The Late Bro. Sir Daniel Gooch. Bart.

doubled themselves in respect of numbers , while in the excellence of their work , the harmony which prevailed among them , and the regularity with which they have supported our Institutions , the Province may have had many equals , but none that

could justly claim a superiority . Now , however , that he has gone from us for ever , there remains to us nothing but the memory of these various services to which we have briefly

referred , and we doubt not that , while Freemasonry continues to exist in this country , that memory will be loyally and reverently cherished by all who claim to be true and worthy members of our ancient Craft .

The Bengal Masonic Educational Association.

THE BENGAL MASONIC EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION .

The Committee of the Bengal Masonic Association for educating children of indigent Freemasons , in preparing their report for the half year ended the 30 th June last , seem to have considered it a favourable opportunity for reviewing the whole of the work done by the Charity since its foundation . Having

been established in June , 1869 , it had just completed the first 20 years of its existence , and , under the circumstances , it was no more than natural that those who had managed the Association so successfully should be desirous of letting the Masonic world know how generously the Craft in Bengal had supported it , and

consequently how valuable were the services it had been able to render in behalf of those children of deceased or indigent brethren who had been admitted to its benefits . The summary , which has evidently been compiled with the utmost care , is pleasant reading , showing as it does how the Association , from

a small beginning , has gradually succeeded in extending its sphere of operations , and at the same time strengthening its position , until at length it is able to pay its way out of its income , and has a large amount invested of capital to fall back upon in the case of need .

The plan adopted by the authorities from the very beginning is that which has found such favour with the majority of our own Provincial Charitable Associations . That is to say , the children are maintained and educated at Schools which have been carefully selected , and in the majority of cases are in the immediate

neighbourhood of their own homes . This has , of course , materially increased the work devolving upon the executive officers , especially in the matter of correspondence and supervision , but the extra labour has been cheerfully borne , and does not seem to have been attended with any appreciable increase of expenditure ;

while the brethren latterly appointed by the lodges to act as Stewards for the Association have done good service , not only by canvassing for subscriptions , but also in helping the

Committee to look after the welfare of the children . As regards funds , the Association at the outset was supported only by the donations and subscriptions of the lodges and brethren , but in 18 74 the demands on its resources rendered a substantial increase of

income imperative , and , to quote the words of the report , " it was resolved in District Grand Lodge , with the cordial concurrence of every lodge in the District of Bengal , that a capitation assessment on the plan of that by which the Fund of Benevolence is mainly supported should be established , " the result being an

addition to the annual income of between 3000 rupees and 4 rupees . In 188 7 it was determined to appoint Stewards to collect subscriptions and assist the officers generally , and now nearly every lodge in the district has appointed a Steward , and the income of the Association has been further and very

substantially increased . The invested capital , which exceeds 70 , 000 rupees , yields yearly an income of over 2800 rupees , so that , taking together these various items of receipt , the Association , as we have said , is well able to maintain itself , and in time to come will , no doubt , be in a position to still further enlarge the benefits it confers .

By the help of the support thus generously given by our Bengal brethren , this District Masonic Association has been able , during the 20 years that have elapsed since its foundation , to maintain and educate 64 children , of whom 29 are under its guardianship at the present time . These children have been ,

or are being , well educated at various schools in the Presidency , or , in a few instances , in Great Britain , and we warmly congratulate the Committee of the Association and its Governors and Subscribers on the success which has attended their labours . It is a grand feather in their cap for them to be able to state in

their latest report that those girls and boys who have completed their education under the guardianship of this Institution have " gone out into the world well prepared to hold their own against any competition . " A Charitable organisation of which this can be said without fear of contradiction must be fulfilling its selfappointed duties most thoroughly .

On Tuesday , at the rooms of the Royal Asiatic Society , Albemarle-street , Bro . the Earl of Carnarvon j resided at a meeting-in honour of Sir Charles Newton on his retirement from the office of Keeper of the Antiquity Room at the British Museum .

Bro. Lane's "Handy Book."

BRO . LANE'S "HANDY BOOK . "

The full title of a work just issued by my able collaborator is " A Handy ^ Book to the Study of The Engraved , Printed , and Manuscript Lists of Lodges of Ancient Free and Accepted

Masons of England ( 'Moderns' and 'Ancients' ) from 1723 to 1814 , with an Appendix and valuable Statistical Tables , " the publisher being my old friend , Bro . George Kenning , of 16 , Great Oueen-street .

The volume , beyond question , is one of the most valuable ever published in relation to Freemasonry , and is by far the most important contribution to the subject of lodge Enumerations , Registers , and Warrants , that has yet been written , or , indeed ,

ever likely to be , for Bro . John Lane has both interestingly and exhaustively dealt with the whole subject , from the beginning to the end thereof , leaving nothing to be desired or possible of future attainment .

The invaluable "Masonic Records , 1717—1886 , " proved to an appreciative Craft what Bro . Lane could accomplish by " exhibiting all the lodges on the English Register for 1886 , together with those previously on the Roll , specially arranged in a tabular form to show at one view all the numbers taken by each lodge

during the successive enumerations to the present date , including over 3 600 lodges from 1717 to 1886 . That massive volume is a monument of perseverance , research , and fidelity , and has placed the author at one bound in the front rank of trusted and competent Masonic experts and historians . In that great

enterprise Bro . Lane was in part preceded by me in my " Memorials of the Masonic Union " ( 18 74 ) and "Numerical and Medallic Register of Lodges" ( 18 7 8 ) , and also by the distinguished Masonic historian , Bro . Gould , in his "Four Old Lodges and

their Descendants /' and " The Atholl Lodges" ( 1879 ) . The " Handy Book , " however , has no predecessor ; is not likely ever to have a non-dependent successor , and of rivals there cannot be any .

I speak from actual knowledge in declaring that only those who have in some measure gone over a little of the ground so completely covered by Bro . Lane can even in a slight degree appreciate the immense labour bestowed on this new work by its painstaking and most industrious author . Having seen the

" proof-sheets " during the progress of the printing , and being familiar with all the means and methods employed to secure accuracy and completeness , I am enabled to speak thus confi- . dently of Bro . Lane ' s success in his " labour of love , " as also to anticipate a most hearty reception for the " Handy Book " in

question by all earnest and intelligent brethren , wherever dispersed throughout the globe . It forms an excellent supplement to the "Masonic Records , 1717—1886 , " though , of course , wholly complete in itself , and independent of any other work , and supplies an extraordinary amount of information respecting

the progress of the Grand Lodge of England from its inauguration in 1717 , as well as that of the " Ancients" from 1751 , down to the period of the Union in December , 1813 , the interest , value , and novelty of which will surprise even the most diligent

of Masonic students . I am g lad Bro . Gould has promised to review the " Handy Book" in the " Transactions of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge , No . 2076 , " of which he is one of the P . M . ' s , and of which Bro . Lane is a member . In such hands its real value and

character will be fully acknowledged and portrayed . A work of such magnitude cannot be fully described in a brief article ; but it is hoped that the following attempt to sketch its main characteristics will not be wholly unsuccessful , and will , in some measure , faithfully represent the chief objects in its compilation , which its author has so completely and thoroug hly

accomplished . The "Handy Book" contains in a compact form ( concisel yanci chronologically arranged ) " an account of the different Manuscript , Engraved , and Printed Lists that have appeared from 1723 to 1814 ; Lists that are , in numerous cases , the only records exbe

tant from which the history of many of the oldest lodges can compiled . " Besides which a table , running to eig ht pages , exhibits the number of lodges on the Register at the end of each year from 1723 to 1888 ! This truly wonderful comp ilation is sub-divided into three branches , viz .: 1 . " Moderns , 1728-1813 ! 1814

2 . "Ancients , 1751-1813 ; " 3 . "The United Grand Lodge , - 1888 ; " and in each classification all the new lodges warrant and the lodges erased are duly arranged and numbered unc e three columns for London , Country , and Foreign respective y , another series of four columns giving the number of lodges on

Register at end of each year located in London , Country , < Abroad , with the grand total on the Roll . So that under ai y and every year from 1728 ( when the numeration began ) to 1 ' under

under the "Moderns , " and from 1751 to 1813 , ^ " Ancients , " as also from 1814 to 1888 , under the " Um ^ Grand Lodge , " the exact numerical position has thus ^ accurately calculated and duly g iven in relation to the