The Approaching Festival Of The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

of big figures , ft is a formidable task to make good a deficit of some £ 14 , 000 , especially when you know that there are two other equally deserving Institutions in the field which are equally under the necessity of raising large sums of money

required for their maintenance . The utmost energy is needed in order to meet these heavy demands , and we sincerely hope that the needful energy will be successfully exhibited on behalf of the" Old People ' s " Charity .

An Old List Of Lodges.

AN OLD LIST OF LODGES .

Through the courtesy of my friend , Bro . G . W . Bain , of Newcastle-upon-Tyne , I have recently examined another " List of Regular Lodges , " which is found at the end of a book whose title I am unable to give , the first sheet of 12 pages with the title page at least being missing . The book is a small square

i 2 mo ., with signatures C to Z , sheets A and B having disappeared . The bulk of the volume is occupied by a variety of songs alphabetically arranged according to the initial letter of the first line . A few Masonic songs are interspersed amongst the others , which are mostly amatory and in many cases somewhat coarse . There

is no pagination whatever , the songs extending to U of the signatures . Then follow four pages of "Toasts and Sentiments ; " 10 pages on "The art of Swimming ; " five pages containing " A short account of River and Pond Fish , with the

best manner of catching them ; two pages of " Rules to be observed by the Players of Cricket ; " concluding with " A List of Regular Lodges according to their Seniority and Constitution , by order of the Grand Master , " which occupies the last 18 pages of the book .

This list will apparently indicate the date of the publication , namely , 1770 or 1771 , but its peculiarity consists in its being mainly , though not exclusively , taken from an Engraved List of 17 69 , probably the last edition known of that year , with which it substantially agrees as to the places of meeting recorded . The

enumeration throughout is that of 1755-69 , the numbers and dates of all the 60 erased lodges being inserted . The list , however , comprises lodges of the following year , 1770 , the last number being " 472 , Hare and Hounds , Barnard Castle , Durham "—which was a lodge constituted in November , 1770 .

From a careful inspection and analysis I have arrived at the conclusion that this list was mainly compiled from the second edition of the Engraved Lists of 17 6 9 , as from No . 1 to No . 352 the lists ( except in respect of some inexact interpretations ) are identical . Then , however , come the divergences .

No . 353 in this list is "Kings Arms Punch House , Shad Thames , " which was really No . 362 , and Nos . 354-6 should be 353-5 . The correct No . 356 " Lodge No . 1 , Bencoolen , " is omitted altogether . Nos . 357-361 agree with the Engraved List . No . 362 of this list being put at 353 ( as above ) makes all

the numbers wrong from 362 to 390 , which should be 3 6 3-391 . No . 391 in this list is "The British Society Lodge at a Private Room in Newman Street , Soho Square , " which is given a second lime in its correct place under No . 39 6 , whereby the numbers from 392 to 425 again agree with those in the Engraved List ,

except that this list has "Ninth Lodge of India at Pain a / ' at No . 421 , which does not appear in the Engraved List until 1770 . No . 426 is blank , apparently in error , hence the numbers get wrong again ; 427-8 being actually 426-7 . No . 429 is really 421 , " Tenth Lodge of India at . the Factory , Burdwan . "

Nos . 428 , St . Christopher , and 429 , Castle , Marlborough , in the Engraved List are omitted altogether from this list . From No . 430 the lodges agree with the latest 176 9 Engraved List down to No . 458 , " Woolpack at Manchester , " which was the

<; nd of that enumeration . This list , however , runs on to No . 47 2 ( No . 465 being blank ) , giving 13 lodges , Nos . 459 to 464 , ¦ Tid 466 to 472 , which were not in the 1755-69 enumeration , but were Nos . 394-406 in that of 1770 . It is somewhat difficult to account for numbers based on the

' 755-6 9 enumeration being assigned to these 13 lodges , except ° » the hypothesis that they were added to a list of 176 9 from S ( Jine extraneous source . I am confirmed in this view , partly ,

from the fact that the last four lodges in this list have no dates 01 constitution , whilst the Engraved List of 1770 has the dates of two of them inserted ; but chiefly from the fact that the sliest edition known of the Engraved List of 1770 was pub-

An Old List Of Lodges.

lished prior to this list , and contains the new numbers , the lodges therein terminating with No . 402 of 20 th September , 1770 . It is a coincidence , perhaps , that the last lodge in this list numbered 472 ( No . 406 of 1770 ) was the last lodge in the

Second known edition of the Engraved Lists of 1770 , but I can scarcely conceive it possible ; that the whole was taken from any one Engraved List in view of the several discrepancies in the numbers .

That the early part of the list was copied from an Engraved List is further confirmed by the fact that the interpretation of the Engraved signs is in some instances erroneous . For example , No . 79 , " Rising Sun , " is given as , x Moon ; " No . 108 ,

"Crown and Ball , " is given as " Crown and Pearl ; " No . 172 , " Prescot , " is wrongly copied as " Pres / o «; " No . I 92 , "Chequers , " is stated to be " Draught Board ; " and No . 339 , White Hart , " is described as " Stag . "

An error not so easily explained occura at No . 200 , where " Great Searle Street , " Seven Dials , " is inserted for " Great Earl Street . "

There is , of course , a possibility that other Engraved Lists may not have been preserved , and it should not be forgotten that Benjamin Cole ' s Engraved List of 176 7 contained some of the same errors as are found in this new list , and which are indicated

in my " Handy Book , " p . 72 , but it is hardly likely , however , that these unofficial Engraved Lists would have been continued so late as I 769 or ( 770 , William Cole having superseded Benjamin Cole in the year 1766 .

I shall be glad of any information relative to the title of the book above referred to , and am always ready to hear about any old list of lodges not previously noted or described . JNO . LANE .

United Grand Lodge Of England.

UNITED GRAND LODGE OF ENGLAND .

The following is the business to be transacted on Wednesday next , the 4 th prox . : 1 . The minutes of the Quarterly Communication of the 4 th September for confirmation . 2 . Nomination of a Grand Master for the ensuing year . 3 . Nomination of a Grand Treasurer for the ens ling year . 4 . Appointment and investment of a President ot the Boa'd of Benevolence .

5 . Election of a Senior and a Junior Vice-Piesident of the Board of Benevolence . 6 . Election of 12 Past Masters to serve on the Bjatd of B : nev . ) Ience for the year ensuing . 7 . Report of the Board of Benevolence for the last quarter , in which are recommendations for the following grants : The widow of a brother of the Vitruvian Lodge , No . 87 ,

London ... ... ... ... £ 50 o o A brother ot the Lodge ol Emulation , No . 1505 , Liverpool 150 o o A brother of the West Middlesex Lodge , No . 1612 , Ealing 50 o o Eight children of a brother of Lodge Love and Honour , No . 494 , Axminster ... ... ... 75 o o And a resolution of a vote of thanks to the President , V . W . Bro . Robirt Grey , for the courteous manner in which he has , during the past year , presided over the meetings of the Board .

S . REPORT OF TUB BOARD UV GKNERAL PURPOSES . To the United Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of England . The Board beg to report that , in compliance with the resolution of Grand Lodge on the 6 th March last , viz .: "That the Board of General Purposes be requested to submit to Grand Lodge proposals for the purpose of bringing the jurisdiction of the Colonial Board under that of the General Board , and

unilying the affairs of the general Craft , as was the case before 1838 ; " and in compliance with the resolution of Grand Lodge on the 5 th June | jst , that the consideration of the proposals of the Board of General Purpjsss at that meeting submitted to Grand Lodge be deferred until the meeting of Grand Lodge in December , in order to give the Colonies an opportunity of considering the questions , they recommend the following alterations in the Book of

Constitutions : — ( 1 ) That Rule 254 Book of Constitutions be altered to read as follows : The Board shall consist of the Grand Master , Pro Grand Master , Deputy Grand Master , the Grand Wardens of the year , the Grand Treasurer , the Grand Registrar , the Deputy Grand Registrar , a President , Past Presidents , the President of the Board of Benevolenca , the

Grand Director of Ceremonies , and 24 other members . ( 2 ) That Rule 255 be altered to read as follows : The President and six of such other members shall be annuall yappointed by the Grand Master at the Quarterly Grand Lodge in June , and the Grand Lodge shall on the same day elect the remaining 18 members

from among the actual Masters and Past Masters of lodges . A Master and Past Master , or more than one Past Master , of the same lodge , shall not be elected on the same Board , but this shall not disqualify any Past Master being a subscribing member and Master of another lodge from being elected for and representing such other lodge as Master .

( 3 ) That the word " elected" be inserted before the word " members " in Rule 256 . ( 4 ) That rule 271 be altered to read as follows . •—The Board shall appoint , from amongst its members , a Committee of seven to consider all Colonial , Indian , and Foieign matters that may be referred to it , whose duty it shall be to repjrt their proceedings