Contents.

CONTENTS .

L EADERSThe East Lancashire Systematic Mascnic Educational and Benevolent Institution ... ... ... ... ... 53 The Craft in the United States ... ... ... ... 53 The Official Grand Lodge Calendar ... ... ... ... 55 Supreme Grand Chapter of England ... ... ... ... 55 Ladies' Banquet and Ball , of the Temple Lodge , No . IOI ... ... 5 6

" The Old Masonians" ... ... ... ... ... 5 ° Masonic Ball at Stamford ... ... ... .... ... 5 C Masonic P . esentation lo the Deputy Mayor of Colchester ... ... 57 Annual Ladies' Night of the Skelmersdale Lodge , No . 1 C 5 S ... ... 57 East Lancashire Systematic Masonic Education . il and Benevolent Institution 57 Presentation to Miss Della Everett ... ... ... ... ^ Craft Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... 5 S Mascnic Notes ... ... ... ... ... •¦• Gi

Reviews ... ... ... ... ••¦ ... ... " 2 Royal Arch Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... 65 Knights T-mplar ... ... ... ... ... ... C 5 Allied Masonis Degrees ... ... ... ... ... 65 Red Cross of Rome and Constantine ... ... ... ... 65 Lodge of Instruction ... ... ... ... ... ... 65 O-ituary ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 65 Mas- nic and General 1 idings ... ... ... ... ... GG

The East Lancashire Systematic Masonic Educational And Benevolent Institution.

THE EAST LANCASHIRE SYSTEMATIC MASONIC EDUCATIONAL AND BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION .

When announcing in our Notes of last week that the annua ] general meeting of this Institution would be held on Monday , the 27 th ult ., we expressed our belief that the Report which it would then be the duty of the Committee cf Management to

submit to the Governors would be an eminently satisfactory one . The report is now before us and we find our expectations are fully realised . There is nothing very remarkable in this . It will be in the recollection of most of our readers that in July last the first Festival ever held in behalf of this East Lancashire

Charity took place in the Botanical Gardens , Old 1 rafford , under thc presidency of R . W . Bro . Col . LE GENDRE N . STARKIE , Prov . G . Master . The number of ladies ancl brethren who gave their services as Stewards was , as announced at the time in

these columns , 481 , and the amount raised by their combined exertions was £ 4034 15 s . In the interval that has since elapsed , this total , magnificent as it undoubtedly was , has been increased to £ 4412 ios . 4 d ., or about three and one-third times

as much as was received in the shape of donations and subscriptions from lodges , chapters , and individual brethren during the year 1894 . ^ ° this must be added a sum of £ 475 2 s . 5 d . received in interest on Invested Capital , the total income from all sources

and including a balance brought forward from the previous year of £ 1058 8 s . 6 d ., amounting to what , for a local Charitable Institution , may reasonably be described * as the enormous sum of . £ 5995 7 s . gd . What enhances the value of the receipts from

donations and subscriptions is the fact announced by the Committee that of the no lodges then on the roll of the Province there should only have been two which did not contribute

' either as lodges or through their members . " The 108 who did contribute raised amongst them £ 2058 os . iod ., while the sum of £ 2079 ns . 6 d . was obtained from individual brethren to the number of 038 , the difference between the sum of these two

amounts and the ultimate total of the Festival Returns as before mentioned , being either voted b y Provincial Grand Lodge , Provincial Grand Chapter , and Provincial Priory , or subscribed by chapters , preceptories , lodges of instruction , and other Masonic

b elies meeting in the Province . In 18 94 the donations and subscri ptions amounted to £ 1332 8 s . id . of which £ 7 60 ios . Sd . ' came from 6 9 out of the 108 lodges then on thc roll , and A . 349 iSs . 6 d . from 226 individual brethren , while the remainder was subscribed b y the Provincial and other bodies .

As regards the expenditure , we note a very substantial difference as compared with thc year 1894 in thc total of the amounts granted for relief and disbursed by the Committee of Almoners . In 18 94 this total reached £ 525 8 s . 3 d ., of which

The East Lancashire Systematic Masonic Educational And Benevolent Institution.

£ i 3 2 was distributed in the shape of grants , and £ 93 8 s . 3 d . in temporary relief b y the Almoners ; while last year it was only £ 337 Lis-, of which £ 26 4 4 s . was in grants , and the balance of £ 73 ns . in disbursements by the Almoners . The amount

expended in the education of 28 children in 18 94 was £ 241 12 s ., ancl on that of 29 children in 1 N 95 £ 24 ( 1 4 s ., ( he grants for advancement iu life being in the former war £ 10 and in the latter £ 16 . The number of annuitants at £ 16 per annum is the

same for both years , but onl y £ 104 was paid away under this head in 18 94 , while last year it reached £ 143 , the full amount payable being in both cases £ 156 . The establishment charges vary to the extent of a few shillings only , the sum in each year

being between . £ 131 and £ 132 ; but while in 18 94 upwards of £ 3014 , of which £ 2000 had been received in repayment of Principal , was laid out in the purchase of various stocks , only ^ 2 c S ' 3 19 s . was expended for a similar purpose last year . The

balance with which the account for 1804 was closed was , as already stated , £ 1058 8 s . ( id ., while the balance on 31 st December , 18 95 , including over £ 140 received afler banking hours on that day , reached £ 4 8 37 6 s . Sd ., and the Committee

announce that they have arranged for the investment of £ 5000 , so that the present value ol" the stocks held b y the Institution , which is returned at £ 13 , 755 14 s . 3 d . gross , will be augmented to between £ 18 , 000 and £ 19 , 000 , while the income derived

therefrom will be enlarged in proportion . It is greatly to be desired that the appeal will be successful which the Committee of Management have addressed to the Charity Representatives of lodges as to " the importance of seeking to obtain from their members a

continuance of their subscriptions each year , and thus ensure a regular Annual Income for the Institution . " It is indeed upon the regular subscriptions of their friends that all Institutions which depend for their means of support , cither wholly or in

part , upon the voluntary contributions of the benevolent must rely . Special efforts must , of course , be made periodically with a view to supplementing the regular income , and wc have a splendid specimen of what one such special effort is capable of

producing in the Festival in July last in aid of this Institution ; but it is of thc very essence of these efforts that they can only be made periodically , and it has been arranged by our East Lancashire brethren that the Festivals in behalf of their Provincial

Charity shall be held triennially . In thc meantime , however , their Institution must be kept solvent , and to do this the income from invested capital must be supplemented by subscriptions and donations .

The proceedings at the meeting on Monday will be found duly reported in another column . That the greatest enthusiasm was manifested by those present and that well-merited

compliments were paid to all who had had a share in making the past year so brilliant a success will be gathered from that report . But though in the early days of last July wc offered our concratulations to the Provincial Grand Master and his Province

generally on the result of their labours , we cannot refrain from repeating those congratulations on this occason and reiterating tlie wish that future Festivals may prove , to the required extent , if not equally , beneficial .

The Graft In The United States.

THE GRAFT IN THE UNITED STATES .

In our article of the 28 th December last on " Freemasonry Abroad , " our remarks on that section of it which is spread far and wide over tlie United States of-North America were , of necessity , few in number and general in their character . Considerations of time and space prevented us furnishing more than