Festival Of The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

FESTIVAL OF THE ROYAL MASONIC BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION .

THIS important event will be held at Freemasons' Hall on Wednesday next , when the chair will be occupied by his Grace the Duke of Manchester , Provincial Grand Master for Northamptonshire and Hunts , and it is obviously our duty to make a few remarks on the first in order

of time of the three leading events of the year . It is not necessary we should devote much space to the comments we are about to offer . The case is simple enough . The Benevolent is an Institution of which English Freemasons are very proud . The services it renders in alleviating the

distresses of indigent brethren and the widows of brethren are of incalculable value , but the permanent income on which it has to rely , including interest on invested moneys and the grants ^ by Grand Lodge and by Grand Chapter , amount , in round figures to £ 2 , 341 . Now , a sum of

£ 10 , 000 , more or less , is absolutely necessary for the payment of annuities , and there is a further amount of over £ 2000 required for the official and contingent expenditure of the Institution . Thus , for considerably more than

threefourths of its total outlay the governing body must look annually to the voluntary subscriptions and donations of Craftsmen , in order that it may be in a position to fulfil all its liabilities . To speak more precisely : if the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution is to continue effectiner the

amount of good it presently does , —and no more , —then a sum but little short of £ 10 , 000 must be raised annually . This , therefore , is the task which the friends and advocates of this right noble charity have before them on Wednesday next , and the question which is exercising the minds of

most of us is very simple : Will there be a failure in the attempt ? Will the attempt be barely successful ; or , will it be successful with , as was the case last year , an ample margin to spare ? If we look back , and take only the last four Festivals , and note that year by year the proceeds of

the Annual Festivals of this Institution have gone on increasing we should incline to believe that as a possible maximum—by which we mean a maximum which , without any extraordinary effort on the part of the Craft , it is

certainly possible to compass—we say , as a possible maximum has not yet been reached , there is no reason why the proceeds of Wednesday ' s Festival should not be in excess of last year ' s . But we must not be too sanguine of a result so favourable . Great as was the success which attended

the efforts of Bro . Terry and his numerous and influential Board of Stewards last year , there is , that we are aware of , no serious reason why the sum of £ 13 , 300 realised last year , should not be exceeded . But there are several minor reasons which induce us to believe it will not be so . We

intend nothing derogatory to the noble Chairman of Wednesday—and , indeed , he will doubtless be the first to acknowledge the justice of our remark—when we say that some part of last year ' s success was attributable to the announcement that Prince Leopold , Prov . G . Master of

Oxon , would preside . That , at the last moment , considerations of health forbade His Royal Highness fulfilling the arrangement made , Ave believe , but little difference in the result . Without for one moment insinuating that tho spirit of fiunkeyism is abroad among us , we cannot doubt

that the fact of a Royal Brother having promised to play the leading part on the occasion induced many of the Craft to follow his illustrious example . Without suggesting that some may have needed such an example in order to shake them into a just sense of their duty , wo think it likely that

Festival Of The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

some few may have been aroused to greater activity by the knowledge that tho Provincial Grand Master of Oxon , albeit one of our youngest members , was far from being the least resolute in fulfilling his obligations . At all events , the Craft showed itself sensible of fhe intended honour of

having the youngest Prince of the Blood Royal as President of this particular Festival , and responded munificently , albeit circumstances prevented him at the last moment from occupying the chair . Any one , under such circumstances , would labour under certain disadvantages when following

immediately in His Royal Highness ' s footsteps . Yet , are there few worthier Masons who could have been invited to preside on Wednesday next . The title of Manchester is au honoured one in the Craft . A century since , and an ancestor of the present Duke was our M . W . G . Master , so that ,

in one sense , his Grace has an hereditary claim to the loyal support of his brethren , and we doubt not it will be forth - coming on this occasion . That he will do his best for the Charity is beyond question , and we trust the result will be equal to that of last year , though it may not surpass it .

Other circumstances there are which may exercise an unfavourable effect . The times are not prospering . To say nothing of the political anxieties of the moment , there is the depressed state of trade which has endured for so considerable a period , and it is very possible that with the

will to give liberally , there is not the same amount of ability . But after making' every allowance for the different circumstances under which the Benevolent Festival of this year will be held , we are not without hope that it will be nearly , if not quite , as productive as in 1877 . At all events

we have no fear that it will fall short of what is required for the necessary expenditure of the year . We imagine it will be sufficient , with a fair , if not a considerable , margin to spare . One matter must be noticed , Bro . Terry has an efficient Board of Stewards , numbering over 200 ; last year

there were 274 . The nnmber is certainly less , but , as was evidenced at the Boys' Festival last June , it sometimes happens that a Board , which is numerically weaker , is as serviceable as one that is stronger . However , a few days

only must elapse , and the result will be known ; and it only now remains for us to add that we trust Bro . Terry and . his zealous coadjutors will find their hopes of a satisfactory result in the fullest degree realised .

Engraving Of The Installation Of H.R.H. The Prince Of Wales.

ENGRAVING OF THE INSTALLATION OF H . R . H . THE PRINCE OF WALES .

THIS interesting representation of one of the most auspicious events in the history of English Freemasonry is at length ready , and copies will be issued to subscribers as fast as time and labour will permit . The artist , Bro . Harty , has had many and grave difficulties to overcome

and many a sharp disappointment has intervened between him and the completion of his task . Still he has persevered resolutely , and has at length the pleasure of submitting his work to the criticism of his Masonic friends

and patrons . That it will meet with general approbation is , in our humble judgment , a matter beyond all questiou . The engraving is a great success , whether we judge of it as a whole , looking in such case to the general effect only ,

or whether we examine its various parts more or Kss minutely . In either ease we shall find lhat Bro . Harty has surpassed all his previous efforts , and has produced an illustration in every respect worthy of the great event it is