Stewards' Lists.

SURREY . 416 Bro . F . A . Guimaraens ... 3 S 17 o 104 G ,, J . A . Lorimer .. 31 10 o ifijS ,, J . Drewett 10 10 o 1929 „ \ V . Aynsley G 7 14 o SUSSEX . 40 Bro . W . H . Russell ... 70 o 0 732 „ B . Bennett 52 10 o

WARWICKSHIRE . 502 Bro . Isaac Brooks ... 21 15 o WORCESTERSHIRE . 2 S 0 Bro . Sir E . A . H . Lechmere , Bart ., M . P . 171 iS o ,, A . F . Godson ... 31 10 o 377 >> J- w - Consterdine-Chadwick 10 10 o 5 G 4 „ W . Perry 3 6 15 o 1204 „ Capt . W . Ottley ... 10 10 o ,, W . B Williamson ... 10 10 o YORKSHIRE ( N . & E . ) 57 Bro . J . Walton

Stewards' Lists.

YORKSHIRE ( WEST ) . 139 Bro . Simeon Hayes 275 ,, J . Durrans Taylor 290 ,, \ V . Harrop ... 290 ,, J . Brierley ... 290 ,, Geo . Sykes ... 290 „ J . B . Whiteley 495 > , Joseph Hartley 7 ^ n R . nws ' nn lCi-lk *

904 ,, Fred . Cleeves 974 „ H . A . Forster 974 ,, J . Ambler 1042 „ \ V . Bingham ... J- 735 o o 10 4 2 ,, \ Y . Pepper ... 10 4 2 „ X . Meyer 10 4 2 ,, R . H . Fowler 1211 ., G . 'E . Crowe ... i 23 g „ G . Wragg ... 1239 ,, F . S . H . Wilson 1513 ,. 1 ! . Smith 1513 ,. T . W . Embleton 173 ( 1 ., Luke H . Dean 20 fig ., 11 . S . Bailev ... J

Stewards' Lists.

S II M M A R V _

Bedfordshire ... ... £ 53 12 o Berks and Bucks ... ... i 5 g it G Bristol ... ... ... 31 S 10 o Cambridgeshire ... ... 143 0 o Cheshire ... ... ... 14 G fi o Cornwall ... ... ... 141 15 o Derbyshire ... ... G 3 o o Devonshire ... ... 157 10 o Dorsetshire ... ... 1 S 0 10 o Dutham ... ... ... 105 o o Essex ... ... ... 115 5 C Gloucestershire ... ... 39 iS o Hants and hie of Wight ... 141 o o Hertfordshire ... ... 277 3 6 Kent ... ... ... S 64 1 G Lancashire , East ... ... 120 15 o

Lancashire , West ... ... 78 15 o Middlesex ... ... ... 540 19 fi Nottinghamshire ... ... 176 iS 6 North Wales ... ... 29 it o Oxfordshire ... ... 4 G iS G Shropshire ... ... ... ' 25 o o Somersetshire ... ... 166 iS o Staffordshire ... ... 204 15 o Suffolk ... ... .. 293 o o Surrey ... ... ... 14 S 11 o Sussex ... ... ... 122 10 o Warwickshire ... ... 21 15 o Worcestershire ... ... 271 17 o Yorkshire , North and East ... Yorkshire , West ... ... 733 o o

14 G STEWARDS—LONDON ... ... ... ... £ . 8 , 961 13 G 130 STEWARDS—PROVINCES ... ... ... ... 5 , 893 2 G GRAND TOTAL ... ... ... ... £ 14 , 854 iG o Bro . Sir E . H . LECHMERE , Prov . G . M . Worcestershire , in proposing " The Health of the Chairman , " said Lord Hertford was one of the good working Masons , or he would not have reached the high position he occupied in the Craft . All the company present would agree that he had distinguished himself that night . The grand financial results of the evening must have

given the greatest satisfaction to all . It was certainly a most remarkable fact that year after year , no matter what the state of depression might be , Masons were as ready as ever to help their Charities . He was sure they would always find Stewards 10 come up from the provinces for this Charity , bringing wilh them large sums of money , and so long as they had the attendance of so many brethren , and so long as they " had their sympathy , and that of the ladies , they would find brethren like Lord Hertford ready to discharge the duties his lordship had discharged so well that evening .

The CHAIRMAN : Breihren , 1 thank you all for the very kind way you have received the toast so well proposed by Sir Edmund Lechmere . You have indeed given me pleasure to-night by showing by deed , and not by word , what you think of this Charity on whose behalf it has been my privilege to enlist your sympathy . The list given to-night for the Charity is truly a noble one . I think it has been exceeded only on one occasion . On behalf of the Charity I beg to thank you all , not only for the

money you have given to it , but for . the interest you must have taken in it , and I thank the Board of Stewards for the hard work they have performed . I could not help noticing this evening , when I looked at the toast list , what appears to me , if you will allow me to say so , an omission . I do not see upon the toast list the name of Bro . Terry . ( Cheers . ) Ait you brethren who know anything of the immediate working of this Charitymustknowhow hard Bro . Terry works for it . ( Cheers . )

If you go down to Cro } don with Bro . Terry , as I did yesterday , and see the way in which Bro . Terry is received by the inmates of the house at Croydon , that will tell you more than I can of the interest he takes in the Institution . I must not detain you longer . I thank you cordially for the way you have supported this Charity to-night , and also for your cordial reception of myself , and I only hope that on every future occasion of the Festival of this Charity it may be presided over by men far better able to do it

than myself , besides being as anxious for the good of the Charity as I am . I thank you very much . Thc success of to-night is what I may call a regular bumper . Looking at the depression of the times and at all the circumstances , those who are acquainted with the other Masonic Charities know that there are circumstances that might have militated against this one to-night ; but , bumper as it is , I hope it may be exceeded next year , and so on for many years .

Bro . Dr . JABEZ HOGG , P . G . D ., proposed "The Olher Masonic Institutions , " a loast which , he said , did not require much eloquence to commend them to the notice of the brethren . All who had seen the great success that had attended the present Festival would hope most sincerely that the Festivals of the other Institutions would be still more fortunate , still more successful , because , as the Chairman had said , the great gem in the diadem of the Older was Charity . He was sure the brethren of the Masonic body

would fulfil the duty expected of them , and make the success of the Boys ' and the Girls' Schools still greater than that of the Benevolent Institution , Bro . HEDGES ( Secretary , Girls' School ) , in reply , said he congratulated the Benevolent Institution and its executive on the magnificent result , which he considered marvellous , and a credit and honour to the Stewards . Wilh reference to the Boys' and Girls' Institutions , in a meeting like that it would not be necessary to trouble the brethren with dry and lengthened statistics .

He would only remind thern that those Institutions were educating nearly 500 of the sons nnd daughters of deceased brethren . In addition to that those Institutions had had very heavy expenses , one of them in the erection of a Junior School , and the other in the purchase of a most necessary plot of land , but still a plot of land which , on that very account , had to be most

dearly paid for . He had no doubt he spoke for Bro . BINCKES , as well as lor himself , when he said that the lists of Stewards for the coming Festivals of these institutions , would need very large accessions before ihey could expect anything like the success of this evening . They were Loth most deeply grateful for the liberality of the Craft in thc past , but they each needed all the Assistance they could obtain in the future . Thc

Stewards' Lists.

Boys' Festival would take place at the end of June ; that of the Girls' on the 19 th of May , under the presidency ol Bro . Gen- Brownrigg , Provincial Grand Master of Surrey . When the time came round he hoped they would affoid thc Boys' and the Girls' Schools that help without which they could not continue the noble work in which they were engaged .

Bro . BINCKES ( Secretary , Boys' School ) , in answer to loud calls , said the brethren did not require a dual response to the toast so kindly proposed , and so warmly received , and responded to most admirably , and he was sure if he were to attempt to add anything to the observations made by his good friend , Bro . Hedges , he should only weaken the effect of those remarks . But as they would insist on his saving a word

they would have to bear with him in the remarks he would address to them . Now , nothing succeeded like success , and upon the success of that evening he built up , after all said and done , a happy augury of success for thc Boys' Festival next June . He was sure they were not going to neglect their own sons . He had always been an advocate for , and always pleaded on behalf of the Boys' and Girls '

Schools , because they had been , and he hoped always would be , the legitimate successors of Masons to hand down the traditions they had received from our ancestors . A great deal had been said about the watchwords of Freemasonry . He desired to call to their attention what was said by H . R . H ., the M . W . Grand Master , on the occasion of his installation at that most magnificent ceremonial at the Albert Hall , in April , 1 S 75 .

H . R . H . on that occasion announced that the true watchwords of Freemasonry were Loyalty and Charity . There was a great objection in Masons ' lodges and public assemblies to the introduction of politics , and he for one would be the very last person in the world to introduce anything of a controversial nature , but whether brethren were liberal or conservative , he

would , in these trying times , wish every Mason to recall his initiatory obligation , above all things not to forget his loyalty to his Sovereign and his native country , and he went further , and this is what he wanted to base his observations upon , that as sure as they were sitting there that night , if they ignored or neglected their loyalty they would jeopardise their Charity . ( Loud cheers ) .

Bro . F . A . P HICBRICK , Q . C , G . Reg ., in proposing "The Stewards , said the brethren knew how hardly the success of the evening had been achieved . In these times of depression the cause of Charity had demanded more labour than ever at the hands of the energetic brethren , the Stewards .

( Cheers ) . To them the Institution owed a great debt , and Masonry owed a great debt too at this crisis of the nation's history . The depression had not slackened the purses of Masons ; on the contrary , it had been more open than ever , and the great Institutions of Masonry were as fully recognised as they had ever been . ( Cheers ) .

Bro . GEORGE LAMBERT , P . G . Swd . Br ., in acknowledging the toast , said the Stewards had but one desire—to benefit the great Charity . He was glad the biethren were satisfied , and he felt sure they were or they would not have subscribed so nobly . But he would impress upon them not to be weary in well-doing , but to remember they had olher Charities to think of and not forsake . Let them not forget the Boys' and Girls' Schools

while thinking of the old people , with whom they had shaken many a happy hand . Let them still remember that these old people had left behind their g irls and boys—offspring who had to be looked after and attended to . Let them remember that the best education given to those boys and girls , and particularly the boys , was to bring them as loyal and gdod citizens , failhful

to their King , and loyal to their guardians . Again thanking the brethren , he could assure them that in the other Charities they would find the same energy and force as in the Benevolent Institution , and that they . would do all they possibly could for the good of the Craft and for their Charities particularly . ( Cheers . )

Bro . THOMAS FENN , P . G . D ., President of the Board of General Purposes , proposed " The Ladies . " He could not have been chosen for this duty on account of his youth , but his experience , for he had been married 40 years . From that experience he could say it gave him great pleasure to

propose the tcast , and to wish the ladies every happiness which this life could afford , in fact every enjoyment they could bestow on the brethren . He believed that without the ladies life would not be worth living . The interest the ladies showed in Masonry , and in this Institution particularly , was evinced by there being 200 present at this gathering . Bro . F . SUMNER KNYVETT , P . G . Steward , returned thanks , and the banquet proceedings ended .

Bro . HAYHO was toastmaster . After the banquet a charming concert was given in the Temple , under the direction of Bro . Edwin M . Lott , Mus . Doc , Grand Org . The executants were Miss Margaret Hoare , Miss Amy Sargent , Miss Minnie Kirton , Madame Raymond , Bros . Arthur

Thompson , Dudley Thomas , T . Tremere , and Franklin Clive . Instrumentalists : Miss Nellie Hamilton , Bro . Hedley Cams , and W . Bro . Edwin M . Lott , Mus . Doc , Grand Organist . Erard's Concert Grand Pianofortes were

used on this occasion . We cannot omit to mention that the dinner vvas exceptionally good , and Bro . Madell , the courteous manager of Freemasons' Tavern , is to be congratulated on solving the difficult problem of fairly satisfy ing- the varied wants and tastes of snch a large assembly .

The favors worn by the Stewards bore the arms of the Chairman , the Marquis of Hertford , wilh the motto " Fide et Amore , '' suspended by a scarlet ribbon edged with gold , the Marquis ' s colours . It was designed and manufactured b y Bro . George Kenning .

ANALYSIS OF THE RETURNS

The task of scrutinising successive Festival Returns is generally an agreeable one . We may not always find our expectations realised in the case of particular lodges or brethren , but any disappointment we may thence derive is almost invariably neutralised by the pleasurable surprises which the lists disclose , On the one hand we find only a modest total entered