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    Article ANALYSIS OF THE RETURNS. ← Page 4 of 4
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Page 6

Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Analysis Of The Returns.

. OXFORDSHIRE . Judging it by thc ordinary tests , if may be said to have played its part fairly well . It raised a trifle over £ 90 for Bro . Terry in February , and followed this up with a contribution of £ 61 at Bro . Hedges' Festival in May . It is now entered for £ 141 14 s . 6 d . There are but 10 lodges on . thc roll of the province , so that if we strictly obey our own canons of

criticism , we ought perhaps to suggest that for a single year an aggregate of £ 293 for such a province was decidedly a good one . And so it is in ordinary circumstances . But Martin Tupper , or some other kindred spirit , is credited , we believe , with having remarked sentcntiously , " Blessed is the man that expecteth nothing , for he shall not be disappointed . " We have been faithless to thc Tupperian maxim . We did expect that Oxfordshire

would have [ acquitted itself exceptionally well at this Festival , because , in the first place , its late lamented Chief had graciously consented to take the chair , and then , because death having made the fulfilment of that intention impossible , we had imagined the influence of the late Prince's name would have been only in a slight degree less powerful for good than his personal

influence . Perhaps the best and only course for lis to pursue is to apologise for having allowed ourselves to be betrayed into a very natural error . Oxfordshire has done well both on extraordinary and ordinary occasions , and if we have been over-sanguine in this instance , it is our own fault . The transition to

SOMERSETSHIRE , , a province that is ruled by a distinguished Oxford graduate , involves us in np difficulty . We have , as a rule , had the pleasure of associating with this county somewhat heavier figures than the £ 64 is ., of Bro . Budge's list of Saturday last . But in February , Bro . Else , Lord Carnarvon's Deputy ,

raised £ 505 5 s . for the Benevolent , and there was a further sum of £ 71 Ss . contributed in May per Bro . Major Thrale Perkins . Thus the total for the present year is slightly in excess of £ 640 , while in 1883 "Our Boys " received from this source £ 357 ios . 6 d ., making a round £ 1000 for the four Festivals . SOUTH WALES ( EASTERN DIVISION )—

has 16 lodges , and the list of Bro . T . Matthews , its representative on Saturday , reached £ 200 exactly . In May it contributed £ 160 to the Girls ' School , and it furnished a Steward for the Benevolent Festival in February , but the amount of his list was not published . At Bro . Binckes's Festival in June , 18 S 3 , 't raised for him £ 230 , and it did a like service to the extent of

£ 21 7 for Bro . Hedges the Maj' previous , while in 1882 the sum of its contributions to the two Schools was £ 574 , of which £ 374 appeared in Bro . Binckes's returns . ' Our one remark must be— 'Well done , South Wales East ! • • -. . Its next door neighbour , SOUTH WALES —( WESTERN

DIVISION)which a short time since had the misfortune to lose its respected and popular P . G . M ., Bro . Col . Lloyd-Philipps , has only nine lodges on its 'roll , but the small amount of ten guineas standing to its credit , or rather to the credit of its representative , Bro . Aaron Stone , on this occasion , must not be taken as any criterion of what it usually does when it figures atone of our Festival , celebrations . It was only in May last that it raised £ 262 10 s . for the Girls' School ,

its then Steward being Bro . Rev . J . Marsden . Last year , under the auspices of the same Bro . Aaron Stone , it contributed £ 350 to the Boys' School , and in 1 SS 2 , when its late lamented chief took the chair for Bro . Terry , its subscriptions and donations amounted to £ 360 and a fraction . Thus in the three years , 1 SS 2-3-4 , we manage to get within measurable distance of £ 1000 , which for a province with only nine lodges is worthy of high commendation . There always have been good men and true among the Masons of

STAFFORDSHIRE , b ut they seem—it may be in our imagination only—to have placed themselves more prominently than usual before the Masonic world during the past few years . At all events , their labours in behalf of our Institutions strike us as being more beneficial , reminding us of what frequently happened when the late Earl of Shrewsbury and Talbot was at the head of the province . Thus it began the year with a subscription of £ 152 5 s . to the Benevolent .. In

May it somewhat exceeded this amount , and presented the Girls' School with £ 180 19 s . 6 d . On Saturday , three Stewards , acting for as many lodges , together amassed £ 313 is . 6 d ., the Abbey Lodge , No . 624 , Burtonon-Trent , occupying the place of honour with £ 141 15 s ., Bro . Richard Tooth , for the Portland , No . 6 37 , Stoke-upon-Trent , being second with £ 94 6 s ., and Bro . F . Derry , of St . James ' s Lodge , No . 482 , Handsworth , third with £ 77 os . 6 d . Here then we have a total of £ 646 for one year only , while in 18 S 3 it raised £ 790 , and in 1 S 82 over £ 6 i 6 V or for the triennial period , over £ 2052 .

SUFFOLK , with 21 lodges , though principally an agricultural district , is both regular and liberal in its assistance . Last year it raised £ 568 , namely £ 166 for the Benevolent , £ 136 for the Girls , and £ 265 13 s . for the Boys .. . In February it started with £ 201 is . 6 d . ; in May it helped Bro . Hedges with £ 247 16 s ; , and on this occasion it swells Bro . Binckes ' s total to the extent of

£ 157 4 s ., thus carrying its total tor ibb 4 to £ 606 , or not much short of £ 40 more than it contributed even in so good a year as 18 S 3 . Here a ' gain we find an eminently popular chief in the person of Lord Waveney , and a most zealous Deputy in Bro . Rev . C . J . Martyn . Thus the . reason why this kindly spirit is so active may very easily be explained . In the case of - *

SURREY , we see another good province with a fair muster roll of 26 lodges , a popular chief , General Brownrigg , a most indefatigable Deputy , Bro . Rev . C . W . Arnold , and a general desire everywhere noticeable to do a good turn to all our Charities . This desire was evinced on Saturday , by an aggregate of subscriptions and donations amounting to £ 252 6 s .,- which , added to a total

of £ 89 5 s . in May , and £ 244 4 s . in February , gives for 1884 altogether about £ 5 85 . In 18 S 3 it raised over £ 1083 , but then General Brownri gg presided at the Festival of the Benevolent Institution , and a supreme effort was made in honour of the occasion . In 18 S 2 and previous years the returns show most excellent results . The contiguous Province of

: SUSSEX enjoys all thc advantages we have enumerated in the cases of Suffolk and Surrey , and , like them , is resolved on turning them to the best possible account . It has some 25 lodges , and of these Royal York , No . 315 , and St .

Analysis Of The Returns.

Cecilia , No . 1636 , both of Brighton , were jointly represented by Bro . W . I-I . Gibson , whose total was just 150 guineas ( £ 157 . 103 . ) In May it figured . for £ 237 6 s ., and in February for £ 63 only , giving for the year within a few shillings of £ 458 . In 1883 it gave the Benevolent £ 210 ; the Girls / , £ 363 ; and the Boys ' , £ 375 7 s ., or slightly less , if we take them together , than £ 950 ; in 1 SS 2 the sum of its . contributions was £ 920 , nearly ; for the three years £ 2328 . Very well done , Sussex 1

WARWICKSHIRE , with its 30 lodges , is entered for a small £ 73 ios ., the sum of two lists ; bill , as we remarked in respect of the Girls' School returns iii May last , this province has given us no just measure of its strength since 18 S 2 , when that Institution was benefited to the extent of £ 810 . Three totals , making

together less than £ 250 , is not what we look for even on ordinary occasions from so influential a province , presided over by so experienced and able a chief as Lord Leigh . . Warwickshire can do the thing well when it exerts ¦ ' itself . What we venture to ask for is just a little more exertion . The sum contributed by

WILTSHIRE is little more than nominal , a list of £ 10 ios ., which but ill represents eveij so small a province . But it swells the total for the year to over £ 253 , and in 1 SS 3 and 18 S 2 it gave £ 183 and £ 300 respectively . Thus , if Wilts has ' only 10 lodges , it finds the . wherewith to assist in replenishing the treasuries of our three Institutions ' .

WORCESTERSHIRE , in respect of numerical strength , is only slightly ahead of Wilts , its lodges being 11 in number , while in both there is apparent the same kind of zeal , though ' it may not be as perceptible , or be it said rather , as effective on all occasions alike . To-day the five Worcestershire Stewards give in a total of

£ 201 17 s . ; in May the amount was only £ 105 , while in February itwas slightly more— £ 11053 . —the three returns producing ovter £ 416 . But last . year it raised over £ 764— £ 219 for thc Benevolent , £ 217 for the Girls ' , and £ 328 for the Boys' ; while in 1 SS 2 the total was £ 387 . Thus , if the totals vary , the will remains unchanged , and , doubtless , will be found unchangeable . . .

The total contributed by - . NORTH AND EAST YORKSHIRE during the current year is in round figures £ 256 , namely , £ 49 18 s . to the . Old Men and Women , £ 131 ios . to the Girls' School , and £ 75 to - " Our Boys . " At the first blush this seems but a modest sum for a province which - has 28 lodges on its roll , and a legendary Masonic history dating back

from a very remote antiquity . But , even in his most : sanguine moments , Bro . Binckes can never have anticipated that last year ' s magnificent results would be repeated this . Even the most powerful of our provinces—that is , from a numerical point of view—are incapable of displaying uniformly the same brilliant effects , and what it would be unreasonable to expect from the Lancashire or West Yorkshire , would be still more unreasonable in the case

of the far smaller province of -North and East Yorkshire . True , it raised £ 920 in 18 S 3 , of which £ 873 7 s . was for the Boys' School , while in 1882 its contributions reached £ 695 , of which the Girls' absorbed the lion ' s share in the shape of £ 500 . But efforts such as these justify a term of comparative or absolute rest ,- and it is to the credit of North and East Yorkshire that it has preferred thc comparative to the absolute , and supplemented its work ' of the last 10 ' years by such contributions as we have specified already .

On the other hand , and for the very obvious reason that it is one of our biggest provinces , the returns strike us as being somewhat out of sortssomewhat deficient—of

WEST YORKSHIRE , which is undoubtedly below its average . We have become so habituated to associating with it many Stewards and big figures that any' contribution below £ 600 strikes us as being disappointing . We remember we had a sort of despondent feeling come over us , as though a grave catastrophe had overtaken the province , in February last , when we saw no more than £ 352 and odd shillings standing to the credit of West Yorkshire in the Benevolent

Festival returns . We know well our feelings were the reverse of despondent in May when it sent up a total of £ 906 . The figures on Saturday last £ 589 12 s . —raise the year ' s aggregate to £ 1841 , and the aggregate of the last 10 years—from 1875 to 1884 , both inclusive—to £ 20 , 463 . This means that , during the decennial period over which our inquiries have extended , West . Yorkshire has contributed at these celebrations rather more than an average of £ 680 per Festival .

FOREIGN STATIONS , & C . Three of the . Stewards who figure under this head- have made their returns and the result is £ 37 16 s . It only remains for Bro . J . M . P . Montagu , as representing the Royal Order of Scotland , to go and do likewise , and the figures relating to this section of the Board of Stewards will be complete .

CONCLUDING REMARKS . We have completed our . examination of the Returns . We have conscientiously striven to avoid exaggerating either the good or the indifferent that is in them . Plain facts and figures that tell their own tale are best dealt with in plain hopiely fashion . We have been actuated throughout by a desire to carry out this mode of treatment , and we hope we have succeeded in our purpose . One further remark may justifiably be made . If we

exclude from last years figures the sum total of the moneys subscribed to the Building Fund , we shall find no very great difference in the support accorded last year and this to the General Fund . On this point we may congratulate not only the Chairman and his Stewards , but in a particular degree thc House Committee and the Secretary . It is by their efforts the efficiency of the school is maintained , and consequently it is their influence which has brought about these great successes .

. MANUSCRIPTS . —The word comes from " manu , " " scriptus , " and means the labour of Masonic chirography . In 1717 many old MSS . were collected together by request-of Grand Master Payne , and in 1720 sortie foolish brethren' are said by Anderson to -have burnt several important MSS ., especially one by Nicholas Stone . And no doubt there always has been , ( there still is in England ) , a dislike to open out the lodge archives , and peruse or publish any MS . evidences . Thanks to the labour of a

zealous band of Masonic students—among them W . J . Hughan , D , Murray Lyon , and W . B . Ellis , may be specially mentioned—and some others , the search for and transcription of Masonic MSS . have for the last . few years been most successfully carried on . We know now more of the MSS . of Masonry than were open to Anderson , Preston , Hutchinson , or even were available by Oliver . Many MSS . still remain in England to be . disentombed from the dust of years . —Kenning's Cyclopedia of Freemasonry .

“The Freemason: 1884-07-05, Page 6” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 28 April 2026, django:8000/periodicals/fvl/issues/fvl_05071884/page/6/.
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Title Category Page
CONTENTS. Article 1
Untitled Article 1
ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR BOYS. Article 2
ANALYSIS OF THE RETURNS. Article 3
HISTORY OF THE ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR BOYS. Article 7
CONSECRATION OF THE STARKIE ROYAL ARCH CHAPTER, No. 935, SALFORD. Article 7
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To Correspondents. Article 9
Untitled Article 9
Original Correspondence. Article 9
REVIEWS Article 9
Masonic Notes and Queries. Article 10
REPORTS OF MASONIC MEETINGS. Article 10
INSTRUCTION. Article 11
Royal Arch. Article 12
Mark Masonry. Article 12
PROVINCIAL GRAND MARK LODGE OF HAMPSHIRE AND THE ISLE OF WIGHT. Article 12
NEW MASONIC HALL AT BARROWIN-FURNESS. Article 13
JUBILEE OF MENTURIA LODGE, No. 418 Article 13
SUMMER EXCURSION OF THE LODGE OF FORTITUDE, No. 281. Article 13
PICNIC OF THE MARLBOROUGH LODGE, No. 1620, LIVERPOOL. Article 14
ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR GIRLS. Article 14
THE THEATRES. Article 14
MASONIC AND GENERAL TIDINGS Article 14
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Analysis Of The Returns.

. OXFORDSHIRE . Judging it by thc ordinary tests , if may be said to have played its part fairly well . It raised a trifle over £ 90 for Bro . Terry in February , and followed this up with a contribution of £ 61 at Bro . Hedges' Festival in May . It is now entered for £ 141 14 s . 6 d . There are but 10 lodges on . thc roll of the province , so that if we strictly obey our own canons of

criticism , we ought perhaps to suggest that for a single year an aggregate of £ 293 for such a province was decidedly a good one . And so it is in ordinary circumstances . But Martin Tupper , or some other kindred spirit , is credited , we believe , with having remarked sentcntiously , " Blessed is the man that expecteth nothing , for he shall not be disappointed . " We have been faithless to thc Tupperian maxim . We did expect that Oxfordshire

would have [ acquitted itself exceptionally well at this Festival , because , in the first place , its late lamented Chief had graciously consented to take the chair , and then , because death having made the fulfilment of that intention impossible , we had imagined the influence of the late Prince's name would have been only in a slight degree less powerful for good than his personal

influence . Perhaps the best and only course for lis to pursue is to apologise for having allowed ourselves to be betrayed into a very natural error . Oxfordshire has done well both on extraordinary and ordinary occasions , and if we have been over-sanguine in this instance , it is our own fault . The transition to

SOMERSETSHIRE , , a province that is ruled by a distinguished Oxford graduate , involves us in np difficulty . We have , as a rule , had the pleasure of associating with this county somewhat heavier figures than the £ 64 is ., of Bro . Budge's list of Saturday last . But in February , Bro . Else , Lord Carnarvon's Deputy ,

raised £ 505 5 s . for the Benevolent , and there was a further sum of £ 71 Ss . contributed in May per Bro . Major Thrale Perkins . Thus the total for the present year is slightly in excess of £ 640 , while in 1883 "Our Boys " received from this source £ 357 ios . 6 d ., making a round £ 1000 for the four Festivals . SOUTH WALES ( EASTERN DIVISION )—

has 16 lodges , and the list of Bro . T . Matthews , its representative on Saturday , reached £ 200 exactly . In May it contributed £ 160 to the Girls ' School , and it furnished a Steward for the Benevolent Festival in February , but the amount of his list was not published . At Bro . Binckes's Festival in June , 18 S 3 , 't raised for him £ 230 , and it did a like service to the extent of

£ 21 7 for Bro . Hedges the Maj' previous , while in 1882 the sum of its contributions to the two Schools was £ 574 , of which £ 374 appeared in Bro . Binckes's returns . ' Our one remark must be— 'Well done , South Wales East ! • • -. . Its next door neighbour , SOUTH WALES —( WESTERN

DIVISION)which a short time since had the misfortune to lose its respected and popular P . G . M ., Bro . Col . Lloyd-Philipps , has only nine lodges on its 'roll , but the small amount of ten guineas standing to its credit , or rather to the credit of its representative , Bro . Aaron Stone , on this occasion , must not be taken as any criterion of what it usually does when it figures atone of our Festival , celebrations . It was only in May last that it raised £ 262 10 s . for the Girls' School ,

its then Steward being Bro . Rev . J . Marsden . Last year , under the auspices of the same Bro . Aaron Stone , it contributed £ 350 to the Boys' School , and in 1 SS 2 , when its late lamented chief took the chair for Bro . Terry , its subscriptions and donations amounted to £ 360 and a fraction . Thus in the three years , 1 SS 2-3-4 , we manage to get within measurable distance of £ 1000 , which for a province with only nine lodges is worthy of high commendation . There always have been good men and true among the Masons of

STAFFORDSHIRE , b ut they seem—it may be in our imagination only—to have placed themselves more prominently than usual before the Masonic world during the past few years . At all events , their labours in behalf of our Institutions strike us as being more beneficial , reminding us of what frequently happened when the late Earl of Shrewsbury and Talbot was at the head of the province . Thus it began the year with a subscription of £ 152 5 s . to the Benevolent .. In

May it somewhat exceeded this amount , and presented the Girls' School with £ 180 19 s . 6 d . On Saturday , three Stewards , acting for as many lodges , together amassed £ 313 is . 6 d ., the Abbey Lodge , No . 624 , Burtonon-Trent , occupying the place of honour with £ 141 15 s ., Bro . Richard Tooth , for the Portland , No . 6 37 , Stoke-upon-Trent , being second with £ 94 6 s ., and Bro . F . Derry , of St . James ' s Lodge , No . 482 , Handsworth , third with £ 77 os . 6 d . Here then we have a total of £ 646 for one year only , while in 18 S 3 it raised £ 790 , and in 1 S 82 over £ 6 i 6 V or for the triennial period , over £ 2052 .

SUFFOLK , with 21 lodges , though principally an agricultural district , is both regular and liberal in its assistance . Last year it raised £ 568 , namely £ 166 for the Benevolent , £ 136 for the Girls , and £ 265 13 s . for the Boys .. . In February it started with £ 201 is . 6 d . ; in May it helped Bro . Hedges with £ 247 16 s ; , and on this occasion it swells Bro . Binckes ' s total to the extent of

£ 157 4 s ., thus carrying its total tor ibb 4 to £ 606 , or not much short of £ 40 more than it contributed even in so good a year as 18 S 3 . Here a ' gain we find an eminently popular chief in the person of Lord Waveney , and a most zealous Deputy in Bro . Rev . C . J . Martyn . Thus the . reason why this kindly spirit is so active may very easily be explained . In the case of - *

SURREY , we see another good province with a fair muster roll of 26 lodges , a popular chief , General Brownrigg , a most indefatigable Deputy , Bro . Rev . C . W . Arnold , and a general desire everywhere noticeable to do a good turn to all our Charities . This desire was evinced on Saturday , by an aggregate of subscriptions and donations amounting to £ 252 6 s .,- which , added to a total

of £ 89 5 s . in May , and £ 244 4 s . in February , gives for 1884 altogether about £ 5 85 . In 18 S 3 it raised over £ 1083 , but then General Brownri gg presided at the Festival of the Benevolent Institution , and a supreme effort was made in honour of the occasion . In 18 S 2 and previous years the returns show most excellent results . The contiguous Province of

: SUSSEX enjoys all thc advantages we have enumerated in the cases of Suffolk and Surrey , and , like them , is resolved on turning them to the best possible account . It has some 25 lodges , and of these Royal York , No . 315 , and St .

Analysis Of The Returns.

Cecilia , No . 1636 , both of Brighton , were jointly represented by Bro . W . I-I . Gibson , whose total was just 150 guineas ( £ 157 . 103 . ) In May it figured . for £ 237 6 s ., and in February for £ 63 only , giving for the year within a few shillings of £ 458 . In 1883 it gave the Benevolent £ 210 ; the Girls / , £ 363 ; and the Boys ' , £ 375 7 s ., or slightly less , if we take them together , than £ 950 ; in 1 SS 2 the sum of its . contributions was £ 920 , nearly ; for the three years £ 2328 . Very well done , Sussex 1

WARWICKSHIRE , with its 30 lodges , is entered for a small £ 73 ios ., the sum of two lists ; bill , as we remarked in respect of the Girls' School returns iii May last , this province has given us no just measure of its strength since 18 S 2 , when that Institution was benefited to the extent of £ 810 . Three totals , making

together less than £ 250 , is not what we look for even on ordinary occasions from so influential a province , presided over by so experienced and able a chief as Lord Leigh . . Warwickshire can do the thing well when it exerts ¦ ' itself . What we venture to ask for is just a little more exertion . The sum contributed by

WILTSHIRE is little more than nominal , a list of £ 10 ios ., which but ill represents eveij so small a province . But it swells the total for the year to over £ 253 , and in 1 SS 3 and 18 S 2 it gave £ 183 and £ 300 respectively . Thus , if Wilts has ' only 10 lodges , it finds the . wherewith to assist in replenishing the treasuries of our three Institutions ' .

WORCESTERSHIRE , in respect of numerical strength , is only slightly ahead of Wilts , its lodges being 11 in number , while in both there is apparent the same kind of zeal , though ' it may not be as perceptible , or be it said rather , as effective on all occasions alike . To-day the five Worcestershire Stewards give in a total of

£ 201 17 s . ; in May the amount was only £ 105 , while in February itwas slightly more— £ 11053 . —the three returns producing ovter £ 416 . But last . year it raised over £ 764— £ 219 for thc Benevolent , £ 217 for the Girls ' , and £ 328 for the Boys' ; while in 1 SS 2 the total was £ 387 . Thus , if the totals vary , the will remains unchanged , and , doubtless , will be found unchangeable . . .

The total contributed by - . NORTH AND EAST YORKSHIRE during the current year is in round figures £ 256 , namely , £ 49 18 s . to the . Old Men and Women , £ 131 ios . to the Girls' School , and £ 75 to - " Our Boys . " At the first blush this seems but a modest sum for a province which - has 28 lodges on its roll , and a legendary Masonic history dating back

from a very remote antiquity . But , even in his most : sanguine moments , Bro . Binckes can never have anticipated that last year ' s magnificent results would be repeated this . Even the most powerful of our provinces—that is , from a numerical point of view—are incapable of displaying uniformly the same brilliant effects , and what it would be unreasonable to expect from the Lancashire or West Yorkshire , would be still more unreasonable in the case

of the far smaller province of -North and East Yorkshire . True , it raised £ 920 in 18 S 3 , of which £ 873 7 s . was for the Boys' School , while in 1882 its contributions reached £ 695 , of which the Girls' absorbed the lion ' s share in the shape of £ 500 . But efforts such as these justify a term of comparative or absolute rest ,- and it is to the credit of North and East Yorkshire that it has preferred thc comparative to the absolute , and supplemented its work ' of the last 10 ' years by such contributions as we have specified already .

On the other hand , and for the very obvious reason that it is one of our biggest provinces , the returns strike us as being somewhat out of sortssomewhat deficient—of

WEST YORKSHIRE , which is undoubtedly below its average . We have become so habituated to associating with it many Stewards and big figures that any' contribution below £ 600 strikes us as being disappointing . We remember we had a sort of despondent feeling come over us , as though a grave catastrophe had overtaken the province , in February last , when we saw no more than £ 352 and odd shillings standing to the credit of West Yorkshire in the Benevolent

Festival returns . We know well our feelings were the reverse of despondent in May when it sent up a total of £ 906 . The figures on Saturday last £ 589 12 s . —raise the year ' s aggregate to £ 1841 , and the aggregate of the last 10 years—from 1875 to 1884 , both inclusive—to £ 20 , 463 . This means that , during the decennial period over which our inquiries have extended , West . Yorkshire has contributed at these celebrations rather more than an average of £ 680 per Festival .

FOREIGN STATIONS , & C . Three of the . Stewards who figure under this head- have made their returns and the result is £ 37 16 s . It only remains for Bro . J . M . P . Montagu , as representing the Royal Order of Scotland , to go and do likewise , and the figures relating to this section of the Board of Stewards will be complete .

CONCLUDING REMARKS . We have completed our . examination of the Returns . We have conscientiously striven to avoid exaggerating either the good or the indifferent that is in them . Plain facts and figures that tell their own tale are best dealt with in plain hopiely fashion . We have been actuated throughout by a desire to carry out this mode of treatment , and we hope we have succeeded in our purpose . One further remark may justifiably be made . If we

exclude from last years figures the sum total of the moneys subscribed to the Building Fund , we shall find no very great difference in the support accorded last year and this to the General Fund . On this point we may congratulate not only the Chairman and his Stewards , but in a particular degree thc House Committee and the Secretary . It is by their efforts the efficiency of the school is maintained , and consequently it is their influence which has brought about these great successes .

. MANUSCRIPTS . —The word comes from " manu , " " scriptus , " and means the labour of Masonic chirography . In 1717 many old MSS . were collected together by request-of Grand Master Payne , and in 1720 sortie foolish brethren' are said by Anderson to -have burnt several important MSS ., especially one by Nicholas Stone . And no doubt there always has been , ( there still is in England ) , a dislike to open out the lodge archives , and peruse or publish any MS . evidences . Thanks to the labour of a

zealous band of Masonic students—among them W . J . Hughan , D , Murray Lyon , and W . B . Ellis , may be specially mentioned—and some others , the search for and transcription of Masonic MSS . have for the last . few years been most successfully carried on . We know now more of the MSS . of Masonry than were open to Anderson , Preston , Hutchinson , or even were available by Oliver . Many MSS . still remain in England to be . disentombed from the dust of years . —Kenning's Cyclopedia of Freemasonry .

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