The Subscription Lists At The Recent Festival.

The compact little province of Herts , with its nine or ten Lodges , is very worthily represented by the Gladsmnir , whose W . M ., Bro . James Cutbush , furnished a contribution of close on £ 83 . There are forty Lodges in Kent , nine of which sent Stewards , whose exertions resulted in the

handsome total of £ 660 , short by a few pence only . The Eastern Division of Lancashire is the strongest of all our Provinces as regards the number of its Lodges . There are now eighty-two of these , and last year there were just eighty . Three only , one being a Manchester , are on this year ' s

list against five , including two Manchester , in 1875 , aud eighty-four guineas is the outcome of the Stewards' exertions . It should be noted that this most important town of Manchester , the centre of the cotton trade , and one of the richest in England , was not on the Girls' or Benevolent

Lists either last year or this , in spite of having seventeen Lodges , while as to the Boys' School , No . 62 ( ten guineas each time by the hands of the steward ) , and No . 645 are the only two which have appeared in either list since 1874 . Here , then there is manifestly a grand field open for the

display of energy , and we trust this self-evident fact will not be forgotten between now and the festivals of next year . West Lancashire is represented by two of its seventy-one Lodges , and figures for one hundred guineas , but its support of Lord Skelmersdale at the Benevolent

Festival was on a grand scale , and we have already said it is not just the same Lodges should be so frequently called upon . Leicester and Rutland has nine Lodges , and contributes only a small sum ( £ 12 10 s ) , but last year it did its duty admirably , to the extent of over £ 181 . Lincolnshire

seldom allows a Festival to pass without some kind of contribution ; a sum of over £ 245 is the amount on this occasion . It has also in the course of these two years given over £ 540 to the Girls ' , and over £ 570 to the Benevolent . Middlesex

contributes £ 121 , was on last year ' s list , as well as among the contributing provinces to both our other Institutions . Norfolk stands for forty-three guineas , Northumberland for somewhat in excess of £ 300 . No . 1434

does duty for Notts . Oxford has only seven Lodges , but it stands well in the lists for both 1875 and 1876 . Somersetshire subscribes to this festival the moderate sum of sixty-nine guineas , but it held a foremost place in 1875 , over £ 540 being the sum of its contributions .

Staffordshire , which gave £ 221 last year , is within a fraction of £ 300 this . Suffolk , Surrey , and Sussex are among the provinces which figure at both festivals , and so is Warwickshire . Last year two Birmingham Lodges did duty for the province , and their labours resulted in the subscription

of £ 380 . This year its G . M ., Lord Leigh , presided , and Warwickshire was determined to show itself worthy of its president . Accordingly , over eighty brethren took upon themselves the labours and responsibilities of Stewards , with a result never previously exceeded in the chronicles

of Masonic Charity . The aggregate of the Warwickshire subscription is exactly £ 2 , 000 , or nearl y one-sixth of the whole product of the Festival . We note likewise , to the credit of Birmingham , that every one of its fourteen Lodges is represented , indeed of the twenty-six Warwickshire

Lodges there is only one unrepresented by a Steward or Stewards . Lord Leigh has said that some former remarks of ours were personal to himself and his Province . For this reason is it we have gone somewhat out of our way both here and in our opening comments to particularise

the case of Warwickshire . It gives us great pleasure to note its recent exploit in the service of Masonic charity , and we shall be still better pleased if our Warwickshire critics will not go out of their way to misinterpret our purpose . North Wales , Salop , South

Wales—East , Wilts , and West Yorkshire gave both last year and this , the last over £ 800 in 1875 and close upon £ 340 in 1876 . We think it right to give some prominence to this fact , as it was this particular Province which took so leading a part in a recent painful controversy . We said we

anticipated something of this kind only a week or two since , and we gladly record this fulfilment of our hopes . From abroad somewhat over £ 100 is down as the contributions of the Punjab District and Greece . Such then is the result of the year 1876 , which will only be a little less productive than

its immediate predecessor . It is a grand result to be able to record that in two years the funds of the Boys' School have been benefited to the extent of £ 25 , 000 and some few hundreds over . Well done , Stewards ! We congratulate you most heartily , Bro . Binckes .

Anglican Intolerance In Lincolnshire.

ANGLICAN INTOLERANCE IN LINCOLNSHIRE .

WE are never surprised when wo read that a new attack has been made on Freemasonry by some member , more or less prominent , of the Romish section of the Catholic Church . We know the bitterness of feeling which animates its priesthood . We know , indeed , full well why it is so bitter against us . A

body of men that dares to have an opinion of its own on certain questions of importance , a body which not only will not sanction , but strictly forbids its members from taking people to task for their religious and political convictions , is sure to be regarded with hostility by those who

deny freedom of thought to any but themselves . We expect the priests of the Roman Church to attack ns frequently and fiercely , and as a matter of fact , we think that Freemasonry prospers more the more Romanism confers on us this otherwise invidious distinction . The Bishop of

Orleans ,. Pope Pius IX ., and others have condemned us utterly , and the more they have done so the more have we flourished . We confess , however , the picture of a clergyman of the Church of England exhibiting a like antagonism to the Craft is not to our taste . It bespeaks ,

in the first place , what we fear must be written down as the insolent assumption of a narrow-minded priest , that all his clerical brethren who belong to our brotherhood are , i pso facto , unworthy the blessings of Christianity . At least , this identical clergyman , whom , for the benefit of our

readers , we particularise as the Rev . Wm . John W ylie , of Brigg , in Lincolnshire , and with whose illiberal action towards Masonry we have become acquainted through the instrumentality of our Rev . Bro . Daniel Ace , D . D ., Vicar of Laughton , Gainsborough , in the same

countythis clergyman , we repeat , denied our brethren , in Provincial Grand Lodge assembled , the use of his church for the purpose of praying and expressing their sense of thankfulness to the G . A . O . T . U . for blessings received . This privilege of praying in a house of God is , as Dr . Ace very

properly points out , accorded to convicts . The Rev . Mr . Wylie denies it to Masons , notwithstanding a neighbouring clergyman and many other clerical members of the Anglican Church belong to our Craft . In the next place , Mr . Wylie exhibits a most profound ignorance , as well as

—we do not like writing so sharply , but it is our duty—an utter want of that Charity which a certain inspired writer has told us is the basis of Christianity . Who should illustrate the beautiful love for God and our nei ghbour , which Christianity enjoins on all men , more unceasingly

or more emphaticall y than a priest of the Christian Church ? Even if Masons are a godless set of people , that is , indeed , the greater reason why they should not be denied the benefit of prayer when they seek it . If Mr . W ylie knew what Masonry was , what it practised and

preached , he never would have descended to so low a level as to set the precepts of his religion at defiance , for the purpose of denouncing us , by act , if •not in word . We have made these remarks in sorrow , not in anger . Let

Mr . Wylie read our Constitutions , and , to mention no others , tbe various works of the late Dr . Oliver , and we dare venture to think he will have a higher opinion of Freemasonry , and in future , perhaps , may prove himself a more orthodox exponent of Christian Charity .

Festival Of The Boys' School.

FESTIVAL OF THE BOYS' SCHOOL .

We have been requested to make the following corrections in amounts collected for the Boys' School Festival of last week : — Province of Cornwall , per W . J . Hughan , should be £ 453 12 s .

Doric Lodge , No . 933 , per John G . Stevens , S . W . P . M . 554 , should be £ 228 18 s . Perfect Ashlar Lodge , No . 1178 , per Joseph Stock J . D ., should have been £ 66 3 s ; this latter amount was put right in part of our issue last week .

Bro . Raynham W . Stewart will propose at the meeting of the Girls' School , to be held to-day : — " That considering the satisfactory condition of the funds of the School , ten of the unsuccessful Candidates at the last election highest

on the Poll , be admitted without farther election , at the same time as those already elected , and that arrangements be made for their reception in the Infirmary until the alterations now in progress at the School are completed . "