The Benevolent Festival.

highest praise for having succeeded in carrying on the arrangements in so satisfactory a manner . Th Sacretary of the Institution may well have beei proud as he stood on the right of tlie Deputy Gram Master of England , handing him details of thi

result of the Festival , and looking on the seem before him—not , perhaps , wholly brought about ty his personal efforts , but to a very great extent so and as such representing in a striking manner the powers of one man . We recognise to the fullesl extent the assistance Bro . Terry has received in th * work of arrangement and organisation , but that does

not in any way detract from the honours due to the leader . He may have had good assistants , kindly sympathy and wide-spread enthusiasm , but to the Secretary has naturally fallen the work of direction and preparation , and he Mly deserves the heartiest recognition for his labours . He has succeeded far , we imaeine . bevond his anticipations , and we know

sufficient of him to feel assured that while he to-day congratulates himself on the result of hia efforts he is equally pleased at the prospect of being able to announce at no very distant date a still further extension of the number of annuities paid by the

Institution . Having secured so exceptionally large an amount of contributions , it may reasonably be expected the Committee will at once set to work and consider how far they can extend the scope of the Charity as a result of the liberality of the Craft . The Treasurer of the Institution , Bro . J . A . Farnfield , in responding to the toast of its successsnoke of being able to invest

, £ 50 , 000 out of the total contributed this year . He should be in a good position to know what can be done , and we suppose there is sufficient in hand from last year to allow of such an investment , and at the same time pay the current expenditure of the year . He also spoke of the investment realising 3 per cent ., which would give a permanent income of £ 1500

a year from this investment alone . Of this sum £ 720 per annum has already been appropriated by the creation of the twenty new annuities decided upon at the recent meeting of the authorities , so that at least twenty more annuities can be established without necessitating any larger annual contributions than have been received in the past . Indeed , there would be a small surplus from the investment .

But even tins splendid addition would not be a Jubilee Celebration in the fullest sense of the word . We want fifty new annuities , if it is any way possible , which fifty new pensions would entail an additional outlay of £ 1830 per annum . We have already shown that the amount it is proposed to invest will produce £ 1500 a year of this , and under the exceptional

circumstances we hope it will be deemed possible to charge the Institution with the difference , and so create the fifty new annuities as a special mark of the Jubilee Celebration , which would indeed be a most gratifying result . The toasts on the occasion of the Festival were commendably brief . We imagine the speakers recognised the impossibility of making their voices

heard by the large assembly , and spared their audience the infliction of lengthy remarks in consequence . Besides this , there was only one prime remark to make—to announce the result—and anything which tended to delay that was looked upon with disfavour . The Chairman expressed sympathy with the Queen and the Grand Master in their recent bereavement , and spoke of the festivities that would

have then been in active preparation but for the lamented death of the Duke of Clarence . Bro . the Eev . C . J . Martyn proposed the toast of the Pro Grand Master , coupling with it the Provincial Grand Masters and the Grand Officers Present and Past . Colonel Money Provincial Grand Master of Surrey responded , and then the Chairman gave the toast of the evening—Success to the Eoyal

The Benevolent Festival.

I Masonic Benevolent Institution for Aged Freemasons and the Widows of Freemasons . He spoke of the establishment of the Fund in 1842 , at the suggestion of the then Grand Master His Eoyal Highness the Duke of Sussex , and reviewed its very rapid growth in favour and usefulness . He thought it proved that the Masonic Order was alive to the necessities of their fellows when they established this Fund to give pensions for old age . The country was just beginning

to recognise the desirability of doing something in the same direction , and there remained the fact that the Masonic Brotherhood was at least fifty years in advance of their fellows . The Earl of Mount Edgcumbe thanked the Stewards for their energetic efforts , and congratulated them on the splendid result , which he was convinced would prove a real

and lasting blessing to a large number of aged and deserving members of the Craft . Sir John Monckton proposed the toast of the Chairman , which was enthusiastically received and briefly acknowledged . Other toasts were—Success to the other Masonic Institutions , the Ladies , & c

In addition to 1200 Stewards who sat down to the banquet at Covent Garden Theatre , there were 400 ladies who dined in the building , the whole of the arrangements in connection with which were admirably carried out by Messrs . Spiers and Pond Limited . The Ladies' and other Special Stewards had previously dined at Freemasons' Tavern . In all cases the catering was excellent , reflecting great credit on the firm that was entrusted with this most important factor in connection with so successful a Festival .

Duties Of Recommendation.

DUTIES OF RECOMMENDATION .

NO applicant can be received or balloted for in Freemasonry until after he has been recommended , and well recommended . In the jurisdiction of Pennsylvania , and generally elsewhere , an applicant must have two lvcommenders , both of whom must be Master Masons and members of the Lodge in which he petitions for initiation and membership .

When the Craft requires two recommenders , it means two , or not one ; that is to say , two members who have ¦ personal knowledge of the applicant . The second recommend er is not for ornament , but for

use . If the second recomraender signs merely at the request of the first , he is in fact no recommender at all , bufc merely a shadow of the first Brother . No brother should ever sign such a petition without having first inquired about and known the applicant .

We well rert'ember when we were first practically taught this lesson . We were a very young Mason , and a Past Master came to ns one night and asked ns to sign as second recommender , he saying to us , the applicant was firtt-class material . In our state of innocence we signed .

What was the result ? The applicant was rejected ; and again rejected . How chagrined we were . We had recommended an applicant about whom we personally knew nothing , and he proved Masonically worthless . We never

fell into that trap again . We have often been asked since to sign as second recommender , and often done so , but not until after we had personally seen the applicant , made his acquaintance , and inquired of hia associates as to his moral character and fitness to be made a Mason .

Rule first , then , for a recommender is , never to recommend an applicant unless you can honestly recommend him from personal knowledge . The Craft expects this of you , and you do injustice to yourself , as well as to it , if you recommend one who is a stranger to yon .

It is too common a practice for the first recommender to ask the Secretary of his Lodge to become the second recommender . The Secretary should never do so if the applicant is unknown to him . Secretaries are not selected

or paid for this purpose . They have a duty to perform to themselves and to their Lodge , and this duty requires a personal knowledge of the applicant by the recommender , whether he be first or second iu order on the petition . The second rule for a recommender to govern himself by