The Approaching Festival Of The R.M.B.I.

THE APPROACHING FESTIVAL OF THE R . M . B . I .

On Wednesday next the Anniversary Festival of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution for Aged Freemasons and the Widows of Freemasons will take place in the great hall of Freemasons' Tavern . The Right Honourable the Lord Mayor , Bro . Sir HENRY A . ISAACS , W . M . of the Drury Lane Lodge , No .

2127 , will preside , and , as this is the first occasion on which the Chief Magistrate of London has occupied the important position of . Chairman in behalf of this , our youngest Masonic Charity , it is to be hoped the result will be in all respects most gratifying . Present indications are certainly very encouraging . Last week

we recorded that the Board of Stewards comprised 291 brethren , but since then the number has been increased to 308 , and there are still some days remaining in which it is almost certain that a few further additions to the list will be made . The newcomers will have but little time for canvassing , and will ,

therefore , be unable to swell the total materially , but what they raise or contribute personally will be so much more grist to the R . M . Benevolent mill , while the mere fact of the Board of Stewards having increased so considerably during the last few weeks will stimulate the earlier Stewards to make additional

efforts , so that they may not be beaten in their honourable struggle to score big totals by those who volunteered their services almost at the eleventh hour . In fact , as far as numbers go , the Board stands out well , while its distribution as between London and the provinces is

what might have been expected , London , which furnishes the Chairman of the day , being represented by 16 7 Stewards , and the provinces by 141 Stewards . There are then fair grounds for hoping—and we need hardly say how earnestly we trust the hope

will be realised—that at all events the total of last year will be surpassed , and that the sum which it will be Bro . TERRY ' privilege to announce on Wednesday will not be so very far removed from that which he announced at the B ' estival of 1888 .

Having stated thus clearly our hope that the approaching celebration will be a success of no mean order , let us set forth the reasons which render it necessary that Bro . Sir H . A . ISAACS should be supported with more than the accustomed vigour . These reasons have been offered in many previous articles , but they

will bear repetition . In 188 7 the Benevolent Festival yielded —• in round figures— £ 19 , 000 ; in 1888 , the return was £ 15 , ; last year it fell to £ 13 , 500 . On the other hand , the number of annuitants on the two Funds , which was increased to 409—180 men and 229 widows—in consequence of the success in the year

of the QUEEN ' Jubilee , but has remained stationary since , necessitates an annual outlay which , if we include the half annuities received by a fluctuating number of widows is not very far short of £ 15 , 000 , to say nothing of the amount required for working expenses and maintenance of the Asylum at Croydon .

Thus , last year ' s Festival fell short of the sum expended in annuities alone by some £ 1500 and it is certainly desirable that such a falling off should not be repeated on Wednesday next . Again , we must take into account the marked tendency in the lists of candidates

to increase in number . In 188 7 , there were some 128 candidates , but , though a number of new annuities were created in consequence of the success of the Festival , there were about as many presented themselves at the election in 1888 . In 1 & 8 9 , the number rose to 140 , while at the present moment there are 151

on the lists , namely 68 men and 8 3 widows . What steps the Committee of Management will recommend should be taken in order to cope with the very serious difficulty thus caused remains to be seen , but in the meantime we are anxious that our readers

should realise the position in which the Institution is placed . It has enlarged its establishment to the utmost extentconsistent with prudence , but there are still 151 poor old brethren and widows of brethren , whose claims to the benefits of the Charity have

The Approaching Festival Of The R.M.B.I.

been carefully examined and recognised . At present room for only 24 of them can be found , namely , 14 men and 10 widows , and of these only three-fourths will become annuitants immediately on election , the other six—three men and three widowsbeing taken on as the necessary vacancies occur . Of course , more

vacancies may arise between now and the third Friday in May , and in that case , it will be possible to elect more immediate annuitants ; but even so , the number shut out for a further year at leastwill begreaterthan it has ever been before . It is aharcltaskto be obliged to keep on raising £ 15 , 000 every year to provide the

present annuities ; prudence forbids that the Committee should dream of recommending a further increase in this annual liability —except under conditions which we dare not hope to see realised ; and at the same time , when all the vacancies , both immediate and deferred , have been provided for at the election in May , there

will still remain from no to 120 poor old people , for whom nothing wiiatever can be done . We trust the Stewards and the brethren generally will keep these facts in their minds , so that no effort on their part may be wanting to secure an ample return of donations and subscriptions at the Festival which is now so

close upon us . May the total be worthy of the distinguished brother who has undertaken to preside , and who has been exerting himself so vigorously , as well as worthy of the Board of Stewards , which has been formed for the occasion , and worth y of the whole body of English Freemasons !

Festival Of The Emulation Lodge Of Improvement.

FESTIVAL OF THE EMULATION LODGE OF IMPROVEMENT .

The annual festival of our principal , or what mi ght very properly be called , our official school of instruction in the ritual and ceremonies of Freemasonry , will be -held at Freemasons ' Hall , on Friday next , the 28 th inst ., when Bro . the Right Hon .

Sir HENRY A . ISAACS , P . M ., and W . M . of the Drury Lane Lodge , Lord Mayor of London , has kindly undertaken to preside . It will be seen from our advertisement columns that the list of Stewards contains the names of some of our ablest and

most prominent ritualists , such as Bro . THOMAS F ' , President of the Board of General Purposes , who is equally at home in the work , whether it is done in the English or French tongue ; Bro . Sir J . B . MONCKTON , P . G . W ., and predecessor of Bro . FENN at

the same Board ; Bros . F . A . PHILBRICK , Q . C , Grand Registrar , and Col . S . H . CLERKE , Grand Secretary ; and Bros . J . C . PARKINSON , FRANK RICHARDSON , J . H . MATTHEWS , and C . F . MATTER , who are all as proficient in the work of the lodo-e as they are capable expositors of the mysteries of the Craft .

The festival will be , as usual , in two parts—the first beinothe labour in lodge when the Second Lecture will be worked by sundry brethren with Bro . FENN as W . M . ; and the second , the supper or refreshment to which all who have assisted at the former will be most justly entitled . It is indeed , as a rule , an

admirable gathering which musters on the occasion of this annual festival of the Emulation Lodge of Improvement , and to which it is hardly possible in the interests of Masonry that too much prominence can be given . Where the instruction is oral , it is by no means difficult for errors of remission or commission to be

made unnoticed in the lirst instance , which afterwards , through laxity of attention , become perpetuated . It is important , therefore , that there should be one school dominating all other schools , so that whatever apparently slight variations from the established forms and ceremonies may be permitted or winked at in the

latter , there may always be one supreme standard by which the work done in our lodges may be tested and adjudged perfect or imperfect . The Right Honourable the Chairman at the Festival of Friday next is himself an experienced Craftsman , and will be

well able to appreciate the importance of the meeting at which he is presiding , and we trust the event will prove as instructive in respect of its introductory part , and as entertaining in that which follows as it has been at the summer Festivals which have been held in more recent years .