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CONTENTS . LHADHR— PACK The Mark Benevolent Fund Festival ... ... ... ... 345 The Mark Benevolent Fund ... ... ... ... •••345 Grand Council of Secret Monitor ... ... ... ... ... 34 S Grand Festival of Secret Monitor ... ... ... ... ... 34 8 Consecration of the Mendelssohn Lodge , No . 2661 ... ... ... 340 Consecration of the Philbrick Chapter , No . 1 G 62 ... ... ... 350

Summer Outing- of the Blackheath Lodge , No . 1320 ... ... ... 351 Masonic Thanksgiving Service at Axminster ... ... ... ... 351 MASONIC NOTRSProvincial Grand Lodge of North and East Yorkshire ... ... 353 Banquet at Empire Lodge , No . 210 S ... ... ... ... 353 Presentation to Earl Londesborough at Beverley ... ... ... 353 Correspondence ... ... ... ... ... ... 354 Masonic Notes and Queries ... ... ... _ ... _ ... 354 Provincial Grand Lodge of Durham—Jubilee Commemoration Service at

Durham Cathedral ... ... ... ... ... ... 354 Masonic J ubilee Service at Wallsend ... ... ... ... 355 Jubilee Celebration at the Constitutional Lodge , No . 394 , Beverley ... 355 Craft Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... 356 Royal Arch ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 35 s Mark Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... 358

Knights Templar ... ... ... ... ... ... 359 Allied Masonic Degrees ... ... ... ... ... 359 Red Cross of Rome and Constantine ... ... ... ... 359 Consecration pf the _ Commemoration Lod ^ e , No . 2663 ... ... ... 359 Royal Masonic Institution for Girls ... ... ... ... ... 360 The Recent Boys'School Festival ... ... ... ... ... 3 C 0 Masonic and General Tidings ... ... ... ... ... 360

The Mark Benevolent Fund Festival.

THE MARK BENEVOLENT FUND FESTIVAL .

The 29 th Anniversary Festival on behalf of the Mark Benevolent Fund was held at the Freemasons' Tavern , on Wednesday , and from the report we publish elsewhere , it will be seen , not only that it was an exceedingly pleasant meeting—as Mark

Benevolent Festivals or , for the matter of that , Masonic Festivals universally are—but that it resulted in a higher total of donations and subscriptions than has ever been announced before . Last year , Bro . C . LETCH MASON and his Province of West

Yorkshire , had a " record " return of upwards of £ 2400 , or some £ 50 or £ 60 in excess of the total obtained in Lord FUSION ' S year . On this occasion , Bro . Lt .-Col . A . B . COOK , and his Province of Middlesex , have carried all before them , and the

new " record they have set up will take an immense amount oi beating . However , we have no desire to glorify the result of any particular Festival at the expense of those which have preceded it . What we are always on the look-out for , is a success

that shall materially benefit the Institution immediately concerned , and there is , we think , but little doubfc that . the Mark Benevolent Fund will benefit substantially by Wednesday ' s gathering , and that the success of Bro . Lt .-Col . A . B . COOK ,

Prov . Or . Master of Middlesex , as Chairman of the 29 th Mark Benevolent Fund Festival , and his merry Board of close upon 240 Stewards , will long be remembered . A total of £ 3100 13 s . is a worthy result from so numerous and influential a gathering

as that which met in Freemasons' Tavern , on Wednesday evening , under the genial auspices of the Prov . G . Master of Middlesex , and our dearest hope is that the excellent record then established may be beaten at the earliest possible opportunitv .

The Mark Benevolent Fund.

THE MARK BENEVOLENT FUND .

The 29 th Anniversary Festival of the Benevo ' tnt Fund of the Grand h' dge of Mark Master Masons of England and Wales and the Colonies and Deptndencies of the British Crown was held on Wednesday evening at Freemason' . ' Tavern , under the presidency of Bro . Col . A . B . Cook , Prov . Grand Master of Middlesex . Nearly 300 brethren and ladies sat down to

dinner , among them being—Bros , the Karl of Eustjn , Pro G . M . ; Viscount Dungarvan , Deputy G . M . ; the Earl of Portarlington , P . G . W . ; Major Woodall , Major Oliver Papworth , Dr . Balfour Cockburn , R . Loveland Loveland , Col . Clifford Probjn , Sir J . C . Dims , dale , Frank Richardson , H . Lovegrove , Major C . W . Carrell , Richard Eve , C . F ,

The Mark Benevolent Fund.

Matier , E . White , Bro . and Mrs . Craddock , Bros . A . Stewart Brown , Charles Belton , W . A . Scurrah , Capt . C . J . Knightley , A . H .-Bevan , Dr . W . H . Kempster , Dr . Lawrence , J . E . Lane , H . C . Houndle , Capt . G . Hearn , the Earl of Yarborough , the Hon . A . de Tatton Egerton , Sir Lionel Duell , Victor C . W . Cavendish , M . P ., Col . Le Gendre Starkie , Emil Apelt and Mrs . Apelt , Bros , Richard Clowes , Rowland Plumbe , G . H . Parke , G , Treas . ; and Gordon Miller , P . G . T .

The music was under the direction ot Bro . Frederick Bevan , who was ssisted by Miss Adelaide Mullen , Miss Marie Hooton , Miss Maude Evans , and Bros . H . W . Schartau , and Henry Beaumont . After dinner the customary toasts were proposed . Bro . Col . A . B . COOK , in proposing " The Omen , " said duing the last few weeks they had had an opportunity of witnessing the loya'ty and enthusiasm that had been displayed over every portion of this great E-noire

and every part of the known world . They had felt towards her Majesty the Queen , and he then asked that assemblage of Mark Masons of England and Wales to once more honour her name by drinking her health and wishing good health for some years to come to the lady who had presided over this Empire for so many years in the way she had , and who , he thought , could not be better described than he heard her described the other dayas " the most queenly of women , and the most womanly of queens . "

Bro . Col . A . B . COOK next proposed "The M . W . G . M ., H . R . H . the Prince of Wales . " The interest his Royal Highness took in all branches of Freemasonry was too well known for him to allude to it more particularly . The position his Royal Highness occupied , and the many calls there were upon his time , prevented his carrying out the actual duties of Masonry ; still they well knew when any particular occasion arose , and he thought by his presence he could do any good , his Royal Highness was sure to be there .

Bro . Col . COOK , in proposing " The M . W . Pro G . M ., the Past Grand Masters , the Deputy G . M ., and the rest of the G . Officers , Present and Past , " said the toast was a very comprehensive one . He was very pleased to see around him so many of the Grand Officers , both Pns . 'nt and Pa't ; but he was particularly proud—as they all might be on that occision—that they had both the Pro Grand Master and the Deputy Grand Master present . They were the officers who carried out those actual duties he just row

referred to which the Prince of Wiles had not the time to execute . These brethren spared no trouble where they felt thev could be of any use . They travelled miles from the head-quirters of the M irk Degree if they thought they could advance its interests in any way , and he could not but feel that it was due to such men as they , coupled with the assistance they got from all the oiher Grand Officers , that the Mark Degree had made such progress and made the strides it had in the last few years .

The Earl of EUSTON , M . W . Pro G . M ., in replying , said that in addition to thanking Col . Co . k on behalf of the Grand Officers , he thanked him personally for the kind words he had used . As long as he had been in Grand Lodge in any position , he bad received the bet support from the Grand Officers , and in time to come they would bs willing and happy to do anything they could to advance ihe Mark Degree ; they were always pleased to be with the brethren .

The Earl of EUSTON proposed " The Health of the Chairman , " Many Chairmen had preceded Col . Cook , and had done their best to get good subscriptions for the Mark Benevolent Fun d . The brethren hoped he would do even better than his predecesors , and if he did it would encourage others to do better still . Col Cook was in the centre of Masonry in . Middlesex , and that province had backed him up well and heartilv . The company would all join in wishing the Chairman long life and health to continue his good work .

Bro . Col . A . B . COOK , in reply , said hs thanked Lord Euston for the way in which he had suggested that he ( Col . Cook ) had taken > ome trouble about that Festival , and he also thanked all present for the way they had received Lord Euston ' s remarks . Bat it appeared to him thit those remarks would have been better m-ide if they had come after the result of his efforts had been ascertained . He was now about to ask the company to drink the next

toast— "Success to the Mark Benevolent Fund . " Last autumn he was asked to take the chair at that Festival j but he must say he felt some diffidence ; in fact , it did not seem to him a very advisable moment for any one to take the chair at that Festival , because West Yorkshire had done its best last year in collecting together a larger amount than had ever been collected ior that Fund before . Besides , he also thought — as turned out

to be the case—that the Jubilee year would call on people ' s pockets more than ordinary years . At the same time , after consulting some of the members ot his province , wha , he was glad to s » y , agreed with him , he thought it a fair and a good opportunity for the same Province of Middlesex to be up and stirring to show that it wis p issihle that their constitution of the province was a wise one , and that they snould

give some raison d etre for their existence . What the result might ba he was sure they were all somewhat anxious to know . if they had made a fair show Middlesex would be satisfied ; they woulri feel like a small boy when he had fought a good fight and been beaten by ihe elder b iy and got a good licking , that although he had been beaten he had not been dis

graced . But if Middlesex beat West Yorkshire , all the more glory to little Middlesex , but if it did not it would not onl y glory in defeat , but feel proud that it had been helping those who cou'd not help themselves . ( Hear , hear . ) He did not propose to speak at all on the merits of the Fund on whose behalf he was pleading to some extent ; but for the benefit