The King And The Craft.

THE KING AND THE CRAFT .

DESPITE the fact that the "Daily Telegraph" considers the rumour that His Majesty the King may be present at the Installation of his brother as Grand Master on the 17 th of next month to be " entirely without foundation , " it is regarded in well informed circles of the Craft that such

a gratifying display of Royal favour is by no means unlikely . His Majesty must have pleasant recollections of past great Masonic assemblies in the Albert Hall , and we are sure if he honoured the Craft once again in that historic building

he would receive such a Fraternal greeting as would convince him that the Masonic Brotherhood fully recognises the value of his past services to the Craft , and appreciates the honour he has conferred upon it by assuming the position of Protector .

Needless to say , the accommodation of the Albert Hall , vast though it is , will be taxed to the fullest extent on the occasion of the Installation . Some ten thousand seats can be allotted , but the applications far exceed that number , and

disappoinment must fall to the lot of many Brethren who would highly appreciate the honour of participating in such a historic event—a ceremony which we trust may not have to be repeated for very many years to come .

It is suggested by a correspondent that provision ought to have been possible to allow of the attendance of every Mason who desired to . be present at the Installation of the Grand Master next month , and that as the largest available

building is not sufficient for their accommodation , an open air assembly might have been arranged . He suggests the football field , with its many stands , at the Crystal Palace , Sydenham , as an eligible site ; but we fear it is too late

now to even consider his proposition . It seems a pity our correspondent did not earlier approach the authorities with his novel suggestion ; we read of a hundred thousand footballers viewing a struggle there for the chief honours of the

game ; it would be most interesting to see half that number participating in such a ceremony as the installation to take place next month . It would ' provide a testimony of the extent and unanimity of the Craft in this country which would certainly be unique .

Masonic Munificence.

MASONIC MUNIFICENCE .

IN describing the Charitable work of the Craft during the current week we can hardly do better than quote the words of a daily contemporary , which said , "Benevolence

and Freemasonry go hand in hand , and the best traditions of the ancient Order were worthily upheld " on Wednesday . But the writer in our contemporary said this in connection with only one great event which took place that day—the

103 rd Anniversary Festival of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys , when a total subscription of £ 23 , 020 was announced , as the result of the labours of 553 Stewards . He might have

said very much more had he been aware that another great Charity Festival was celebrated the same day away in East Lancashire , on behalf of the Systematic Masonic Educational and Benevolent Institution of that Province , with the result

Masonic Munificence.

that subscriptions amounting to upwards of £ 9 , 379 were received , that being the largest amount ever raised by the Craft outside the Festivals of the London Institutions . We thus have a total of £ 32 , 399 to deal with as the one day ' s

contribution of the English Craft in the cause of charity , so that for the third time this year records have been broken , and a total far in excess of what a few years back would have been considered the utmost limit , has been subscribed .

With such figures before us it is almost impossible to find words 111 which to compliment the Craft sufficiently ; we most heartily congratulate the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys , and we as sincerely compliment the Brethren of

East Lancashire on what it has achieved . Truly , both are marvellous records , and taken in conjunction with each other , as subscribed on the same day , really afford evidence of Fraternal goodwill , unity and sympathy which once again places the Masonic Order in the very first rank of benevolent

organisations . In another part of this issue we report the proceedings at the Festival ol the Boys School , as well as the Prize Day

at the School , which preceded it on the Monday , and we also give a full list of the Stewards and the amounts collected by each . The following summarises the returns , as given by the Secretary at the Festival :

Province . Stewards . Amount . London ... 249 9150 o o Hampshire and Isle of Wight 45 4000 o o Suffolk ... g 666 4 6 Leicestershire and Rutland ... 7 600 o o

. Berkshire ... 14 525 o o Monmouthshire ... 13 525 o o Stattordshire ... 24 425 15 o Hertfordshire ... 14 422 8 6

South Wales Western Division 1 420 o o Wiltshire ... 2 410 10 6 South Wales Eastern Division 3 400 o o Middlesex ... 12 385 18 o Nottinghamshire ... 2 377 4 o

Worcestershire ... 7 300 6 o Devonshire ... 5 300 o o West Yorkshire ... 10 300 » o Somersetshire ... 5 295 11 6 North Wales ... 13 276 3 o

Durham ... 2 273 o o Gloucestershire ... 7 262 10 o Surrey ... 9 231 2 6 Sussex ... 12 207 7 6 Norfolk ... 3 190 6 o

Essex ... 11 189 o o Northamptonshire and Hunts . 4 176 18 0 West Lancashire ... 6 16 9 19 o Warwickshire ... 14 16 3 4 6 Foreign Stations ... 10 . 15 S 11 o

Buckinghamshire ... 10 137 o 6 Guernsey and Alderney ... 3 136 10 o Cambridgeshire ... 4 134 o o Derbyshire ... 3 110 10 o Northumberland ... 2 84 o o

Shropshire ... 3 84 o o Kent ... 3 72 s o Dorsetshire ... 2 59 0 6 Cornwall ... 2 58 16 o East Lancashire ... 2 52 10 o

Bedfordshire ... 1 48 6 o Cumberland and Westmorland 1 42 o o North and East Yorkshire ... 1 31 10 o

Herefordshire ( Collected List ) — 26 5 o Oxfordshire ... 2 19 13 6 Cheshire ... 1 10 10 o Lincolnshire ... 1 xo 10 o