Victoria Jubilee Masonic Annuity Fund.

VICTORIA JUBILEE MASONIC ANNUITY FUND .

THE Committee of Management of this , the most recently established charitable organisation in connection with the Masonic Order in Ireland , have issued their seventh annual report , dealing with the year 1896 . It contains very interesting information for the members of the Craft , and , at the same

time , affords unmistakable evidence that the chief object of Freemasons—charity—is always foremost in their transactions , mysterious though some of them be . The patron of the Fund is His Grace the Duke of Abereorn Grand Master , and the President is Lord Justice Fitzgibbon , the senior Vice-President being Lord Clanmorris .

The Committee , at the outset , place oh record their grateful thanks to the President for his munificent gift of £ 100 five per cent . Canadian stock , thereby perpetuating his yearly donation of . £ 5 ¦ ; and to Bro . W . B . Grumbleton , J . P ., Belgrove , Queenstown , who generously contributed a further donation ( through Bro . F . W . Ewart ) of £ 50 to the Fund .

The total subscriptions and donations received during 1896 amounted to £ 942 4 s 6 d , as against £ 565 9 s 4 d received in 1895 . The yearly subscriptions have increased by £ 41 16 s Id , the Life Governorships by £ 196 ; and £ 400 has been placed in the India three per cents . —as compared with £ 275 invested in 1895—after paying all annuities and office expenses , which latter have been

reduced by about fifteen per cent . Such a satisfactory statement as this the Committee thinks speaks for itself . The Committee , however , notice with regret the small number of annual subscribers as compared with those in the Masonic Orphan Girls School and Boys School list , and can only account for it in two ways—viz ., that the Fund is not sufficiently well-known to the

Masonic Order , or that its benefits are not adequately appreciated . Time , they trust , will efficiently deal both with the former and the latter case . ' It is worthy of remark that the Brethren in the south of Ireland contribute more largely to the Fund than those in the north . Why this should be the

Committee are at a loss to account for , as applications for annuities are open to all Masons in Ireland , irrespective of locality , who are over sixty years of age , and have been subscribing members to their Lodge for five years , or the widows of such .

This being the sixtieth year of Her Most Gracious Majesty ' s reign , and the tenth year since the inauguration of this Fund in commemoration of Her' Majesty ' s Jubilee , the Committee earnestly appeal to their Masonic Brethren to aid them in celebrating the same , by showing their sympathy with , this charitable movement in subscribing liberally to this Fund , so

that the Commiteee may have the felicity of announcing at the end of the present year that the cordial benevolence manifested by . the generous Brotherhood has enabled them to attain the object set forth at the first meeting of the founders , in having an invested Fund of £ 5 , 000 . There are sixteen annuitants on the list , each receiving £ 15 per annum . — " Dublin Express . "

The Brethren of Hull propose , amongst other matters , the raising of funds for the benefit of the local Eoyal Infirmary or Victoria Hospital for Sick Children , in commemoration of the Jubilee .

Members of the Masonic body are desirous of making a united effort on behalf of the Portsmouth New Hospital Fund . This worthy and appropriate memorial of Her Majesty ' s sixty

year s reign must have the warm approval of their Grand Master the Prince of Wales , whose movement on behalf of the London Hospitals has elicited a cordial response . — " Portsmouth Times . "

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ROYAL Masonic Institution for Girls . INSTITUTED 1788 . The 109 th ANNIVERSARY FESTIVAL WILL BE HELD ON WEDNESDAY , THE 12 TH MAY 1897 , THE RIGHT HON . LORD LLANGATTOCK Bight Worshipful Prov . G . M . of South Wales Eastern Division in the Ohair . Brethren willing to apt as Stewards on this most important occasion are earnestly solicited to send in their names to the Secretary as early as convenient . Stewards are much needed , and their services will be gratefully received . E . E . W . HEDGES , Secretary . Office—5 Freemasons' Hall , London , W . C ,

Devonshire.

DEVONSHIRE .

TWO new Lodges are to be constituted in the Province this month , the Dart Lodge , No . 2641 , at . the Subscription Eooms , Dartmouth , on Wednesday , the 21 st inst . ; and the Queen Victoria Lodge , No . 2655 , at the Town Hall , East Stonehouse , on Friday , the 23 rd inst . The latter Lodge is to be held at St . Budeaux , near Plymouth . The business each day will

begin shortly before three o ' clock , when special Provincial Grand Lodges will be opened by the Hon . Sir . Stafford Northcote , Bart ., C . B ., M . P ., the esteemed Provincial Grand Master . The banquet on the 21 st will be served at the Ealeigh Hotel , Dartmouth , and . on the 23 rd at the Town Hall , Stonehouse :

but provision will only be made for those who apply beforehand , says the " Western Morning News . " These additions will raise the total in Devon to fifty-six Lodges , eighteen of which are held in the Three Towns of Plymouth , Stonehouse , and Devonport .

The Crouch End Lodge , formed , it will be remembered , about two years ago , and with its headquarters at the Gate House , Highgate , is prospering , says the " Hornsey Journal . " Bro . H . W . Abrahams is the Master ofthe Lodge , which numbers among its members many of the best-known men in Stroud Green and other parts of Hornsey .

The future meetings of the Eoyal Savoy Lodge of Instruction , No . 1744 , will be held on Wednesday instead of Thursday evenings . The Lodge opens at 8 o' clock , at the Prince of Wales , 119 Hampstead Eoad , N . W ., and is under the Preceptorship of Bro . Hillier P . M ., with Bro . J . Adcock as Treasurer and Bro . A . George Secretary .

The seventh annual dinner of the Perseverance Lodge of Instruction , No . 1743 , will be held at Eidler ' s Hotel , Holborn , on Monday next , 12 th inst ., when Lodge will be opened at 6 * 30 p . m ., under the presidency of Bro . G . S . Daunton P . M .

2255 and 1949 , who will also preside at the dinner , to be served at 7 o ' clock . . Bro . Daunton will have the assistance of Bro . E . Poore P . M . P . P . G . D . C . Middx ., and several other well known members of ihe Lodge and their friends . Tickets , 5 s each , may be obtained of Bro . Daunton Secretary of the Lodge of Instruction , 1 Guilford Street , W . C .

The intimation that the Grand Master intends to appoint Bro . S . B . Bancroft to be one of the Senior Grand Deacons at the ensuing Festival is a welcome compliment fco the dramatic profession , many members of which are among the most enthusiastic and capable of the fraternity , says the " World . " It

is true that Brothers Augustus Harris and Edward Terry were both Grand Treasurers , but this was by election of Grand Lodge . The last actor who was appointed to the purple by the head of the Craft was , our contemporary thinks , Bro . Benjamin Webster , who was made a Junior Grand Deacon by the Duke of Sussex .

An " Old Mason " writes to " Society " : —Charity is a Masonic virtue , some say the Masonic virtue , and I believe that it is to a very distinguished Mason and a Past Prime Warden of fche Goldsmiths' Company , Colonel George Lambert , V . D ., that the initiation of the scheme of the Company to celebrate this

year is due . The Goldsmiths' scheme is to grant pensions to the trade , but no Freeman of the Company—for every impecunious Goldsmith , should such a rare bird on earth exist , is otherwise well provided for—is to be eligible for them . Over and above this pension plan , they propose to grant temporary assistance to such

tradesmen of their craft as have fallen on evil days . This is the best part of the scheme—a pension demoralises even a General . Colonel Lambert is one of the best known men in Masonie and Civic circles . I dare not say to how many Lodges and Chapters he belongs , or of how many City Guilds he is a member . No

subscription list seems complete without his name , and he does , indeed , follow the Gospel precept , and let his light so shine before men that they may glorify his good works . He is one of the last of the old race of tradesmen who were not ashamed of the shop , and at "Lambert ' s , " the famous silversmith ' s at the

top of the Haymarket , he may still be seen , as he has been for nearly a half a century now , dressed in the regulation " swallowtail " of the holders of the Eoyal Warrant . Masons discuss the

probability of his becoming Sir George Lambert . There is a sort of precedent for his knighting , for was nofc John Bennett , the famous watchmaker , knighted at the very time when he kept the well know shop in Cheapside ?