The Benevolent Festival.

THE BENEVOLENT FESTIVAL .

A LTHOUGH the past few years have witnessed many great - £ ^ - successes in connection with the Charitable Institutions of

English Freemasonry , it has seldom happened that a more gratifying result has been achieved than that announced on Wednesday , when the Anniversary Festival of the Eoyal Masonic Benevolent Institution was celebrated at Freemasons '

Tavern , under the presidency of the Eight Hon . Lord George Hamilton , M . P ., Provincial Grand Master of Middlesex , and a total of upwards of £ 19 , 500 was announced as the subscriptions

of the year on behalf of the Fund , that result being arrived at through the efforts of 390 Stewards , of whom 158 were associated with the Metropolis , and 232 with the Provinces .

To say we heartily congratulate the Institution , its officials , and all who are associated with it on this splendid result by no means expresses what we feel in regard to the most satisfactory return , and we venture to think many will agree when we say that

ordinary expressions of satisfaction convey but a tithe of what is felt on such an occasion as this , when the Craft has so nobly acted up to its principles of Brotherly Love and Belief , responding to the call of distress with most substantial subscriptions , and

a manifest enthusiasm in the cause which not only sets at rest all questions in regard to the financial requirements of the moment , but also affords some permanent relief for the future

by allowing of an increase in the invested funds of the Institution , and consequent augmentation of permanent income . As we have already said , London was represented by 158 Stewards , and the outcome of their efforts was a total of

£ 9 , 492 7 s 6 d , a grand amount in itself , and one that , even a very few years back , would have been looked upon as a satisfactory result for the entire Festival ; but even that splendid sum has been exceeded by the Provincial Stewards , who numbered 232 ,

bringing up an aggregate of £ 10 , 018 19 s 6 d ; the two divisions showing a return of £ 19 , 511 7 s—a total the announcement of which called forth the heartiest applause at the moment it

was made , and will long be referred back to with pleasurable pride by all who take an interest in the working of the Charitable Institutions of the Craft .

But if we are able to speak of the result with so much gratification , how much more so must it be the case with the distinguished Brother who presided , and whose popularity in his own Province especially , but throughout the country

generally , had such a marked effect upon the result ? He must have been proud of the Brethren of his Province when the total of the contributions from Middlesex was announced as £ 3 , 636 4 s 6 d , and particularly so when the worthy Secretary of

the Institution supplemented the announcement of that amount by the remark that every Lodge under Lord George Hamilton ' s rule was represented , while seven or eight of his Chapters likewise sent Stewards , the number of whom was further

augmented by some Ladies , the total of the Middlesex contingent being 72 , who collected an average of upwards of £ 50 per Steward . The totals of the different Lodges also show some splendid results , as , for instance , the Elliot Lodge , whose eight Stewards brought up no less than £ 490 9 s , followed by the

The Benevolent Festival.

Bushey Park Lodge , represented by three Stewards , with a fine total of £ 355 10 s . Where so many have done well , however , it is unwise to

attempt anything like a full analysis of individual returns , and we therefore content ourselves with a summary showing the results arrived at in the different divisions of the kingdom , with the number of Stewards working in each :

Province No . of Stewards . Amount . Middlesex 72 3 , 636 4 6 . North and East Yorkshire ... 22 900 0 0 Hertfordshire 12 724 18 0 West Yorkshire 21 700 0 0

East Lancashire 5 369 12 0 Berkshire 6 343 0 0 Sussex 9 331 13 6 Essex 9 296 3 0 Surrey 7 286 17 0

South Wales Eastern Division ... 1 286 0 0 Monmouthshire 6 246 3 0 Gloucestershire 6 197 6 . 0 Hampshire and Isle of Wight ... 5 183 9 6

Cornwall 1 178 10 0 Warwickshire 13 164 17 0 Kent ... 6 164 6 0 Dorsetshire 2 160 10 0

Suffolk 3 157 15 0 Durham 3 156 10 0 Oxfordshire 4 113 16 0 Shropshire 3 84 0 0 Cambridgeshire ... 1 80 16 0

Buckinghamshire 3 61 17 6 West Lancashire 3 49 17 - 6 North Wales 3 45 3 0

Norths and Hunts 2 36 15 0 Cheshire 2 31 10 0 Worcestershire 1 21 0 0 Staffordshire 1 10 10 0

London 158 9 , 492 7 6 The above return presents features which might well be turned to account by tbe analyst , and much could be written in regard to the different totals , some of which could be regarded

as evidence of a decline of interest in different quarters , but it is hardly fair to criticise without knowing fully what is going on , as it by no means follows that absence from a Festival implies neglect of the Institution concerned .

A brief examination of the totals given on our next page will show some particularly gratifying results , the number of large lists being very marked , as may be gathered from the fact that the average of the whole 390 Stewards just exceeds £ 50 , a fine return , when the large number of the Board is considered .

The most notable list is that of Bro . Nelson , the Steward of the Merchant Navy Lodge , No . 781—a Lodge which only four years back sent up nearly £ 1 , 100—which amounts to £ 1 , 074 18 s 6 d , this being followed by a total of £ 510 10 s per Bro . Edward Terry , of which sum it must be stated £ 500 is the

personal donation of our popular Brother , who appears to grow more enthusiastic year by year in support of our noble Institutions . Bro . A . E . Skinner , of Old Dundee Lodge , No . 18

follows next , with a fine list of £ 286 2 s 6 d ; but we must refer our readers to our succeeding pages for fuller details , and meantime conclude our remarks by again congratulating the Benevolent Institution on its great success for 1896 .