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CONTENTS . PAGE LBADERSApproaching Festival of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution ... 13 Philo-Musicre et Architecture Societas ... ... ... ... 13 Masonic Jurisprudence ... . ... ... ... ... „ ... 14 Dedication of a Masonic Hall at Newbury ... ... ... ... 15 Science . Art , and the Drama ... ... ... ... ... 16 Craft Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... 17

MASONIC NOTESFirst Meeting of the Board of Stewards for Anniversary Festival of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution ... ... ... 19 Quarterly General Court of the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls ... 19 New Year Honours ... ... ... ... ... 19 Dedication of a Masonic Hall at Newbury ... ... ... 19 Death of Bro . Rev . C . J . Martyn , P . G . C . ... ... ... 19

Reviews ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 20 A Centenarian Freemasons' Lodge ... ... ... ... 20 Bro . David Reid , Grand Secretary Scotland ... ... ... 20 Mark Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... 20 Craft Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... 21

Instruction ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 22 Royal Masonic Institution for Girls ( Quarterly Court ) ... ... ... 22 Obituary ... ... ... "" ... ... ... ... 23 Wills and Bequests ... ... ... ... ... ... 23 Masonic and General Tidings ... ... ... ... ... 24

Approaching Festival Of The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

APPROACHING FESTIVAL OF THE ROYAL MASONIC BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION .

When we hear it announced that the first meeting of the Board of Stewards for the Anniversary Festival of one of our great central Charitable Institutions is about to be held , we know perfectly well that the celebration of the Festival itself is not

very far distant . On the 3 rd instant , the Stewards for the Benevolent Festival met for the first time at Freemasons ' Hall , when the preliminary arrangements were made and it was settled , among other things , that the celebration should take place

at the Freemasons Tavern on Wednesday , the 27 th February . Thus the time has arrived when it becomes necessary for us to renew the appeal we addressed to our readers in the early days of

last month for that generous support which is never withheld from this deserving Charity , and at the same time to take a further look round and see what likelihood there is of the returns

necessary to meet the obligations of that Charity being obtained . As regards the latter point , we consider we are justified in saying that the outlook is very promising . When the Board met on the day mentioned above , the Secretary was in a position to announce that the number of ladies and brethren he had had

the good fortune to enlist as Stewards for the 59 th Anniversary of the Old People ' s Institution very nearly equalled that which he announced at the corresponding date in 1900 , when , except for the Jubilee Festival , the strongest Board on record

composed of more than 600 ladies and brethren , was organised . Since then other names have been added to the list , and by the end of the present week the chances are in favour of the number of Stewards being not far short of 350—at all events ,

considerably nearer to 350 than 300—with an interval of six weeks left in which to make still further progress towards a bi g Board . Moreover , as far as we can judge , the Stewards are fairly well

distributed between town and country , nor can there be the slightest doubt that the Chairman ' s Province of Essex will do its best to acquit itself in a manner worthy of its well-known loyaltv and generosity .

As regards the needs of the Benevolent Institution , they have been so often referred to in greater or less detail in these columns and elsewhere that we shall content ourselves with pointing out that to meet the requirements of the current year

Approaching Festival Of The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

a sum of about £ 20 , 000 must be raised , and the permanent income to meet this heavy charge amounts to only about £ 6000 , including the grants from Grand Lodge and Grand Chapter . The annuities and half-annuities for which the Committee of

Management must provide the means will absorb about £ 17 , , and the cost of maintaining the Asylum at Croydon and the expenses of management will run to a further £ 3000 . But the money is well spent . The annuitants on the two Funds together

number 4 63—210 men and 253 widows—and in addition there are between 20 and 30 widows who are in receipt of half their late husbands' annuities—that is , £ 20 per annum . But as illluck would have it , notwithstanding the additional annuities

created by the Managing Committee in i 8 y 9 and 1900 , namely , eight on the Male Fund and eight on the Widows' Fund , the disproportion between the number of candidates and the number of vacancies that will be available for competition at

the annual meeting in May next is nearly , if not quite , as large as we have known it for some years past . At Wednesday ' s meeting of the Committee of Management as many as 22 petitions were dealt with and approved , so that the

candidates who will go to the poll at the May election will muster in . all 105 . of whom 51 are Men and 54 Widows . At present there are only 12 actual vacancies—nine on the Male Fund and three on the Widows' Fund—and if we add the three deferred

annuities on each Fund , the number to be elected will be 12 Men and six Widows . In other words , as the case stands now , only 18 out of the 105 candidates can be provided for at the next election . No doubt other annuities will become available

between now and the third Friday in May . At all events , it is within our experience that such vacancies have arisen in the past , but under no circumstances can we be prepared for more than about one-fourth of the present applicants being

provided for at the next annual meeting of the Institution , unless , indeed , the Festival turns out to be so productive as to justify the Committee of Management in augmenting the number of annuitants on cither or both of the Funds . We therefore appeal

to the Craft generally to raise such a sum as will enable the Committee to recommend or adopt this course , so that as few as possible of these poor Old People , whose claims to the benefits of the Institution have been approved , may be left to bear the

stress of poverty for , at least , another year . We know how numerous and heavy have been the claims upon the brethren ' s pockets during the last 15 or 16 months and how ready and generous has been their response , but the success of the last

Festival inclines to hope that , if only out of compliment to the new century upon which we have just entered , at least , an equal measure of success may be obtained next month under the auspices of the Earl of WARWICK , Deputy Grand Master of England , and Prov . Grand Master of Essex .

Philo-Musicæ Et Architecturæ Societas.*

PHILO-MUSIC ? ET ARCHITECTUR ? SOCIETAS . *

Doubtless there are many who will wonder what connection there can have been between Freemasonry and the " Philo-Musicx et Architecture Societas , " which existed in London from 1725 to 1727 , and "The Book of the Fundamental Constitutions and Orders , " which are now reproduced as Volume IX . of the Quatuor Coronati Reprints . The opening sentences in