The Festival Of Wednesday Next.

THE FESTIVAL OF WEDNESDAY NEXT .

At last vve find ourselves within measurable distance of the day appointed for the celebration of the 92 nd Anniversary Festival in behalf of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys . The event will take place in the great hall of- Freemasons ' Tavern , on Wednesday , the 2 nd prox . Bro . the Ri ght Hon .

Lord GEORGE HAMILTON , M . P ., First Lord of the Admiralty , Past Senior Grand Warden of England , will occupy the chair , and there are not a few brethren , ourselves being among the number , who - are venturesome enough to believe that his lordship ' s advocacy of the interests of this important Charity

will be attended with a very fair measure of success . It is true the Board of Stewards , on whose efforts so much of that success must depend , is far from being as strong as it has been at a majority of our later Festivals . It is true , also , that London , as we mentioned last week , is still the weak point in its

constitution , notwithstanding that the Chairman is essentiall y a London Freemason , while we know the arrangements for the re-organisation of the School , instead of being complete , are still in progress . Yet , in spite of these unfavourable conditions , we are sanguine enough to hope that the total of subscriptions and donations

which it will be the duty of Bro . BINCKES to announce on Wednesday evening next will be considerabl y nearer to the result of the Benevolent Festival in February last— £ 13 , 840—than tothe £ 11 , 000 announced in connection with the Girls , School Festival last month .

We have said that London is the weak point in the constitution of the Board of Stewards , which now numbers upwards of 260 brethren . As a matter of fact , the representatives of London onlv slightly exceed 100 in number , while the Provincial Stewards are upwards of 160 . In the former case about 70 lodges and 4

chapters have sent representatives , while the number of unattached is between 25 and 30 . As far as our experience goes , we have generally found that about one-fourth of the total number of lodges in London—that is to say , about go lodgessend Stewards , but on this occasion the proportion is onl y

one-fifth . Happily , the list includes the names of several hardworking brethren as well as of brethren of considerable wei ght and influence , so that , as at some past Festivals we have known , it is within the reach of possibility that the smaller body may

produce a better result , either actually or in proportion . If , however , London is weak in numbers , the Provinces seem likel y to make amends for the shortcoming . It is true that onl y two-thirds instead of the usual three-fourths are represented , but those two-thirds include almost the whole of the Provinces

which are regular in their contributions and give largely , and many of these are more strongly represented than usual . In this section also of the Board will be found the names of many brethren who , when they give their services as Stewards , are in the habit of working with great energy , and as a rule with very

conspicuous success . Under these circumstances , it is not perhaps very surprising that we should incline towards those who are hopeful of a satisfactory result rather than to the side of those despondent ones whose only idea seems to be that a small Board of Stewards means comparative failure , just as a large Board means comparative success .

As regards the Institution and its requirements , we can only repeat what we have said in previous notes and articles . The School now musters some 260 pupils , and therefore at the reduced rate of expenditure of £ 40 per boy , the sum required for the year

will be close on £ 10 , 500 , without leaving even the narrowest margin for unforeseen contingencies . But in addition to this ordinary expenditure the Provisional Management Committee have made it clear to the Governors and Subscribers that an

extraordinary expenditure of about £ 3000 for sanitary and other improvements in the School premises at Wood Green must be incurred , so that the total amount which will have to be provided during the current year is at least £ 13 , 500 , while the permanent income amounts to- only some £ 600 or £ 700 . We sincerely trust , therefore , that the Festival of Wednesday next may prove

The Festival Of Wednesday Next.

to be a clear and undoubted success , and that the total of thc Returns may as nearly as possible amount to the total expenditure vvhich has already been declared to be imperatively necessary . We know the Chairman and his Board of Stewards will exert themselves to the verv utmost to secure this

muchdesired result , and it is for the brethren generally , by their contributions to support them . We trust , also , that as this will be the 29 th and last Festival with which Bro . BINCKES will be associated in his official capacity as Secretary , the Returns he will announce on Wednesday will be found to compare

favourably with some of the greater successes with which his name has been connected . To his efforts principally we owe it that the Boys' School has attained to its present dimensions , and that for the last 15 or 20 years big figures have been the order of the

day at the Festivals of all three Institutions . Let us requite those services handsomely ,-so that the close of his official career may be as bright and as regards the School itself , as hopeful for the years that are to come , as when he first entered on his duties well-nigh 30 years ago .

Chapter General Of Knights Templars Of Scotland.

CHAPTER GENERAL OF KNIGHTS TEMPLARS OF SCOTLAND .

We are pleased to report indications of activity on the part of the Chapter General of Knights Templars of Scotland , though by their action , or inaction , in relation to the Convent General , of which H . R . H . the Prince of WALES is Grand Master , the members are out of touch to a great extent with

the English and Irish fratres , yet as an old organisation of Chivalric Degrees , and undoubtedly influentially , if not numerously , supported , we are at all times ready to note aught of interest concerning its welfare . This time it is the Glasgow sir knights that have been the means of awaking a little life in

that body , and we confidently expect that the new departure will lead to other districts also moving in the matter . On the 19 th inst , the eminent Craftsmen , L . MACKERSY , W . S ., and Dr . DiCKSON attended St . Mungo ' s Encampment , K . T ., as a deputation from the august Chapter General , and

inaugurated the Knights of Malta ( with " Mediterranean Pass " ) under the wing of that active subordinate . Bro . EDWARD MACBEAN , the Glasgow Masonic Student , was installed as Preceptor , Bro . DAVID R . CLARK was invested as Captain General , and Bro .

FOULDS as Lieutenant-General . The other officers for working ; the Degree were also dul y inducted . Fourteen brethren were received into the Malta Degree , and the Consecrating Officers , Bros . MACKERSY and DiCKSON , were voted "founders' jewels " in recognition of their valuable services .

Freemasonry In Queensland.

FREEMASONRY IN QUEENSLAND .

Two or three weeks since we published a highly interesting letter from a Queensland brother , who is Secretary of a lodge which he describes with apparent accuracy as " the most outlying lodge , " but which promises , nevertheless , to be one of the most flourishing in the Colony . It is situated some 400 miles from

the nearest port , and about 40 miles from the nearest railway station , and therefore it is not without difficulties in the way of locomotion , which are not always easily surmounted , that the members obey their summonses to attend the duties of the lodge at its regular and emergency meetings . This lodge , which is

known as the Aramac , No . 233 8 , under the English Constitution , was consecrated as recently as the iSth September of last year , and the Prov . Grand Officer , to whom was delegated the duty of constituting it , travelled in company with the W . M of the

Blackwell Lodge , and four of its members , no less than 120 miles across country in order to perform the ceremony . The founders—twelve in number—and visitors , numbering 33 in all , came together from places more or less remote from the town of Aramac , yet the labour of travelling must evidently have