Next Week's Festival.

NEXT WEEK'S FESTIVAL .

THE Jubilee Festival of the Eoyal Masonic Benevolent Institution , which has been so long looked forward to , has at length come within a few days reach , for before another issue of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE appears this great event will belong to the records of the past , with nothing but the memory of the meeting and—let us hope—a very substantial addition to the funds of the Institution , to

mark the celebration ot one of the greatest events in the history of modern Freemasonry . There is little to say to-day in addition to what we have already written in regard to this celebration , further than to record a continued satisfactory increase in the roll of Stewards , and a vet brighter prospect for a successful

result . We are not in favour of hazarding guesses as to what the total will be , but knowing the way many of the Stewards are working , and the success which has attended their appeals , we see no reason why the celebration of next week should not produce a total in excess of anything yet achieved in connection with the Charity records of Freemasonry . The

roll of Stewards contains as many names as figured on that of the Girls' School Centenary , and there is good reason to expect that the average per Steward will be equal to what was reached on that occasion ; but this question will have to remain undecided until Wednesday next , when we hope Brother Terry will crown his splendid labours as Secretary of the Institution by announcing a total in excess of the . £ 50 , 000 proclaimed at the Albert Hall on the occasion of the Girls' Centenary in 1888 .

One matter in connection with the celebration which has caused considerable disappointment and regret is the inability of the Committee to provide for any but Stewards at the Festival . The accommodation of Covent Garden Theatre has been taxed to the uttermost , and yet there is only room for the Stewards , indeed , were it not that several of their

number will be engaged on special duties , acting as Ladies' Stewards and so forth during the day , and dining at an earlier hour , at Freemasons' Tavern , there would not be nearly sufficient room for the Stewards themselves . This is unfortunate , but one of those unfortunate matters which have to be endured , and it may perhaps even prove to be a blessing m disguise , for a few enthusiastic brethren , anxious

to be present at the celebration , have enrolled themselves as Stewards rather than miss a sight which can never be repeated—the Celebration of the Jubilee of the Institution . The long array of Stewards is splendidly

representative of nearly every section of England . London has upwards of 500 Stewards , the proportion of unattached brethren being much below that in connection with the Girls' Centenary , so that it would seem likely a better result would attend the efforts of those working in this district , a larger number of

Next Week's Festival.

Lodges and Chapters being specially interested , and available for canvass . Outside the London district we have most of the Provinces very strongly represented , a large number of them making really supreme efforts to show their regard for the aged and infirm of the Craft , and everything points to satisfactory results in this quarter , with little or

nothing to urge in the contrary direction . Indeed , apart from the fact that the number of Stewards is larger than ever secured before , there also seems to bo the additional gratification of knowing that individual members of the Board are working with even greater enthusiasm than usual .

Last week we briefly recorded the proceedings at the monthly meeting of the Committee of Management of the Institution , when , in view of the support already secured in connection with the Jubilee , it was decided to create twenty additional annuities : ten

for Aged Craftsmen , at £ 40 per annum each ; and ten for Widows , at £ 32 per annum each . This is at once a tangible and a satisfactory result of the special efforts which have been made throughout the country for some months past , and it shows that the Committee , with their knowledge of affairs , have no doubt

as to the success ot the X estival . The creation ol these twenty additional annuities means an annual outlay of £ 720—not merely the expenditure of that sum for one year , or for any given period , but a permanent charge year by year on the

resources of the Institution , and we imagine the Committee would hardly undertake such a responsibility unless they saw good grounds for expecting a considerable addition being made to the permanent income of the Charity , which it is needless to point

out can only be secured by adding to the invested funds of the Institution . The creation of these additional annuities must not be regarded as the sole result of the Jubilee celebration—they are probably given rather as an earnest of what may be expected than as any full return for the heln that is bein ^

rendered ; and so far from the members of the Craft relaxing their efforts now that they have been rewarded , we think they should redouble them , in the hope of securing yet further concessions on behalf of the numerous candidates who are seeking a participation in the benefits of the Charity . The

Committee of Management no doubt kept well within bounds when they decided on this increase of twenty annuities , and if the result of the Festival exceeds their anticipations there is no reason why a supplementary addition should not be made before the next election , for which , as already recorded in

our pages , there are 139 candidates ( 69 men and 70 widows ) , with 52 vacancies ( 31 men and 21 widows ) . Now that the addition has been decided upon , we cannot help expressing our regret that the Committee did not see their way to making a departure from the customs of the past in regard to the new annuities just created . We have seen an additional expenditure of £ 720 per annum decided upon , twenty