The Girls School Festival.

THE GIRLS SCHOOL FESTIVAL .

THE second Anniversary Festival of the year has become an event of the past , and another success has to be recorded in connection with the great Charitable Institutions of English

Freemasonry , no less a sum than £ 15 , 412 13 s being announced at the table as the total of subscriptions collected by a board of 404 : Stewards on behalf of the oldest of the three Charities of the Craft .

This amount , although some £ 600 short of the announcement of last year , is , we venture to think , far in excess of what was generally anticipated would be the result of the current year ' s celebration , and it is gratifying to know that virtually the whole

of the country has contributed to the success , so that we have evidence before us that the popularity of the Girls School is not waning in any part of the kingdom , while the continuance of such

handsome totals as have been reached in recent years goes far to prove that the Craft is as desirous as ever to maintain its reputation for Benevolence .

Unquestionably the place of honour among the supporters of the Fund is this year secured by the Province of Lincolnshire , which , as its chief , who ably discharged the duties of Chairman , remarked , is particularly affected by tbe prevailing

agricultural depression , and has , moreover , only 1 , 130 subscribing members on its roll ; yet the total sent up from its Lodges was £ 1 , 500 , or an average of upwards of 26 s per head ,

a sum that fully justified the hearty thanks accorded by the Chairman to the strong band of Stewards and other workers from his Province .

"We append a summary showing the number of Stewards and the amount announced from the different Provinces , & c , the total of the day being declared by Bro . Hedges , the well known Secretary of the Institution , as given above , and that

sum has since been increased by different Stewards making additions to their lists , and will probably close somewhat in excess of £ 16 , 000—indeed a splendid total , and one that must

secure the approval of all who were instrumental in its acquisition , or who take an interest in the Institution for whose benefit it was subscribed .

We regret we are unable to refer at length to the many large lists brought up by different Brethren , and which , from their importance , are deserving of special notice , but the space we have devoted to the Festival is fully occupied , and we

must refer our readers to the list of Stewards and their lists for evidence of the zeal displayed by many of the Brethren on this occasion . We must , however , mention one or two instances of special energy .

Different members of the House Committee brought up an aggregate of £ 605 , this sum including the list of . Sir John Monckton , which was announced as £ 305 6 s , but has since been increased to £ 315 , and is the premier list of the

metropolis . Sir John was followed by Col . A . B . Cook , who brought up £ 273 ; and then by Bro . J . C . Johnson , who made a personal donation of £ 220 10 s , qualifying himself as a Patron of the Institution . There were several other three figure

The Girls School Festival.

lists , among which we may mention those of Mrs . Penley , Steward for the Asaph Lodge , and which included that lady ' s personal donation of £ 105 ; and the son of our talented Brother , Master W . A . S . Penley , whose personal donation was also a hundred guineas , so that Our Girls have very good reason to bless the continued success of ' Charley ' s Aunt , "

which , we are pleased to see , is " still running , " and , ifc may be , will prove the means of yet further relieving the distressed in our midst , in accordance with the kindheartedness of the

" dear old lady from the land where the nuts grow . " Province Stewards . Amount . Lincolnshire ... ... ... 44 1500 0 0 Essex 10 948 19 0 West Yorkshire ... ... 24 600 0 0 East Lancashire ... ... 9 351 15 0

Warwickshire ... ... 20 339 0 0 Surrey ... . . . ... 10 336 6 0 Hertfordshire ... ... ... 8 271 0 0 Sussex ... ... ... 10 260 18 6 Nottinghamshire ... ... 4 230 17 0 Berkshire ... ... ... 7 230 13 6

Hants and Isle of Wight ... 6 221 7 0 Durham ... ... ... 2 210 0 0 South Wales Western Division ... 1 210 0 0 Wiltshire 1 210 0 0 - Kent ... ... ... V 200 0 0 Cheshire ... ... ... 10 195 6 0

Worcestershire ... ... 6 189 0 0 Buckinghamshire ... ... 9 186 11 0 Oxfordshire ... ... ... 8 171 3 0 Gloucestershire ... ... 6 169 1 0 Staffordshire ... ... ... 1 152 5 0 Suffolk ... ... ... 3 127 0 0

Norfolk ... ... ... 2 105 0 0 Devonshire ... ... ... 1 88 4 0 North Wales ... ... ... 4 83 10 0 Shropshire ... ... ... 3 63 0 0 Middlesex 5 54 3 0 Northumberland ... ... 2 52 10 0

Cambridgeshire ... ... 3 47 5 0 North and East Yorkshire ... 1 38 17 0 Somersetshire ... ... 1 36 15 0 West Lancashire ... ... 3 34 13 0 Bedfordshire ... ... ... 1 31 10 0 Northamptonshire and Hunts ... 1 26 5 0

Japan ... ... ... 1 26 5 0 Guernsey ... ... ... 1 15 15 0 Dorsetshire ... ... ... " 1 ¦ 12 12 0 Jersey ... 1 10 10 0 Malta ... ... ... 1 10 10 0 St . Helena 1 10 10 0 Scotland ... ... ... 1 London 172 7352 12 0

Stewards Visit To The School.

STEWARDS VISIT TO THE SCHOOL .

THE annual visit of the Stewards and their friends to the Institution at Battersea Eise , and the distribution of prizes to the pupils , took place on Monday , and proved a repetition of the great success that has attended so many similar gatherings in the past . The Chairman of the year , the Earl of Yarborough presided , being supported by his Countess , who gracefully officiated at the prize distribution ; and everything passed off in the most satisfactory manner , the large hall of the Institution being taxed to its utmost capacity by the great number of Brethren and their ladies who attended from all parts of the country .

The programme of the day opened with the singing of the Old Hundredth , after which twenty-four pupils of the Institution gave a trio at eight pianos , the splendid time kept by the forty-eight little hands being most gratifying to aU who listened to the performance . Part songs and other pianoforte pieces served to fill up the intervals between the prize distribution ; and the usual inspection of the Institution and the Callsthenic and Marching exercises of the Girls followed lafer in the evening .

Bro . Peter de Lande Long Chairman of the Committee of the Institution specially thanked the Countess of Yarborough for attending , and evincing so much interest in the School , and the Earl , in acknowledging the remarks , referred in feeling terms to the approaching retirement of Miss Davis , the head governess , after being associated with the School in an official capacity for the past thirty-five years . Tho following is the Prize list ;