Contents.

CONTENTS .

L EADER— PAGE . The Festival of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution ... « - ... 97 Annual Festival of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution ... ... 97 [ faited Grand Lodf * e of England ( Agenda Paper ) ... ... ... 102 Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons ( Agenda Paper ) ... ... ... 103 Annual Ball of the Jersey Lodge , No . 216 3 ... ... ... ... 103 h Lod

Annual Ball of the HugOwen ge , No . 2593 ... ... ... 103 Craft Masonry ... ¦•• ... ... ... 103 MASONIC NOTESAgenda Paper of United Grand Lodge of England ... ... ... 105 Agenda Paper of Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons ... ... 105 Ouatuor Coronati Lodge , No . 2076 ... ... ... ... 10 s

Consecration of St . Michael le Ouerne Lodge , No . 2 G 97 ... ... 105 Lecture by Bro . W . J . Hughan , P . G . D ., at Newton Abbot ... ... 105 Correspondence .. ; - » ... ... ... ... 106 Masonic Notes and Queries ... ... ... ... ... 106 Reviews ... — ••• ... ... too " Annual Festival of the Grand Master ' s ( Mark ) Lodge of Instruction ... 106 Craft Masonry ... ••¦ ... ... ... ... 10 7

Royal Arch ... ... ... ... ... ... ... no Lodges and Chapter of Instruction ... ... ... ... in Ancient and Accepted Rite ... ... ... ... ... 111 Mark Masonry ... _ ... ... ... ... ... in Red Cross of Rome and Ccnstantine ... ... ... ... in Masonic and General Tidings ... ... ... ... ... 112

The Festival Of The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

THE FESTIVAL OF THE ROYAL MASONIC BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION .

We understand there are those who consider that Tuesday ' s Festival was a great success , and have expressed surprise at the source from which the money comes . We are not of this opinion . We readily concede , that considering the limited number of brethren on the Board of Stewards—such as they have been ,

willi a few exceptions , during the last few years—the total was a satisfactory one . But we are under the necessity of confronting the stern fact that the annual expenditure is about , £ 1 9 , 000 , of which upwards of £ 16 , 000 is distributed among the annuitants , and the result of Tuesday ' s meeting is a collection of

about / , <) 5 oo , or one half of the total sum required . The grants from ( irand Lodge and Grand Chapter , and the Dividends on invested Capital , together furnish an additional £ 5000 , so that there remains a balance of from / I 4500 to £ 5000 ( . 0 be obtained horn other sources . The deficiency will be made up ,

hut it would have been more acceptable if the Craft as a whole , having decided that the Benevolent Institution must spend a given sum annuall y , had relieved the governing body of the necessity of making good a large deficiency . As for those , from the Chairman downwards , who

look part in the serious work of the gathering , we think their efforts cannot be too greatly commended . Theirs was no ordinary task to obtain as much as possible towards suppl ying the year ' s deficit , but they canvassed under exceptional difficulties , and under the circumstances in which they found

themselves , wc hold that they worked successfully . Mad the laics been more propitious , the Board of Stewards mi ght have aecomp lished more , but there are not many Boards who would have accomplished so much under such discouraging circumstances .

Annual Festival Of The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

ANNUAL FESTIVAL OF THE ROYAL MASONIC BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION .

I he Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution for Aged Freemasons and . ^ "lows of Freemasons held its festival for the year iSgS at Freemasons ' ' | V £ rn i on Tuetday evening last , and on this occasion ladies sat down with Brethren to banquet . About 400 of the two sexes were present , and the ^ .. 11 man of the day was the Karl of Jersey , Prov . G . Master for Oxford-• e - Among the brethren who supported his lordshin were

]> f :-- 'he Archdeacon of London , P . G . Chap . ; the Rev . H . R . Cooper Smith , , ;(' . ' ., lp 'i J- A - Farnfield , P . A . G . D . C , Treasurer of the Institution ; Baron . ^ < ii < i « , P . G . D . ; C . E . Keyser , P . G . D . ; Leopold G . Gordcn Robbins , \ V i .. ' . ' I ' " « chworth , F . S . A ., Grand Sec ; Major 1 . W . Woodall , P . G . T .: sst

I ) r H 1 ,. . - U-b ' > Co ] - A . Thrale Perkins , P . G . D . ; W . M . Stilts , P . G . T . ; I ' . G Si ' o ° i , J' M < McLeod - P . O . SB ., Sec . R . M . I . Ii . , F . R . W . Hedges , •^^ iMA ^ Prn' ^ . J- Hast ! n 8 filler , C . C ., P . G . S . B . ; F . Parker ] 'A N ' -rfr ' if ;?;?¦ ' ' - leut-CoI . Clifford Probyn , W . G . Kentish , P . G . Std . Br . ; i < mcsS „ , T' r &^ k AUKd Cockerill , Prov . G . Treas . Norths and . Hunts ; speller , P , p . G . D , Essex j and C . O . Burgess , P . P . G . D . Surrey .

Annual Festival Of The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

After the banquet , grace having been sung , the toasts were proposed . The Earl of J ERSEY , in proposing " Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen , " said : Ladies and brethren , our first toast is that of " Her Most Gracious Majesty the Q ueen , the Patron of our Craft , " and it will not be necessary for me to say many words in regard to that veneration in which we all , whether we be Masons or not , hold the name of her Gracious Majesty the Queen . ( Applause . ) But perhaps I may take this opportunity , as we are

drinking the health of the first lady in the land , to express our grateful thanks to those ladies who have come here to-night and have shown us by their presence that not only are they willing to cheer unfortunate Masons , but that they are anxious to show them they value most highly one of our Masonic virtues—that of Charity . The toast was duly honoured .

The Earl of J ERSEY next gave " The M . W . G . M ., H . R . H . the Prince of Wales , H . R . H . the Princess of Wales , and the other members of the Royal Family . " He said we know how devoted the Prince of Wales is to every institution which can be of benefit to the people , and we Masons are well aware that this year he is going to help forward a kindred Institution by his kindly presence and support . I do not grieve in the least at that

because all that we desire is that the Institutions connected with Masons shall flourish , and we may be sure that they are well looked after when H . R . H . the Prince of Wales undertakes to take the chair for any of them , and for this simple reason that H . R . H . always makes careful investigations beforehand . Therefore , in giving this toast , you will join with me not only

in drinking the health of our Grand Master , of his gracious consort , and of all those who are connected with his royal family , but you will also be drinking the health of one who has done more than any other living man for the benefit of the good institution of Masonry . This toast was also most loyally honoured .

THE CHAIRMAN ' . The Earl of J ERSEY next said the brethren all sorrowed ovef the great loss which their Pro Grand Master , Lord Lathom , sustained a short time ago . They knew the value of the services he had rendered to the Craft for many years and on many occasions . They hoped that he would return to this country stronger in health , and that his loss might be softened as far as possible ; at any rate Masons could offer him their heartfelt and deepest sympathy .

The Earl of J ERSEY , in proposing "The Health of the Deputy Grand Master , Earl Amherst , and the rest of the Grand Officers , Present and Past , " said Masons were always so obedient to the commands of authority , that they willingly obeyed any order they might receive , whether from those who held olfice at the present time , or those in the past . But still more ready were they to listen to the voices of those who in former years had

been among the active officers of Grand Lodge . To-night he had the pleasure of asking one who in his earlier days belonged to the Province of Oxfordshire , Bro . H . R . Cooper Smith , to return thanks for this toast , and he felt very much honoured by his presence , because he ( the Earl of Jersey ) had a sort of feeling that Bro . Cooper Smith had come here owing to his recollections of the past , and surely we Masons were among those who valued highly not only the teaching but also the associations of the past .

Bro . Rev . II . R . COOPER SMITH , D . D ., P . G . C ., replying , said it gave him great pleasure to reply to the toast for this reason , that he should not have been there if he had not felt it was the duty of all Past Grand Officers of the Province oi Oxfordshire to support his lordship . He could not help feeling in responding to this toast that he was speaking as one who was for many years a member of the Province ot Oxfordshire and it was a pleasure to respond to-night because it brought up the fact that the Province of

Oxfordshire was trying to do its duty to Masonry , but it had been rewarded for its works by the number of its members who had been appointed Grand Officers . The Prov . Grand Master would remember having said it gave him great pleasure to see so many Past Grand Officers who came from the Province of Oxfordshire . The Prov . Grand Ollicers could do much good and it was gratifying to him that they came forward to support such a Charity as they were supporting that night . It was not too much to say it