The Boys School Festival.

presented as a personal donation to mark his gratitude at the recent escape of the Grand Master the Prince of Wales from the attack of an assassin . Next came Bro . H . K . Newton—the worthy son ot a worthy father—present Worshipful Master of the Alfred Newton Lodge , No . 2686 , whose total was , £ 305 5 s ; Bro . W . O . Smith I . P . M . of the Telegraph Cable Lodge , No . 2470 , with £ 225 15 s ; and then

the newly consecrated Mizpah Chapter , at the hands of its M . E . Z . Comp . Cole , with every one of its Founders acting as a Steward , the total contribution being , £ 215 5 s . Bro . McLeod went on enumerating the other London lists of ; £ ioo and upwards , and announced the result from London as , £ 8 , 423 is 6 d . He then read out the totals from the different Provinces , which aggregated

. £ 8 , 099 13 s 6 d , and these sums , with . £ 191 17 s Sd from the Stewards representing Lodges at Foreign Stations made a grand total of ^ 16 , 714 12 s 8 d , a sum which was increased to ^ 16 , 750 before-the Brethren left the Hall . The announcement was received with the heartiest approval , and we cordially add our congratulations to the many showered upon the managers of the Institution on the splendid result of the vear ' s Festival .

Bro . Sir W . T . Marriott , Q . C ., P . G . D . Deputy Prov . G . M . of Sussex proposed the health of the Chairman . It was his privilege , he said , to propose a toast which he knew would be warmly receivedthe Chairman of that great Festival . As Deputy Provincial Grand Master under the Duke of Connaught he desired to say how sorry His Royal Highness was that he was not able to preside there that

evening . He was with the Duke last October when the Secretary of the Institution Bro . McLeod asked him to preside , and he knew how heartily he entered into the project ; but they had no idea then of what was before the nation . They were then practically at peace , and they believed there was little more than a walk over before them in the Transvaal republic , but since then many things had happened

and the Duke of Connaught had been selected to take the place of their eminent Brother Lord Roberts , who had gone forth to South Africa to maintain the prestige of the British Empire . He felt sure all present would agree that the Duke of Connaught could not have been more ably represented than by their Pro Grand Master the Earl Amherst . They had heard that in 1 S 83 a record was created

by the collection of , £ 23 , 000 at the Festival on behalf of that Insti- . tution , but Earl Amherst had not told them that it was he himself who presided on that occasion , and that to him was due much of the success they then achieved . The Craft had nobly come forward to support those who had gone to the front to fight the battles of the empire , and the relatives of those who had fallen , yet he was pleased

to say the Brethren had been able to give freely to the Boys Institution , and had subscribed a total their Chairman that day must feel very proud of , as they all were , and he . had very much pleasure in congratulating Earl Amherst on the result of his presidency , and asking the Brethren to show their appreciation of services so ably rendered , by a hearty reception of the toast .

Earl Amherst was heartily toasted by the few Brethren who remained in the Hall—the majority having left , to listen to a Concert being given in the Temple of Grand Lodge—and briefly tendo . re . i his acknowledgments . He considered he had had great good fortune in being called upon to preside on the occasion , which had resulted so successfully , and said it had been his effort , ever since the Grand Master had given him a collar , to promote the welfare of the-Craft and the prosperity of its charitable institutions .

Bro . the Rev . H . R . Cooper Smith , D . D ., P . G . Chaplain proposed what he designated as a most important toast—that of the other Masonic Institutions , the jewels of the Masonic crown . Bro . James Terry replied , first expressing regret at the absence of his colleague , Bro . Hedges , the Secretary of the Girls School , a regret which would be generally shared when it was known that illness

was the cause of Bro . Hedges s absence on that occasion . Bro . Terry said that in February last he was enabled to announce the highest ' total but one ever collected on behalf of the Aged Masons Institution ; that was followed by an announcement of , £ 22 , 000 odd for the Girls School , and that night they had heard that £ 16 , 750 had . been

contributed on behalf of the Boys School . Long might those streams of Masonic Charity continue to flow on behalf of the three Institutions was his earnest desire , and he trusted that whenever the claims of either came before the Craft the Brethren might find sufficient in their coffers to meet the calls made upon them .

Bro . Harry Manfield Grand Treasurer , proposed the toast of the Visitors , according them a truly Masonic welcome , and coupling the name of Bro . C . C . McMillan District •Grand Master of Auckland , New Zealand .

Bro . Mc Millan tendered his thanks . They had heard from the proposer of the toast as to the unity of the empire , and in that connection he might say that they of New Zealand were the first to volunteer for service in South Africa in the emergency that had arisen there . Allusion had been made to the death of Bro . Richard Eve , arid he desired to add his . tribute to that Brother ' s worth . Brother

, Eve worked nobly for the Brethren of . the colonies , and regret at his death would be felt in the far off parts where they regarded him somewhat as their champion with the home authorities . Benevolence was the keystone of Freemasonry throughout the world , and he was very pleased indeed to have been j ) resent at the notable assembly of that day . He felt there was a great future before the Boys Institution ,

and hoped that some day they in the colonies would . be able to send home their children to be educated at the Masonic Schools , thereputation of which had reached the farthest quarters of the globe , Bro . E . Letchworth Grand Secretary proposed the toast of the Stewards of the day , those to whom they were indebted not onl y for the lendid financial resultbut also for

sp , . the entertainment that night ; and Bro . T . A . Bullock P .. G . S . B . Acting Vice President of the Board of Stewards responded . Bro . R . Clowes P . G . Std . B . proposed the last toast on the list , that of the Ladies . He regretted the Festival had not been held at Brighton , as had been the custom in the "ast , because he believed

The Boys School Festival.

the ladies at least would have enjoyed themselves so much more there . He could only wish them better air in the future than it had been possible to give them in that Hall , convenient as it was in many respects , and at the same time thanked them for their kindly sympathy and attendance . . , ... 111 Bro . James Stephens P . G . D . D . C . responded , and this concluded the proceedings , at the comfortable hour of 9 . 30 p . m . the lewhere

Earl Amherst subsequently took the chair m Temp , an excellent concert was given under the direction of Bro . William Short Vice President of the Institution , the Artistes including Miss Annie Bartle , Miss Lizzie Davies , Miss Emily Foxcroft , Miss Gertrude Lonsdale , the Westminster Glee Singers ( Bros . Walter Coward , Harper Kearton , Bertram Mills , and W . H . Brereton ) , Bro W . G . Churcher , Mr . John Saunders , Bro . Fred James , and Bro . William Short , with Madame Steiner at the piano .

The following is the summary of subscriptions announced by the Secretary at the Festival , we having re-arranged the different Provinces according to amounts sent up : Province Stewards £ s d Foreign Stations 9 ' 91 J 7 s London 234 8423 1 6

Sussex 5 ° ! 3 " 5 ° ° Yorkshire 'West Riding ) 25 500 o . o Surrey 14 4 § 4 2 o Essex * 5 47 ° 8 D Kent 16 442 1 o Hertfordshire 10 427 2 o

Lancashire ( E . D . ) 7 399 4 6 Cornwall 2 357 o o Hampshire and Isle of Wig ht 11 342 9 o Derbyshire S 33 5 ° Shropshire 5 288 15 o Berkshire 5 224 15 6

Middlesex 4 211 1 o Norths and Hunts 6 194 7 6 Cumberland and Westmorland 3 187 2 6 Suffolk 4 18 3 9 6 Oxfordshire 7 160 17 6 Lancashire ( W . D . ) 8 152 5 o

North Wales 6 146 13 6 Devonshire 4 13 6 10 o Gloucestershire 3 115 10 o Buckinghamshire 8 111 6 o Somersetshire 2 107 . 2 o Durham Collected list 105 o o

Staffordshire 4 73 IO ° Warwickshire 4 73 IO ° Nottinghamshire . 2 71 6 o Cheshire 4 68 5 o Cambridgeshire 3 6 3 o o . Bedfordshire 1 . 52 10 o Norfolk Collected list 52 10 o

Lincolnshire 1 42 o o Worcestershire Collected list 42 o o Dorsetshire 1 32 o 6 Guernsey and Alderney 2 31 10 o Herefordshire Collected list 15 15 o Monmouthshire 1 10 10 o Wiltshire 1 10 10 o

The total amount subscribed has since been increased to £ 16 , 8 34 14 s 2 d , and the number of Stewards altered , as follows :

London 233 Stewards £ 8 , 506 o 6 Provinces 239 ,, 8 , 136 16 o Foreign Stations 9 ,, 191 17 8 The contribution from Surrey has been increased to £ 494 12 s , from Norths and Hunts to £ 200 , and from Staffordshire to £ 105 . The number of Stewards from Sussex was 4 8 .

Inquiries are often made by Brethren who desire to change the meeting place of their Lodges of Instruction , & c , as to available quarters , and we are therefore pleased to be in the position' to highly recommend the Cannon Street Restaurant ( opposite Cannon Street Station ) for such

purposes . The rooms are airy and well suited for either Regular or Instruction Lodge meetings , Audits , & c , & c . The Manager is Bro . Will Stead , late of the Kilburn Arms

Hotel , where he was well known and respected by . many members of the Craft , and we cordially recommend any who are in search of a meeting place to communicate with him for fuller particulars .

* * * Our Brotherhood was strong when the smoke of sacrifice arose to the heathen gods among a people now vanished ; it bound its members in bonds ot silence and friendship when

war and bloodshed was the business of the world—when decayed ruins of to-day were populous cities of the past—when kingdoms and empires were flourishing that now are no more . —? Vv lllis G , Emerson , Colorado ,