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C O N T E N T . S . . PAGE LKADKSSThe Approaching Benevolent Elections ... ... ... ••• 211 Bro . G . W . Speth , P . A . G . D . C . ... ... ... ... 211

P 0 E ^ n Menioriam-G . W . Speth ... ... ... ..., ... 212 Grand Festival ... ... ... - - - 212 The Grand Officers ... ... ... ... ... ... 213 Supreme Grand Chapter ( Agenda Paper ) ... ... ... ... 215 Craft Masonry ... ... ... ... - 215 Science , Art , and the Drama ... ... ... ... 21 7

M ASONIC N OTESGrand Festival ... ... ... ... ... ... 219 Agenda Paper of Supreme Grand Chapter ... __... ... 21 9 Voting Papers of the Royal Masonic Binivolent Institution ... ... 219 Annual Meeting- of the Piovincial Grand Lcdee of East Lancashire ... 219 Annual Convocation of the Piovincial Grand Chapter of North and East

Yorkshire ... ... ... ... ... 219 Quatuor Coronati Lodge , No . 2076 ... ... ... ... 219 Reviews ... ... ... ... ••• . » 220 Craft Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... 220 Royal Arch ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 224 Instruction ... ... ... ... ••• ••• 225

POETRYSt . George ' s Day ... ... ... . ... ... ... 22 5 Obituary ... . . ... ... ... ... ... 225 Masonic and General Tidings ... ... ... ... ... 22 S

The Approaching Benevolent Elections.

THE APPROACHING BENEVOLENT ELECTIONS .

Wc are afraid that tho prospects of the several applicants for election to the benefits of the Royal . Masonic Benevolent Institution arc not particularly encouraging . The voting papers and with them the lists of candidates were issued last week .

The elections will take place at the Annual General Meeting of the Governors and Subscribers , which will be held at the Freemasons'Tavern , on Friday , the 17 th May . For the Male Fund there are 50 candidates—reduced by the withdrawal of one to

41)—but of these , according to the declaration 111 rebruary , only 13 will be elected , of whom 10 will be appointed to immediate and three lo deferred vacancies , while for thc Widows' Fund the disproportion between candidates and vacancies is still more

marked , there being as many as 54 of the former who will compete for eight annuities , of whicli live are immediate and three deferred . Other vacancies have occurred since the meeting of the Committee of Management in February , when the lists were

approved and thc vacancies declared , and , doubtless , in accordance with the usual practice of recent years , will be filled , and it is , of course , quite possible that having regard to the brilliant success of the Festival in February , the Committee may feel themselves

justified , notwithstanding the augmentations that were sanctioned in 18 9 8 and 18 99 , in recommending the creation of a few additional annuities on each Fund . This , how . ever , is a mere conjecture of our own , which must be taken for what it is worth ,

¦ Tid , therefore , for the present we must face tlie outlook as announced in the lists , and , as we have remarked , thc prospects are certainly not encouraging . For the

MALE FUND there are 49 candidates , of whom 13 will be elected . London contributes 15 , and the remaining 34 are of Provincial orig in , 'he London contingent includes No . 5 , who has 79 8 votes in

hand from last May ; No . 10 , who brings forward 1416 votes , and No . 11 , who has 161 votes ; No . 13 , with 458 votes , and ' ^ o . 18 , with 3719 votes ; the remaining 10 , who are placed at

'NOS . 9 . 1 Of or , m .- » .-, nr nV . . r , e nn / 1 c r , rnen , ^ ' | -i \ ' ^ l \ r j - 23 , 24 , 29 , 31 , 33 , 35 ,. 3 8 , 41 , 45 , and 50 respectively , wing new candidates , who start fresh without any votes from Previous ballots to hel p them on the way . Of the 34

Provincial candidates , Kent and Sussex are each of them " - ¦ sponsible for four , the quartet from the former Province ' - '"' uprising No . 6 , who has 14 votes in hand , and No . 14 , with

The Approaching Benevolent Elections.

985 votes , with Nos . 26 and 48 , who are new candidates ; while the Sussex four are No . 4 , who starts with 4594 votes to the good ; No . 9 , No . 12 , with 49 81 votes in hand , and 20 to be recorded ; and No . 17 , with 1165 to the good and 60 to be recorded .

Middlesex is responsible for Nos . 25 , 4 6 , and 49 ; Devonshire for No . 2 , who brings forward 219 votes from n previous ballots , and No : 43 ; Somersetshire , for Nos . 19 and 2 S : East Lancashire , for Nos . 15 and 44 ; West Yorkshire , for Nos . 37 , and 47 ; and

North and East Yorkshire , for Nos . 39 and 42 . The others are distributed in singles among sundry Provinces , but the onl y points that are worthy of mention arc that No . 1 , who hails from

Northumberland , starts on his iSth ballot with 97 6 votes in hand that No . 3 ( Oxfordshire ) has 4944 votes to help him on his way ; and No . 8 ( Cornwall ) , 3237 votes . Of the total number of 49 candidates , 22 have taken part in one or more ballots and 27 are new cases .

For the WIDOWS' FUND there are , as we have said , 54 candidates , of whom 25 remain from last year , and 29 are new to the experience of the ballot .

London is responsible for 14 , namely : Nos . 14 and 15 , who start with 1 S 22 and 146 S votes respectively ; No . 19 , with 8 97 votes ; and Nos . 27 , 30 , 32 , 34 , 3 8 , 40 , 4 r , 43 , 44 , 47 , and 53 , who are all newly approved applicants . Kent furnishes

live candidates , who stand on the lis / , at Nos . 20 , 21 , 22 , 35 , and 42 . Cumberland , and Westmorland has three candidates—No . 1 who starts on her iSth trial with 1266 votes ; No . - ? , who brings forward 55 votes from nine previous ballots ; and a new applicant

at No . 39 . Lincolnshire , Middlesex , and Suffolk furnish three each , the Lincolnshire trio comprising No . 4 , with 74 votes in hand from eight ballots ; No . 9 , and No . 4 6 . The Middlesex three are No . 7 , with 1263 votes to her credit ; and Nos . in and

51 ; and the Suffolk three Nos . 10 , 24—with iaCifj votes in handand No . 50 . Warwickshire sends No . 5 , who brings forward 9 66 votes ; and No . 23 ; West Lancashire , Nos . 12 and 52 ; Norfolk ,

Nos . IS and 49 ; West Yorkshire , Nos . 29 and 45 ; and Devonshire , Nos . 36 and 48 . The others are distributed in singles among other Provinces , but in no case is there anvthing in respect ol their candidature which calls for remark .

Bro. G. W. Speth, P.A.G.D.C.

BRO . G . W . SPETH , P . A . G . D . C .

It is difficult to picture to ourselves circumstances more painful than those under which our talented and respected Bro . GEORGE WILLIAM SPETH , P . A . G . D . C . England , Secretary of Quatnor-Coronati Lodge , No . 2076 , was taken from our

midst , or the loss which Freemasonry has sustained by his death . On Friday afternoon last our late brother was in all the vigour of intellectual manhood ; a few hours later he had ceased to be , and the wealth of energy and vigour and menial power

with which it had pleased the G . A . O . T . U . to endow him was as though it had never existed . Bro . SPETH had passed to his eternal rest , and the brethren with whom it had been one of the chiefest delights of his busy life to be associated , and for whom

he was prepared to make the utmost sacrifice of time and labour , have lost , in a single instant of time , the able coadjutor , the experienced officer , the kindly and genial brother , whom it

had been their happy fate and fortune to meet in Masonic : and other circles , and for whom they entertained such deep and sincere feelings of love and respect .

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Now Ready . —The Cosmopolitan Masonic Calendar { or 1901 Price 1 / -, by post 1 / li ,