Annual Festival Of The Mark Benevolent Fund.

£ s . d . Bro . La " rence S , t ? e , e lS lS ° Wyndham Hart 15 15 o " H . Carman 5 5 ° " F . Mead 10 10 o " I ennox Browne , F . R . C . S . 10 10 o

THE PROVINCES . BERKS AND OXON . Province— . .. , . „ Bro . John lomkins iG 1 3 0 L r- Bro . P- Colville Smith ... 1616 o 5 2 W . Ravenscroft ... 20 o o -47 " H- G- W- Drmkwater 12 3 C

BRISTOL . Province and , S Bro . C . W . Cope-Proctor ... 57 4 6 CHESHIRE . Rev . C . W . Spencer-Stanhope 5 5 °

CORNWALL . Province—Bro . C . Truscott 21 o o T odsffi 87 Bro . N . J . West 550

EAST ANGLIA . F . A . Philbrick , O . C . 10 10 o I ) H . P . Hay ... " ... 5 5 0 Province _ .. ,

Bro . Rev . C . J . Martyn ... 17 6 6 Lodge 11 " Bro . R . L . Ihornton ... 19 0 o , . r „ R . D . Poppleton ... 15 15 o 334 » C . A . Vinter 15 15 °

GLOUCESTERSHIRE AND HERE

FORDSHIRE . Province . Bro . Baron de Ferneres ... 5 5 ° Lodge . I 0 . R . V . Vassar-Smith ... 5 5 °

, 10 „ Rev . Dr . Kynaston ... 10 10 o 21 S „ John Nasmyth ... V 21 S „ Edwin Lea f 9 ' 7 ° 2 iS „ C . Newman )

HANTS AND ISLE OF WIGHT . Bro . Major E . Ball ... 11 o o „ A . Savill 5 5 0 „ Capt . S . G . Kirchhoffer 5 5 ° „ H . Stone 5 5 ° Province

Bro . R . Loveland Loveland 14 14 o Lodge 3 „ Gordon Miller ... 550 359 „ J . G . Harwood ... 717 o 3 S , j » O . C . H . Curtis ... { , 3 ° *

HERTFORDSHIRE . Province Bro . F . Levick 5 5 0 „ C . E . Keyser 5 5 0 Lodge 241 Bro . F . S . Knyvett 26 5 0

354 „ A . Stewart-Brown ... 550 354 ,, Rev . A . W . Oxford ... 5 5 ° 354 jj A . R . Carter 5 5 0 354 » Capt . C . Probyn ... 5 5 0 3 &> „ ] . Chalmers-Hunt ... 550 36 7 „ " I . Brittain 5 5 0

KENT . Province Bro . Rev . T . Robinson ... 10 10 o „ Horatio Ward ( see R . & S . M . )

Lodge 129 Bro . Rev . F . C . D'Auguier 16 16 o —6 „ T . Ovenden ... ... 31 19 o -55 „ F . M . Wright 21 o o 3 So „ F . Francis 10 10 o

Mo „ W . Denne S S 0 3 ' jo „ R . J . Emmerson ... 16 5 0

LANCASHIRE . Bro . R . W . Bourne ... 550 j , R . Foote 10 10 0 „ W . Piatt . . s ) W . H . Robinson ' rovince

. Bro . E . Y . Harwood ... 15 15 0 Lod ge «•John ' s Bro . ] . Kenyon ... 15 15 0 f -John ' s „ ) . F . Skelton ... 550 Lebanon „ W . J . Thomson 15 15 0 02 Bro . W . Jaffrey 10 10 0 34 „ A . H . Jefferis 5 5 0 [¦ f > » Capt . C . H . Garnett ... 10 o o ^ » 1 . D . Murray 210 o 0 « J ,, W . Goodacre 21 o o ^ „ j . de B . Adams ... 10 10 o ^ .. W . C . Erwin 2100 3 'J 3 „ Eli Brooks ... —

Annual Festival Of The Mark Benevolent Fund.

LEICESTERSHIRE , NORTHANTS , DERBYSHIRE , AND RUTLAND . Bro . George Fletcher ... 5 5 o „ J . H . Thompson ... 550 Province Bro . A . Woodiwiss ... 33 12 o Lodge 303 Bro . C . Webster 19 7 6 353 » Percy Wallis 5 5 °

LINCOLNSHIRE . D •) Bro . J ack Sutcliffe ... Province ,- Bro . H . ,, . Cousans 2 S 0

MIDDLESEX AND SURREY . Province Bro . G . j . Dunkley ... 22 1 o Lodge 3 Bro . J . Clark 20 " 5 0 5 „ C . Y . Holdgate ... 611 o 5 „ E . M . Lott , Mus . Doc . — 7 ,, Rev . H . R . Cooper-Smith iS 1 6

13 „ Dr . H . Macintosh ... 10 10 o 104 „ W . H . Bale 22 u 6 114 „ Seva Ram 5 5 0 114 Mrs . Seva Ram 5 5 ° 144 Bro . H . H . Wells 13 13 0 181 „ C . H . Kohler 12 12 0 211 „ J . N . Frye 5 5 0

236 „ J . W . Hobbs 21 15 o 23 S . „ N . Provver 5 5 0 239 „ A . J . H . Goldney ... 25 4 o 251 „ S . j . Attenborough ... 16 16 o 284 „ Rev . C . H . Roberts , M . A . 315 » J- Larkin 315 » J- H . Lane ... ... 5 5 0

315 >; . !• Barnett , jun . ... 5 5 0 331 „ W . Lloyd Wise ... 42 10 6 331 „ H . Faija 5 5 0 331 „ Dr . W . H . Kempster 10 10 0 333 » J-T . Norman Calloway 21 14 o 350 „ G . Graveley 5 5 0 355 » G . Gregory 5 5 0

355 > , C . J . Knightley ... 5 5 0 357 „ George Gardner ... — 361 ,, L . G . Gordon Robbins 22 1 0 385 ,, Robert Roy 10 10 o 3 S 5 „ R . A . Gowan 10 10 o

399 „ the Earl of Euston ( see Gen . Board ) 399 „ Sir Lionel Darell , Bart . 26 15 6 399 „ Major A . B . Cook ... 10 10 o 400 „ Belgrave Ninnis ... 7 12 o

MEDITERRANEAN . Province Bro . Col . Marmaduke Ramsay 17 17 o MONMOUTHSHIRE . Province Bro . S . Davies 30 o 0

NORTHUMBERLAND AND DURHAM . Province Bro . C . S . Lane 5 5 0 NOTTINGHAMSHIRE . Lodge Newstead Bro . E . M . Kidd ... 19 19 o

SOMERSETSHIRE . Province and Lodge 177 Bro . Surgeon-Gen . T . Rinsrer 11 11 o SUSSEX . Province Bro . J . C . Buckwelf WARWICKSHIRE . Province Bro . Marquis of Hertford ( see London ) Lodge 115 Bro . T . R . Arter

WEST YORKSHIRE . Province . Bro . C . L . Mason 5 5 o Lodge i 3 Bro . F . Cleeves 20 g 6

5 S „ H . S . Holdsworth ... 7 , . 5 S „ R . Hodson S ° 12 7 „ C . W . Fincken 353 „ Cant . A . Tupman ... 7 7 0 398 „ H . T . Bellerby ... 10 10 o

WILTSHIRE . Lodge 401 Comp . Lieut .-Col . Tombs 550 401 „ Harry River 5 5 0 401 „ Maclean 5 5 0

WORCESTERSHIRE . Province Bro . A . F . Godson , M . P .... 550 „ W . B . Williamson ... 550 R . AND S . MASTERS . Council 2 Bro . Lieut . C . Heard ... 10 10 o 14 „ Horatio Ward ... 5 5 o

ALLIED MASONIC DEGREES . BIO . C . H . Driver ( see Gen . Bd . ) 550 ORDER OF THE SECRET MONITOR . „ Dr . I . Zacharie ... 550

Annual Festival Of The Mark Benevolent Fund.

SUMMARY OK THE PROVINCES .

Annual Festival Of The Mark Benevolent Fund.

HSr - " £ . 9 « Cheshire '" 57 4 & R ° nwan . ; : Jin kft Angiia : ;; ;;; - ££ % HaS ^ i ^™ Herefordshire 3017 o tfcS & te ot Wight ... 7 W

-ctordshire ... ° ;;; g- - te i ::: ::: ::: $ . 0 I ^ Snd Surrey : ... £\I

Annual Festival Of The Mark Benevolent Fund.

£ s . d . Mediterranean 17 17 0 Monmouthshire 30 o 0 Northumberland and Durham ... 550 Nottinghamshire 19 19 o Somersetshire ... ... ... 11 11 o

Sussex Warwickshire West Yorkshire 6 9 16 < j Wiltshire 15 15 o Worcestershire 1010 o

Royal and Select Masters ... 15 15 0 Allied Masonic Degrees ... 5 5 o Order of the Secret Monitor ... 5 5 0

Annual Festival Of The Mark Benevolent Fund.

LONDON — 37 STEWARDS £ 491 19 o PROVINCES —122 STEWARDS £ 1594 19 6 GRAND TOTAL £ 2086 iS 6

Annual Festival Of The Mark Benevolent Fund.

Baron DE FERRIERES said the boast of Masonry was that it was established for the promotion of brotherly love and Charity . Its critics and opponents could not gainsay the fact that Masons contributed , £ 40 , 000 and upwards to their Charities every year . They met not merely to eat and drink . They were scattered not over this country , but over the world ; but as far as this country was concerned , they had no means of shaking hands and meeting each other except on these occasions . These

meetings were a great means of promoting Charity , and they were proud to be favoured with the presence of ladies . They had heard the record that evening . For a small body like Mark Masons , the sum of . £ 2000 , which seemed to be their average subscription , was a very large sum , one of which they might well be proud . But , while congratulating themselves on so large a sum as that , they must not forget the machinery by which they got it—the Board of Stewards—it was owing to their

efforts . To the head of their Board their thanks were due for raising the necessary funds . He would not dilate upon this . The brethren were well known . The Chairman , Lord Euston , was a brother well known to them . There was also Bro . Murray , whom he should also couple with this toast . Bro . Murray had brought up the largest sum that evening ever brought up by one Steward . Lancashire and Yorkshire were somewhat the dampers of the provinces , for the other provinces all

felt they could not come up to them , and they-must be congratulated , and great credit must be given to Lancashire and Yorkshire , and especially to Bro . Murray . Lord EUSTON , in responding , said : On behalf of the Board of Stewards , I thank you , Baron de Ferrieres , and you , ladies and brethren , for the compliment you have paid us . Let me assure you that we have only done our best to make this an agreeable evening , both from a gastronomic and from a musical point of view . ( Cheers . ) If we have succeeded in presenting a pleasant entertainment , it

is encouraging to think that we have also been the means of providing funds for those who really want help , and who belong to our Order . Many people may say we are charitable only to our own Order , but is that ri g ht or is it wrong ? Is it best to help those who have helped you , or to help people who have done nothing for you ? I am sure the Stewards of to-night will onl y be too glad to serve in the same capacity again , and I only hope that in a few years we shall be able to beat not only our Ri g ht Worshipful Chairman ' s record this evening , but the hi ghest record in connection with these festivals .

Bro . MURRAY ( Rose and Thistle Lodge , Wigan ) , who was called upon by the company , expressed regret that so few brethren were present from Lancashire , but hoped that the contribution the county had sent would be taken as a proof of their desire to add to the usefulness of the Order . Major A . BOTT COOK proposed "The Ladies , " a toast which he had been trying to think why it should be postponed to such a late period of the evening

Two reasons had suggested themselves to him ; and perhaps it was for the same mysterious reason that in all royal processions and all things of that sort the most important persons came last , and that when a child was eating its dinner it generally put two or three tit bits by the side of its plate to eat last . One thing that had suggested itself to him was that this Mark Degree might be sincerely congratulated on the fact that the ladies were asked to sit down and partake of

the banquet with the brethren , instead of , as on many similar occasions , being banished to an ill ventilated-gallery , where they could with hungry eyes look on their relations and friends filling themselves down below , while they themselves were regaled with a sandwich , and perhaps a glass of non-intoxicating negus , expecting to return to the gallery , and there not only to listen to , but to applaud , the

afterdinner efforts of the well-fed orators who were sitting down in the hall . It was an innovation in the Mark Degree for the ladies to join the brethren at the banquet , and those who had the management of the Degree might be sincerely congratu : lated on what they had done . He thought the ladies would endorse what he said on this subject , and he begged to thank them for their presence that evening . ( Cheers . )

Bro . F . S . KNYVETT replied . It was an honour and a pleasure at all times to do so . There were few occasions which could come up to the present , for they all felt that the enjoyable evening they had spent had been due to the presence of the ladies . It was not on this account chiefly that they delighted in the presence of the ladies ; they all knew that the ladies were foremost in all kind deeds , and were

always ready to urge the brethren to do that which was right , especially in regard to Charity . It was on this account that the ladies' presence that evening was most pleasant to all the brethren , and he thought it had been a pleasure to them to be there and partake in the good work to which the brethren had put their hands . ( Applause . )

Bro . the Earl of EUSTON proposed The Visitors , " a toast which was always proposed and drunk with all hearty good feeling , because they knew that , as Masons , wherever they went throughout the world—whether in America , where they spoke the same language , or in India , where there was a mixture of languages , or in China , or Japan , or Australiawhich had taken such a prominent part in Freemasonry—any brother who

presented himself with his credentials to lodges was made most heartily welcome . Therefore , it gave him great pleasure to propose the toast of " The Visitors " that evening . How many there were he had not been informed , but there were several , and , on behalf of Grand Lodge , he bade them a hearty , fraternal , and most cordial welcome . There were lodges , he believed , in every portion of the globe that some of them never dreamt of , and in all the Colonies where we had supreme control or

part control Freemasonry existed . It only showed that through the British race the great feeling of fraternity ran throughout it , and that great feeling was embodied in the one word—a " Mason . " He asked for every visitor , on behalf of Grand Lodge , a most hearty welcome , and he asked the brethren to drink the toast with all cordiality , good feeling , and brotherly love , giving the visitors a hearty welcome

and wishing them all prosperity in their own clime , wherever that mi ght be . Might they come often , might they come in numbers , and might they always receive a hearty welcome . It was given from the bottom of the heart , and with a grip of the hand . The brethren were glad to see them . He coupled with the toast the name of Bro . Leon , P . M ., G . Sec . Jamaica .

Bro . LEON thanked the brethren very much , on behalf of the province he had the honour to represent , for the distinguished honour conferred upon him b y his name being associated with the toast of '' The Visitors . " He represented a very humble province under Mark Masonry , but he could assure the brethren that they bowed to none in loyalty to the Grand Master and Grand Mark Lodge . They had striven to do their duty in Mark Masonry , and he hoped at the next Grand Festival of Jamaica would flourish , and be as conspicuous in their position there then as they

were here that evening . The Province of Jamaica would always endeavour to do its duty towards Mark Masonry and the Mark Benevolent Fund , and he should convey to the brethren of that district and province intelligence of the reception which its humble representative had had that evening . He again thanked the ladies and brethren , on behalf of the visitors , for the honour that had been conferred upon him , and more especially for the honour conferred upon his province of Jamaica by naming him to return thanks for this toast . The proceedings then terminated .

During the evening a beautiful selection of vocal and instrumental music was performed under the direction of Bro . Edwin Lott , Mus . Doc , Past Grand Oro \ , assisted by Madame Agnes Larkcom , Miss Minnie Freeman , Miss Minnie Kirton , Bro . Reginald Groome , and Bro . Stanley Smith ; solo violin—Miss Kate Chaplin ; at the pianoforte—Miss Nellie Chaplin and Dr . Lott .

Result Of The Festival.

RESULT OF THE FESTIVAL .

The opinion we expressed last year that the Festival of the Mark Benevolent Fund had firml y established itself in popular favour is confirmed b y the result of Wednesday ' s gathering . We then pointed out that the popularity of an anni-