Our Nineteenth Volume.

OUR NINETEENTH VOLUME .

A PLEASANT dnty once more devolves upon ns ;—that of tendering to onr friends a New Year ' s Greeting , and announcing the commencement of a New Volume . The FREEMASON ' S C HRONICLE this day enters upon the

Tenth Tear of its existence , and we venture to express the hope our readers have realised that the promise made when we issued our prospectus has been fully carried out . The

FBBBMASON ' S OHRONICIE has been conducted hitherto on purely independent principles ; it is not the organ of any section of the Craft , and its columns are always open for

free discussion . The course adopted in the past will be continued in the future , and we trust the amount of support we have already had accorded us will be further increased during the year we now enter upon .

The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

THE ROYAL MASONIC BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION .

THE difficulty has at length heen solved , and Brother Terry , having in vain cast about in many different directions for a Chairman for the approaching Festival of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution , has at length , we rejoice to say , had his patience rewarded , and secured

the services of the Grand Treasurer , Bro . J . Derby Allcrof t , who has very kindly consented to preside on the eventful occasion . It is no light task that Bro . Allcroft has tindertaken . It may seem easy enough to the uninitiated to take the post of honour at a festive gathering , even though that

gathering may be held in behalf of a Masonic Charitable Institution . It is not every one who possesses the gift of speech-making , and few are given to criticising our afterdinner oratory with anything approaching to severity ; but the delivery of certain speeches is but a small portion of

the duty which devolves on the president of a Festival . What is most expected of him is , that he shall exercise such influence as he may happen to possess in order to benefit the Institution for which he is acting to the greatest possible degree . It is anticipated that he will gather about

him as many of his personal friends as possible , ancl that he will induce them , by the magic of his name , or the weig ht of his authority , to back him up in his endeavours to render a most material service to a worthy cause . Hence it is always desirable to obtain a chairman from the foremost

ranks of our fraternity , not because he personally , perhaps , can do more than others to strengthen the funds of the Charity , but because , in this as in other matters , the more prominent the leader , the more numerous is the following

likely to be . The Grand Treasurer of the United Grand Lodge of England necessarily occupies a position in the Craft , if not of very serious responsibility , at least of dignity . He must always command the respect of his

The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

brethren both on the dais and in the general circle ; he would not have been chosen to fill such a position were he not , in all respects , worthy of it . It is from no desire to flatter that we say Bro . Allcroft is eminently fitted for the dutv he has undertaken . We do not sympathise with him

in his desire to retain his office for another year , or rather , we should say , with the desire of his friends , that he should be re-elected . But whatever the March Communication of Grand Lodge may have in store for him , he is the Grand Treasurer of the day . He is , too , a prominent

man in his individual capacity . He plays a conspicuous part iu the government of many among our most considerable public institutions . He has long since evinced the deep interest he takes in Masonry by constituting himself a Vice-Patron of all our Charities . His crowning work in respect of one of them will he accomplished on the 26 th

February next , when , as Chairman of tho day , he will appear as the central figure at the first of our three great Festival gatherings of the year 1884 , —with what success it is impossible to foresee ; but , for his sake , and for the sake of Bro . Terrythe indefatigable Secretary of the

, Eoyal Masonic Benevolent Institution ; but , above all , for the sake of that noble Institution , the extent of whose benefits is well-nigh incalculable , we trust it may be at least equal to , if not in excess of , that achieved in the most

brilliant of past years . Passing from the Chairman to the Board of Stewards , on whose efforts so much of the day's success must depend , we are glad to find that , up to the present time , in spite of tservices oi

Bro . Terry s previous ettorts to secure . ae a Chairman having proved unavailing , there is a goodly array of them entered for the occasion , considerably over 200 brethren having undertaken the not particularly enviable task of canvassing for the Charity . This , perhaps ,

if we take the experience of more recent years as our guide , is not an overwhelming number , but there is ample time between now and the day itself for the receipt of the names of brethren willing to act in this capacity , so that ,

on the score of numerical strength , the Board of Stewards for the current year will , no doubt , compare with that of the 1883 and previous Festivals . It is even possible that the one drawback noticeable when a brother happens to

preside who is not the Grand Master of a Province may not be quite so conspicuous in this instance . Bro . Allcroft is a Worcestershire man and was returned as member for Worcester City in the last House of Commons , so that our Worcesstershire brethren may very possibly feel it

incumbent upon them to use their best efforts in support of his Chairmanship . It is not a large Province , but it has displayed a very considerable amount of activity on behalf of our Institutions during the past few years , and if the favour of its countenance is not already directed

towards other objects , Bro . Allcroft may succeed in arraying its Lodges under his banner just as Provincial Grand Masters obtain the help of their Lodges whenever they preside as Chairmen . At all events , let us hope we may recicon

not prove to have been very seriously ill-advised in - ing on such a possibility , and that Worcestershire will send up a goodly crate of its acceptable ware to make glad the hearts of our Old Folk in the day of their necessity . Then , as he is connected with several of our London Institutions ,

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