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

both fortunate in possessing extremely worthy and popular chiefs , West Lancashire being presided over by the Earl of Lathom Deputy Grand Master of England , and East Lancashire by Col . Le Gendre N . Starkie Past Grand Warden of England . Both these R . W . Provincial Grand Masters

have presided , the Earl of Lathom at the Festivals of the R M . B . T . in 1876 , and the Boys * School in 1880 , and Col . Starkie at the Benevolent in 1879 . East Lancashire is the stronger of the two Masonic Divisions of the county , having no less than ninety-one Lodges . It is entered

in our tables for the years 1875-81 as having contributed £ 762 0 s 6 d to the Girls' School , £ 1 , 338 to tho Boys ' School , and £ 4 , 179 ls to the Benevolent—in all £ 6 , 279 ls 6 d . Seven of its Lodges , by the hands of nine Stewards , jointly contribute £ 412 15 s , one list , however ,

being apparently outstanding . This brings its total np to tbe present time to £ 6 , 691 16 s 6 d , and , what is equally satisfactory , it has figured at every one of the last twentytwo Festivals . Its greatest effort was in 1879 , when its Chief presided at the Anniversary of the Benevolent , and

was supported to the extent of £ 3 , 542 . West Lancashire has eighty-one Lodges , and during 1875-81 gave to the Girls' School £ 1 , 389 6 s ; to the Boys' School £ 3 , 486 16 a 6 d , and to the Benevolent £ 2 , 431 17 s : total £ 7 , 307 19 s 6 d . Its present subscription is £ 237 19 s , of

which £ 105 stands to the credit of Bro . Wylie , unattached , the rest being composed of amounts contributed by two Lodges and two Chapters . This makes np its total now to £ 7 , 545 18 s 6 d , the result of contributions to all the Festivals we have been privileged to chronicle .

Leicestershire and Rutland , with ten Lodges , all things considered , does extremely well . Brother Dr . W . C . Crofts , as representative of the whole Province , has handed in £ 152 15 s . At five of the last seven Festivals , Boys ' School , it gave £ 831 6 s 6 d , of which £ 400 18 s 6 d was raised in 1877 ; at three of the seven Girls' School

Festivals it fignres for an aggregate of £ 535 12 s ; while at the same number of Benevolent Anniversaries it has given £ 250 18 s . Thus , at twelve out of the last twenty-two gatherings Leicestershire and Rutland , albeit bnt a weak Province , speaking numerically , has shown itself a tower

of strength in Charity by contributing a total slightly in excess of £ 1 , 770 . Another Home County , in the shape of Middlesex , of which the genial Sir Francis Burdett , Bart ., is the respected chief , next engages onr attention . It has a compact array

of thirty-two Lodges , and is invariably well represented at all the Festivals , distributing its favours among our three Institutions with a praiseworthy impartiality . In the septennial period so constantly alluded to , it has given to the Girls' School £ 3 , 293 3 s 9 d , its largest totals being in

the years 1876 and 1877 , when it raised £ 711 12 s , and £ 744 4 s fid respectively ; to the Boys' School £ 2 , 034 8 s , its subscription of last year , £ 467 5 s , being the largest of the seven items ; and to the Benevolent £ 2 , 063 5 s , the highest

amount for any one year being the £ 440 7 s of 1879 . Now , by the hands of nine Stewards , of whom Bro . George Kenning is unattached , while the others represent among them six Lodges and two Chapters , it contributes £ 408 2 s . This , added to the sum of £ 7 , 390 16 s 9 d for the seven

years , makes a grand total of £ 7 , 798 18 s 9 d , a return that niust be in all respects most flattering to the worthy chief , his Lodges , and the brethren . Monmouthshire , with eight Lodges , as the immediate neighbour of South Wales , and being , as in fact it is , even

more Welsh than it is English , might naturally have been expected to contribute freely of its means , and we rejoice to say it has amply realised this very natural expectation , the sum given by the Province , per Bro . J . A . Rolls , M . P ., acting as its representative , being £ 257 7 s . At the four

Anniversaries of this Institution to which it has sent up stewards it has given £ 445 15 s ; the Boys' School , at a like number , has benefited to the extent of £ 388 10 s , and tne Girls , at the five Festivals , to that of £ 72115 s , though , as in the return for 1875 , the two Welsh Provinces and Monmouthshire are erouned toe-ether , we shall b _ nrnbablv

|*> ore near the mark if , after deducting two-thirds of wie particular amount for the Welsh Provinces , we set « ° wn the contributions of Monmouthshire at £ 412 nder any circninstances , we can credit Monmouthshire

Jith the very capital contribution of over £ 1 , 500—not a N ^ F ° Unt f ° Proviace wifcu only eig Lodges . wV , ° , k ( 16 Lodges ) has a single Lodge represented , w nose list is given as £ 36 15 s . It has been entered at ™ e ) ve of the Festivals during 1875-81 , having raised for

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

the Boys' School £ 632 18 s ; for the Girls' ditto £ 129 8 s , and for the Benevolent £ 448 10 s , together £ 1 , 510 16 s , or with tho contribution of Tuesday £ 1 , 547 lis . Its largest aggregate for a single year was in 1879 , when it raised over £ 306 for the Benevolent Institution .

North Wales and Salop has twenty-seven Lodges , and from a feeling of sympathy with its sister Province in South Wales , has fairly well exerted itself on this occasion , five Lodges sending up , by as many Stewards , £ 14917 s 6 d , its Provincial Grand Secretary , Bro . Spaull , heading the

array as representative of the St . Oswald , No . 1124 , Oswestry , with Fifty Guineas . Its only contributions to this Institution previously have been two sums of £ 1010 s each ; but for the Boys' it has raised over £ 1 , 106 , and for the Girl ' s over £ 459 . We take the excellent subscription of last Tuesday as an omen of good for the year 1882 .

Next in order is Oxfordshire , with ten Lodges . It enjoys the honour of being under the rule of a most illustrious chief , Prince Leopold Duke of Albany . That it deeply appreciates this honour must be judged from the liberal and impartial support it extends to all our Institutions .

It has missed not a single one of the Festivals we have reported , having given to " Our Boys '" £ 566 9 s , to " Our Girls '" £ 742 4 s , and to the Benevolent , exclusive of the current year , £ 867 9 s 6 d—in all £ 2 , 176 2 s 6 d . To this

must now be added £ 176 18 s , of which £ 105 is the subscription of Apollo University , No . 357 , making a grand total now of £ 2 , 353 and a fraction . Its most successful year was for the Girls' in 1880 , when His Royal Highness took the chair , and over £ 309 12 s was announced .

We now come to the Chairman ' s Province , namely , the Western Division of South Wales with its modest array of nine Lodges . It was represented by four Stewards , including Lord Kensington , M . P ., its Depnty Prov . Grand Master , one of the four acting as representative of the

Province . The sum total is £ 360 3 s , which , as we stated at the outset , is in all respects worthy of so small a Pro - vince . During 1875-81 it raised £ 608 14 s for the Boys ,

£ 536 5 s—with a sum not stated in 1875—for the Girls , and £ 235 10 s for the Benevolent . Consequently , it has till now given altogether over £ 1 , 740 to onr three Institutions since 1 st January 1875 .

Staffordshire ( 26 Lodges ) is down for a small twenty-five guineas , sent up by a Wolverhampton Lodgo , St . Peter ' s , No . 419 . In 1875-81 it raised for the Boys' School £ 985 8 s ; for the Girls' School £ 1 , 346 17 s—its greatest

effort being in 1880 , when it contributed £ 536 lis ; and for the Benevolent £ 751 2 s . Thus , including the £ 26 5 s of last Tuesday , it has contributed altogether , during the period included in our inquiries , slightly over £ 3 , 109 .

An Ipswich Lodge—the British Union , No . 114—worthily upholds the fame of the East Anglian county of Suffolk , Bro . Clarke G . P . England , as its representative , contributing a list of £ 130 3 s . There are twenty Lodges in the Province , and irrespective of this sum , it has raised

for " Our Boys £ 746 os ; for the Sister Institution at Battersea Rise £ 493 19 s 6 d , aud for the Benevolent £ 751 5 s , in all £ 1 , 991 9 s Od , or with Bro . Clarke ' s list over £ 2 , 121 . It has figured at all the Anniversaries we have noted .

Surrey , with twenty-four Lodges , is down for £ 162 ls 6 d , the aggregate of seven lists from six Lodges and a Chapter . If we add this to its former contributions of £ 812 8 s 6 d to the Boys ' , £ 437 6 s to the Girls ' , and £ 533 8 s to the Benevolent , we arrive at the very satisfactory total of £ 1 , 945 4 s .

It has not missed a Festival since 1875 . Its neighbour of Sussex , with exactly the same number of Lodges , has contributed almost an identical sum , namely , £ 162 9 s , but there wonld seem to be another list yet due . " Our Boys " appear to be the favoured Institution , having received from

it £ 1 , 691 19 s 6 d , though this in great measure may be attributable to last year ' s Festival having been held at Brighton , when it raised no less than £ 771 15 s . To the Girls' it has

given £ 807 2 s 6 d , and to the Benevolent £ 1 , 250 4 s , of which £ 600 belongs to 1880 . Thus the three have received in all , including Tuesday ' s list , just £ 3 , 911 15 s . Very well done . Sussex !

Wilts ( ten Lodges ) sends up a neat £ 89 5 s , which added to its previous subscriptions during 1875-81 , of £ 299 5 s to the Boys ' , £ 729 19 s 6 d to the Girls ' , and £ 971 17 s 6 d to the Benevolent , makes an aggregate of a

few shillings over £ 2 , 090 . This , it must be admitted , indicates a strong regard for our Institutions , giving , as it does , an average per Lodge of £ 209 . Worcestershire , . yith . ts eleven Lodges , under the healthy