Analysis Of The Returns.

turn in iSyC , when £ 210 was raised for it . In 1 S 95 , the Boys' School received £ 279 6 s ., and-in 1894 , tbe Benevolent . £ 173 14 s . Cd ., and the Boys' School £ 12645 . GUERNSEY and J ERSI- ; V took part in the Old People's Anniversary to the extent of £ i 20 \ In 1892 , it raised . £ 240 forthe Benevolent , and £ 57 103 . for this Institution , and has been entered for smaller amounts at several of the Anniversaries that have been held since that year , while the ISLI ; OI- MAN ( 9 lodges ) , is entered from time to time for fairly good amounts .

As regards the represented Provinces , it will be remarked that BERKSHIRE had two of its 15 lodges included in the Returns , each of them liaving two Stewards , the Union Lodge , No . 414 , Reading , contributing per Bros , the Rev . J . Stewart and Capt . Tupman . £ 105 , and the Loyal Berkshire Lodge of . Hope , No . 574 , Newbury per Bros . Major Ricardo and C . E . Keyser £ 73 10 s .,

the principal item being £ 105 , standing to the names of Bro . Stewart . In February , as many as eight of its lodges sent up Stewards , who amongst them compiled the excellent total of . £ 455 3 s . Cd . Bro . Keyser ' s £ 110 5 s ., as Steward for Lodgre 414 , being the highest list . Last year the Province distributed £ 1010 195 . Gd ., amongst the three Institutions , the Boy ' s School being the recipient of the largest sum ; while in 1895 the amount of £ 939 Gs . 4 d . was raised .

In 1894 , £ 583 13 s . Gd . was returned j in 18 93 , £ 724 7 s ., and in 1892 , £ 954 us . Gd ., of which the Benevolent Jubilee very properly obtained the largest portion ; , £ GGi os . Cd . In 1891 it raised £ 385 is ., but then it had only just been created a separate Province . These Returns from a Province of such moderate strength do not stand in need of any commendation , they commend themselves to all who are partial to good work in thc cause of Charity . Fivp nf TVIP tfi lnnVps in

BUCKINGHAMSHIRE are included in the Returns on Wednesday , one of the lodges—the Buckingham , No . 591 , Aylesbury—having three brethren to represent it . The total of the lists handed in by the seven Stewards is , £ 171 4 s ., which , added to the £ 250 8 s . Cd . subscribed to the Benevolent Festival last February , gives us a total for this year up to the present time of . £ 421 12 s . Gd . fn 1 S 96 the sum of £ 429 us . was distributed amongst the three Institutions , the Benevolent receiving

£ Gi 17 s . Cd . ; this Institution £ 18 G 1 is . ; and the Instituion for Boys £ 181 23 . Cd . In 1895 the Old People received £ 52 10 s ., this Institution . £ 210 , and the Boys ' School £ 170 4 s . Cd ., making a total for the year of £ 438 14 s . Cd . ; in 18 94 , including £ 429 15 s . to the Boys'School , the year ' s total stood at £ sgo ; in 1893 , at £ 479 iCs . ; in 1 S 92 , at £ 705 15 s ., of which . £ 291 iSs . was in respect of the Benevolent Jubilee ; and in 1891 , at £ 511 is ., of which , £ 300 was raised for this Institution in support of the Chairmanship of Bro . Lord Carrington , then Prov . G . Master . Thus the present year appears to promise well so far .

CAMBRIDGESHIRE , though it has but half-a-dozen lodges , began this year famously , the three brethren who had its interests in charge at the Benevolent Festival compiling a total of . £ 302 ios . 3 d ., or more than £ 50 per lodge , the principal list—that of Bro . Chennell , who acted as Steward for the Province generally—amounting to £ 219 us . It is not surprising , therefore , that on Wednesday only two Unattached Stewards in the persons of Bros . W . and G . Briggs , who figure frequently at these

celebrations , should have done duty for the Province . In 1 S 9 C Cambridgeshire subscribed in all £ 30455 . —that is to say , £ 101 15 s . to the Old People , £ 73 ios . to this Institution , and £ 189 to the Boys' School . In 1895 only £ 168 was contributed very unequally between the Schools , " Our Girls " obtaining the lion ' s share ; but in 18 94 and 18 93 all three were benefited , to the extent of £ 239 in the former , and to that of £ 290 17 s . in the latter . In 1892 the Benevolent Institution had it all to itself , the sum of £ 326 8 s . being subscribed towards its Jubilee .

Three out of the 48 lodges on the roll of CHESHIRE took part in Wednesday ' s meeting and these with two Unattached brethren together subscribed £ 110 5 s ., while in February six lodges subscribed amongst them £ 94 ios . Last year ' s total , for very sufficient reasons was on a modest scale amounting to no more than £ 237 Gs ., and of this

the Girls' School was fortunate enough to receive £ 184 iCs . In 1 S 95 , Bro . Lord Egerton of Tatton , Prov . G . Master , presided as Chairman at the Boys' School Festival , and the Province , with its accustomed loyalty , backed up his lordship by contributing towards that Institution the good round sum of £ 2000 . In 1892 , it raised £ 1988 for the Benevolent Jubilee , and the preceding year £ 1050 for " Our Boys ; " while in the years in which it was an absentee from these various festive

gatherings it organised a Benevolent Institution of its own and started it with a capital of over £ 3000 , while , as our readers are well aware , it has had an Educational Institute for the last 30 years and upwards , which has done some neat and effective work in its time for the children of deceased and indigent Cheshire Masons . Thus the Province has made for itself a good reputation and will doubtless take care it is well maintained .

There are 30 lodges on the roll of CORNWALL , and for these collectively Bro . E . D . Anderton , by no means for the first time . acted as Steward , the donations and subscriptions which he was successful in obtaining from the lodges and brethren amounting to the goodly total of £ 68 55 , In February Major J . G . Shanks was the Provincial Steward , and had the pleasure

of handing in a list of £ 179 16 s . Last year it raised at two out of the three Festivals £ 305 lis ., thc Benevolent receiving , per Bro . James A . Bell , £ 204 153 . in February , and the Boys' School , per Bro . Anderton and another , in June , £ 100 iCs . In 1895 the total raised was £ 789 iSs ., of whicii £ 750 was contributed to this Institution in support of the Chairmanship of Bro . the Earl of Mount

Edgcumbe , D . G . M . England , its Prov . G . M . In 1 894 the sum of . £ 241 ios . was apportioned between the two Schools , while the preceding year the Boys' School had the field to itself , and obtained £ 225 15 s . In 1 S 92 the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe presided as Chairman at the Benevolent Jubilee , and Cornwall showed its loyalty to his lordship by raising £ 776 Ks .

Wc were not prepared on this occasion—any more than wc were at the Benevolent Festival in February last—to find that any of the 21 lodges on the roll of

CUMBERLAND AND WESTMORELAND would be included in the Returns , knowing , as we do , that Bro . Lord Henry Cavendish Bentinck , M . P ., Prov . G . Master , has arranged to act as Chairman at the approaching Boys' School Festival . However , it is needless to say that the surprise we have experienced in both cases is agreeable , though in February its

list was only the personal donation—as we imagine—of an Unattached Steward , while on Wednesday the amount contributed by the Underley Lodge , No . 1074 , Kirkby Lonsdale , did not exceed £ 10 ios . Last year the Province had no part in any one of the Festivals , but in 1 S 95 it raised £ 102 iSs . for the Benevolent Institution ; in 1894 , £ 178 ios . for this Institution ; in 1893 , £ 63 8 s . for the Boys' School ; and in 1892 , £ 420 for the Benevolent Jubilee .

DKRUVSHIRI ' , with its 27 lodges , played the part of "Chairman ' s Province" so successfully in June of last year , when his Grace the Duke of Devonshire presided at the Boys '

Festival , that it would in no wise have detracted from its prestige had it rested for a time from its labour in this particular branch of Masonic duty . However , the Province itself does not seem to have thought any rest was necessary , and in February thc Arkwright Lodge , No . 1475 , Matlock , Bath , was returned as subscribing , per Bro . H . Knowles , £ 30 8 s . Cd . On Wednesday , six lodges were represented , and the seven Stewards including Bro . George FIetcher , JUnattached ,

raised together £ 327 7 s ., the principal list being that of Bro . A . Butterworth of Arboretum Lodge , No . 731 , for £ 100 . In 189 G it raised £ 1642 2 s . for the Boys ' School ; in 1 S 95 , £ 550 , distributed equally among the three Charities ; in 1 S 94 , £ 0 47 15 s . Cd ., of which £ Goo ios . Gd . was for " Our Boys , " and the balance for " Our Girls ; in 18 93 , £ 1025 Ss . Gd . amongst the three ; and in 1892 , £ 1738 14 s ., of which the bulk was subscribed to the Benevolent Jubilee . There has latterly been great activity in the Province of

DEVONSHIRE . Only last week we reported the consecration of two additional lodges , and there is reason to hope that a corresponding increase of support to our Institutions will be developed . It looks , indeed , as if that increase had already commenced with the present year . In February , Bros . F . B . Westlake and ] ohn Lane , representing lodges , and Bro . Major Shanks , Unattached , together raised £ 130 4 s ., while on Wednesday the same Bro . Westlake , as Steward for the whole Province ,

and Bro . Fisher , Unattached , handed in lists amounting together to £ 35 io > . In 189 C Bro . Westlake for the Girls'School and Bro . Shortofor the Boys'School compiled lists of £ 115 ios . and £ 75 respectively , or together £ 180 15 s ., while in the three preceding years the totals were on a similarly modest scale , reaching £ 22 G iCs . in 1 895 , £ 135 12 s . in 1894 , and £ 181 2 s . in 18 93 ; but . in 1802 the year's contributions was worthy of so strong a Province , amounting to £ 923 83 . Cd ., of which

£ 807 iSs . Gd . was raised for the Benevolent Jubilee . We do not , of course , lose sight of the fact that the Province has its own Educational and Annuity Funds , which do a large amount of good locally , but at the same time we heartily welcome the greater interest which is apparently being taken in the Central Institutions , and as there are now 56 lodges on the roll , we trust the interest will be maintained .

The Provincial Grand Chapter of DORSETSHIRE and two of its 14 lodges were represented by a brace of Stewards , of wh im C 11113 . A . C . Chapin acted for the P . G . Chapter and the Lodge of Amity , No . 137 , Poole and Bro . Oldfield for Friendslvp and Sincerity , No . 472 , Shaftesbury . Their Iisti together amounted to £ 72 9 s ., and as the Province figured in the Benevolent Returns last February for £ 137 ns ., our Djrset brethren have acq-iitted themselves thus far well during the present year . In i 8 g 0 the Returns totalled £ 173 2 s .,

comprising £ iCo ios . for the Old People , and £ 12 12 s . for this Institution ; in 18 95 tbey reached , £ 351 is ., of which Bro . S . R . Baskett , Steward from Prov . Grand Lodge and Prov . G . Chapter raised £ 105 , and Bro . W G . Brymer , M . P ., Deputy P . G . Master , with Bro . Major Watts to help him , £ 240 is . ; In 18 94 they fell short of £ 200 , Bro . Dugdale ' s list forthe Benevolent Institution being £ 157 IOL , and that of Bro . Major Watts for the Girls' School , £ 35 . In 18 93 there was apportioned £ 233 between the Schools , while in 1892 the large sum of £ 521 6 > . vvas subscribed for the Benevolent Jubilee .

The Province of DURHAM , with its 36 lodges , is entered for £ 52 ios ., the name of the Steward who repre . sented not having being published as yet . In February it returned £ 253 is . to the Benevolent Institution , while in the four preceding years it figured in 189 C tor £ 5 CC ios . ; in 18 95 for £ 512 8 s . ; in 18 94 for £ 509 2 s . ; and in 18 93 for £ 338 2 s . In 1892 it raised altogether £ 103 4 5 s ., of which £ 720 5 s . was in respect of the Benevolent Jubilee .

ESSEX , with its roll of 38 lodges , has a very fine record , and present appsarances in ; line us to believe that that record will be miintained . In February seven of itsloi ^ ii subscribed £ 414 195 . Gd ., the best lists being those of Bro . G . S . Daunton , NJ . 2255 , for £ 138 ios ., and Bro . E . J . Bowmaker , No . 1000 , for £ 90 . On Wcdiesdiy three lodges and the chapter attached to a fourth sent Stewards , and there were likewise three brethren Unattached , the total fro n all sources being £ 313 9 = ,,

while the highest individual list was that of Bro . A . J . Marden , of St . Andrew ' s Lodge , No . 1817 , Shoeburyness , for £ 141 153 . In 18 9 G the total was large , amounting to £ 1433 lis . Gd , the Benevolent Institution receiving £ 296 13 s . Cd ., the Girls' School £ 950 , and the Boys' School £ l 8 C 18 s . In 1895 the three Institutions , in the order of their Festivals , received £ 324 7 s ., £ 308 3 s . Cd ., an 1 £ 639 19 s ., or amongst them £ 1272 ios ., and in 18 94 the total was £ 1123 , of

which this Institution had the good fortune to receive £ 823 135 . In 18 93 , when the Prov . G . M . —then Lord Brooke—presided , at the Boys' Festival the year ' s figure stood at £ 2258 3 s . Cd ., of which £ 2155 Cs . Cd . was raised for the favoured Institution , while in 1892 the efforts of our Essex brethren yielded a total of £ 2608 5 s ., of which £ 2318 2 s . Cd . was subscribed to the Benevolent Jubilee . In 1891 the total was £ 1048 , of which £ 1265 15 s . Cd . was raised for the Bjys ' School .

GLOUCESTERSHIRE is a medium Province , with only 16 lodges on its roll , but it has acquitted itself more than medium well for many years past . In 1 S 9 C the total it raised for the thrte Institutions was £ 544 19 s ., which was not so very unequally apportioned amongst them ; in 1895 it reached £ 59 8 191 ., of which the Boys' School received £ 324 9 s ., this Institution £ 229 19 s ., and the Old People £ 44 1 is . ; and in 1894 and 1 893 the figures werc £ 428 Gs . Gd . and £ 304 1 S . 1 . respectively ; but these

smaller figures are to be accounted for by the greater ex ; rtioiis put forth in 1892 , when Sir M . Hicks-Beach , Batt ., wis Chairman at the Buys' School Festival , and the Province supported him to the extent of £ 1645 ns ., the total for the whole year amounting to £ 1729 us . In February two lodges together subscribed £ 84 ios ,, and on Wednesday five lodges , with the D . P . G . M . acting independently , amongst them raised £ 286 18 s ., Bro . S . Ryland , of the Royal Union Lodge , No . 24 G , being responsible for £ 131 5 s .

The strong Province of HAMI ' SIIIKK AND TMH ISLE OF WIGHT began the year indifferently , only one of its 48 lodges sending up a Steward , whose list amounted to £ 57 15 s . On Wednesday , a better show was made , there being four Stewards from as many lodges and the sum of their lists amounting to £ 153 Gs . Gd . Last year , the contributions from this Province amounted together to £ 1149 12 s . Gd ., the Benevolent Institution receiving £ 193 19 s . CJ . ;

the Girls' School , £ 256 12 s , ; and the B jys' School , £ Ggg is . In 18 95 , the total was £ 84 C 8 s . Cd ., of which the Boys' School obtained £ 516 8 L , while the bilance was apportioned between the Benevolent and Girls' Institutions . In 18 94 , the returns totalled £ 95 1 gs . Od ., and in 1893 , £ 680 43 ., but in 18 92 , the year of the Benevolent Jubilee , the sum of £ 1650 17 s . was raised , the Old People having as tlieir share

over three-fourths , or precisely £ 1345 193 . 7 d . We bear in mind that there is a Provincial Educational Fund , which of necessity absorbs a considerable portion of the brethren ' s money , so that if the present year promises unfavourably as compared wilh others we have known , we must look to matters being set straight next year , when the Boys' Centenuy will be celebr . ite-1 , or later when the Province has more funds available .