Approaching Festival Of The Benevolent Institution.

APPROACHING FESTIVAL OF THE BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION .

THE Annual Festival of tho Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution will be held at tlie Freemasons' Tavern , London , on Monday next , on which occasion the R . W . Provincial Grand Master for North and East Yorkshire , tho Earl of Zetland , will undertake the duties of Chairman . His Lordship was appointed to the ruling of the Province

ho now governs in 1874 , since which timo Freemasonry in his district , as in most others , has made considerable advances . New Lodges have been consecrated , old ones have prospered , and generally , we think , ho may be congratulated on the position of the Province of which he is the

head . But on one point , and that tho distinguishing characteristic of a Freemason ' s heart , an apathy has existed , to which we have on several occasions referred , and which we consider the more peculiar when we take into consideration the zeal evidenced in Freemasonry by a few

of the Craftsmen of the district . "We have taken upon ourselves , time after time , when reviewing the results of the Charity Festivals , to point out the meagre support rendered to the three Institutions by the brethren of North and East Yorkshire , and although we are aware that in some instances our remarks—intended as honest

criticismhave been considered somewhat offensive , we must ask our friends to forgot it ; if we have erred , it has beon in a good cause . Whether tho majority of the brethren of this

Province imagine that the few energetic ones do as much as the whole should accomplish or not , AVC are unable to say , hut one thing is certain , —that hitherto the Province of North and East Yorkshire has not contributed to either of

the Masonic Institutions anything like tho amount which might reasonably be expected from it . A good opportunit y to remove this stigma now presents itself , and wo trust that the chairman of Monday next will receive such support from his Province as will entitle it to a place on

the roll of honour—so far as support to the Masonic Charities is concerned ; and further , that the presidency of this Festival , the first undertaken by his Lordship on behalf of either of the Charities , will make a change in the benevolent aspect of his Province .

Now , as regards the Festival itself ; the prospect can hardly be termed a promising one ; last year Bro . Terry , the Secretary of the Institution , had the gratification to announce on the night of the Festival that the promised subscriptions reached the splendid total of £ 13 , 875 10 s 6 d ,

with fifteen lists then outstanding . What those lists produced , and the changes that were made in others , mav best be imagined on reference to the total of the donations and subscriptions actually collected last year , as given in our issue of the 3 rd January last , the amount there beinjr set

down at £ 14 , 123 10 s Od . This result was achieved by the united efforts of 288 Stewards , and represents an average , in round figures , of £ 49 from each . The average , however , of tho lists as announced at the Festival reached but a trifle over £ 48 . Up to the

present time the number of brethren who have undertaken the office of Steward for this year ' s Festival is but 224 , as compared with the total of 288 referred to above who assisted in that of 1870 , so that , even

allowing for the recei pt of a few more names before the time of announcing the result of the 1880 Festival arrives , it will be seen that there is a falling off of over twent y per cent , as regards numbers alone , and this at a time when the advocacy of so large a number of brethren can

Approaching Festival Of The Benevolent Institution.

ill bo spared , considering more especially tho present aspect of financial matters . The general depression in business presses heavier as , month after month , it continues , and

this , added to tho fact that great distress exists at the present timo in many manufacturing counties may be expected to cause a considerable diminution in the total that will bo announced . Another item that will

materially affect the total will bo the absence this year of any very large amounts from the Provincial centres . Last year tho Festival was presided over by Lieut .-Colonel Le Gendre N . Starkie , R . W . Prov . G . M . for East Lancashire , which Province numbers on its roll tho Lodges

of Manchester , Bolton , Bury , Salford , and many other large towns , and right nobly was he supported by the brethren of his district . As wo stated at the time , fifty of its Lodges and one Chapter were represented , by seventy-nine Stewards , and the result of their exertions , including a

donation of 100 guineas from the Chairman , 500 guineas from the Provincial Grand Lodge , fifty guineas from the Provincial Grand Chapter , and sixty guineas from the Provincial Grand Mark Lodge , was , that a total of £ 3 , 542 was announced on the night of the Festival as

contributed by East Lancashire . This year it would not be fair to expect so grand a total from the Chairman ' s Province . East Lancashire has a total of eighty-nine Lodges , Avhile North and East Yorkshire has but

twentyseven ; still we think we are not asking too much when we expect that the Earl of Zetland this year shall bring from his Province as largo an amount , in proportion , as did his confrere the Grand Master of East Lancashire from the brethren of that Province last

year . We should thereby have to announce the receipt of something over £ 1 , 000 ; let us hope that amount will be realised , but we are afraid we are doomed to be disappointed . Taking the above standard of £ 48 per Steward as the basis of this year ' s calculations , the

result of tho Festival should show contributions amounting to about £ 10 , 750 , but from what we have seen of some of the London lists , that standard will not be reached , and therefore we fear we shall have to listen to an announcement of but a four figure total . It is impossible for any

one outside the office—ancl we believe it is far from possible for those inside—to form any fair estimate of what the total really will be , as so many brethren keep their lists to themselves until they arrive at the banquet , thus making it very difficult to obtain reliable information on the

subject . We can but hope that a grand success is in store for the Benevolent Institution , and in this we think we are joined by the majority of the Freemasons of this

country . Whatever may be the result , we have no hesitation in saying that Bro . Terry deserves tho thanks of all connected with the Charity for the continued exertions he has made to render tho Festival of 1880 a success from a financial

point of view . Wc have so often dilated on the merits of this Institution that we do not think it necessary to point out here the need there is that it should bo supported , or that its Committee should receive funds sufficient to enable them to

continue the work in the future , as well , if not better than has been done in tho past . Even with the large total of subscriptions , donations , & c , of 1879 , there was ample scope left for further aid being rendered to really deserving cases ;

numerous candidates both for the Male and Female Funds being left unprovided for after the May election . What will be the result if anything like a falling-off of £ 3 , 000 in this year ' s receipts as compared with those of last year takes place , wo leave to the imagination of our readers .