Contents.

CONTENTS .

LEADERS u REPORTS OF MASONIC MEETINGS ( Continued)—" Ars Quatuor Coronatorum " ( No . 3076 ) .., 12 Ancient and Accepted Rite 21 Freemasonry In San Francisco 12 Order of the Secret Monitor 31 Review 13 Egypt 21 CORRESPONDENCE— The Poet Bums 21 " Rule 210 " id Rnyal Masonic Benevolent Institution 22

Reviews i { Girls' School Holiday Entertainment 23 Notes and Queries , 16 Royal Masonic Institution for Boys 23 REPORTS OF MASONIC MEETINGS— Presentation of Testimonial to Bro . E . Ashby 23 Craft Masonry 16 The Masonic Calendars for 1889 33 Instruction 20 Obituary 23 Royal Arch 20 Masonic and General Tidings 24 Mark Masonry 21 Lodge Meetings for Next Week iv .

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Th d * T must ' De ev'd ent fr ° m tne figures we presented in our review of of " Freemasonry in 1888 , " on the 29 th December last , and Benevolence . aga j n j n our s ]{ etcn ] ast vvee ] < 0 f « Masonic Benevolence " during the same period , that the Board of Benevolence is making rapid

and serious inroads upon the very handsome surplus of about £ 50 , 000 which it possessed a few years since , and the utilisation of which , at the time , so greatly perplexed the mind of our worthy Bro . J . M . CLABON . It must also be evident , as a mere matter of arithmetical calculation , that , assuming the distribution of this Fund is maintained at its present rate ,

—neither exceeding it , which is a very unlikely assumption , nor falling short of it , which is a more unlikely one still—only a few more years must elapse ere the surplus will have disappeared alcogether , and the Board will be confronted with the alternative of incurring debt , or very appreciably reducing its grants and recommendations . The annual income of the Fund , as we

stated in our review , is between £ Sooo and £ 9000—more nearly approaching to the former than the latter—and with outgoings amounting to about £ 12 , 000 a year , it will not prove a very difficult operation to calculate in how many years the present surplus of some £ 35 , 000 or £ 3 8 , 000 will be used up . This , we think , is a question which should engage the attention

of Grand Lodge , namely , what steps must be taken'in order to meet this regular , and , indeed , increasing drain on the invested capital of the Fund . It will never do to wait till the surplus is exhausted , to consider what must be done—firstly , because it is an income-producing property ; secondl y , because we have no right to force on the Board of Benevolence the

alternative we have already referred to , either of giving less than they think the necessities of the distressed petitioners call for , or compelling Grand Lodge to vote them occasional subsidies from the Fund of General Purposes , in order to meet the deficiencies on the Fund of Benevolence . Our own

opinion is that an increase in the Quarterages from 4 s . to 6 s . per annum in the case of the London lodges , and from 2 s . to 3 s . per annum would suffice to meet the difficulty ; but Grand Lodge in its wisdom , will no doubt determine at the proper time , what is best to be done in the circumstances we have described .

* . * Approaching Now that the more serious portion of the Christmas and Festival of the New Year ' s festivities are over , it is time we again took stock ' '" of the prospects of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution at its Anniversary Festival on the 27 th February . In our former article on

the same subject , we pointed out that Bro . TERRY had been fortunate enough to be able to announce , at the annual meeting of Governors and Subscribers in May last , that Bro . the Earl of EUSTON , Prov . G . Master of Northants and Hunts , had kindly consented to act as Chairman on the occasion , and , from the brief experience we have had of the zeal and activity displayed by his

lordship as the ruler of a Province , we are justified in anticipating that his thoroughgoing advocacy of the claims of this particular Charity to the support , of the brethren will be of great value in obtaining the requisite supplies for the coming year . We are also well satisfied that Lord EUSTON ' S Province will do its utmost in support of his efforts , and if the sum it is

successful in raising for the Old People is not so large as we have seen from the Chairman ' s Province at other Festivals , we know it will be in consequence of the paucity of its lodges , and not from any lack of will on the part of the brethren . We are likewise persuaded that the London lodges will be as numerously and largely represented in the

list of Returns as in past . years , and that the Provinces will acquit themselves as satisfactorily . But these are only the general anticipations which it is perfectly safe to forecast in the case of all our Festivals . What it more particularly concerns us now to point out is that , in spite of all these points in its favour , the question of meeting the requirements

of the Benevolent Institution becomes one of ever-increasing difficulty . Taking the present number of annuitants as our guide , we find that the sum annuall y to be raised for their support falls very little short of £ 15 , 000 , the permanent income being sufficient to defray the costs of management and

provide a few spare hundreds to meet any unforeseen contingency . The supply of this large annual subvention is of itself a most serious task , but it becomes still more serious when we bear in mind that our two Schools are also compelled to appeal annually to the Craft for about £ 25 , , in order

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to meet their requirements when taken together . And what enhances the difficulty of the problem is that , notwithstanding the many fresh annuities which have been created during the , last eight or ten years , there is at the same time a steady excess in the number of petitioners—especially among those approved as candidates for the benefits of the Widows' Fund—over

the number of available vacancies . Thus , in spite of the successive augmentations which have taken place since 1883 , and which have raised the total number of annuitants from 315—as it was before the election in that year—to 409 , as it is now , there have been left over each year as unsuccessful candidates—19 men and 50 widows after that of 1883 ; 10 men

and 52 widows in 1884 ; 14 men and 50 widows in 1885 ; 30 men and 58 widows in 1886 ; 32 men and 33 widows in 1887 ; and 42 men and 47 widows in 1888 . The augmentations during this brief period represent 94 annuities which have been additionally created , namely , 27 men ' s annuities and 69 widows' annuities , and yet the number of unsuccessful

candidates now remaining from the election of 1888 is 84 , namely , 37 men and 47 widows . To these must be added 27 men and 34 widows , whose petitions have been approved during the past 12 months , and whose names will appear on the lists for the election in May next , making the total number of candidates 145 or more by a round dozen at least than it has ever

been at any previous election . As regards the vacancies for which these will compete , the numbers on the two Funds will not be declared tili the next monthly meeting—on the 13 th February—of the Committee of Management , but to the present date there are 13 men ' s and 5 widows' annuities available for competition among the 145 candidates . This is irrespective of the three

on each Fund who will be elected , in accordance with the rules of the Institution , as Deferred Annuitants , and it is also quite possible that other vacancies may occur between now and the aforesaid next meeting of the Committee , while such as may take place between the 13 th February and the annual meeting on the third Friday in May , will also , no doubt , be

filled . But even if the present number should be doubled by these possibilities , there will even then be over 100 old people for whom no provision can be made , for , at all events , a further twelve months . Thus , then , stands the case at present . A sum of close on £ 15 , 000 is needed for the requirements of the coining year , and assuming that the Festival of

next month y ields anything approaching to this amount , it will then be possible to fill up the vacancies which have occurred , and which may yet occur previous to the third Friday in May . But there will still remain , as we have said , over 100 old men and women , who must continue to bear their present afflictions for a period of one or

more years , while , on the other hand , the augmentations in the number of annuitants have been so frequent and so considerable for some years past , that , unless some marvellous piece of good fortune befal the Institution , it is difficult to see how any further and greater responsibility can be undertaken . No one knows better than Bro . TERRY how hard it is to raise the

large amount of money which is required for the existing establishment , and many mig ht consider it an act of madness if the Committee were to resolve on creating fresh annuitants without at the same time securing to themselves fresh sources of supply . However , it is not the future so much as the immediate present which concerns us most just now . There is this

£ 15 , 000 for the annuities of the coming year , which has to be obtained chiefly by the medium of the Festival on the 27 th prox ., and the Board of Stewards , after making allowance for the inevitable withdrawals , is only some 230 strong . Consequently , more brethren are wanted , and we trust

that in the course of the six or seven weeks still remaining , Bro . TERRY may be able to enlist the services of such an additional number of Stewards as will place the solution of the problem which is now vexing his mind—how to obtain the aforesaid £ 15 , 000 ^ and a little over—beyond the possibility of doubt . % * *

_ , , . WE have heard some very uncomplimentary remarks made The Income of , ... r , r » i »» ¦ the R . M . I , for at the expense of the authorities or the Royal Masonic Insti-Girls in 1888 . tut ; on for Qiris because , while the total of donations and subscriptions at the Centenary Festival on the 7 th June last was announced as amounting to upwards of £ 50 , 500 , the actual amount received in

" Donations and Subscriptions" during the whole year was only £ 44 , 660 14 s . 1 id . These well-intentioned but somewhat silly critics appear to regard an undertaking to contribute a certain sum and its payment as being one and the same thing . They do not appear to have heard of a certain percentage of the promised donations and subscriptions being

always in arrear , the amount of such arrears fluctuating very considerably from one or two hundreds to one or two thousands of pounds . They seem also to have been under the impression that the Secretary , having announced a particular total at the Festival on the 7 th June last , possessed some magic

power by which he was enabled to compel payment of all the promised moneys by the 31 st December following . All this is very stupid ; but just as there are silly critics , so are there people , who , having no opinion of their own worth mentioning , are silly enough to accept whatever the critics may choose to