Analysis Of The Returns.

The rest have in every case given their services at one , if not at more than one , of the last six Festivals . Having acquitted ourselves of the least agreeable portion of our task , we g ladly enter into particulars of what has been done by the contributing pro * vinces , the fi rst in order being

BERKS AND BUCKS , Which , with its 21 lodges—made up of 12 Berks and 9 Bucks—gives £ 234 . The eight Stewards who have severally had a hand in this represented seven lodges , and we trust our Bucks brethren will not be offended if we point

out that only one of their nine lodges gave its assistance . The sum raised in February was £ 207 . Last year it distributed over £ 453 among our three Charities ; in 188 3 , £ 472 ; and in 1882 , close on £ 620 , so that there is every reason to believe that the contributions during the current year will compare favourably with those of its three predecessors .

CHESHIRE , With its 39 lodges , has only four of them represented , though five of its brethren do duty as Stewards . The total— £ 100 16 s . od . —is a small one , but , as we have so often remarked before , Cheshire has a Masonic Educational Association of its own , which has a very fair capital , and does much valuable service in helping the children of its poorer or deceased members .

There is therefore a valid reason for its figuring below its strength on these occasions . In February last it sent up by the hands of seven Stewards £ 244 15 s . ; in June , 1884 , £ 49 8 6 s . ; in May , 18 S 4 , £ 54 14 s . ; and in February , 18 S 4 , £ 126 , making the very respectable total for the year of £ 679 . One of the four lodges which contributed on Wednesday was represented both in February and June last .

CORNWALL Did well in entrusting the credit of its 29 lodges to so zealous a Mason as Bro . Charles Truscott , who occupies the position so ably filled till lately by Bro . W . J . Hughan as manager ot the votes held by the province , and has shown his appreciation of the trust reposed in him by raising a list of £ 210 . The same brother acted as Steward for the

whole province at the Benevolent Festival in February , when his list amounted to £ 200 . In 1 S 84 the total was sli g htly under £ 100 , while in 1883 it was , in round figures , £ 243 . This looks as if Cornwall was bent on figuring regularly at our Festivals , but , be this as it may , it has figured at the two Festivals held during the current year to very excellent purpose . The 13 lodges of

DORSETSHIRE Are to be congratulated on the re-appearance of their province in our Festival returns . It was last included in them at the Boys' School Festival of June , 1883 , when three brethren put their shoulders to the wheel , and raised amongst them £ 142 16 s . One of these three was entered as Steward

at the Benevolent Festival of last year , but no amount appeared against his name . Bro . S . R . Baskett deserves credit for his efforts , his list needing only a few pounds more to raise it to a full £ 100 . However , it is a good return he has made , and we trust he will look upon his present success as an incitement to further endeavours in the same direction .

ESSEX Has only three of its 23 lodges in the list , the total of their respective contributions being £ 86 2 s . od . But in February , by the hands of 10 Stewards , of whom two were present on Wednesday , it raised for Bro . Terry the sum of £ 456 13 s . 6 d . ; in June last it gave the ' Boys' School £ 147 ios . 6 d . ; and in the preceding May , when R . W . Bro . Lord Brooke , M . P ., made his debut

as a Masonic Festival Chairman , it supported him to the extent of £ 1000 . In February , 1 S 84 , it contributed only a little short of £ 400—the precise amount was £ 399 7 s . ; and at Bro . Binckes ' s most successful effort in June , 188 3 , it seconded his labours with £ 158 us . This gives a total for the last six Festivals of £ 248 4 s . od ., making the average per Festival £ 374 14 s . It is worthy of note that the name of our worth y Bro . Richard Clowes will be found among the Essex Stewards at all these anniversaries .

HANTS AND THE ISLE OF WIGHT , Which has 41 lodges , generally shows to greater advantage as regards the total of its contributions than it did on Wednesday , when the two brethren acting for Lodges Royal Gloucester , No . 130 , Southampton , and Harmony , No . 309 , Fareham , returned between them £ 240 7 s ., Bro . Robertson ' s list for the former lodge comprising £ 210 of the amount . lit February eiht

g lod ges and a chapter raised over £ 550 , Nos . 130 and 309 being among the contributors . In June , 1 SS 4 , the total was £ 512 , while the Girls' Festival the May preceding yielded £ 295 . However , we cannot always look for large sums even from such regular and liberal ^ upporters of our Institutions as that over which Bro . W . W . B . Beach presides so admirably . HERTFORDSHIRE

Has one of its 13 lodges—the Halsey , No . 1479 , St . Albans—and one of its four chapters—the Hertford , No . 403 , Hertford—the total of the two Stewards' lists being £ 42 5 s . This is , perhaps , a small sum , though Herts is b y no means a strong province numerically . The fact is , we have become accustomed to find it figuring in excess of what might reasonably be expected of it . Thus in February it raised £ 323 8 s . 6 d . for the Benevolent j and last year £ 362 6 s . for the same Institution ; the two Schools having

teen benefited likewise , but in smaller contributions . In 1882 it totalled up nearl y 1000 guineas ( £ 1050 ) , and for several years previously it had made a pomt of being invariably represented at all our Anniversaries . If therefore , we occasionally find , as on Wednesday , that its total is a modest one , we must bear in mind how well it has borne itself at other celebrations , and rejoice that , notwithstanding such displays of generosity , it still has some contributions forthcoming .

P KENT . J-an boast of 53 lodges , and acquits itself always in a manner worthy of its ancient fame and the number of its lodges . Six Stewards , representing iveof its lod ges and one brother Unattached , constituted its section of the card of Stewards on Wednesday , their several lists mounting up together 0 £ 327 2 s . 6 d . In February five brethren , acting for three lodges and a

napter , made up a total of £ 53 1 12 s ., and in June , 1884 , its six Stewards 'turned close on £ 500 . In June , 188 3 , when Lord Holmesdale , P . G . M ., I resided at the memorable Festival of the Boys' School , its total was £ 2316 . of t , every other Festival that has taken place of late years we find Kent one dnuhf - ° P ' nent contributors among the provinces , and we have no Iin „ lt ! ? P y . in respect of our Institutions will be continued on the same "nes as heretofore .

{ s . LANCASHIRE ( Eastern Division . ) ber f " ° meal 1 s as strong in its display of contributions as it is in the numof thn r lod S es the total of tne former being only £ 97 16 s ., the aggregate its ln , i ? Up by 8 Stewards acting for 6 lodges , though the total of •cages is 93 . In February last it raised £ 189 , and in June , 18 S 4 ,

Analysis Of The Returns.

£ 241 ios ., while Bro . Hedges was more forlunate still at his Festival of last year , the amount he received from this province being £ 365 Ss . However , where , as in this case , there is a Provincial Association , we do not look for such large contributions , especially when we know that on particular occasions very conspicuous returns are sure to be forthcoming .

LANCASHIRE ( WESTERN DIVISION ) , Which , with its 82 lodges , is our second strongest province , makes a slightly better show than its Western neighbour , the aggregate of its lists being £ 147 , while in February it raised over £ 341 ; in June , 18 S 4 , £ 18 9 ; and in May , 18 S 4 , £ 316 . Here again , we have , speaking comparatively , somewhat small totals , and here , again , we have a province which has a prosperous Charitable Association of its own , and is likewise prepared to put forth its strength when special circumstances call for additional exertion .

LEICESTERSHIRE AND RUTLAND May have only a modest roll of 11 lodges , and it may not always find it possible to enter an appearance . But when it does send up a Steward or Stewards , it figures to very great advantage . On Wednesday , Bro . Capt . J . G . F . Richardson did duty as representative of the whole province , the total of his list being £ 405 . * In February , 1884 , it benefited the Benevolent

to the extent of £ 350 , its present D . P . G . M ., Bro . S . S . Partridge , being the Steward , and at the Boys' School Anniversary in June , 1883 , the same Bro . Captain Richardson handed in a list of precisely the same amount as on Wednesday , namely , £ 405 , this being in addition to £ 36 15 s ., raised by R . W . Bro . VV . Kelly , P . P . G . M ., for the Old Folks the preceding February , while in the six years to December , 1 S 82 , it distributed not far

short of £ 1600 among our principal Charities . This is a picture of which even a stronger province than Leicestershire and Rutland would have good reason to be proud , and Bro . Capt . Richardson is to be congratulated most heartil y on having raised so large a sum as £ 810 at the two Stewardships we have specified . MIDDLESEX Sends up seven Stewards , who represent amongst them five out of its 34

lodges , three of the five hailing from Hampton Court , and the other two from Feltham and Halliford respectively . The amount of their joint contributions , however , is well worthy of the province which once numbered the late Bro . Wentworlh Little—Bro . Hedges ' s predecessor—among its most distinguished luminaries . Middlesex raised £ 322 9 s . in February

for the Old People , £ 156 16 s . in June last for the Boys , £ 354 10 s . 6 d . for the Girls'Institution in the May preceding , £ 213 11 s . for the Benevolent in the preceding February , and £ 141 17 s . 6 d . at the Boys' Festival in 18 S 3 . Thus , though all three Institutions obtain support from this province , the Girls' seem to have the pull of the other two , just as Hertfordshire , from Bro . Terry ' s association with it , gives a preference to the Benevolent .

MONMOUTHSHIRE Has entrusted its fortunes to a five-year old Lewis , Master Willie Watkins , the son of Bro . Watkins , a P . M . and founder of one of its 8 lodges—Albert Edward Prince of Wales Lodge , No . 1429 , Newport—and a P . G . W . of the province , and the youngster has clearly proved equal to the occasion , the total of his list being £ 61 8 s . 6 d . Bro . Watkins must feel proud of his little

son , who , thus early in his career , has shown himself so laudably ambitious of , rendering help , where help is sorely needed . Considering that Monmouthshire contributed £ 200 to the Benevolent in February , and £ 307 13 s . at the Boys' Festival in June last , we must offer it our hearty congratulations on its present help . We trust , too , that our youthful Lewis will have many more opportunities of distinguishing himself in so honourable a field of labour .

NORFOLK Musters 16 lodges all told , and Bro . C . VV . Bacon , a four-year-old Masonas representative of Perseverance , No . 213 , one of the half-dozen Norwich lodges , has worthily upheld its reputation with the substantial total of £ 200 . This is the first appearance of the province since June , 1883 , and we trust that , as in accordance with the trite saying , * ' nothing succeeds like success , " its excellent contribution of Wednesday will be

again and again repeated . Wh y should not Norfolk be as famous for its Stewardships at our Festivals as it is for its geese and dumplings ? VVe commend the point to our friend Bro . Bacon , who has acted twice in th capacity of Steward in the brief space ol his Masonic career , and who , being clearly an aspirant for fame in this particular sphere of duty , will no doubt desire < o repeat his services of Wednesday , when further opportunities present themselves .

NORTH WALES AND SALOP , Which , by the way , has just had the misfortune to lose its respected chief ( R . W . Bro . Sir VV . Williams Wynn , Bart ., M . P . ) , and will certainly receive the heartfelt sympathy of the Craft generally in its misfortune , had three of its 28 lodges represented , and a fourth Steward in the person of worthy Bro . F . R . Spaull , their joint returns amounting to £ 175 2 s . In

February two Stewards conjointly handed in over £ 97 , while in June , 1884 , three Stewards—Bros . C . K . Benson and Rev . R . Jackson being of the trio —made up a total of £ 185 17 s . for the Boys' School , and in the May preceding Bro . F . R . Spaull and another together returned over £ 70 . A total of over £ 529 for the last four Festivals is a most acceptable offering from the members of this province .

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE Is fortunate in having secured the services of two such zealous workers as Bros . Toplis and S . G . Gilbert , who both exerted themselves with a will for the honour of the 14 lodges entrusted to their charge . Bro . Toplis , as Steward for the Province and the Newstead , No . 47 , Nottingham—the premier lodge of the province—returns a total of £ 150 3 s ., Bro . Gilbert ' s

share of the work yielding £ 100 . In February , when Bro . Phelps was Steward , the total was £ 158 13 s . ; in June last , with three Stewards , of whom Bro . Toplis was one , the contribution was £ 231 ios . 6 d . ; and in the previous February one of the two Stewards handed in £ 142 14 s . 6 d ., while that of the other was not stated in the returns . These figures tell an excellent tale .

We have seen many more imposing totals from OXFORDSHIRE , With its 10 lodges , than that with which it is credited for Wednesday ; but the province , since the lamented death of the Duke of Albany , has had

no chief to direct its energies . However , it began the year well with a contribution of nearly 100 guineas to the Old People , and it finished 1884 with one of about £ 142 to the Boys . The total on Wednesday was £ 69 6 s ., being the aggregate of four lists , of which two were raised by Oxford lodges —Nos . 340 ( the Alfred ) and 478 ( the Churchill ) . SOMERSETSHIRE May generally be reckoned upon for a good round sum , the total in this in-