Analysis Of The Returns.

already stated , over £ 1222 and £ 1050 respectively . But , nevertheless , there is ample matter for congratulation over this portion of the returns . Thus the list is svorthily headed by

BERKS AND BUCKS , With a total of £ 222 15 s . The Pros'ince can boast of 21 lodges , eleven of them being located in Berkshire , and the remaining ten in the adjoining county . Of these , four Berks lodges ( Nos . 209 and 771 , of Windsor , 414 , of Reading , and 1566 , of Maidenhead ) and tsvo Bucks ( the High Wycombe

and Slough Lodges ) , sent up Stesvards , tsvo brethren acting in that capacity for the Maidenhead Lodge . In 18 S 3 it gave £ 110 to the Benevolent , £ 18 3 to the Girls , and £ 178 to the Boys , or together , some £ 472 , svhile in 18 S 2 its success svas even greater , its contributions to thc three institutions totalling up to close on £ 620 . BRISTOL ,

Is a compact Province svith eight lodges , svhose loint contributions by the hands of Bro . W . Pumell amount to the very handsome sum of £ 293 I is . Last year Bro . Terry also had the benefit of its support to the extent of £ 217 , three of its lodges being represented by as many Stesvards , Bro . Purnell being one of the number . Of the 39 lodges included in the Province of

CHESHIRE , Four svere represented on Tuesday , namely , Nos . S 9 , 104 , and 537 , each by tsvo Stesvards , and No . 758 , the total thus far received , being £ 115 ios ., svith one list still unannounced . These same four ledges sent up Stesvards last year , namely , No . 8 9 to thc Girls' School , and the remaining three to

the Boys , and there svere six other lodges represented at one or other of thc same anniversaries . The amounts , hosvever , svere in no case considerable , nor , indeed , svould it be altogether reasonable to expect they should be , seeing that the Province has an Educational Institute of its osvn , svhich makes adequate provision for the children of its poorer or deceased members , and contributes tosvards their advancement on leaving school .

Bro . Controller Bake is evidentl y a very zealous supporter of all our Institutions , and in his hands it is evident the reputation of

CORNSVALL , And its 29 lodges svill be svorthily upheld . It is not a heavy list svhich appears against his name—onl y a modest sum of 45 guineas , but Bro . Bake svas Stesvard at all three Festivals in 1 S 83 , svhile on tsvo of the occasions he was ably seconded by Bro . Captain Colvill , their joint efforts resulting in a total of £ 243 ios . The transition from this Province to

DEVONSHIRE , Is easily accomplished , and if , in the opinion of our readers , a small list of £ 27 6 s . handed in by Bro . Pepprell , of the Jordan Lodge , No . 1402 , Torquay , is hardly svhat might have been looked for from a Province svith -50 lodges on its roll , we would remind them that Devonshire puts forth its strength on occasions , and svith considerable effect , as a total of only a fesv

pounds less than £ 600 raised in 1883 , and some £ 565 contributed the Crcvious year , testify most clearly and satisfactorily . It must be rememered , too , that it can fortunately point to tsvo indefatigable brethren in thc persons of Bros . Curteis and Godtschalk , svho , with Bro . Hughan to reinforce them , svill , sve doubt not , take care that Devonshire ' s aid shall alsvays be at hand svhen the occasion is imperative .

DORSETSHIRE , Which has 13 lodges , svas not unrepresented on Tuesday , though its Steward's list , that of Bro . Douglas Dugdale , of lodge No . 137 , who acted in the same capacity for the Boys' School last year , has not yet come to hand . Hosvever , from our past experience of this province and bearing in mind thai Bro . Dugdale on the last occasion received close on £ 60 , wc have

fesv , if any , misgivings about the return being a satisfactory one . It received £ 100 for this Institution in 1 SS 3 , svhen Bro . Howard was Stesvard , and it has given most liberally on other occasions . A West Hartlepool Lodge—the Harbour of Refuge , No . 764—is the only one of thc thirty

DURHAM , Lodges which contributed to the success of Tuesday , while Bro . C . S . Lane , svho svas Stesvard for the Benevolent and the Boys last year , gave his unattached services in conjunction with Bro . Wilson . Its totals for the last three ycars svere £ 265 in 1883 , £ 412 in 1882 , and £ 1024 in 1881 . The constituency is a strong one and doubtless sve shall hear again of its doings before the year 1 S 84 has run its course . At all events , sve hope so .

ESSEX , With a nesv Provincial Grand Master in the person of Lord Brooke , M . P ., and an addition of tss * o lodges to its roll , appears determined to put forth its strength . Eight of its 22 lodges are represented by as many Stesvards and the aggregate of their lists falls short by a fesv shillings only of £ 400 ; Liberty of Havering Lodge , No . 1437 , of Romford , heading the array with £ 98 16 s .,

while Star in the East , No . 650 , Harsvich , per Bro . Richard Clowes—who by the way , will be found amongst the representatives of the London lodges —figures for £ 73 us ., and the Bagshaw Lodge , No . 1457 , Buckhurst Hill , for £ 63 . In 1883 Essex raised £ 490 , of which £ 235 found its way into the treasury of the Benevolent , £ 15 8 went to the Boys' School , and the rest to the Girls' School . Its contributions to the three Institutions in 1882

amounted together to £ 354 . There is only one slight drawback from the satisfaction sve feel in making this announcement . Seven of the eight lodges svhich figure in Tuesday's listandsixof the eight brethren acting as Stesvards took part in one of the Festivals of 1883 , svhile tsvo of the lodges svere represented tsvice . Is it not desirable that some of the other lodges should take their share of the burden 1 The next province in alp habetical order , that of

GLOUCESTERSHIRE , Considering it has only 14 lodges on its roll , may be said to have distinguished itself very greatly at the last Festival of the Boys' School . Its Deputy P . G . M ., Bro . Brook-Smith , played the part of an unattached Stesvard . Lodge Royal Union , No . 246 , Cheltenham , si'as represented by

five Stesvards , svho raised amongst them 107 guineas ( £ 112 7 s . ) . Royal Lebanon , No . 493 , Gloucester , contributed , per three Stesvards , £ 122 . The Cottessvold Lodge , No . 592 , Cirencester , per two Stewards , gave £ 111 6 s . ; the Royal Gloucestershire , No . 839 , Gloucester , per three Stesvards , raised £ 219 9 s . ; and Tyndall Lodge , No . 1363 , of Chipping Sodbury , added a comfortable £ 21 ; the total handed in by the fifteen Stewards , amounting to £ 601 17 s . The May previous it enriched the Girls to the extent of

Analysis Of The Returns.

£ 36 15 s ., and in February , 18 S 3 , the Benevolent benefited largely , its six Stesvards , the D . P . G . M . unattached , and five from as many lodges , contributing amongst them £ 213 3 s ., making a total for the year of £ 851 15 s . In 18 S 2 it raised £ 548 , and in 1 SS 1 , £ 1547 , so that in the three years this small province of only 14 lodges all told , returned but little short of £ 2958 . Under these circumstances , it svould have been most unreasonable to expect a \ ery large contribution . Hosvever , four Stesvards , acting for three

lodges , raised together £ 80 17 s ., so that Gloucestershire , lrrespectis-e of its previous performances , has the satisfaction of knosving that at the last ten Masonic Festivals it has been represented by one or more of its lodges or brethren . Again , hosvever , sve have to note that the three lodges svhich appeared on Tuesday figured at one of last year ' s Festivals , svhile one of the Stesvards , Bro . Vassar-Smith , served in that capacity for all the Institutions in 1 S 83 .

HANTS AND THE ISLE OF WIGHT Has recently increased its roll to 40 lodges , and notsvithstanding the very laudable efforts it made at last year ' s Girls' Festival to support its P . G . M ., Bro . W . W . B . Beach , M . P ., as thc Chairman of the day , six of its lodges sent up Stesvards on Tuesday , and tsvo other brethren gave their services unattached , one of them being Bro . John Mason , the svorthy and energetic

collector of the Institution . The sum of their efforts svas s'cry satisfactorily represented by £ 350 17 s ., Bro . Rastrick , of Prince Edss * ard of Saxe-Weimar Lodge , No . 1903 , taking the lead svith £ 89 5 s ., svhile Bro . Mason follosved him very closely svith £ ' 86 ios . In June , 1 S 83 , it raised a somesvhat larger amount— £ 375—for the Boys' School , and in February of the same year it helped Bro . Terry to the extent of some £ 150 . Its principal

performance , hosvever , svas the raising of about £ 1300 at the Girls' Festival , svhen the chair ss'as occupied by its popular and much respected chief . Thus the sum of over £ 1832 svas raised by this province in 1 SS 3 , and the good svork is follosved up at thc first occasion that presents itself in the current year by donations , Sec , amounting to £ 350 . Thc province that next claims our attention is that of

HERTFORDSHIRE , svith svhich Bro . Terry's name has been so long and so honourably associated , and such being the case , it is not to be svondered at that , svhen the Festival of the Royal Masonic Bcnes-olcnt Institution comes round , it should put forth its strength , as far as its resources svill allosv , in order to make his successes as complete as possible . It musters no more than 12 lodges , and it

cannot point to any large industrial centre being in its midst , yet its presence in a subscription list is invariably to some vcry good purpose , and sve dare say there are many of the stronger provinces—speaking numerically , of course —svhich svould only be too pleased if they could point to so much good svork so admirably carried out . This time seven out of its 12 lodges and one chapter sent up Stesvards , the senior lodge—the Hertford , No . 403—vcry

properly taking thc lead svith a list amounting to £ 68 2 s ., svhile the total for the province figures at £ 362 6 s . 6 d . In June last it raised for Bro . Binckes £ 105 , in May for Bro . Hedges , £ 158 us . 6 d ,, and this time last year for Bro . Terry over £ 233 . These sums make up together somesvhere about £ 49 6 , and in 1882 it raised nearly 1000 guineas , of svhich , as a matter of course , the lion ' s share helped to ssvell Bro . Terry's total . These seven festivals make up an aggregate of £ 1900 , which , considering , as sve have said ,

there are so few lodges on the roll , svill compare favourably svith the achievements even of provinces that are nearly tsvice the strength of Hertfordshire . We should like to see Bro . Halsey , M \ P ., the Prov . Grand Master , presiding at one of our annual festivals ; sve feel sure his province would support him loyally and handsomely , In ordinary cases a total of upsvards of £ 271 must be accounted as a respectable contribution even from a province svhich is numerically strong ; b - KENT

can boast of a svell-ordercd administration . Its lodges are svell looked after , and every encouragement is given them to svork in such a manner as to deserve svell of thc Craft generally , and their Prov . Grand Master , Bro . Viscount Holmesdale , in particular . Hence , Kent may be accounted as a certain contributor at all our Festivals , and svhen there are any special circumstances in svhich it is interested , as , for instance , last year svhen Lord

Holmesdale presided at the Boys' School Festival , it may be regarded as a matter of almost equal certainty that special efforts svorthy of the occasion svill be made , and , svhat is of still greater moment , from our point of viesv , that these efforts will be crosvned wilh success . Thus , though sve could not have foretold thc sum that svould be raised by this stronghold of Masonry in support of Lord Holmesdale , sve experienced no surprise svhatever svhen

in June last Bro . Binckes announced that the joint labours of the Kentish Stesvards had secured for him considerably over £ 2000—subsequent additions gave the actual figures as £ 2316 5 s . Other £ 374 was raised for the support of thc Girls' School andthe Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution , so that the total contributed in 1883 svas only a little less than £ 2700 . On

Tuesday five of its 49 lodges sverc represented , and the sum of their exertions appeared in the shape of £ 271 8 s ., or about one-tenth of what it accomplished last year . But even strong provinces cannot go on raising moneys by the £ 1000 , and Kent- —albeit it it is entitled to rest for a time on the laurels it earned so well in June last—has seta good example by not adopting on this occasion the principle of total abstinence .

The next stage on our journey carries us to the north-west of England , to a busy and svealthy part ol the country , svhere lodges are both numerous and strong in point of membership , and svhere we look to see a considerable display of activity svhenever one of our three Festivals is on the es * e of taking place . Our visit on the present occasion is certainly not disappointing , for though

LANCASHIRE—EASTERN DIVISION , has a roll of gj , lodges , of which 18 belong to Manchester alone , the total of its contribution on Tuesday , £ 640 2 s . 6 d . must be described as satisfactory , even though it may not compare relatively svith its Masonic strength so well as some of the other Provincial totals . But in the first place there is a flourishing local Masonic Institution svhich is of material service to our poor

East Lancashire brethren , and in the next it raised £ 2 , 100 for Bro . Binckes ' s Festival in June last . Therefore we hold it to be a vcry creditable performance that 17 of its lodges represented by 25 Stesvards should have raised amongst them this sum of £ 640 , the efforts of the lodge 44—Friendship , of Manchester—svhich per Bro . Woodall as Stesvard figures for £ 325 ios ., or rather

more than one half , being especially worthy of praise . On the other hand , sve fail to see why even a young lodge—No . 1993—should venture on making its appearance in such excellent company svith so trifling a contribution as 5 s . It was hardly svorth svhile for Bro . Edsvards to pay a Stesvard's fee of . tsvo guineas in order to remit such an amount . A postal order would have