The Festival Of The Benevolent Institution.

THE FESTIVAL OF THE BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION .

THE first Anniversary Festival of 1890 has passed , and another , success has to be recorded , while an amount of enthusiasm was displayed which augurs well for the success of the celebrations yet to take

place during the current year . One unfortunate event occurred to mar the enjoyment of Wednesday ' s gathering , an event which we are sure was regretted , both by the large company present on the occasion as well as

by many supporters of the Institution who afterwards heard of it . The Lord Mayor of London , who had kindly promised to preside at the Festival , was unable to be present , being detained at the Mansion House by

a severe attack of lumbago . The committee of the Institution were , for the moment in a difficulty , when they received the President ' s telegram , but fortunately they were able to secure an efficient deputy in the Earl of Euston , who was among the

company , and at once undertook to do his best to fill the place , vacant through the illness of the Lord Mayor . Lord Euston made an able President . He can

hardly be said to be strange to the work , tor it will be remembered that he personally undertook the duties of chairman for the corresponding Festival of last year , and he has thus won a record for himself which may

not be repeated tor many years to come . He is the first Mason who has presided at two successive Festivals of the Benevolent Institution , and it will be something for him to boast of in years to come , when

recounting his Masonic services . The enthusiasm of the meeting was general , and had it been necessary for those present to excuse any shortcomings on the part of the chairman—who while apologising for

his presence as head of the meeting , at a moment ' s notice , said he should require their indulgence—they would cheerfully have done so , but nothing of the sort was required ; everything went along with its

accustomed regularity , and general good spirits prevailed , heightened , no doubt , by the successful termination of the labours of the Stewards of the year .

We give elsewhere in this issue a full report of the meeting , together with details of the amounts collected by the different Stewards ; it is therefore unnecessary to do more here than briefly summarise

the results . Altogether there were 326 Stewards , 153 of whom represented Provincial Lodges , and 173 the London ones . The total contributions announced from the country brethren was

£ 634113 s , and the total from London £ 6753 8 s 6 d , or j a nett result of £ 13 , 095 Is 6 d , with nineteen lists outstanding , which it is confidently expected will ; bring up the total for the year to £ 13 , 600 . Kent

appeared to the greatest advantage , with a total of £ 743 14 s , collected by 11 Stewards , and was followed by West Yorkshire , with £ 525 , and then by Berks

The Festival Of The Benevolent Institution.

and Bucks , with £ 434 12 s 6 d . Turning to . London , we find the Sincerity Lodge , No . 174 , again taking a prominent position . The list from this Lodge amounted to £ 216 13 s , the largest sum ever brought

up by any one Steward to this Festival . The Merchant Navy Lodge , No . 781 , follows on pretty- " closely , with a list of £ 202 7 s . The following is a summary of the Provincial lists , with the number of Stewards from each district .

No . of Total of Lists . Province . Stewards . £ a d Kent 11 743 14 0 West Yorkshire 17 525 0 0 Berks and Backs 13 434 12 6 . Essex 11 385 16 6

West Lancashire 10 341 4- 0 . Hertfordshire 6 297 11 0 Middlesex 11 285 12 6 Sussex 6 247 5 0 Oxfordshire 5 235 12 0 Norfolk 3 223 5 0

East Lancashire 10 217 17 . 0 Surrey 10 212 8 6 Suffolk 4 211 15 0 Devonshire 1 207 1 0 Staffordshire 1 200 0 0 Lflicesterahire and Rutland 1 189 0 0

Somerset 1 180 7 0 Gloucestershire 5 133 17 0 Hants and Isle of Wight 4 130 5 3 Jersey 1 HO 15 0 Cheshire 6 110 5 0 Cornwall 1 110 5 0

Lincolnshire 3 100 1 0 Shropshire 2 96 12 0 Durham 1 78 15 0 Cumberland and Westmoreland 1 73 10 0 Guernsey 1 60 0 0

Cambridgeshire 1 52 10 0 Derbyshire 2 42 17 0 Norths and Hunts 2 42 0 0 Warwickshire 3 21 0 0 Worcestershire 1 10 10 0 South Wales ( West ) 1 No return

From the above it will be seen that by far the ; greater part of English Freemasonry was represented at the Festival ; indeed there were only twelve Provinces which did not send up Stewards ; these

were Bedfordshire , Bristol , Dorsetshire , Herefordshire , Monmouthshire , Northumberland , Nottinghamshire , North and East Yorkshire , North Wales , South Wales ( Eastern Division ) , Wiltshire , and the

Isle of Man . In this list we see more than one district where support for the central Charities is not regarded as of paramount importance , but as year by year goes round we find the number of absentees

growing smaller , and no doubt the time is not far distant when regular support will be given from each district in the country .

In conclusion , we congratulate the Institution on the result of this Festival . Already the donations are 50 guineas beyond the total of last year , and as there were nineteen lists outstanding at the time the

announcement was made , and no doubt a lew additions will be received from those already returned , there is every reason to anticipate an even more satisfactory result than is here recorded . We hope