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pOLD AND HUNGRY . FIELD LANE REFUGES AND MISSIONS . This cold weather brings great suffering to the very poor and homeless . The petitions for Coal and Bread Tickets are more than we can . supply . OUR REFUGES ARE FULL . WILL YOU HELP US BY A DONATION ( HOWEVER SMALL )? Treasurer—W . A . BEVAN , Esq ., 54 . Lombard-st ., E . C . Secretary—PEREGRINE PLATT , Vine-street , Clerkenwell-road , E . C .

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IOHN J . M . BULT , J CASH TAILOR , 140 , FENCHURCH ST ., LONDON , E . C . TWO LEADING SPECIALITIESDRESS SUIT ( Satin Linings ) , £ 4 4 s . F ROCK C OAT ( Silk Faced ) & VEST , £ 3 3 s . The Largest Selection in the City of Scotch Tweed , Cheviot and Fancy Suitings .

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rpHE UPPER THAMES . RETURN TICKETS at 21 / - arc ISSUED AT PADDINGTON DAILY ( commencing SATURDAY , MAY 1 Sth ) ( HANK HOLIDAYS & REGATTA DAYS EXCEPTED ) to include first class railway journey to and from HENLEY-ON-THAMES , IAUNCH TRIP on MONDAYS , WEDNESDAYS and SATURDAYS to CLIVEDON WOODS . On TUESDAYS , THURSDAYS , FRIDAYS & SUNDAYS to PANGBOURNE . LUNCHEON ON BOARD LAUNCH . 'TABLE D'HOTE DINNER at "RED LION" HOTEL , HENLEY . WEEK DAYS . —PADDINGTON Dep . 10 . 0 a . m ., HENLEY arrive 10 . 50 a . m . ; HENLEY Dep . y . 15 p . m ., PADDINGTON arrive 10 . 7 p . m . SUNDAYS . —PADDINGTON Dep . 10 . 5 a . m ., HENLEY arrive 10 . 55 a . m . ; HEN'LEY Dep . y . o p . m ., PADDINGTON arrive 9 . 52 p . m .

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PRICE 6 S . TUTASONIC REPRINTS AND HISTORICAL REVELATIONS BY HENRY SADLER , P . M . & P . Z ., Grand Tyler and Sub-Librarian of the Grand Lodge . Author of "Masonic Facts & Fictions , " "Thomas Dunckerley , " & c . AND W . J . CHETWODE CRAWLEY , LL . D ., D . C . L ., Past Senior Grand Deacon , Ireland , & c ., & c . Upwards of 250 pages demy octavo , handsomely bound in cloth gilt , top edges gilt . GKORGB KBNNINO , 16 & 16 a , GREAT QUBEN ST ., W . C .

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AN EXACT REPRODUCTION OF THB MACNAB MASONIC MS . OF A . D . 1722 , EDITED BY BRO . WILLIAM WATSON ( of Leeds ) WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY BRO . WILLIAM JAMES HUGHAN . ALSO . Reduc : d Facsimile of portions of the MS . London : GlORQK KKNNINO . 16 ft ISA . Gt . Queen-V .

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QJOUTH AFRICAN MASONIC ** - * RELIEF FUND . A FUND from which the several DISTRICT GRAND LODGES under the English Constitution in SOUTH AFRICA may he assisted to RELIEVE THE DISTRESSES OF THEIR LOYAL MEMBERS , occasioned directly by the War in that quarter . £ s . d . Amount previously acknowledged ... 10 , 422 13 6 Worth Lodge , No . 1 GG 4 ... ... 10 10 o Ihree Grand Principles Lodge , No . 4 . 11 ... 550

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INSTALLATION OF H . R . H . THE TQUKE OF pONNAUGHT , K . G . URGENT AND IMPORTANT !!! MASTERS OF CRAFT LODGES ,

who will be at once Communicated with , at the respective meeting * places of their Lodges , arc requested to apply at such places of meeting for an important Circular from the Grand Secretary , with reference to the approaching ; INSTALLATION OV H . R . H . THE DUKE OF CONNAUGHT , K . G ., as Most Worshipful Grand Master .

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' ^^^ S- ^^^^^^ SM ^^^ MSg Wm^^^^^^^^ SATURDAY , MAY II , 1901 .

Masonic Notes.

Masonic Notes .

On Friday , the 17 th instant , will be held in the large hall of Freemasons' Tavern the Annual General Meeting of the Governors and Subscribers of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution , and at one p . m ., or as soon as the ordinary business has been

transacted , there will be an election to fill the vacancies , immediate and deferred , which were declared on the Male and Widows' Funds at the Committee of Management in February last , and , if the meeting so decides , any other vacancies that may have occurred since the declaration in February .

« « * For the Male Fund there are 49 candidates and 13 vacancies , including the three deferred , to be filled , London being responsible for 15 candidates and the Provinces for the remaining 34 . It is also worthy of remark that 22 candidates remain from last year ' s

election , havine all of them taken part in one or more ballots , the No . 1 on the list being about to make trial of his fortnne for the 18 th time , while 37 are new cases , whose names have since been placed on the list . For the Widows' Fund there are 54 candidates and only eig ht vacancies , including the three deferred ,

available . Of the former 25 remain from the election in May , 1 9 , the No . 1 in this case being about to try her fortune for the 18 th time , and 29 are newlyapproved cases , whose names have been placed on the list during the past 12 months . In the case of this Fund London sends up 14 and the Provinces 40 candidates .

« » ? It cannot be denied that the outlook , so far as the number of vacancies declared in February are concerned , is most unpromising , and even if we assume that ha ' . f-a-dozen more vacancies have been reported

since that declaration and are ordered by the meeting to be filled up , there will still be between 70 and 80 Old People , who must , in the order of things , fail to win places , and of whom it may be truly said that in their unhappy plight "hope deferred maketh the heart sick . "

* * But while wc must all sympathise with and wish success to any well-considered scheme which will prevent candidates for the benefits of the Benevolent Institution from having their hopes of success deferred year after year owing to their inability to obtain the

support necessary to secure their election , we demur entirely to the statement of Bro . W . C . Parsons , which appeared in his letter of last week , that to permit such candidates to remain on the lists for a long series of years " is a disgrace to those who nominated them , and is certainly not to the credit of the

Institution or the Craft which allows such a contradiction to continue . " There is , in the first place , no difficulty in obtaining what Bro . Parsons calls " a nomination . " All the intending candidate , whether a brother or brother's widow , is required to do is to

furnish the certificates required by Law 111— " Qualifications , & c , for the Male Fund , " and do do . " For the Widows' Fund , ' and if these are found to be in order , the case is accepted , and the name of the brother or brother ' s widow is placed on the list ; and

Masonic Notes.

there it remains until removed b y . election or . death . But there is no "disgrace" in this to those who furnish the required certificates , which are , in truth , mere statements of fact and nothing more . * * * As for the Institution and the Craft , whose conduct Bro . Parsons has seen fit to impugn in this matter , we

think they are quite able to take care of themselves . Still , we take the liberty of pointing out , firstly , as regards the Institution that it is governed by certain Rules and Regulations which have been sanctioned and approved by the Governors and Subscribers at their regular or a Special Meeting , and that those Rules

and Regulations have not the necessary legal force until they have been accepted by Grand Lodge . Secondly , as regards the Craft , it is only those members of it that have qualified as Governors or Subscribers that have any voice in the government of the Institution . Thus the Governors and Subscribers

have nothing further to do with the ballot than to secure that it is carried out in accordance with the Rules and Regulations they have framed and Grand Lodge has sanctioned , while those members of . the Craft who are not Governors or Subscribers have no voice whatever in matters with which they have no concern . ^^^iE

•• We have said that all must sympathise with the poor brother's widow , who year after year , goes in for a ballot which is always unsuccessful . But if a candidate ' s claims are not supported—or rather we should say , are not pressed—by the Province or lodge which may be supposed to know most about his or her merits ,

the other Provinces and lodges , who may have cases of their own to press , are not to blame , neither is the Institution or the Craft to blame because it cannot frame or sanction rules which will cover every class of case that may be accepted and approved by the Committee of Management . * * *

There are other circumstances which we take leave to commend to the attention of Bro . Parsons and those who with him appear to think that the Benevolent Institution must frame its rules so as to allow of every class , whether well or ill supported by the voters being accepted , and more especially the following .

At the election in May , 18 75 , that is to say , within a month after his Majesty , then Prince of Wales , was installed M . W . Grand Master , there were on the two Funds of the Institution 130 Men receiving £ 36 per annum each , and loo Widows receiving £ 28 per annum each ; the total sum required to provide these

annuities being £ 7480 . Now , there are 210 Men in receipt of £ 40 per annum each , and 253 Widows in receipt of JE 32 per annum each , and the total sum required to meet these payments is , £ 16 , 496 . Thus in the brief space of a quarter of a century—for the figures we have last quoted were settled at the annual meeting in May , 1900—the Benevolent Institution has

considerably more •than doubled its outlay on annuities , and yet there appear to be brethren like Bro . Parsons , who , even in the face of this splendid this amazing increase of usefulness , somehow seem to have persuaded themselves that the Institution or the Craft is to blame because a few cases remain long on the lists of candidates .

» * * We omitted to mention last week that the fifth line of " J . R . R ' s . " Sonnet in Memoriam G . W . Speth , which appeared in our issue of the 27 th ult ., should read :

True Friend ! true Mason ! Say then ye who can . " and not as it was printed" True Friend ! true Mason ! Say thou you who can . ' •» * The stated meeting of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge , No . 2076 , which was appointed to be held on Friday ,

the 3 rd instant , was held but only forthe transaction of formal business and to enable the members to express their deep sorrow at the severe loss which the lodge had sustained through the death of its beloved and respected Secretary , Bro . G . W . Speth . * The banquet was also dispensed with and the proposed

summer outing will not take place . We have been asked to state that until a definite arrange . lent has been come to as to the . appointment of a permanent Secretary in succession to the late Bro . Speth Bro . W . H . Rylands , P . M ., P . A . G . D . C , has very kindly consented to undertake the duties .

* * » The Committee of Management of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution held its meeting for the month at Freemasons' Hall on Wednesday . Bro . J . A . Kurnfield , P . A . G . D . C , thu Treasurer

occupied the chair , and there was a full attendance of members . The Secretary reported sundry deaths and the draft Report of the Committee ' s proceedings during the past year was submitted and adopted , and thc meeting shortly afterwards adjourned .