Contents.

CONTENTS .

LEADERS— . , . . Approaching Festival of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution ... 47 East Lancashire Educational and Benevolent Institution ... ... j ? Supreme Grand Chapter of England ( Agenda Paper ) ... ... . ( S A Great Meetine of Experts _ ... ... ... ... ... 4 S Reception and Dance of the White Rose of York Lodge , No . 2491 ... ... 49 Ladies'Banquet and Dance at the Eccleston Lodge , No . 1 C 24 ... « - ... 49

Chapter of Instruction ... ... ... ... ... ... 49 Craft Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... 5 '' M ASONIC NOTES" A Fair Subject for Inquiry" ... ... .,. ... ... 53 Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution ... ... ... ... 53 North London , or 1 'niversity College , Hospital ... ... ... 53 Accident to Bro . Lord Brassey ... ... .,. ... ... 53 Memorial Service to Bro . Maj .- (' . en . Yeatman-Biggs ... ... ... 53

Correspondence ... ... .,. ... ... ... 53 Reviews ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 54 Craft Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... 55 Royal Arch ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 55 Mark Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... 55 Lodges of Instruction ... ... .,. ... ... ... 5 ( 1 Obituary ... ... .,. ... ... ... ... 5 6 Masonic and General Tidings ... ... ... ... ... 57

Approaching Festival Of The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

APPROACHING FESTIVAL OF THE ROYAL MASONIC BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION .

We are glad to know that the appeal we addressed lo our readers some four weeks since in behalf of the approaching Festival of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution has not heen whollv unsuccessful , and that since then the number of

brethren who have volunteered their services as Stewards for the occasion has been appreciably , if not very largely , augmented . Fnforttmately , the Hoard , as compared with that which did such splendid service for last year ' s Festival , is wofully delicient in

strength , and we imagine that Bro . TlORUY , the respected Secretary of the Institution , will consider himself exceptionallv lorUinale if , between now and the dav appointed for the celebration , he succeeds in raisintr his array of Stewards to much more

than one-half the number of those who did dulv in February last . 1 his falling off is to be accounted for to a certain extent . In the first place , the Hoys' School Centenary is verv naturally and \ ery properly attracting to itself the lion ' s share of the support

which will be forthcoming in aid of our Institutions generally during the present year . Then his Royal 1 Ugliness the Duke "I C OWAUC . IIT was most cordially backed up bv his Province of s'issex , which has a muster roll of 32 lodges , while Bro . the

I ' - 'ul of J ERSEY ' Province of Oxfordshire numbers only 12 '" d ges , and we are in no wise delnieting from Hi ; , ' acknotvJedged loyalty and devotion of Oxfordshire both to its distinguished

l'iie | and the Institutions of which ourKnglish Craft is so justly proud when we point out that it would be unreasonable to 1 ' * J > ect as high a total of Returns from so small a province as was '" ithcoming last vear from one which is nearly three

lilies as strong . . Moreover , the experience of iSNN , when ll "' Oirls' School celebrated its Centenary , and of , S f J-, when this Institution celebrated i's Jubilee has l "' 'l » ared us for tbe paucitv of Stewards lor the Old People ' s

Anniversary with which we are confronted . 'The I Joys' School is ¦'' 'tmg wisel y in its endeavours to make : the most of its opport-nnity tfiis year , as the other Institutions with e <| ua ! wisdom '"¦ ¦ 'de the best of theirs in 1 SSS and 1 N 92 respectively . The

l" » int we are desirous of impressing upon our readers is that 'wiigh one of our three Institutions may celebrate its 100 th or ¦ V > th anniversary in this or that year , the necessities of the other Uv " remain , substantially , the " same . ' Whatever may be the

. ''nt o | the good fortune that awaits our Institution for Hoys 1 June next—and we are naturally anxious that it shall prove as •^ ' ' ^ as its most ardent supporters can desire—we mast bear 1 , 1 m "ul that there still remain the 270 children in the Girls '

Approaching Festival Of The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

School to be maintained , clothed , and educated , and still the 470 annuitants on the establishment of the Benevolent Institution who will look to receive their annuities as usual . Confining our attention for the present to the latter

Charity , we point out , as we have pointed out in all previous articles on the subject , that there arc 200 brethren who , at £ 40 per annum each , will absorb £ 8000 ; 242 annuitants on the Widows' Fund , who , at £ , per annum each , will require

£ 7744 ; and a fluctuating number of , but let us say , 25 widows , who , at . £ 20 per annum each , will need , £ 500 ; the total required for disbursement in annuities being £ 16 , 242 . To this must be added the expenses of management and maintaining the Asylum

at Croydon , or about £ 3000 in all . Thus the amount required to cover the year ' s expenditure is rather more than £ 19 , , while the permanent income to meet the outlay , inclusive of the £ 1750 granted by Grand Lodge and Grand Chapter , does not

greatly exceed £ 5000 . There is , therefore , a deficiency of about £ 14 , , or it may be somewhat less , which must be forthcoming to enable the Institution to meet its obligations without trenching upon its invested capital , and , of necessity , it is to the annual

Festival that the Committee of Management look to obtain this large supply . Hut this is hardly possible if , as we have good grounds for anticipating , the Board of Stewards is only about half the strength ol last year ' s Board , which numbered 432 ladies

and brethren , and had tin ; satisfaction of raising £ 19 , 000 and upwards . All this—or something very similar to this—we have said times out of number in previous articles ; but we have no option

in treating of the claims of our Institutions but to go on repeating ourselves . Our duty is to keep on pegging away . It is not permitted to us , any more than if is to the Secretaries of our Charities , to relax in our appeals for the ways and means

necessary to maintain them in a state of efficiency . We , therefore , again address ourselves to our readers in the earnest hope that , in the course of the three weeks that still remain to us between now and the 22 nd February , such an addition may be made to the number of ladies and brethren which Bro . TERRY

has succeeded in enrolling as Stewards as will relieve the Committee of Management of all anxiety on the subject of the ways and means required for the current year ' s expenditure ..

East Lancashire Educational And Benevolent Institution.

EAST LANCASHIRE EDUCATIONAL AND BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION .

At the annual general meeting of the Governors and Subscribers of this Institution , which will be held at the Freemasons ' Hall , Manchester , this ( Friday ) afternoon , the Finance and Audit Committee will have the pleasure of submitting a report for the

past year which is in every way satisfactory . 1 he receipts in the shape of Donations and Subscriptions from Provincial and Private Hodges , Chapters , Preceptories , and individual brethren show an excess of between £ 70 and £ 80 over those of last year .

There has been more by upwards of £ 50 expended in carrying out the objects for which the Institution was established ; and the balance in hand on 31 st December last exceeds that at close of the previous account by considerably more than £ 900 .

These are the leading facts recorded in the Committee ' s report , which concludes with a sympathetic allusion to the loss sustained by the Institution through the death of our lamented Bro . JAMES llll . i , SlLl . lTOK , Chairman of the General Committee , " who had been actively associated with the Institution since its commence-