Contents.

CONTENTS .

LEADER— PAGE . The Festival of the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls ... ... 239 Royal Masonic Institution for Girls—1 ioth Anniversary Festival ... ... 239 Distribution of Prizes at the Girls' School ... ... ... ... 244 Consecration of the Hollingworth Lodge , No . 27 J 2 ... ... ... 244

Masonic Service ... ... ... ... .. ^ ¦¦¦ 245 General Committee of Grand Lodge and Board of Benevolence ... ... 245 Masonic Conversazione at Bournemouth ... ... ... ... 245 MASONIC NOTESDeath of the Right Hon . VV . E . Gladstone ... ... ... 247 Annual Meeting of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution ... ... 247 Distribution of Prizes at the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls ... 247

Correspondence ... ... ... ... ... ... 24 s Reviews ... ... ... ... ... ... ... J-jS Craft Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... 24 S Masonic Service at St . Martin ' s-in-the-Fields ... ... ... ... 252 Red Cross of Rome and Constantine ... ... ... ... 252 Masonic and General Tidings ... ... ... ... ... 252

The Festival Of The Royal Masonic Institution For Girls.

THE FESTIVAL OF THE ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR GIRLS .

We do not suppose that any of our readers will he surprised at thc comparative smallncss of the sum raised at Wednesday ' s Festival in behalf of thc Royal Masonic Institution for Girls ;

the surprise , if any is felt , will he that such a total was obtained b y so limited a Hoard of Stewards . But we imagine there are few who will not experience , even if they do not g ive expression to it , a sense of dissatisfaction that the claims of the Girls '

School , like those of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution in February , should not have received thc amount of consideration they deserve . It is not necessary for us to adduce the reason for this . The reason is as well known lo our readers as

to ourselves . Hut our opinion is that tlie Craft should have made good thc full amount of the year ' s deficiency , which amounts to abcut £ . , 500 , but as the Craft has not done this , the Institution must hel p itself out of

the money it has lv .-en holding in reserve against thc contingency that has occurred . The g ift of 1200 guineas presented b y Mrs . HEATON , widow of the lamented Hro . GEORGE IlEATON , who was so staunch a friend of all our Institutions ,

which came so opportunely at the last moment , and swelled the total to over ^ , ' 9500 , will very materially assist in facilitating the task of the authorities , and will relieve the funds of the Institution of part of the pressure

they have to meet . Hut though matters have turned out ir . ore f vvourably than we had reason to expect , we arc none the less lirmlv persuaded that both the Girls' School and the

Benevolent Institution should have been supported to the full extent of their absolute requirements , especiall y as this could have been done without detriment to the claims of the

Bows' School at its approaching Centenary . Of one thing , however , we are fully certified , namel y , that Bro . Sir REGINALD HANSON , Bart ., P . G . W .. who presided on Wednesday , and the Board of Stewards which worked so well lo promote the success

of his advocacy , deserve the thanks of the whole Knglish Craft for the admirable manner in which they discharged their duties and responsibilities . London , in particular , has done its part splendidly , having contributed between one-half and

twothirds of the total sum obtained . Indeed , of the , ( , 19 , 000 — there , or thereabouts — which has been raised for the two Festivals that have been held , if ha .: given not far short of two-thirds—that is , nearl y £ 12 , 000 , while the Provinces ,

which have nearl y three times as many lodges , have raised amongst litem the other third . Still , there is always this consolation lo fall back upon , namely , that Fortune might have

been less considerate than she has been , and we trust thai some ' omjiensation for the shortcomings of the present year will be found in a largel y increased measure of support in 18 99 .

Royal Masonic Institution For Girls.

ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR GIRLS .

The festival in celebration of lhe 1 io : h anniversary of lhe Royal Masonic Institution for Girls was h . Id at the Freemasons'Tavern , London , on VVednesday last , under the presidency of Bro . Sir Reginald Hanson , Bart ., M . P ., P . G . W ., Treasurer of the Institution . Ladies sat down with the brethren to dinner .

Among the breihren who supported Sir Reginald Hanson were—Bros . Sir F . Dixon Hartland , M . P . ; R . Loveland-Loveland , Q . C ; John Strachan , Q . C , G . Reg . ; Sir J . C Dimsdale , P . G . T . ; E . Terry , P . G . T . ; Viscount Folkestone , J . G . W . ; A . F . Godson , M . P ., P . G . D . ; Col . J . Peters , P . G . S . R . ; Col . Clifford Probyn , G . T . ; Maj . Woodwall , P . G . T . ; Richard Eve , P . G . T . ; Dr . J . Hogg , P . G . D . ; Chas . Belton , P . D . G . D . C ; W . F . Lamonby , J . I . Ward ,

James Speller , Baron de Ferrieres , P . G . D . ; C . E . Keyser , P . G . D . ; Sir John W . Maclure , M . P ., G . C . Kent , W . F . Smithson , P . G . D . ; H . Smith , P . G . D . ; Gerald Loder , M . P ., Sir Forrest Fulton , his Honour Judge Mastermin , Geo . E . Lake , A . Stewart Brown , P . A . Nairne , P . G . D . ; James Terry , P . G . S . B ., Sec . R . M . B . I . Ralph Glutton , P . G . D . ; A . C . Spaull , Sir J . B . Monckton , P . G . W . ; H . A . Hunt , P . G . D . ; Peter de I . tinde Long , P . G . D . ; Stanley J . Attenborough , P . A . G . D . C ; Frank Richardson , P . G . I ) . ; and VV . G . Kentish , P . G . Std . Br .

At the close of the dinner , grace was sung , and the toasts were proposed . Viscount FOLKESTONE responded to the toast of ' Pro Grand Master , the Deputy Grand Master , and the rest of the Grand Ollicers , Present and Past , " and said as a Grand Officer he hoped to be enabled to fulfil his duties with due dignity .

Bro . Sir REGINALD HANSON , in giving the toast of ' Success to the Rojal Masonic Institution for Girls , " slid he would not disguise from the compiny that he had frequently taken the chair at meetings of many Charitable Institutions , but he felt in a way more difficulty that night than he had ever felt before , because he now saw around him an assemblage of Masons who knew the duties of Charity , being so many who on several

occasions had shown their appreciation of those duties by the noble rranner in which they had supported the Girls ' School and the other Masonic Institu ions . He did not feel Ike a missionary in highways and byways ; he felt he was speaking to the converted , and he did not want to speak to the company as he heard a bishop preach last VVednesday to a very large congregation , many members of

which had never perhaps given anything to the Institution , and many who did not give anything—that bishop talked to the congregation of " the great blasphemy of the threepenny bit . " It was a very strong thing for a bishop to say , but he ( Sir Reginald Hanson ) was quoting a bishop , although he was sure there was no Mason to whom it might be said , for Masons gave liberally according to their means ; therefore it was no use his trying to

convince them ; they had b : en convinced many times before ; they were convinced when they were initiated , at which time they were told that one of the duties of Masonry was " relief . " He said this although the room was not absolutely " tyled . " "Relief" and "Charity" were two of the great objec ' s cf lhe M . v . onic body , and nobly had the Masons responded to that call and recognised that duty . Still , the present was a year when ,

perhaps , if Masons could feel a little more strongly for the Girls' School than they had felt on previous occasions it would be as well that they should . They had had their very good jubilee of the Benevolent Institution and their centenary of the Girls' School when very large sums were collected ; and they knew that very shortly a great effort was going to be made for a kindred Institution . No one grudged at all the very magnificent effort

to be made for the Boys' School ; but most of the brethren—every member of the Committee of the Girls was a Steward for the Boys' Festival—and he ( Sir R . Hanson ) had made himselt a Patron ; he wished to say there was no feeling of jealousy between them ; but he must remind the company that girls did not eat quite so much as boys , but nearly as much money was required for rates and taxes , and so one was the same as the other , if not a

trifle more . What they wanted this year was—and they hoped they were not asking too much—that enough should be got to enable them to pay their way . When they had paid their way he thought they might be happy . Mr . Micawber ' s sentiment was if your income was 203 ., and you spent IQS . 6 d . it was happiness ; and the Boys' School had not forgotten the G rls' School , and they would

be satisfied and would have reason lo be satisfied . That was all he would say on that point . Of course , there was no contest between the three Institutions ; their objects were all the same ; but if with 20 shillings you spent ? . ci shillings and sixpence it was misery . He hoped the Gills' Institution would so balance their income antl expenditure as to keep within bounds . If all thc friends of the Girls'School would rally round them and enable

them to balance income and expenditure this year the managers would lie content , and would think ihat the Masons , in view of thc magnificent gifts they were going to bestow in the centenary year—he merely suggested it—while they were doing as much as they could for the I ? > ys , d d not entirely lose sight of thc Girls . The work done by the subscrib ; rs w . u carried out bytheCommittee ; it wasaverygoadanda vcrygreat work . A great