Royal Benevolent Institution For Aged Freemasons And Their Widows.

subscriptions , whose total amounted to 2 , 992 Z ., the announcement of which , by the Chairman , was received with great cheering . Bro . Victor Williamson , G . J . W ., proposed " The Health of the Chairman , " and the Brethren having duly honoured it , Colonel Bowyer said—I need not say that it is with the deepest , most grateful , and satisfactory feelings , I rise to return thanks for the manner . in which you have received my name . I could not have conceived that I

deserved at all the encomiums passed upon me by a Brother whom I recognized as a friend and Brother of the University of Oxford . He has made more of my merits than I could , perhaps , make of his ; but I can only say that , from the time he entered Freemasonry to the present he hasalways fulfilled the duties which devolved upon him with the greatest zeal , and I thank him for past favours and for the kind and fraternal feeling with which he has reminded me of his Oxford career associated with myself . There are always painful recollections incident to Oxford , for when we have known friends the best and most , they depart from that University , and it is always with sad feelings that I lose " them . But when I think that

those Masons who arc made there go forth into the world to propagate the principles of Freemasonry , I feel a pride and affection for my province of Oxford . Many of my friends are here to-night , and 1 thank them for coming , as I know , with great inconvenience to themselves , to do good . I trust we shall all units in every possible manner , to prove our regard for and fraternal feeling for one another . I shall detain you no longer except to thank you for the cordial manner in which you have drunk my health . attribute

I your kindness to no merit of my own , coming forward , as I have to-night , with great diffidence , but rather to your over good nature . Still , whatever my shortcomings may be , whenever my services as a Mason may be required I shall always be most proud and happy to come and do my duty . ( Applause . ) Such an excellent epitome of the state , and doings , of the Institution which the respected Chairman so lucidlbrought before the brethren deserves to be

y widely circulated , in order to induce every brother to do his SOLEMNLY PLEDGED DUTY by this most valuable Institution . Our space is so limited that our readers will execuse our inserting the mere complimentary routine which followed .

A WIPE ' S TEIAXS . —Wife and mother , are you tired and out of patience with your husband's and your children's demands upon your time and attention ? Arc you tempted to speak out angry feelings to that faithful , but perhaps , sometimes heedless , or exacting , husband of yours ; or to scold and fret at those sweet and beautiful ones ? Do you groan and say , " What a fool I was to marry , and leave my father's house , where I lived in ease ? Are you , by reason of the care ' and weariness of the body which wifehood and motherhood

must bring , forgetful of , and ungrateful for , their comforts and joys ? Oh ! wife and mother , what if a stroke should smite your husband and lay him low ? What if your children should be snatched from your arms and from your bosom ? What if there were no soft little innocents to nestle in your arms , and to love you or receive your love ? What if there were no true strong heart for you to lean upon ? How would it be with you then ? Be patient and kind , dear wife ; be unweary and long-suffering , dear mother ; for

you know not how long you may have with your best and dearest treasures —you know not how long you may tarry with them . Let there be nothing for you to remember which will wring your heart with remorse if they leave you alone ; let there be nothing for them to remember but sweetness and love unutterable , if you are called to leave them by the way . Be patient , be pitiful , be tender of them all , for death will step in , sooner or later , between them and you . Be happy as you are , even with all your trials ; for , believe it , thou wife of a loving and true husband , there is no lot in life so blessed as thine own .