Approaching Festival Of The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

APPROACHING FESTIVAL OF THE ROYAL MASONIC BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION .

Three weeks hence we shall be on the eve of the first of the year's great Anniversary Festivals—that of- the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution—which is appointed to be held at Freemasons' Tavern on Wednesday , the 25 th prox ., and at which

Bro . Earl AMHERST , R . W . Provincial Grand Master of Kent , has kindly consented to preside . We do not propose going over the ground we have so often traversed in previous articles . We have again and again endeavoured to impress upon our readers

the inestimable benefits conferred by this important Charity , and the large amount of money which it is necessary to raise annually in order to provide the ways and means for its expenditure . We have many times remarked that £ 15 , 000 , or

thereabouts , takes a great deal of raising , and have pointed out that in order to carry out successfully so serious a duty , it is necessary not only that the experienced Craftsman should renew his

labours annually , but also that the inexperienced should make an early beginning with his , and then—to use the expressive language of the late President LINCOLN —keep pegging away . It may be wearisome for us to be continuall y repeating the same story , and as wearisome for our constituents to be

continually listening to it , but donations and subscriptions , albeit they are voluntarily made , do not of themselves flow into an exchequer which sorel y needs them , and , therefore , our appeals and those of others engaged in the same task must be frequently reiterated if we desire they should prove effective .

As regards the Festival which is now so close at hand , the prospects are to a certain extent encouraging . Bro TERRY has succeeded in obtaining the services of about 250 brethren as Stewards for the occasion . The number maybe a few more or

a few less than it was at the corresponding date of last year , but it is a goodly number , and there is the likelihood , amounting almost to a certainty , that between now and the 25 th prox . it will be very considerably increased . The Chairman ' s Province of

Kent , which invariably acquits itself well , even when there is no special stimulus to exertion , is likely to be stronglyand numerously represented , while London and the other provinces will no doubt perform their part of the duty they have undertaken with their

accustomed readiness and generosity . Yet , with all this bri ght outlook before us , we must bear in mind that £ 15 , 000 , a year ' s interest on a capital sum of half a million pounds sterling , requires a big effort to raise , and we may be forgiven if we have some JJ : — - ~ - —~_ , « ... ^ . > , ^ "iij "i . luigivcn 11 vvc iictve some

aoubts as to a Board of 250 Stewards being quite strong enough jo effect the desired object , without that further help which * Is « el y to come , but which , if it be much longer postponed , will De comparativel y of little or no avail . Again , Bro . TERRY , in ° "e of his speeches at the winter entertainment to the old folks t

Croydon , referred hopefull y to some of the promised Stewards ' ists which he had heard were well calculated to swell ne announcement it will be his duty to make on th ! t y a PP ° . - Yet we must not lose si ght of ' tact that it will require very many large lists thn 1 C i Up S ° formidabIe a sum as £ 15 , 000 . In short , ough the prospects hopeful trust that this fact will not —f i inuujjciui inai tnis will not

are , we j , ° - ^ - ^^^^ , , we LIUSL race ter brethren of enterprise from lending their support either ^ stewards or contributors . Their help is still needed , and will n . a more or less material value according as their services are Prnf'f '"" . IA-IICI . 1 Yiiu ^ aLuuiuing cts Liicu heivices are

rem ' ^ ^ earlier or ] ater period during the interval that b ams . We again , therefore , most earnestly appeal to the and R S enerall y to support the Committee of Management andf rERRY in their efforts to raise the necessary supplies , com - remember that if m ° re than is required should be forthforaH ^' - ^ " 6 arC u P wards of J 5 ° men and widow candidates ^ mission to the benefits of this most deserving Institution .

The Critic At Fault.

THE CRITIC AT FAULT .

It is to be regretted that a well-informed journal like our worthy contemporary the Canadian Craftsman , which is an admirable exponent of Canadian Masonic opinion , and which in all , or nearly all , matters affecting the current progress of the

Craft in the Dominion , may be regarded as a trustworthy , if not quite an infallible authority , should endanger its high reputation by venturing on the somewhat hazardous experiment of criticising subjects which it evidently does not understand , or about

which it is assuredly very imperfectly informed . We can appreciate , and even to a certain extent sympathise , with it in its expressions of regret in its issue for December last " that the

Grand Lodge of England has declined to recognise the newlyestablished Grand Lodge of New Zealand . " We can assure our contemporary that had the so-called Grand Lodge of New Zealand been established in the same manner as the Grand

Lodges of South Australia , New South Wales , Victoria , and Tasmania , the Grand Lodge of England would not have regarded the act as " a revolt" against its authority , neither would it have regarded " the loss of direct jurisdiction in that remote colony

as a piece lost from the cream of English Masonry . But the Canadian Craftsman must forgive us if we suggest that it is talking nonsense when it permits itself to express such statements as that " the British Grand Lodges are singularly , or

rather selfishly , blind to the universal welfare of Masonry "; " the English Grand Lodge believes itself to be the Masonic hub of the Universe " ; " secure in the knowledge that England would back up their claims , however absurd , lodges in the

colonies have held aloof from newly-formed Grand Lodges for no earthly reason other than ' better terms . ' This is what the kickers in New Zealand are after . They want the Grand Lod ge offices , in fact the earth , and England is foolish enough to stand

by them , even if they desire a whitewashed fence and a chromo thrown in . " As for the assertion that "the sooner England , Scotland , and Ireland adopt the American principle of territorial jurisdiction the better for Freemasonry and the Colonies , " we

have no doubt this is the belief of our contemporary , but we claim for the Grand Lodges of England , Scotland , and Ireland that they also are entitled to hold opinions on a question which so intimately concerns them as the relations of their respective

lodges in the colonies to themselves , and we believe we are justified in affirming that the Grand Lodges of the United Kingdom are not quite so enthusiastic in their love of American

Masonic arrangements as are the Americans themselves . This , indeed , is only natural , nor do we dream for one moment of quarrelling with them because they prefer their own system to

ours . Some of the earlier of the above assertions of the Canadian Craftsman may be passed by without notice , but those which more immediately concern our private lodges in the colonies , and

which represent the Grand Lodge authorities at home as being ready to back them up in any absurd course they may see fit to adopt , cannot be allowed to go unchallenged . These statements , indeed , show clearly that our contemporary , as we pointed out

at the beginning of this article , does not understand the subject it has taken upon itself to discuss . We presume , however , that the Craftsman is sufficiently conversant with the principles of Masonic law—which in this particular are the same in all

countries—to be aware that when a Grand Lodge issues its warrant for the constitution of a private lodge—which warrant , be it remembered , is issued to brethren who owe it obedience

not to those who are under some other Grand Lodge—it does so on the understanding that the lodge so constituted shall obey the laws and ordinances of the Supreme Authority , while the new lodge , in return for the obedience it renders and for so long as it