Analysis Of The Subscription List, R.M.B.I.

number of Stewards , sent up over £ 7200 , but we cannot in reason expect that every year will be equally productive , any more than we can expect that the Metropolis will always bo ahead of the Provinces or vice versa . A similar reference will show that of the Lodges we have especially

mentioned the following extended their support to the Benevolent Institution in 1880 , viz ., Prosperity , No . 65 , which gave £ 124 , Sincerity , No . 174 , to the extent of £ 121 8 s , and Sincerity Chapter , to that of £ 210 ; the Prince of Wales , No . 259 , which appears for £ 178 5 s ; the Fitzroy , No . 569 ,

for £ 131 5 s , the Canonbury , for £ 113 7 s ; the Friends in Council £ 187 3 s , and the Islington , 1471 , for £ 228 13 s 6 d . It is evident , therefore , that the claims of the Benevolent on the support of the Craft are highly appreciated by these Lodges , which , however , are very far from overlooking

those of its sister Institutions . Indeed , these will be found among the most consistent supporters of all onr Charities . This completes all which seems desirable to note in connection with the Lodges of the Metropolis , which , as we have

said , were represented to the extent of over one-third of their whole number , while its contributions stand to those of the Provinces in the proportion of about four to five—a most creditable result , considering that the Chair was taken by the Master of so influential a Province as West Yorkshire .

We now turn our attention to the Provinces , of which no less than twenty-nine out of forty-one , or , if we include Beds , the Channel Islands other than Jersey , and the Isle of Man , of the forty-four districts into which the home jurisdiction of our Grand Master is apportioned .

The total number of Stewards representing these twentynine Provinces was , as we have stated , 271 , of which , as far as we have been able to make ont , 176 acted on behalf of West Yorkshire , and the remaining ninety-five on behalf of the other Provinces . The total of the lists these

brethren sent in was £ 7 , 877 18 s , or an average of just a fraction over £ 29 per Steward . The absentee Provinces or Districts were Beds , Cambridgeshire , Cumberland and Westmoreland , Herefordshire , Leicestershire and Rutland , Lincolnshire , Norfolk , Northumberland , Notts , S . Wales

East , South Wales West , Wilts , Worcestershire , Channel Islands , and the Isle of Man . The last two , as being remote , and as probably having but a slight connection on that account with our central Charities , may be dismissed without comment . Alderney and Guernsey , which

together constitute the Channel Islands district , have between them five Lodges , and the Isle of Man has three . We occasionally hear of contributions from the former , and no doubt both dispense their charity locally with an open hand . Taking the others in their alphabetical order ,

we may remark that Beds , with its five Lodges , ancl Cambridgeshire , with its four , are again , as we regret to say they have been far too frequently of late , conspicuous by their absence . The former put in an appearance at the Festival of the Girls' School last year , when tho

representative of one of its Lodges figured for a total of sixand-forty guineas , and we think it would be well worth the while of the other Lodges , as indicating clearly their loyal appreciation of Masonic Charity , if they occasionally followed the good example we have just quoted of the

Stuart Lodge , No . 540 , of Bedford . As regards Cambridgeshire , it has , it is true , on one or two occasions emerged from the obscurity it seems to prefer , but this would seem to have been due to the efforts of one individual . As a Province , we cannot call to mind any of

the last nineteen Festivals at which it has taken any active part in the proceedings . We have more than once drawn attention to this carelessness , as well as to its readiness to accept the benefits of our Institutions , in respect of its own proteges , and we have on one solitary occasion

seen the name of its chief , the Earl of Harclwicke , as taking part at some festive gathering , namely , at the famous banquet in October last , when ex-Lord Mayor Truseott G . J . W . entertained His Royal Highness the Grand Master at the Mansion House . This is the

one solitary occasion on which we have seen his name associated with anything Masonic . Perhaps his Deputy , Bro . John Deighton , being so thorough a Mason , might exert himself to remedy this state of indifference . The

absence of Cumberland and Westmoreland ( 19 Lodges ) is justly excusable . It sent over £ 375 to the Girls' School , and £ 63 to the Boys' School in 1880 , and it was represented at the Festival of the Benevolent Institution in

1879 , as well as on several previous occasions within the period over which our analyses have usually been spread . Herefordshire , with four Lodges , has not , to the best of

Analysis Of The Subscription List, R.M.B.I.

our recollection , furnished a representative at any Festival since that of the Girls' School in 1878 , and we mnst travel back a further period of two years in order to note another appearance on the Subscription List . It has now in the person of Sir J . R . Bailey , Bart ., M . P ., a new Prov . G .

Master , who will doubtless arouse a greater amount of activity than could have been looked for under the gentle rule of his amiable but aged predecessor . Leicester and Rutland , 10 Lodges , to go no farther back than the last two years , has been represented at the following Festivals ,

namely , that of the Benevolent 1879 by two Stewards with a total of £ 125 14 s : at the Boys' Festival in the same vear by Bro . G . Toller , whose list amounted to £ 42 . In 1880 , it helped the Girls' School to the extent of 73 10 s , and the Boys' with £ 194 5 s . These several contributions

amount together to over £ 435 , which is creditable to so small a Province , to say nothing of its services during the four preceding years . Lincolnshire , with its 20 Lodges , have a somewhat similar record , but with twice the number of Lodges , its contributions in the same two years are

about one-half of the Leicester total . It has on other occasions exhibited its powers , and we think it might now bestir itself into emulating the most conspicuous of its past achievements . Norfolk ( 16 Lodges ) , ever since Lord Sufneld ' s appointment to the Prov . G . Mastership , has

shown that its old zeal on behalf of our Charitable Institutions is as sound and as busy as ever . At the Benevolent Festival of 1879 its contributions amounted to £ 306 12 s . At the Boys' Festival the same year it sent up £ 25 4 s . Last year it contributed to " Our Girls " £ 108 2 s , and

£ 207 13 s to " Our Boys . " These figures give a total for the two years of £ 647 lis , while , when its chief presided at the Girls' Festival in 1877 , it supported him to the extent of £ 210 , and the year following , when the Duke of Connaught presided at the Boys' Annivez * sary , it helped to

swell the general aggregate by raising the sum of £ 289 6 s . This gives us a total of over £ 1136 subscribed since Lord Suffield was installed as G . Master of the Province . Northumberland , with 20 Lodges , is another absentee , whose occasional absence may be explained by the largeness of its

occasional support . Thus , at the Boys' Festival last July its total amounted to the very handsome sum of £ 638 17 s , and in 1877 , at the Festival of the same Institution , it sent up £ 304 15 s . Nottinghamshire ( 12 Lodges ) , though unrepresented on this occasion , is by no means a frequent

absentee . In 1880 it gave the Girls' £ 178 10 s . It sent up a Steward to the Benevolent and the Girls' the year preceding , but the amounts he handed in are not stated . It assisted the Benevolent in 1878 , and in 1877 both Schools . The Eastern and Western Divisions of South Wales , the

former with fifteen Lodges , and the latter with nine , are not included in the contributing Provinces . At Bro . Binckes ' s Festival last July they both of them gave substantial help , South Wales East being entered for £ 126 5 s , and South Wales West for £ 300 . The former figures for £ 100 at the

Girls' Anniversary , and the latter at that of the Benevolent , for a small amount , apparently the personal contribution of its respected D . P . G . M ., Lord Kensington , M . P . In 1879 the Eastern Division figures for a subscription of £ 105 to the Girls' School , and the Western for £ 225 to

the Benevolent . At the Boys' Festival in 1878 , the former gave £ 84 , and at that of the same School the year previous it is down for £ 132 15 s , while the latter gave £ 168 . Wilts ( 10 Lodges ) last year supported the Institution for Girls to the extent of £ 128 2 s , its representative being none other

than Lord Methuen P . G . Master ; nor was the Benevolent entirely overlooked , though the one list which did duty for the Province was a small one . Still better did this Province do for the Benevolent in 1879 , when its total was £ 237 10 s . In 1878 the same Institution received £ 164 lis , and the

Girls' School £ 267 5 s , while in the year previous it gave its attention to all three Institutions , the Benevolent receiving £ 273 Is , Lord Methuen being on this occasion also its representative—the Girls' School £ 122 14 s , and the Boys' School £ 142 16 s . The remaining absentee is

Worcestershire , with eleven Lodges ; but under the presidency of Sir E . A . H . Lechmere , Bart ., M . P ., P . G . Master , it has been doing yeoman service . It was represented at tho Boys' and Girls' Festivals last year , being entered , in the case of the latter , for £ 364 7 s , but what it raised for the former

does not appear to have been stated . To the Wood Green Institution in 1879 it gave £ 580 13 s , to that at Battersea Rise £ 141 15 s , and to the Benevolent £ 42 . This _ ad * mirable display must no doubt be in great part exp lained by the greater energy which has been exhibited m