tion. The round spot above-mentioned as following it was then at some distance from the edge, and easily perceptible.

Having thus seen the spot make its congée, I knew when to look out for it again, should it last out another half revolution; this, however, seemed rather doubtful, as several days before its departure it had given symptoms of separating or breaking up. A large black nucleus had broken out on the 23rd October, at its southern extremity, gathering around it a distinct penumbra, which seemed to be splitting off from the rest of the mass, leaving a line of luminous matter between them; and from the great contraction of the spot in bulk since its appearance in September, it was natural to conclude that it might, in like manner, decay in the course of its transit on the other side of the sun.

At the same time with the above large spot there were eight or nine other clusters, containing spots of different sizes, including one at some distance north east of the large spot which had accompanied it during its transit in September, and which served to mark and identify it as the same, in addition to other evidences. There were two considerable spots which had come on the eastern limb, on the 24th October, which appeared to me to approach nearer the pole than spots of such size generally do. Small ones have been seen fifty or even sixty degrees from the equator. These two were by no means small, measuring each in its longest diameter 17,600 miles,-and containing, therefore, each an area of 243,285,504 miles, on the 26th October. And here I may be permitted to state, that the above observations in general having been submitted to that excellent observer and eloquent illustrator of the Scenery of the Heavens, Dr. Thomas Dick, (LL.D.), I was gratified to find that they accorded so closely with his own experience. In a letter with which I was favoured, of date the 25th October, after stating that it was extremely probable that the three large spots seen in August, September, and October, were identical, he says, " from my own observations I have reason to conclude that your measurements of the bulk of the spots are not far from the truth. I made the same observation as you state, in your postcript, that the large spot seems to be breaking up. You should continue your observations as they may be useful." This latter compliment I can only receive as a kind encouragement. The same authority also assures me, that the solar spots have been more numerous for these two years past than they had been for several years before-a circumstance which renders the present period peculiarly interesting for their observation.

November 9, the day of the transit of Mercury,* I noticed an indistinct dusky dot or depression on the sun's eastern margin, a considerable way north of the planet's point of appulse. This I considered to be indicative of a spot of some size; and fourteen days having just elapsed since the disappearance of the large spot of October, I concluded it might be the same. As it advanced it exhibited various traces of resemblance, so as to leave no doubt in my mind of its identity. But,

*The planet exhibited a somewhat singular appearance on its first entering the sun's disc: it appeared like a narrow black wedge,-working its way in, and gradually widening till the whole body had come fairly on, when it became perfectly round with a clearly defined disc. The same appearance seems to have been seen by Dr. Dick, near Dundee, who describes it as an "indentation on the sun's limb;" and the Astronomer-royal, at a meeting of the Royal Astronomic Society on the 10th, stated that out of eight telescopes used to observe the transit at Greenwich, in one of them "the image of the planet was distorted on its entering on the sun, but that it was seen perfectly round by all the other telescopes." I observed the planet pass over one group of solar spots-taking above two minutes to clear it. Its jet black colour and perfect roundness distinguished it easily from any spots.

without entering into more minute details-which, from the desire of substantiating my inferences and comments, I have perhaps too much indulged in—it may suffice to state that the spot had again contracted in dimensions during its absence, and assumed latterly a somewhat triangular shape. Its square contents, or area, were therefore necessarily less, though one side of its triangle measured more than the length of its former diameter. On the 17th and 18th, it was very visible to the naked eye cloudy weather intervened thereafter, but it must have disappeared at the sun's western edge on the 21st or 22nd at furthest. Its return, should it not be obliterated, will occur on the 4th or 5th of December. It has now reached a continuation of ninety-five days, or thereabouts; a duration longer than any hitherto upon record,-the spot of 1676 being the longest in duration recorded, so far as I am aware,-such, at least, I think I have established to be the fact. I am not very sure, however, that a spot or cluster mentioned in my former notice as visible to the naked eye on the 29th and 31st July last, was not the Protean precursor of the two contiguous spots of the 19th August. A rough draft which I find I had made of it gives its position within a circle a little past the centre of the sun, going westwards; this would make it within six days, or so, of its disappearance, which would therefore take place on the 4th of August-reckoning from the 30th July, the intermediate day. As a spot takes about thirteen days and a half in its apparent transit across the disc, we should then have the 17th or 18th of August for its reappearance on the verge of the sun's eastern limb-which brings it close enough to the 19th, the time when the two spots were first observed, and these must then have come some little way on to be distinctly seen. Not having regularly noted the precise period of the July spot, it might be presuming too much on the supplied data to draw any positive conclusion as to its identity with that of August, but I am strongly impressed with the persuasion that it was the same, a result which, if established, would add another month to the entire duration of the spot we have been considering. We have no reason to doubt that a spot should continue as long, and much longer-say even a year or more-when we consider the comparatively vast scale on which the solar evolutions are performed. A tornado of a few days duration on our earth might be considered long; but a similar physical phenomenon on the sun is not to be limited to a few months as an extraordinary period of duration. It is probable, indeed, that the want of sufficient observations alone has hitherto restricted our knowledge of the real continuance of some of the solar spots, as well as of their more particular phases and developements. An association, however, I understand has lately been formed for the express purpose of observing the solar spots in a more systematic manner than has yet been attempted; and as, no doubt, the members consist of men of scientific accomplishments and experience, we may look to the result of their conjoint efforts for a mass of interesting information and instruction, greater than has hitherto been, or than could be obtained by mere individual and isolated observation. PILGRIM.

NOTE. Since the foregoing was in type, I have seen an extract from the proceedings of the Royal Astronomical Society, in which Mr. Weld, director of the Observatory at Stonyhurst College, gives the greatest diameter of the spot of the 21st September, at 2′ 41′′.1, equal to more than a twelfth part of the solar diameter, or 73,500 miles. Now it so happened that I had at one time actually made it the same extent, or nearly so, (70,000 miles in my notes); but from some doubt whether the apparent projection of one part of the penumbra was really attached to the mass, and not a detached group of shallows or small spots, I thought it safest to avoid the risk of exaggeration, and to consider it as unconnected. The superior power of the Stonyhurst telescope, or the clearness of the atmosphere, had revealed to Mr. Weld the real dimensions. His estimate of the spot's equatorial diameter pretty nearly corresponds with the dimensions before stated.

A PARABLE.*

The Midrash gives the following instructive allegorical signification of the eighth day of the Tabernacles, in a parable :—

"A king, who ruled over an immense country, invited to a splendid banquet at the palace a numerous assembly of his adherents. The royal invitations were not confined to the courtiers and to the inhabitants of the metropolis, but extended to poor and rich, high and low, and to every provincial town in his dominions. The banquet lasted seven successive days. The royal host entertained his subjects with everything which the abundance of the season produced (it being just the time of harvest); but, in order to render their obligation for this great honour and hospitality less oppressive, the royal benefactor commanded, or rather permitted, every one of his guests to bring with him a trifling present, consisting of fruit, and of the various products of the very soil which they possessed by the king's bounty. The king's proclamation said, Every man shall give as he is able. A beautiful scene now presented itself at the royal court. Poor and rich manifested more or less their loyalty and their due appreciation of their monarch's hospitality during their presenting these humble offerings, expressing in words and gestures their gratitude for the privilege thus graciously granted, for the assistance rendered unto them by the royal benefactor in the cultivation of the soil-for the aid afforded them by the king's ministers in the application of their resources; also giving vent, in humble and fervent petitions, to their unwearied attachment to the throne-to their readiness to obey his wise laws and statutes-and, finally, that they loved him with all their heart, with all their soul, and with all their might.

"Thus was spent a whole week, divided in feasting and decorous enjoyment of the royal hospitality, and in ardent prayers, glowing with loyal submission and obedience, and unflinching attachment to their lord and master. On the arrival of the evening of the seventh day, when the grateful visitors prepared to take leave of their royal host, he had them assembled round his throne, and thus addressed them: My children, I am deeply sensible of the gratitude which you acknowledge for the entertainment which I afforded you; I thank you for the offerings and presents you have brought me, though I am aware it was but a tithe of what I gave you, and though to me belongeth the whole land and the fulness thereof; but it is the gratefulness, and the faith and confidence in my administration which it conveys, that I require at your hands. I cannot, however, allow you to depart yet, my beloved subjects, stay another day with me. Let us devote to-morrow, also, to rejoicing; not, however, exclusively to yourselves, but rejoice also, in your feast, your sons and your daughters, your man and maid servants, the stranger and the fatherless, the widow and every one that is needy, within your gates.""

The solution of this parable is obvious. We all know the mighty king and his subjects. We all remember, though we see no more, the magnificent residence, the city of cities, whither our ancestors were privileged to flock from every part of their country, and where all their males were permitted, three times in the year, to appear before the Lord their God, and to offer unto Him himself that for which they were solely

From "The Jewish Chronicle."

66

indebted to Him. And though the loss of the temple, and the altars and the priests, disables us from bringing the sacrifices as ordained in Holy Writ-though we are now deprived, by our own doings, of the opportunity of rejoicing as we did during the ages of domestic tranquillity, every man under his vine and under his fig-tree"-we, nevertheless, are not incapacitated from performing that hallowed injunction, "when we have gathered in our corn and our wine," to rejoice in our feast, not only ourselves, but the maid and man servant, the stranger and the poor, the widow and the orphan. This constitutes the greatest mental feast which nature affords, and the sublimest rejoicing on earth, the pleasures of which last beyond the days of the Festival, and beyond those years which "we spend as a tale that is told."

TO THE EDITOR.

THE RED APRON.

SIR,-In a recent conversation at a masonic meeting, various opinions were expressed upon the arguments and conclusion arrived at on the subject of the debate in Grand Lodge upon Bro. Bigg's motion affecting the red apron, or Grand Stewardship, but scarcely one of the brethren knew anything of the origin or subsequent history of the Grand Stewardship, and seemed somewhat surprised when its progress from the first institution of Steward to the present time was explained; as many other members of the Craft may be comparatively ignorant on the subject, although otherwise well-informed and certainly interested, I take the liberty of sending to you for insertion what I believe to be the correct history, if in error I shall be pleased to be set right, and have very little doubt that a knowledge of the truth will induce all the members of the fraternity to arrive at one and the same conclusion. It appears that the first important mention of Stewards was a proposition in Grand Lodge, on the 26th November, 1728, by Bro. Desaguliers, that the Grand Wardens might be permitted to have the assistance of twelve Stewards at the festival; for it seems, that previously Stewards were merely incidentally spoken of, thus Grand Master Payne proposed to hold the festival of 1721 for the first time at Stationers' Hall, and "ordered the Grand Wardens as usual to prepare the feast, and they were to take some brethren as Stewards and waiters;" but not finding brethren willing to act as Stewards, Josiah Villeneau took the whole trouble of the affair upon himself, he being Senior Grand Warden. In 1723 the Stewards took the tickets at the door; thus, as I have said, 1727 was the first official notice.

In 1730 the twelve Stewards formed a lane, six on each side, through which the procession (a part of which they were) entered Merchant Taylors' Hall to dine; in accordance with the resolution proposed by Bro. Desaguliers we find the Stewards subsequently recognized, because, on the 17th March, 1731, permission was given to the Stewards "to line their white aprons with red silk, wear their silver (not gilt) jewels by red ribbons round their necks, and carry white wands.' On the 24th June, 1735, application was made by the brethren serving as Stewards for some peculiar privileges, namely,-1. That a lodge of the past, present, and future Stewards should be formed, to be called

"Stewards' Lodge," registered in that way in the books of Grand Lodge, and in the printed lists, together with the name of the place and days of meeting. 2. That the Stewards' Lodge should have the privilege of sending a deputation of twelve of its members to every meeting of Grand Lodge, to consist of the Master, Wardens, and nine others; each of the twelve should be entitled to vote; and every one of them that attends shall pay two shillings and sixpence towards the expenses. 3. That not any brother be permitted to wear the clothing worn by a Steward, unless he shall have served the office of Steward. 4. That every Steward be permitted to wear a jewel (the pattern to be approved). 5. That the twelve Stewards of the year be allowed to attend the feast in their new clothing, and pay the share of four lodges as their portion of the expenses of the day. They were, however, not permitted to vote nor speak in Grand Lodge, except upon a subject connected with the following festival. By a resolution of the 2nd March, 1732, each Steward nominated his successor, granted to induce gentlemen to serve the office. On the 11th December, 1735, Sir Robert Lawley, as Master of the Stewards' Lodge, together with the Wardens and nine others, appeared for the first time as representatives of the Stewards' Lodge in Grand Lodge. Having thus traced the first part of the subject chronologically, I will quote a few remarks upon the subject from masonic authors, and, if time will permit, will trouble you, at some future time, if you think it worthy of insertion, with a continuation to a later period. Preston, in his " Illustrations of Masonry," has-" As an encouragement to gentlemen to accept the office of Steward, that in future each Steward should have the privilege of nominating his successor at every grand feast. . . . The twelve Stewards, with Sir Robert Lawley at their head, appeared for the first time at the Grand Lodge, 11th December, 1735. On this occasion they were not permitted to vote as individuals; but it being afterwards proposed that they should enjoy this privilege, and that the Stewards' Lodge should in future be represented in Grand Lodge by twelve members, many lodges objected as an encroachment on the privileges of every other lodge which had been previously constituted; when the motion was put for confirmation, such a disturbance ensued that the GRAND LODGE WAS OBLIGED TO BE CLOSED before the sentiments of the brethren could be collected on the subject. Of late years the punctilio has been waived, and the twelve Stewards are now permitted to vote in every communication as individuals. It was not till the year 1770 that this privilege was strictly warranted, when at a Grand Lodge on the 7th February, at the Crown and Anchor Tavern, in the Strand, the following resolution passed :- As the right of the members of the Stewards' Lodge in general to attend the committee of charity seems doubtful, no mention of such right being made in the laws of the society, the Grand Lodge are of opinion, that they have no general right to attend; but it is hereby resolved, that the Stewards' Lodge be allowed the privilege of sending a number of brethren, equal to any other four lodges, to every future committee of charity; and that, as the Master of each private lodge only has the right to attend, to make a proper distinction between the Stewards' Lodge and the other lodges, that the Master and three other members of that lodge be permitted to attend at every succeeding committee on behalf of the said lodge.' This resolution, however, was declared not to be intended to deprive any lodge, which had been previously constituted, of its regular rank and precedence. Notwithstanding this express provision, a privilege has been