlv of personal discomfort , so that

many of us are inclined to wonder how these brethren can lie constantl y fulfilling their arduous duties and as constant ] } ' come up smiling when they are done .

But exacting as is this part of the duty which annually falls to the lot of these brethren , it is a hundredfold less cxactine than the task which meets a Secretary when the day appointed for a particular Festival is fast approaching , and he finds

himself under the disagreeable necessity of attempting to please everybody . Till then everything has gone smoothly enough . His appeals for support on behalf of the Institution he represents have been listened to favourably , and the Board of Stewards is

Withdrawal From Festival Stewardship.

a fairly numerous one and pretty impartially distributed between town and country , the representatives of the latter at the same time hailing from a goodly proportion of the Provinces . It may be , indeed , that the responses to his appeal have met with

more than the average amount of success , and that , as at the recent Benevolent Festival , a larger Board of Stewards has been obtained than at any previous Festival , the Jubilee and Centenary Festivals alone excepted . Nothing , in fact , remains to be

done beyond arranging for the celebration in the Mall that has been chosen , and as the Stewards have been requested by special circular to send in their names for seats a clear fortnight before the day appointed , it might reasonably be supposed

that this remaining part of the work of preparation would be carried out with comparative- ease . Unfortunately , it is the reverse of the case . It is now that all the worry and trouble begin . Brethren who have had their names on the Board

almost from the very beginning intimate their intention of withdrawing . It was for one of the other Institutions , they write , or lor the next or another year , they proposed to serve , and all the Secretary can do is to accept the

apology , and strike the names from the list . If the brethren are Unattached , no great harm is done ; it means the loss of some Stewards and their personal donations , but nothing more . If , however , one has undertaken to

represent a lodge or chapter , the withdrawal is harmful , for the Secretary has little or no time in which to enlist the services 01 another brother and the lodge or chapter from which he looked to obtain contributions goes unrepresented . But the chief

trouble is connected with the allotment of seats . We have said that a circular is issued in which a day is fixed for the return of those who intend being present at the celebration and the Secretary may consider himself fortunate if one half of the

Board return the stamped postcard which has been forwarded to each for the purpose . In the case of the recent Benevolent Festival , the limit fixed for the return was 13 th February—¦ the day appointed for the Festival being the 27 th of that month

—and brethren were not only requested to furnish the desired information by the day stated " to enable the Board of Stewards to ballot for seats at the Tables on the day of the Festival , " but they were also cautioned in a footnote , that " should ( he

postcard not be returned , it will be taken that you will NOT REQUIRE ANV SEATS BE RESERVED . " When the seats are at length allotted , the unfortunate Secretary ' s troubles and' anxietv are increased and intensified , those who cause the greatest amount

of worry being , in the majority of cases , the very Stewards who have omitted to send in their return and who lose no time in making known to him their dissatisfaction with the scats assigned to them . They seem to ignore the fact that it is not in the

power of a Secretaiv to enlarge the dimensions of a hall at will , so that it may be made to accommodate 200 , 400 , or 600 , as circumstances may-render necessary ; and that if , as was the case last month , the Hall was not large enough to accommodate intending

diners , overflow meetings must be arranged , so that space and a dinner may be found for everybody . The result is that occasionally further withdrawals take place , because some , who have

not troubled themselves to do what they have been asked , arc not pleased with the seats arranged for tlu'm in the Hall itself , and because it has been found necessary to relegate them to one of the overflow rooms . No doubt these petty troubles will be renewed year by ) var , so long as Anniversary Festivals continue to be held , and in the