Stewards' Lists.

£ 80 ; and Bro . William Maple , acting for the Committee Dinner Club , for £ 94 . The section of the Board which represented THE PROVINCES was somewhat more numerous , consisting , as it did , of 181 brethren , one of whom is entered for a London Lodge as well as for the Province of Bedfordshire . The result of the joint labours of these brethren was announced as £ 6 , 481 7 s . rJd . the average per Steward's list being in round figures not far short of £ 35 . Of the 44 Provinces and the Channel Islands , which are a group of lodges without Prmrin ™! nrranisntion no less than Tt were represented , so that the absentees

were only 12 altogether , or precisely the same in number as at the Benevolent Festival in February , and eig ht fewer than at the Girls' School Festival in May . The absentees were BRISTOL ( 9 lodges ) , which was represented by Bro . W . Purnell in February ; D ORSETSHIRE ( 13 lodges ) , which figured to advantage on the same occasion ; HEREFORDSHIRE ( 5 lodges ) , which has not entered an appearance at any r , f tVi = v » jr '« EVsf-iv .-ik thoncrh it was reoresented at the Girls' Centenary in 1888 ;

NORTHANTS and HUNTS ( 12 lodges ) , which p layed the leading part in February , when its Prov . G . Master , Bro . the Earl of Euston , presided for the Old People , and was represented by the same noble brother at the Girls' Festival in . May ; NORTHUMBERLAND ( 22 lodges ) , which has done nothing this year , though it raised £ 900 for the R . M . B . I ., and £ 52 10 s . for the Girls' Centenary in 1888 ; NOTTINGHAMSHIRE fiA lodo-esl . which sent up a Steward with £ 57 15 s . in February , and

was represented at two of last year ' s Festivals ; WARWICKSHIRE ( 31 lodges ) , which did excellent service for the Girls' Institution last year , and one of whose lodges sent 14 Stewards to the Benevolent Festival in February ; W ILTSHIRE ( II lodges ) , which figured so well in the Girls' School Returns in June 1888 , and those of the R . M . B . I . in February , that its absence from the present list needs no apology ; YORKSHIRE , NORTH and EAST ( 29 lodges ) , which , notwithstanding the Festival of its Local Charitable Association in the spring , gave 100 guineas to the R . M . B . I . in

February , and £ 42 to the Girls' Institution in May ; the CHANNEL ISLANDS ( 5 lodges ) , and J ERSEY ( 7 lodges ) , which we are always inclined to regard as one , as well Masonically as geographically , and which did good service for this Institution last year ; and the ISLE OF M AN ( 7 lodges ) , which gave its support to the Girls ' School both last year and this . Thus the 165 lodges in these 12 Provinces had no part in the work accomplished on Wednesday , though , as the above particulars show clearly , they are all of them ready to g ive what support is in their power on occasions . The list of represented Provinces is headed b y

BEDFORDSHIRE , which has but five lodges , and cannot , therefore , be expected to figure frequently at these celebrations . Its one Steward on Wednesday was Bro . T . J . Hooper , who acted as he did last year , at the Girls' Centenary , for the London Lodge , No . 145 ( Prudent Brethren ) , and the St . Andrew ' s Lodge , No . 803 , Biggleswade , the amount of his Return for the Province being stated as £ 42 . This is its first appearance since the Girls' Centenary , when it raised by the hands of two Stewards close on £ 100 ( £ 98 14 s . )

BERKS AND BUCKS , with 24 lodges , had two Stewards for the Old People in February , of whom one returned £ 23 2 s ., and three Stewards for the Girls' School in May , whose lists amounted to £ 102 7 s . On Wednesday , eight brethren , acting on behalf of six of its lodges and a chapter , succeeded in compiling amongst them a total of £ 207 6 s ., making the amount raised during the year £ 332 15 s . Last year it gave £ 947 4 s ., and the year before £ 779 , so that the falling off in 188 9 , though considerable , is not to be wondered at . We must congratulate

CAMBRIDGESHIRE , with its modest roll of only six lodges , on the result of Wednesday ' s work . It sent up two Stewards , namely , Bro . 0 . Papworth for the Scientific Lodge , No . 88 , and Bro . E . Armitage for the Alma Mater , No . 1472 , and while the former ' s list amounted to £ 115 ios ., the latter ' s was £ 47 5 s ., the total of the two being £ 162 l £ s . In February it gave £ 94 ios . to the Old People , Bros . Sharmanand Roy , of Lodge No . 44 , being the Stewards , and in May Bro . English , of Lodge

No . 809 , raised £ 57 15 s ., so that the total for 188 9 is exactl y £ 315 . In 1888 it raised £ 3 6255 . for the Girls' Centenary ; in 1887 , its contributions reached £ 537 us ., of which the R . M . B . I . and the R . M . I . G . received , each of them , £ 200 , and this Institution the remainder ; while in 1836 the sum distributed amongst the three was £ 547 5 s . Thus , the total from Cambridgeshire during the last four years is £ 1762 is ., or in round figures , £ 440 ios . per year . The Province of

CHESHIRE , though it has some 40 lodges on its roll , for reasons which we have repeatedly explained , seldom figures to very great advantage at our Anniversary gatherings . Only two of its lodges sent Stewards in February , and the return from one of them was £ 21 . In May , also , only two lodges were represented , the sum of the two lists being £ 3 6 15 s . On Wednesday , however , there were four Stewards , of

whom three acted on behalf of as many lodges , while the fourth , Bro . Richard Newhouse , Prov . G . Secretary , acted for the Province generally , the total of his list being £ 89 5 s . The total was £ 131 5 s ., which added to the sum of its previous contributions makes £ 18 9 for 1889 , while last year it raised over £ 522 , of which about £ 63 was raised for the Girls' Centenary . There is no doubt that

CORNWALL , with its 30 lodges , has been doing effective service for our Charities during these latter years . In February , Bro . Gilbert B . Pearce , as representative of the Province , handed in a list of £ 157 ios ., and in May , Bro . Major Ross , in the same capacity , raised £ 99 155 . On Wednesday , Bro . F . W . Thomas ' s list was £ 105 ,

thus raising the total for 1 S 89 to £ 3 62 5 s . In 1888 , the Benevolent Institution received £ 10 ios ., the Girls' School , £ 372 15 s ., and the Boys' School , £ 82 , the total of the three being £ 465 5 s . In the previous year Bro . Pearce acted as Steward at all three Festivals , the sum total of his lists being £ 704 lis : The aggregate for these three years is £ 1532 is ., or just a little over £ 51 per lodge . Only one out of the 22 lodges in

CUMBERLAND AND WESTMORLAND , namely , the Union , No . 129 , Kendal , sent up a Steward , and his list amounted to £ 37 16 s ., which , with the £ 102 12 s . 6 d . raised by Bro . G . Dalrymple , as the representative of thewhole Province , makes the total for the present year , £ 140 8 s . In 1888 it raised £ 1260 , the Old People receiving £ 1050 , and the Institution for

Girls , £ 210 . In 188 7 , the Benevolent Institution received £ 55 13 s ., while in 1886 this Institution was benefited to the extent of £ 500 . The Returns , therefore , are occasionally on a large scale , if they are not regularly forthcoming , its heaviest contribution prior to 1886 being one of £ 1050 at the Festival held in aid of the Boys' School , in the year 1883 .

DERBYSHIRE , with its roll of 22 lodges , generally contrives to make a show commensurate with its strength , its average for the four years from 1885 to 1888 , both inclusive , being £ 810 per year . In February , however , onl y two of its lod ges sent up Stewards , and the sum of their lists amounted to no more than £ 35 3 s . 6 d . At the Girls '

Stewards' Lists.

Festival in May it was unrepresented , but on Wednesday there were in all |» Stewards , of whom three acted independently and ten on behalf of as many lodges . The total of their lists so far as they have been received , is £ 379 ios . and with the £ 35 3 s . 6 d . raised in February , gives an aggregate for 188 9 of £ 414 13 s . 6 d . This is considerably below last year ' s aggregate of £ 891 , and

the four years ' average already mentioned , but variations in totals , as in temperature , are in the natural order of things , and must be taken as they come , with the reflection in this instance , that if the Boys' School has received the largest measure of support this year , the Girls' School was still more fortunate in 1888 , and the Benevolent Institution about as fortunate in the year of the Q ueen ' s Jubilee .

It will doubtless be in the recollection of our readers that last year Bro . Viscounl Ebrington , M . P ., P . G . Master of

DEVONSHIRE , presided at the Festival of this Institution , and that the brethren of the 52 lod ges on its roll supported him very handsomely to the extent of £ 840 , the Girls' School having previously received £ 126 , and the Benevolent Institution £ 47 5 s . In February a Steward was returned as acting for Royal Arch Chapter , No . 70 , but his list was not reported at the time , while in May Bro . the Rev . T . W . Lemon , M . A ., gave a

personal donation of £ 94 ios ., and thus bravely upheld the credit of his Province . On Wednesday the same brother , as Steward Unattached , returned a list of almost equal value— £ 93 9 s . —while his colleague , Bro . John Brewer , increased his total to £ 103 19 s ., so that considering what it did last year and that it has a local Educational and also an Annuity Fund of its own , Devonshire may be said to have acquitted itself very satisfactorily . Bro . Hans B . Olsen , who has figured on several occasions as a Steward from

DURHAM , and four of her members of Lodge No . 764 , represented the Province at Wednesday ' s gathering , their joint list amounting to £ 105 . However , though only one of its 32 lodges is included in the Returns , the Province makes a point of voting £ 52 ios . every year to each of the three Institutions , and these grants are invariably supplemented by donations and subscriptions from the private lod ges

and members as in May , when Bro . Heppell , acting for the Province , raised £ 134 83 . for the Girls'School , and again in the preceding February when three brethren sent in a combined list amounting to £ 115 ios . Thus at the 188 9 Festivals Durham has given altogether £ 354 i 8 s ., while in 1888 , the Benevolent Institution received £ 122 15 s ., the Girls' School £ 375 18 s ., and the Boys ' School £ 25 2 ios ., the total for the three being £ 75 1 3 s .

Eight Stewards , representing as many lodges , did duty for the Province of ESSEX , with its muster roll of 28 lodges , and very successfully they performed it , the sum of their lists being £ 331 5 s . 6 d . that of Bro . W . D . Merritt , as Steward for the Priory Lodge , No . 1000 , Southend , amounting to £ 8 4 ios . 6 d ., and that of Bro . J . C . Hopwood , as representative of the Bagshaw Lodge , No . 1457 , Loughton , reaching

£ 80 17 s . In February , Bros , Sknngley and Lennox Browne , representing the United Lodge , No . 657 , Colchester , and the new Warner Lodge , No . 2256 , Chigwell , between them compiled a total of £ 291 18 s ., Bro . Browne ' s list amounting to £ 234 3 s . In May , Comp . Durrant , of the Essex Chapter , No . 276 , Chelmsford , offered his services as Steward at the last moment , and handed in

£ 23 2 s ., so that the total for the current year is £ 646 5 s . 6 d ., and a very excellent total it is , when we bear in mind that in 1888 the Province raised £ 1297 3 s . 6 d ., of which the Girls' School obtained rather more than two thirds ; in 1887 , £ 873 7 s . ; and in 1886 , £ 599 4 s . ; while in 188 4 the very hi gh figure of £ 1546 7 s . 6 d ., of which the Girls' School , for which Bro . Lord Brooke , P . G . Master , presided as Chairman , received £ 1000 .

GLOUCESTERSHIRE , which has 14 lodges , is a regular attendant at our Festivals , and contributes liberally for a Province of such moderate strength . In February its five Stewards together raised £ 94 ios ., irrespective of the contribution from Bro . Sir Lionel E . Darell , whose donation was included-in the list from the Prince of Wales Lodge , No . 259 , London . In May , it figured for once in a way , among the absentees ,

but on Wednesday its four Stewards , of whom Bro . Vassar-Smith acted hidependentl y , raised amongst them £ 105 ., so that its total for the current year is £ 199 ios . Last year it raised £ 79 5 s . 6 d . for the Benevolent Institution , £ 520 18 s . for the Girls' Centenary , and £ 21 for the Boys' School , or , altogether , £ 621 3 s . 6 d . Had it been earlier settled that Bro . Richard Eve , Past G . Treasurer , should undertake the duties of Chairman at the Boys' School Festival for the year , we should have looked for a larger amount of support from the Province of

HAMPSHIRE AND THE ISLE OF WIGHT , of which he is a P . P . S . G . W ., and with which he has been prominently associated for so many years . But it was late in the day when he agreed to accept the position of President , and there was little time , therefore , for Hants and the Isle of Wight to do more than indicate its goodwill towards him , more especially as the heavy contributions it had made in 1887 and last year must have greatly crippled its means . In the former year , when Bro . Beach . M . P ., its P . G . M .,

presided at the Benevolent Festival , it raised £ 1882 19 s . 6 d ., of which the R . M . B . I . received £ 1785 9 s . 6 d ., while in 1888 it subscribed altogether £ 1355 is . id ., of which £ 1149 : 3 ' 6 d . was for the Girls' Centenary . The drain thus caused has been felt throughout the present year , the contribution in February to the Old People , amounting to only £ 164 8 s . 6 d ., while in May there was only a single lodge out of the' 47 on the roll which sent up a Steward , whose list amounted t ° £ 57 ' 5 ' On Wednesday , five lodges were represented b y as many Stewards , their joint contributions amounting to £ 144 18 s .

HERTFORDSHIRE , which has made considerable progress during the last five years , and now has 17 lodges on its roll , began the year by raising £ 240 for the Festival of the Old Peop le in February , the number of Stewards being seven ; and in May it raised a further £ 52 12 s . by the hands of Bro . W . d'A . Crofton , acting for the senior lodge—the

Hertford , No . 403—and Bro . F . S . Knyvett , Unattached . On Wednesday , Bro . Crofton served his third Stewardship for the year , and Bro . Geo . E . Lake acted for the Watford Lodge , No . 404 , which stands second on the roll , theirlists together , amounting to £ 7 8 15 s ., and raising the total for 1889 to £ 371 7 s . Last year it contributed £ 649 19 s . at the Girls' Centenary , and £ 146 15 s . 6 d . to the R . M . B . I ., so that its support this year is most praiseworthy .

KENT is one of our strongest Provinces , not only in respect of the number of its lodges , which now are 57 , all told , but also on account of its excellent Charitable organisation , which enables it to give regularly as well as generously . But , as we hav " already remarked in the case of Hants and the Isle of Wig ht , even a strong Province occasionally finds it needful to rest entirel y or moderate its zeal . Vet it

must be conceded that Kent , though it raised £ 1725 in 1886 and £ 1920 16 s . 6 d . i » 188 7 , and followed up these large contributions b y raising £ 3 688 us . last year , ha * nevertheless found it possible to give an excellent account of itself during the current year , and to show that its goodwill towards all our Charities , if not it * resources , is inexhaustible . In February , it raised £ 821 17 s . fid . for the Benevolent Institution , the number of its Stewards being 16 , and the number of lodges represented 13 . In May , it gave £ 145 19 s . to the Girls' School , one lodge being