Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

ROYAL MASONIC BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION .

MEETING OF THE GENERAL COMMITTEE . THE proceedings at the annual meeting of the General Committee of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution , held last Friday , must not be passed over without some notice . In the first instance the number of male annuitants to be elected this year was nine , but the wonderful success at the last Pestival enabled the Committee to increase the

number to twenty-four , and this was still further increased , by the occurrence of five deaths , to twenty-nine . To compete for these there were thirty-four candidates ( of whom one died prior to the day of election ) on the approved list , BO that , thanks to the liberality of the Craft , there were only

four poor brethren who were left out in the cold to endure the keen disappointment of failure . As regards the female annuitants , there wero originally only three vacancies , but for the reason already mentioned this number was increased to eighteen . Six deaths subsequently occurred , and so raised

the number of annuitants to be elected ( out of an approved list of thirty-six candidates ) to twenty-four . Thus only twelve were necessarily disappointed . The case of one of these twelve unfortunate old ladies deserves a passing reference . A day or two before the election was appointed to

be held , the Secretary of the Institution received a letter from a Mrs . Stansfield , announcing the withdrawal of her name from all connection with the R . M . B . I ., and her name was subsequently withdrawn . On the day of the election the son of Alice Stansfield called at Freemasons' Hall , to

ascertain how his mother was prospering , and was told , of course , of her absolute withdrawal . He was shown the letter which had been received , and at once declared that the handwriting was not that of his mother . It was too late to remedy the misfortune , and poor Alice Stansfield ,

who , it is believed , would have stood an excellent chance of succeeding , was denied even the poor satisfaction of knowing that her failure was the result of the ordinary mischances of candidature . Unfortunately Mrs . Stansfield , who was in receipt of half her late husband ' s annuity ,

loses this now , in accordance with the laws of the Institution . When inquiry was made , it turned out that the letter had been written by another Mrs . Stansfield , who had never had anything whatever to do with the R . M . B . I ., either as a candidate for an annuity , or as receiving half of

her late husband ' s annuity . The latter part of this unfortunate episode necessarily occurred after the election was over , so that all chance of preventing or remedying the mistake was gone . Thus Alice Stansfield has lost her chance of appointment , and her half annuit y has just lapsed .

It may be as well to note that the resolution of Bro . Rawson , P . Dist . G . M . China , to the effect that if the widow of a brother marry again , and become a second time a widow , she may be eligible for election on the Female Fund , was agreed to . The motion which stood in the name

of Bro . Professor Erasmus Wilson , for the substitution of " guineas" instead of "pounds , " so as to assimilate the subscri ptions to this institution to those paid to the Schools , fell through , in the unavoidable absence of Bro .

Wilson . We trust , however , that the question will not be allowed to fall through altogether , as there is every reason why the qualifications for Life Governorships ancl Life and Annual Subscriberships should be the same for all our Charities . One or two items of newa remain to be added , Lord

Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

Leigh , Prov . G . Master Warwickshire , was elected a Trustee of the Male Annuity Fund in place of the late Earl of Shrewsbury , and Bro . Sir Fred . Martin Williams Bart ., M . P ., D . Prov . G . M . Cornwall , Trustee of tho samo fund

in succession to the late Bro . Alex . Dobie , P . Prov . G . M . of Surrey . The Committee of Management reported that the receipts at the last Festival amounted to £ 12 , 860 , but we are in a position to state that sums have since been received which raise the total to £ 13 , 300 .

The Recent Masonic Festival In Dublin.

THE RECENT MASONIC FESTIVAL IN DUBLIN .

THE recent Masonic gathering in Dublin , of which full particulars , summarised from our contemporary , the Dublin Mail , are given elsewhere in our columns , is an event which demands something more than a passing notice . In the first place , it is only a matter of simple courtesy that we should offer to the Craft in Ireland our heartiest

congratulations on the complete success of tho day ' s proceedings . The Grand Master , the Duke of Abereorn , was absent , by reason of the continued indisposition of his wife . Other leading Craftsmen wero unable to attend , bnt , in spite of these drawbacks , the assembly was a verv brilliant one .

The large Concert Hall in the Exhibition Palace was crowded . Craftsmen were conspicuous by their regalia , while the fair sex , in all the freshness and gay variety of spring attire , mustered in very considerable numbers—they always do where the welfare of children is concerned—and greatly

enhanced tho splendour of the scene . There have been magnificent Masonic assemblies in England and elsewhere , in connection with our Craft Charities , but we question if there has ever been a more suc - cessful one than that over which the Duke of

Connaught so genially presided last Friday . In the next place , a meeting of this kind has a far deeper significance in Ireland than it would have in this country or in Scotland . Our readers hardly need to be informed that Ireland is a Roman Catholic country , some four-fifths of

its inhabitants professing that particular form of Christianity . They know , likewise , how bitterly hostile to Freemasonry is the Roman Catholic priesthood . The only parallel case to this Dublin gathering of Masons which occurs to us at the moment was thafc which took place

some time since in Rome , under the very nose of His Holiness the Pope , when the new Masonic Temple was formally consecrated to the purposes of the Craft . Why there should exist this hostility to our harmless fraternity on the part of the Romish priesthood ,

is immaterial . They hate us , and they take every possible opportunity of evincing their hatred . JNo greater damage befals us than is done in mimic warfare , when a couple of armies blaze at each other with blank cartridges even for a long hour or more by Shrewsbury

clock . Indeed , these onslaughts remind us of a story to which , we fear , we have alluded before , but which will bear repetition in this instance . We refer to the story of the big navigator , who allowed his little wife to pitch into him , for the twofold reason that it amused her , and did him

no harm . So we Craftsmen all the world over have no objection to the little attacks of the old Scarlet Lady of Rome . They amuse her , and they clo us no harm . But what must the Pope think of it all , and Cardinal Cullen , and other dignitaries of tho same church , whea they hear of this grand