Summary Of The Provinces.

SUMMARY OF THE PROVINCES .

£ s . d . Berks and Bucks 142 17 6 Cheshire 6 9 16 6 Cornwall 127 1 o Derbyshire 160 10 o Devonshire 131 5 o

Durham 105 o o Essex 2 S 4 o 6 Gloucestershire 21 o o Hants and the Isle of Wight ... 5 S 16 o Hertfordshire 129 8 o Kent 21 S 14 o

Lancashire ( East Division ) ... 52 ' 10 o „ ( West Divsion ) ... 570 14 o Lincolnshire 542 o 6 Middlesex 1001 3 o Monmouthshire 257 9 o

£ s . d . Northants and Hunts Northumberland 16 S 0 0 North Wales 68 5 0 Oxfordshire 81 7 6 South Wales ( East Division ) ... 380 o 0

„ ( West Division ) 6 S 5 o Staffordshire 94 10 o Suffolk 149 12 6 Surrey 262 17 o Sussex 2 G 7 15 0 Wiltshire 32 g 8 0

Worcestershire 47 50 Yorkshire ( North and East ) ... Si iS v „ ( West ) 350 . 0 0 Bengal 32 11 0

120 STEWARDS—LONDON £ 4 660 14 o 133 STEWARDS—PROVINCES £ 6350 o o GRAND TOTAI £ 11 , 010 14 o Those marked * are included in Lodge or Provincial List .

Analysis Of The Returns.

ANALYSIS OF THE RETURNS .

He must be a difficult man to please who is not satisfied with the total of Tuesday ' s Festival Returns , as appended to our report of the Festival itself . It is not as large as those that have been held under the ordinary conditions during the last ten or a dozen years . The Board of Stewards is very far from being as strong , and the total is not so hi gh . Yet the Festival , in its general aspect , makes it clear that there has been a substantial return to the old style of Festival . There

are very nearly ioo more brethren as Stewards than in 188 9 , and the total amount of subscriptions and donations is more than double what it then was . In short , the reaction to the normal state of work has been more complete than we had been led to expect , and the School has benefited according . For instance , we fancied the Board of Stewards might number 250 and a few more , and might succeed in raising

just a trifle beyond £ 10 , 000 . The result is that the Board comprised 253 members , and the aggregate of thoir lists reached £ 11 , 010 14 s . This , as we have said , is most gratifying , and if the rate of improvement is as rapid next year , we shall be once again in the position we occupied before the celebration of Tuesday . Taking the

, LONDON section of the Returns for it , we find that it included 120 Stewards , and that the total they raised was £ 4660 14 s . This was less than we had hoped for , and is to be accounted-for b y the fact that only 7 6 lodges and two Royal Arch chapters were represented , whereas the usual proportion of the former was about from go to 120 , or between a fourth and a third of the total number on the

Metropolitan district . The House Committee , as usual , acted together , and raised amongst them £ 438 2 s ., the list of Bro . Henry Smith being , however , included in West Yorkshire , while the Unattached , which show a slight decrease in number , together contribute £ 361 4 s . However , if London , as far as its lodges are concerned , has not made quite so successful a display as usual , there is no gainsaying the fact that its Returns include some very good lists , the joint list of

Bro . E . Holsworth and Bro . R . S . Cushing , as Stewards for the Lodge of Loyalty , No . 1607 , being £ 192 8 s ., and that of Bro . John Gordon , Temperance in the East Lodge , No . 8 9 8 , including a donation sufficient to constitute the lodge a Patron , amounting to £ 140 . The Creaton Lodge , No . 179 1 , by the hands of Bro . C . Rawley Cross , contributed £ 133 7 s . ; and Bro . Colonel Ward's list for the London Irish Rifles , No . 2312 , amounted to £ 127 is ., of which £ 7 8 15 s .

was paid by himself to complete his Vice-Patronship . That regular and generous contributor , the Friends in Council , sent up £ 116 us . by the hands of Bro . H . de Riccio , while Bro . Capt . Blashill , representing the Fitzroy Lodge , No . 569 , was close up with £ 111 6 s . There were two who obtained'lists amounting to £ 105 in each case , namely , Bro . Frommholz , Faith Lodge , No . 141 , and Bro . W . I . Brewster , Union Lodge , No . 166 , and there were

likewise two which tied with £ 102 18 s ., namely , Bro . H . Sutton , of Royal Somerset House and Inverness Lodge , No . 4 , and Bro . John P . Hoddinott , of the City of London Lodge , No . 901 , while Bro . C . Hammerton completed the array of three-figure lists in this division of the Returns with a donation of £ 100 . There were likewise several lists ranging from £ 70 to within £ ioo , and our onl y regret is that the Metropolitan representatives were not more numerous , so that we might have had more nice things to say in their behalf .

Having completed our survey of the earlier half of the Returns , we now turn our attention to

THE PROVINCES , of which two-thirds are represented , and in several instances represented to very good purpose , while the remaining third comprises the absentees . This is rather less than the usual proportion of represented to unrepresented Provinces at ordinary Festivals , yet , especially in the extent of the lists , a great improvement on that of last year . The 15 absentees were as follow : BEDFORDSHIRE ( five

lodges ) , which has done nothing as yet this year , but which sent a Steward to the Boys' Festival in 188 9 , and was suitably represented at the Girls' Centenary the year previous . BRISTOL ( nine lodges ) has done nothing since February , 188 9 , but when it has comfortably settled to work under its new chief , and has reduced its own Charity organisation into working order , we trust it will resume its appointed place at these anniversaries . CAMBRIDGESHIRE ( six lodges ) , after having figured

well at most of the Festivals of recent years—at that of the Benevolent Institution last February , at those of all three Institutions in 1889 , at the Girls' Centenary in 1888 , and at those of all three both in 188 7 and 1886 , appears to have thought it desirable to take a rest , a rest which we are persuaded no one will begrudge it after the good work it has done . CUMBERLAND AND WESTMORLAND ( 22 lodges ) entered an appearance at the Benevolent Festival in February with a modest

total of £ 73 10 s . In 188 9 , its contributions amounted to about £ 140 , while in 1888 it raised £ 1050 for the Benevolent and £ 210 for the Girls' School . Previous to this it had given largely to the Boys' School , in 1886 and 188 3 . DORSETSHIRE ( 13 lodges ) appears to have done nothing since February , 188 9 , when it raised £ 156 10 s . for the Benevolent Institution ; while HEREFORDSHIRE ( five lodges ) has been absent since the Centenary of the Girls' School in i 883 .

LEICESTERSHIRE and RUTLAND ( 12 lodges ) raised £ 18 9 for the Benevolent Institution in February last , £ 525 for the Boys' School Festival in 188 9 , and £ 648 10 s . for the Girls' Centenary the year previous , to say nothing of what it has done in previous years for each Charity in turn . NORFOLK ( 17 lodges ) showed up excellentl y well in February last , when its three Stewards compiled £ 229 7 s . 6 d . for the R . M . B . I . ; in 188 9 , it gave £ 101 us . to the Boys'School ; and in 1888 , £ 6 3 to the Benevolent , and £ 214 4 s . to the Girls' School , or together £ 277 4 s .

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE ( 15 lodges ) has not entered an appearance since the Festival of the R . M . B . I . in 188 9 ; while SHROPSHIRE ( 12 lodges ) , though absent on Tuesday , has been pretty regularly , and on one or two occasions very generously , represented during the time it has been a separate Province under Bro . Sir O . Wakeman , P . G . M . SOMERSETSHIRE ( 25 lodges ) has been so conspicuously regular in its attendance at these celebrations that on the very few occasions on which it has not fi gured in the R , eturns , it seems difficult for us to reconcile ourselves to its absence .

Analysis Of The Returns.

However , in February it raised £ 190 17 s . for the Benevolent , and possibly it may have a surprise in store for us at the Boys' Festival in July . WARWICKSHIRE ( 31 lodges ) owed it to three members of the Athol Lodge , No . 74 , Birmingham , who entered themselves as Stewards at the last moment , that it was not included among the absentees in February last . However , in 1888 it raised £ 1440 6 s . 6 d . for the Centenary of the Girls' School , its Prov . G . M ., Bro . Lord

Leigh , being the Hon . Treasurer of the Board . The three other absentees are the ISLE OF MAN ( seven lodges ) , the CHANNEL ISLANDS ( five lod ges ) , and J ERSEY ( seven lodges ) , each of which every now and then sends up a Steward or Stewards , but which , owing to their distance from headquarters , seem hardly to be expected to contribute . However , their occasional contributions are none the less welcome because they are not expected . As for the represented Provinces , which we take , as usual , in alphabetical order , we find that

BERKS AND BUCKS , which musters altogether 25 lodges , has onl y four of them represented , three of them being located in Berkshire , and No . 591 at Aylesbury , in Bucks , this last , nc doubt taking example from the Athol Lodge , of Birmingham , having sent up no less than seven Stewards . The total from the whole Province is £ 142 17 s . 6 d .,

which , after the £ 435 13 s . 6 d . raised in February last for the Benevolent Institution , when seven lodges , of which No . 591 , with six Stewards , was one , and one chapter , sent up representatives , must be pronounced hi ghly satisfactory . In 188 9 it distributed £ 332 15 s . among the Institutions , in 1887 over £ 947 , and in 1888 £ 779 , or not far short of £ 2060 for the whole period of three years .

CHESHIRE sent up three Stewards , one being Unattached , while the other two acted for two of its 41 lodges , the sum of their lists being £ 6 9 16 s . 6 d . In February six of its lodges together sent up £ 110 6 s . It is , indeed , generally represented to a small or moderate extent , but its Educational Institute very naturally absorbs most of its attention .

CORNWALL , which has 30 lodges on its roll , had an efficient representative in Bro . Gilbert B . Pearce , who has acted in this capacity on several previous occasions , and who on Tuesday compiled a list of £ 127 is . In February last the Steward for one of its lodges had to his credit a list of £ 110 5 s ., while the same brother ( F . W . Thomas ) , being at the time representative of the whole Province , raised £ 105 for the Boys '

Festival in June , 188 9 . The contributions from the Province at the two previous Festivals of the same year amounted at the Festival of this Institution in May to £ 99 15 s ., and at that of the Old People in February to £ 157 10 s ., Bro . G . B . Pearce being the Steward on the latter occasion . It did capital work in the year 1888 , but still better in 188 7 , when Bro . Pearce , being the representative of the Province at all three Festivals , was successful in raising altogether £ 704 us . The 23 lodges in

DERBYSHIRE had Stewards for two of them , their total being £ 160 10 s ., of which Bro . John Walker , of Arboretum Lodge , No . 731 , Derby , had the satisfaction of obtaining £ 115 10 s . In February , two other lodges sent up Stewards , but their lists amounted to only £ 42 17 s . In 1880 . its total for the whole vear was umvards of

£ 414 , while , for the preceding four years , owing to the large sums raised ( 1 ) in 1886 , when its Provincial Grand Master , the Marquis of Hartington , presided as Chairman of the Boys' Festival , and ( 2 ) the large contribution— £ 7 89 and upwards—it raised for the Girls' Centenary in 1888 , its Returns averaged £ 810 per annum . Two out of the 52 lodges on the roll of

DEVONSHIRE sent Stewards , the total of their lists being £ 131 5 s . In February , Bro . the Rev . Dr . Lemon , acting as Steward for the Lodge of Sincerity , No . 18 9 , Stonehouse , compiled the splendid list of £ 207 is . In 188 9 the same Bro . Lemon raised £ 94 10 s . for this Institution—indeed it was his personal donation—and £ 93 9 s ., out of a total of £ 103 19 s . from the whole Province , for the Boys '

School . In 1888 , Bro . Viscount Ebrington , M . P ., Prov . G . Master , acted as Chairman at the Boys' School , and the Province raised £ 840 , in addition to £ 126 for the Girls' School , and £ 47 5 s . for the R . M . B . I ., the total for the whole year being thus upwards of £ 1013 . On this occasion Bro . Lemon only sent in £ 5 5 s ., while his colleague , Bro . John Lane , of No . 1402 , Torquay , did the chief work b y raising £ 126 .

DURHAM bas 32 lodges on its roll , and generally makes a point of sending a contribution , even when , as at the Benevolent Festival in February , it is not represented by a lodge or Provincial Steward . On Tuesday , Bro . John Sinclair did duty for the whole Province , and raised £ 105 , which , when added to the £ 78 15 s . given

in February last , makes the total thus far for the year £ 18 3 15 s . -In 1889 it raised £ 115 10 s . for the Old People , £ 134 8 s . for this Institution , and £ 105 for the Boys' School , making together £ 354 18 s ., while in 1888 , the year of the Girls' Centenary , the total was £ 751 3 s ., of which the Boys' Institution received £ 262 ios ,, the Girls' Institution £ 375 18 s ., and the Benevolent Institution £ 122 15 s .

ESSEX , which now has on its roll upwards of 30 lodges , has been comparatively quiet since the Girls' Centenary in 1888 . But in February the Stewards , representing nine of its lodges and a chapter , compiled amongst them £ 385 16 s . 6 d ., and on Tuesday the Stewards for four of its lodges and a chapter together raised a sum of £ 284 os . 6 d ., the total for 1890 thus far being £ 66 9 17 s . The principal list on

Tuesday was that of Bro . T . Courtenay T . Warner , of the Warner Lodge ; No . 2256 , Chingford , which amounted to the very handsome total of £ 157 ios . In 188 9 the contribution from this Province was £ 6 4 6 5 s . 6 d ., of which the Boys' School received £ 331 5 s . 6 d ., the R . M . B . I . £ 291 18 s ., and the Girls' School the small remainder . In 1888 the total was £ 1297 3 s . 6 d ., the Girls' School very naturall y securing the lion ' s share , while in the year of the Jubilee it was £ 873 4 s .

GLOUCESTERSHIRE , which has 14 lodges , ivas represented by a brother of Foundation Lodge , No . 82 , Cheltenham , his list being £ 21 . In February it sent up six Stewards , and a total of £ 144 7 s ., of which £ 74 lis . was compiled by Bro . E . Clare Sewell , representing the Cotteswold Lodge , No . 592 , Gloucester . In 1880 it raised the

comparatively small total of £ 199 ios . for the three Charities , but in 1888 the Province distributed £ 621 3 s . 6 d ., of which the Girls'Centenary appropriated to itself £ 520 18 s . In the Jubilee year the contributions from Gloucestershire were on a modest scale , but during the three preceding years it raised £ 2240 9 s ., the average per year being as nearly as possible £ 747 .

HANTS AND THE ISLE OF WIGHT , with some 46 lodges on its roll , has figured less satisfactoril y than in February last , when the total of its subscriptions was slightly in excess of £ 130 . Last year , too , the amount distributed by this Province was only a fraction over £ 367 , the

Old People obtaining £ 16 4 8 s . 6 d ., the Boys' School £ 144 18 s ., and the Girls ' School £ 57 15 s . In 1888 , including the sum of £ 1149 13 s . 6 d . subscribed to the Girls' Centenary , the year ' s total reached £ 1355 is . ; while in 188 7 , when Bro . W . W . B . Beach , M . P ., P . G . M ., presided at the Benevolent Festival , and his Province handsomel y supported him to the extent of £ 1785 9 s . 6 d ., the total for the year