Analysis Of The Returns.

MIDDLESEX , which has 39 lodges on its roll , furnished a contingent of 15 Stewards , who acted on behalf of as many lodges , one brother being Steward for two lodges , and two of the lodges sending each two Stewards . The result of the combined efforts of these brethren was an aggregate subscription of ^ 390 3 s . — a total which is as worthy of commendation as it will prove useful . Last year

it raised in all £ 1816 5 s ., namely , £ 419 14 s . for the R . M . B . I ., £ 1107 14 s . for the Girls' Centenary , and ^ 288 17 s . for the Boys'School . In Jubilee year it gave ^ 1265 7 s . , of which each Institution received as nearly as possible one third part , while the total of its contributions in 1884-5-6 reached ^ 2626 2 s . 6 d ., making for the whole quinquennial period to which our inquiries have extended , ^ 5707 14 s . 6 d ., or an average per annum of £ 1141 us . The Chairman's Province of

NORTHANTS AND HUNTS , though it musters only 11 lodges , has done far better than perhaps its staunchest friends and well-wishers could have expected . In former years it made a point of supporting each of our Institutions in turn , but , owing to the paucity ol its members , the contributions , though freely g iven and in proportion to its strength , never appeared to any great advantage . Under

Lord Euston , however , it seems to have become imbued with an additional amount of enthusiasm , and though less than two years have elapsed since his lordship was installed in office , it has already done some very effective service in aid of our Charities . At the Boys' School Festival in 1887 . just when its late Prov . G . Master was on the point of retiring , and Lord Euston ' s appointment to the vacant office was on the carpet , it raised the it at the

very handsome sum of ^ 350 . Last year appeared all Festivals , the ' total of its contributions being ^ 332 17 s ., of which the Girls' School received . £ 204 15 s , and the Boys'School £ 117 12 s ., the small remainder being appropriated to this Institution . On Wednesday , it sent n Stewards , Bro . the Earl of Euston acting independently , and the other ten doing duty

for eight lodges and a chapter . The total reached ^ 683 8 s . 6 d ., the senior lodge in the Province—the Pomfret , No . 3 60 , Northampton—represented by Bro . Alfred Cockerill , returning £ 120 . Lord Euston's list , including his own donation , amounting to £ 227 ios . Nothing could well have been better , though it mars the general effect to see two lists wanting from the Chairman ' s Province .

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE , which can muster 14 lodges , figured at two of last year's Festivals , that of the Benevolent Institution , when its contribution amounted to 50 guineas ( £ 52 ios . ) , and that of the Girls' School , when its three Stewards—of whom the late Bro . Toplis was one—raised amongst them £ 190 is ., the total for the year thus amounting to £ 242 lis . In 1887 its subscriptions

reached £ 275 6 s . 6 d ., of which the Boys' School obtained £ -231 ios . 6 d ., while the balance was divided between the other two Charities . In 1886 the sum of £ 279 os . fid . was raised for the Benevolent and Boys' School , the former receiving £ 176 18 s . 6 d ., and the latter the balance ; while in 188 5 all three shared in the good things di-pensed by the Province to the extent of £ 540 7 s . From these details it will be seen that Nottinghamshire is both a frequent and a liberal supporter of oar three Charities . 1 Though it is a small Province , with only 10 lodges on its roll ,

OXFORDSHIRE has figured , to the best of our recollection , at all the Festivals which have taken place since the installation of the Prince of Wales , who is a Past Master ot the second senior lodge , as M . W . G . Master , and in some cases it has figured to an extent which its limited strength would hardly have led us to expect . Last year , for instance , it raised £ 47 5 s . for this Institution ;

at the Girls' School Centenary it furnished 22 Stewards , including Bro . the EatI of Jersey , P . G . M ., and subscribed £ 568 12 s . ; and , three weeks later , it contributed £ 40 12 s . 6 d ., and so increased its Returns for the year to £ 656 9 s . 6 d ., or an average of over £ 6 $ per lodge . In 1 SS 7 it distributed £ 261 2 s . 6 d . among the three Charities , and in 1886 £ 279 13 s ., the Boys ' School being lortunate enough to obtain the largest share— £ 126 14 s . 6 d . The aggregate for the three years amounts to £ 1197 5 s ., or not so very far

short of £ 4 °° per annum , that is , ^ 40 per lodge per annum . Though we are by no means fond ot instituting comparisons between lodges and Provinces , we make bold to say that such a record , so well maintained during such a period , and following upon a series of similar services only a little less conspicuous , will compare favourably with that of any other Province in England . Oh Wednesday its six Stewards were successful in raising the excellent total of £ 159 is . 6 d .

SHROrSHIRE again figures most creditably with five Stewards and a total of ^ 210 iSs . Last year it made such strenuous and successful efforts for the Girls' School Centenary , when its contributions amounted to £ 770 15 s ., while the R . M . B . I . received £ 26 5 s ., and the Boys' School £ 10 ios ., that its absence on this occasion would have been but too readily excused . But besides Bros . Sir O .

Wakeman , Bart ., and R . G . Venables , his Deputy , there are some able and energetic brethren—notably the Bros . Spaull—connected with the Province , and they see no reason why Shropshire , though it has but 11 lodges , should not play a leading part among our English Provinces . They have made this clear up to the present , for though its P . G . M . was only installed in office in the latter half of 1885 , it had raised to the close of last year no less

a sum than £ 1855 7 s ., of which the Girls' School had £ 1793 12 s ., namely , £ 1022 17 s . in 1887 when Bro . Sir O . Wakeman was Chairman at its Festival , and the rest at the Centenary , as already stated . We shall doubtless find it now directing more of its support to the Old People and the Boys' School , and the effective commencement made in behalf of the former on Wednesday auyurs well for the future . One of the 25 lodges in

SOMERSETSHIRE , --the Lodgeof Agriculture , No . 1199 , Congresbury—had a Steward in the person of Bro . C . L . Fry Edwards acting for it , and his list amounted to the corn'ortable sum of ^ 51 15 s . This is certainly a smaller total than we have been accustomed to associate with this flourishing Province , but no doubt the stress which was very properly brought to bear on the Craft everywhere to make the Girls' Centenary an unprecedented success has

had the same effect on Somersetshire as on other Provinces . In 1888 it laised £ 137 5- . lor this Institution in February , ^ 946 is . for the Girls ' O-nten ^ ry , and ^ 210 for the Boys' Festival in June , making the year ' s total ^ 1293 6- ; . ; while in the year of the Queen ' s Jubilee its total was £ 952 14-. THUS in the two years preceding tnU , Somersetshire contributed £ 2246 , or at the rate of ne-irly £ 45 per lodge per annum . In the years 1884 , ISS 5 . and 1886 it raised , £ 640 14-., ^ 417 18 ' ., and ^ 609 us . respectively , or together £ 1768 3 s ., so that during the last five years it has averaged

Analysis Of The Returns.

rather more than £ 800 a year . After this , the contribution of Wednesday appears small , but we dare say the average will be found to have been fairly maintained when the Festivals of the two Schools have come and gone ; though our readers must not be surprised if the efforts made last year and the year before are felt throughout the whole of the current year .

STAFFORDSHIRE had tw $ Unattached Stewards to represent its 29 lodges , but only Bro , Ryder ' s list for £ 10 10 s . has been returned as yet . In June last Bro . F . Ryder took up , as the representative of the whole Province , a list of £ 262 ios ., while the nine Stewards at-the Girls' Centenary , among whom were Bros . Bailey and Ryder , compiled £ 355 7 s ., and

there was a Steward at the Benevolent Festival the February previous , though , owing to the sudden death of the Secretary of the Staffordshire Charitable Association , the amount of his list was not entered in the Returns . In Jubilee year the sums raised for the three Charities reached £ 698 5 s ., of which the Girls' School received . £ 320 5 s ., and in previous

years , thanks to the work done by the Association just mentioned , the rate of contribution was on a somewhat similar scale , the total for the whole period of five years from 188 4 to 188 S , both inclusive , being £ 3235 , or at the average of £ 647 a year . Seven of the 21 lodges in

SUFFOLK were represented by Stewards , and to very good purpose , seeing that the total of ( heir lists amounted to £ 326 us ., being at the rate of £ 46 13 s , per list . This is a glorious beginning for the current year , after raising £ 110 5 12 s . — £ 45 1 ios . for the R . M . B . I ., ^ " 517 12 s . for the Girls'Centenary , a"d £ 136 ios . tor Our Boys—in 1 S 88 , and £ 794 163 ., namely , £ 418 19 s .

for the Benevolent , £ 219 9 s . for the Girls' School , and £ 15 6 8 s . for the Boys' School , in 1887 . These two years , to say nothing of what it had done previously , yielded results which are most creditable to a Province which is of moderate strength , and , being chiefly agricultural , may be presumed to be less wealthy than others which include one or more large industrial cities or towns within their borders . We shall certainly have further good news to record from Suffolk before the year is out .

Six Stewards , representing each one a different lodge , Bro . Dr . Strong , Unattached , did duty for the Province of

SURREY , and its 34 lodges , and that they did their work well must be evident from their lists , amounting in the aggregate to £ 244 18 s . 6 d ., especially as in 188 S the Province raised £ 129 8 14 s ., of which the bulk—about £ 1148—was tor the Girls' Centenary , while in Jubilee year it was £ 797 13 s . 6 d . In 18 S 6 , its total was considerably heavier , owing to Bro . Gen . Brownrigg , P . G . M .,

undertaking the duties of Chairman for the Girls' School , the total raised at the three Festivals being a fraction over ^ 1829 , of which the Girls ' Institution received £ 1345 15 s . 6 d . The results of previous years have been similarly commendable , and no doubt the Province will always remain as staunch a supporter of all our Charities as it has shown itself in the past .

SUSSEX is to be congratulated on the Returns , amounting to ^ 2 oS ios . 6 d ., which it furnished on Wednesday . It has taken an active part at several of these gatherings , and more particularly when the Boys' School has celebrated its Anniversary at Brighton ; in 1885 , when the late Sir VV . VV . Burrell , Bart .,

presided at the Girls' School Festival , and the Returns from this Province amounted to £ 1850 ; and at the Centenary of the same Charity , last year , when it raised £ 884 9 s . The principal list at this meeting was that of Bro . Francis Daniel , Steward for the Royal Brunswick Lodge , No . 732 , Brighton , who compiled the goodly total of £ 137 us . There is no doubt that

WARWICKSHIRE is much indebted to the members of the Athol Lodge , No , 74 , Birmingham , and particularly to Bro . James Moffat , who , we understand , originated the idea which finds favour with them , for the success with which it has upheld the credit ot the Province on these occasions . There is certainly nothing very elaborate about Bro . Moffat ' s idea , which is simplicity itself , and consists in encouraging as many members as possible to undertake the duties

of Steward without doing more than qualify themselves as Life-Governors . The plan has been tried more than once—at the Boys' Festival in 1886 , at that of the Girls' School in 1887 , a"d at the Girls' Centenary last year—and on each occasion it has proved successful . On Wednesday 14 members of this Athol Lodge sent in their names as Stewards , and the total ot their joint list reached £ 147 . Last year it raised £ 1440 6 s . 6 d . for the Centenary , among the contributors to this total being the Athol , which had 30 of its members acting as Stewards and raising together £ 31 $ .

WILTSHIRE , with only H lodges , was very ably represented by Bro . VV . H . Burt , and subscribed through him to the extent of £ 168 . Last year six Stewards , including Bro . Lord Methuen , P . G . M ., raised £ 340 8 s . 6 d . at the Girls ' Centenary , while in the year of the Queen ' s Jubilee it helped the Boys '

School by contributing £ 234 js . to its funds . This plan of supporting each Institution in turn deservedly finds favour with Provinces of small extent , whose modest subscriptions would be almost lost sight of if they were apportioned each year among all three Charities . The Province of

WORCESTERSHIRE sent up four Stewards , Bro . A . F . Godson , M . P ., D . P . G . M ., being , almost as a matter of course , one of them , and the other three acting as representatives of Lodges 529 and 2034 . The sum of their lists was £ 77 is ., and as the Province can muster only a round dozen lodges , the result is worthy of much praise , especially after the very efficient services it rendered at the Girls' Centenary , when nine ot its 12 lodges were represented by 16

brethren , who , with the assistance of Bros . Sir E . A . Lechmere , P . G . M . ; A . H . Royds , P . P . G . M . ; and A . F . Godson , D . P . G . M ., compiled a total ° f £ 695 iSs . To this must be added the £ 94 ios . raised in February for this Institution , and the £ 57 15 s . in June for tne Boys' School , making the grand total for the year £ 848 3 s . Alter this we need say nothing further than that Worcestershire , under Bro . Sir E . A . H . Lechmere , Bart ., has played its part regularly and with much credit to itself in supporting the Masonic Institutions .

It was only at the last moment that YORKSHIRE ( NORTH AND EAST RIDINGS ) was numbered among the contributing instead ot among the absentee Provinces , and Bro . J . Matthew , who with Bro . S . Rutter suddenly presented himself as Steward , deserves sincere thanks for his welcome