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CONTENTS . PAGB LEADERThe Appoaching Festival of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution ... 627 United Grand Lodge ( Quarterly Communication ... ... ... 627 Mark Grand Lodge ( Quarterly Communication ... ... ... 629 Provincial Grand Lodge of Cambridgeshire ... ... ... ... 630 Provincial Grand Chapter of Essex ... ... ... •¦¦ 631 Provincial Priory of Hampshire ... ... ... ... •••632 Science , Art , and the Drama ... ... ... ... ... 633

MASONIC NOTESBuarterly Communication of United Grand Lodge ... ... ... 635 uaiterly Communication of Mark Grand Lodge ... ... ... 6 35 Half-yearly Chapter of the Great Piiory of the Order of the Temple ... 635 Masonic Vagrants ... ... ... ... ... ... 635 The Late Bro . Henrv Sutherland , P . G . D . ... ... ... C'iS Consecration of the East Goscote Lodge , No . 2 SC 5 ... ... ( 135 Provincial Grand Ledge of Cambridgeshire ( Annual Meeting ) ... 635

Knby Ledge cf Instruction ( Annual Festival ) ... ... ... " 35 Correspondence ... ... ... ... ... ... 63 G Reviews ... ... ... ... ... ... ... G 36 Ihe Craft Abroad ... ... ... ... ... ... 636 Craft Masonry ... ... ... ... 6 39 The December Magazines ... ... ... ... ... 641 Instruction ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 642 Obituary ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 642 Masonic and General Tidings ... ... ... ... ... 642

The Approaching Festival Of The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

THE APPROACHING FESTIVAL OF THE ROYAL MASONIC BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION .

There is nothing like Liking time by the forelock , and hence , in accordance with the custom we have adopted lor several years past , we call attention to the first of the three great anniversary Festivals which will lie celebrated as usual in behalf of

our Charitable Institutions in 1902 . This , as our readers know full well , is the Festival in aid of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution , and though the old year is far from being out as yet ( and a fairly long interval must elapse before the day appointed

for its celebration comes round , we must not lose sight of the fact that the Cliri Imas holidays will make a considerable hole in lhat interval , and that people during those holidays will be thinking more about the festivities in the home circle and

elsewhere which are appropriate to this season than about the needs of a Charitable Institution , however Benevolent may be its objects . The Festival in question will take place on Wednesday , the 2 S 1 I 1 February , and will have for its President Sir A .

FREDERICK GODSON , M . P ., Prov . G . Master of Worcestershire . Both Sir A . F . GoDSON and his Province are known far and wide throughout the Craft for their exceeding goodwill towards all our Masonic Charitable Institutions , but Worcestershire ,

with which he has been so long connected , and over which he has had the honour to preside since 18 95 , has a musterroll of only 15 lodges ; and though there have been several occasions , and notably at the Centenary Festival of the

Boys' School , when for so small a Province it Iras greatl y distinguished itself by the extent of its donations , we must not expect from it anything like such an amount of support as was forthcoming from the " Chairman ' s Province" of Fssex at the

Festival in behalf of the same Institution in February last . Hence , if the total of next year ' s Returns arc to approximate at all nearl y to the / , 26 , ooo and upwards which was raised for the Old People during the present year , it can only lie done by

enrolling such a Board of Stewards as will worthily represent the lodges in London and the other and more particularl y the wealthi r and more influential among our Provinces . This much the moderate-sized Province of Worcestershire and its chief are

entitled to expect , and we are pleased to ( ind that up to the present time Bro . JAMES TERRY , the energetic Secretary of the Benevolent Institution , has been fairly successful in his efforts to enlist the services of ladies and brethren as Stewards in support of Sir A , F , GODSON ' S Chairmanship . The Board alread y

The Approaching Festival Of The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

numbers some 180 members , and though this is less to the extent of about 50 than LordWARWICK ' sBoardatthe correspondingdatd of last year , the difference is , to a certain extent , explained by the difference in the number of lodges in the respective Provinces

of Worcestershire and Essex , there being , as we have said , only 15 in the former as compared with some 45 in the latter . Bro . TERRY , however , is , as usual , hard at work visiting lodges iii

town and country , and w . e have little doubt that , when we next take the opportunity of calling attention to the approaching Old People's Anniversary , we shall be in a position to report further and still more satisfactory progress .

The cause for which we are appealing is one that calls for all the support that can possibly be obtained . The Male Fund of the Institution provides annuities of £ 40 each for 210 old and indigent brethren ; the Widows' Fund lias on its establishment

253 old ladies , to each of whom is assigned an annuity of , £ 32 ; and , in addition , there are between 20 and 30 widows of deceased annuitants , who receive each / , * 20 a year for live years , or half of their late husbands' annuities . Thus

the Benevolent Institution distributes annually a round , £ 17 , 000 in maintaining in comfort between 480 and 490 poor brethren and widows of brethren who have , . fallen into * a state of poverty or arc too old , and , in the majority of cases ,

too decrepit to earn a livelihood . Add to this a sum of about ^ 3000 for expenses of management and the maintenance of the Asylum at Croydon , and the reader will have no difficulty in satisfying himself as to-the need there is for a generous support at

each recurring Festival , the necessary expenditure being at the rate of £ 20 , 000 per annum , while the permanent income , consisting of the grants from Grand Lodge (/ J 600 ) and Grand Chapter ( £ 150 ) , and the interest on invested capital , does not

greatly exceed , if , indeed , it does exceed , the sum of / . " fiooo . Lastly , there is , unfortunately , almost invariably a huge dispror portion between the number of candidates for the two Funds and the numbers which it is possible to elect . At the annual

meeting in May of this year 22 men were elected from an approved list , reduced by two deaths and a withdrawal , of 47 , while 17 widows were elected from a list of 54 , the three deferred annuitants in each case being included in the numbers

elected . Thus when the poll was declared , there remained 25 old men and 37 widows unprovided for , and since then ' , of course , there have been received numerous petitions , from both classes of candidates , while the vacancies that have

since occurred are few in number and unless Death plays havoc among the existing annuitants , will , in all probability , be as few in proportion to the roll of applicants as in the present and preceding years . We trust then , that early nc . vt month when ,

if all goes well , we shall again review the situation , we shall have it in our power to report such an increase in the number of Stewards , as will justify the hope of a successful result under the auspices of Sir A . F . GODSON and his loyal Province of Worcestershire ;

United Grand Lodge.

UNITED GRAND LODGE .

The Quarterly Communication of U nited Grand Lod ge of Free and Accepted Masons of England was held on Wednefdny eveninp last at Freemasons' Hall , London . Bro . George Richards , Dist . Grand Master of the Transvaal , presided in the absence of the Grand Master , the Pro Grand Master , and the Deputy Grand Master ; Colonel Davis , A . D . C ., Prov . G . M . for Surrey , acted as Past Grand Master ; Sir John B . Monckton , P . G . W ., took the chair of S . G . W . ; Bro . Frank Richardson was Director of Ceremonies ; and amonef the brethren present were—