Contents.

CONTENTS .

LEADER— lAUK Approaching Festival of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution ... 599 The Lodge Room ... ... ... ... ¦•••••6 o ° Gould ' s Military Lodges ... ... ... - »¦ ••¦ 6 °°

United Grand Lodge ( Agenda Paper ) ... ... ... •••j joi Mark Grand Lodge ( Agenda Paper ) ... ... •¦•— Oo ' Ait and the Drama ... ... ... ... - - Go 2 The Degrees of Freemasonry and the Royal Arch ... ... •••° Provincial Grand Mark Lodge of West Yorkshire ... •¦•¦¦•Co 4 Mark Masonry ... ... ... ... ¦•¦ •••6 o 5

MASONIC NOTESAgenda Paper of United Grand Lodge ... ... ... •••fi ° 7 Agenda Paper of Mark Grand Lodge ... ... ... •¦•° " 7 Half-yearly Meeting of the Great Priory of the Order of the Temple ... 607 Death of Bro . E . P . Valeriani , P . G . Std . Br . ... ... ... ^ 07 Death of Bro . G . E . Lake , P . G . D ., D . P . G . M . Herts ... ... G 07

Correspondence . ... ... ... ... ... — " Provincial Grand Lodge of Cambridgeshire ... ... ... •••ooS Consecration ot the Royal Warrant Holders' Lodge , No . 27 S 9 ... ... G 09 Ladies' Banquet at the Mount Lebanon Lodge , No . 73 ... •¦•Co 9 Craft Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... C 09 Instruction ... ... ... ... ... ... •••° " Royal Arch ... ... ... ... - c ' 2 Ancient and Accepted Rite ... ... ... ... •••Gl 2 Obituary ... ... ... ... ... ... - f » 2 Masonic and General Tidings ... ... ... ... — 616

Approaching Festival Of The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

APPROACHING FESTIVAL OF THE ROYAL MASONIC BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION .

With the month of December we begin to think of the desirability of looking about and taking stock of the prospects that appear to be in store for us in respect of the next year ' s Festivals in aid of our great Central Institutions . Most

of our lodges have long since resumed their labours after the summer holidays , and thus the Secretaries of those Institutions have already had opportunities of enlisting the services of brethren as Stewards . But more especially do we give heed to

the claims and prospects of that particular Chant }' , which , as its Anniversary Festival takes precedence of the other two in the matter of time , is under the necessity of entering upon the preliminary work of organising its Board of Stewards at the earliest

possible date . The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution would , under ordinary circumstances , celebrate its next anniversary on the last Wednesday in February , 1900 ; but as thiswhich is the 28 th of the month—happens to be Ash Wednesday ,

steps will , no doubt , be taken , as they were in 18 9 S , when the same coincidence of dates occurred , to alter the day so that the celebration may not clash with one of the most solemn observances of the Christian Church . The place of meeting will be , as usual

the Freemasons' Tavern , and it was publicly known even before the Annual General Meeting of Governors and Subscribers in May last that the Right Hon . Lord ADDINGTON , Prov . Grand Master of Buckinghamshire , had very kindly consented to preside as Chairman .

Ihe claims of the Institution to the generous support of the Craft have long since been recognised , and do not need to be described at any length . Briefly , the Male rund provides annuities of . £ 40 a year each for 207 aged

and destitute brethren , and the Widows' Fund , annuities ° ^ £ 3 2 a year each for 248 widows of brethren in a state of penury , the success of the Festival on the 22 nd I'ebruary last having been such that the Committee of

Management deemed themselves justified in recommending , and the annual meeting in endorsing the recommendation , that live more annuitants be placed on the establishment of the Male Fund , and three more on that of the Widows' Fund . But , < n addition ^ there were , a . t the date of the annual meeting , 22

Approaching Festival Of The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

widow annuitants for whom provision was made to the extent of half their late husbands' annuities , namely , £ 20 per annum ; the total amount required to fullil these obligations being £ 16 , 6 5 6 . A further sum of about £ 3000 is needed for

expenses of management and maintenance of the Asylum at Croydon , so that the total outlay for the year may very safely be put down at £ 19 , 500 . Towards meeting this there is a permanent income consisting of grants from Grand Lodge and

Grand Chapter , amounting to £ 1750 , and dividends on invested capital reaching to about £ 4000 , the total from all sources being roughly speaking , about £ 6000 . Thus the amount which must be forthcoming in donations and subscriptions— and the Festival

is far and away the principal , if , indeed , it is not the only , source from which we look to obtain these—cannot with safety be estimated at less than £ 14 , , a margin of £ 500 being left to meet any unforeseen contingencies . Such an amount as this , as

we have often remarked of other similar amounts , takes a lot of raising , and the difficulty will be still greater just now than in ordinary years , owing to the numerous and , at the same time , imperative calls that are being made in all

directions for those who suffer directly or indirectly by the fierce war that is raging in South Africa . Still , there are over 477 impoverished brethren and brethren ' s widows for whom the

necessary provision must under any circumstances be made , and if the difficulties prove greater than usual in raising the funds , it means that there will have to be correspondingly greater efforts put forth in order to raise them .

As for Bro . TERRY ' endeavours to enlist ladies and brethren as Stewards for the Festival in February next of the Institution , of which he has now been the Secretary for so many years , we venture to think he is to be congratulated on the success he has achieved to the present time . Already the Board of

Stewards numbers over 200 members , who , as far as wc have had the opportunity of judging , are fairly distributed between London and the Provinces ; and as there arc still , after allowing or the intervention of the Christmas holiday , about two months

and a half available in which to enrol additional Stewards , we may not unreasonably hope that when the day for celebrating the anniversary arrives a full Board , that will be able to render a good account of its

Stewardship , will have been organised . Of late years , of course , with the increased expenditure which has been undertaken what used to be a strong Board is looked upon now as , comparatively speaking , weak . Formerly , a Secretary of one of our

Institutions thought himself fortunate if he succeeded in enrolling some 300 brethren as Stewards ; nowadays , he is apt to indulge in somewhat gloomy forebodings , if his muster of Stewards does not approximate more closely to 500 than 400 . However , we must not < ro too far ahead . What Bro . TERRY 1 ms In dn

between now and the day in February that may be fixed for the Old People ' s Festival in 1900 , is to enlist the services of such a number of Stewards as will be able to set at rest all anxiety as to the year ' s deficiency of income to the amount of some

£ 14 , 000 being made good . The expenditure of the Institution is greater than it has ever been before , and having regard to the war in South Africa , the number of appeals that are being addressed to all classes of the community are heavier ; but we

do not think that English Masons are the class of men who will relax in their efforts in behalf of their own indigent Old People , just because there happens to be an unprecedented number of the most urgent claims to be met elsewhere ,