Reform At The Boys' School.

A medium courso will then be adopted , and in time the avernge cost per boy will be reduced ; bnt not , we fear , to the low figure now claimed

of £ 39 5 s per annum . To reach that average will he a work of time—at least such is our opinion—but in expressing such opinion we repeat that it will afford us the Greatest gratification to have to announce that we are

wrong . Wo hopo we have said enough to secure some sort of explanation from tho champions of the " new ri ' ghne" whose efforts in the good cause we fnlly appreciate . We hope thoy will not consider our remarks as in any way reflecting on their labours . Really wo are so taken aback at tho results claimed for their exertions that

wo have thought it best to boldly challenge them to prove tho correctness of what is stated on their behalf . They can easily answer our queries , and we are convinced that in doing so they will be supplying information that ia eagerly sought by the supporters of our Charities .

The Latitudinarian Mason.

THE LATITUDINARIAN MASON .

THE amplitude and scope of Freemasonry are so remarkable that the Craft is fully justified in requiring its initiates to circumscribe their official and personal action as Masons within the boundaries which it has clearly indicated for itself and them . A world wide

Fraternity in its personnel , it moves itself , a little world , in the larger world surrounding it . It is because Freemasonry is distinguished by this latitudinarian character , embracing , as it does , initiates selected from all nations possessed of the light of civilization , of all religions which

acknowledge tho one true and living God , and exemplifying in its symbolic and allegoric teachings a wealth of thought , artistic , scientific and theological , that it says to all its members , " Thus far shalt thou go , and no farther . "

Masons are free , Freemasons , and the freedom bestowed upon them is of the noblest and most liberal type ; but it is not license . There aro Landmarks which designate the boundaries of this Masonic freedom . There are

Constitutions which give their sanction to the preservation of these Landmarks . There are Usages and Customs which are in accord with these Constitutions and Landmarks . The

purpose of all of these is to ensure the right enjoyment by Freemasons of the freedom with which they are endowed , and to restrain an unwarranted interpretation of liberty into license .

Some Freemasons commit the gross error of supposing that because the Craft is latitudinarian , therefore the individual Craftsman may be so likewise . Not so . He has no authority other than that accorded him . His liberty is a lawful liberty . Obedience is a Masonic

virtueobedience to the All-Ruler , God , to the civil ruler , established government , to the Craft in matters Masonic , always and everywhere . No laxity , no independence is permissible in Freemasonry . The Landmarks may not be removed , the Constitutions , Usages and Customs must be

observed . With profane governments and courts , as Freemasons we have nothing to do . We do not ask the one to charter our bodies , nor the other to interpret our usages or customs . It is not proper for either to attempt to do this , and no Freemason who properly apprehends our

Fraternity will invoke their aid . No Masonic body should ever petition either legislature or court for a profane charter , since it is needless , for any legitimate purpose for which a Masonic body exists . Such a charter may be obtained , but it is always a delusion and a snare , and any

Grand Lodge is worse than unwise which permits its subordinates to become formally interlinked with and subjects of the State . Likewise , no Freemason should appeal from a Masonic to a civil court , and if he does , the latter will forthwith relegate him to his appropriate

tribunal , informing him that it will not judicially interpret tho jurisprudence of Freemasonry . Probably tbe most frequent transgression , in some jurisdictions , of the freedom with which Craftsmen are gifted , is in tbe matter of their variation and enlargement

of the ritual of the Fraternity . Some Brethren cannot resist , or do not wish to resist , the temptation to beautify and adorn ( they so express it ) the work of the degrees .

They have a dainty piece of poetry which they would like to insert here , or a nicely-rounded sentence which they desire to intorject there . This phrase is too bald , and that redundant . They are wiser than their fellows , wiser than

The Latitudinarian Mason.

their predecessors ; but how would they regard their successors , if they knew how their own choice additions to and subtractions from the ritual will be treated in the future , when other Solomons arise ! No , there is no license to tamper with Masonic work . Over it the Grand Lodge

and the Grand Master have exclusive authority and control . To permit any other course fs to remove the ancient Landmarks , to give a constituent Lodge the authority of a Grand Lodge , to give any Brother who works a degree the authority of a Grand Master in the Craft .

On the border lands of every jurisdiction , especially , it is required to be understood that individual latitudinarian . ism is not permissible in Freemasonry . Where the local usages of two jurisdictions differ , those of our own must prevail . Where the local work differs , the foreign work

may not be introduced . It may be all right for them , but it is all wrong for us . Our autonomy mnst be preserved . The latitudinarian Mason has no proper place in the Craft . As the free-thinker in religion ia apt to be an atheist , as the socialist in the State is apt to be a nihilist ,

so the latitudinarian in Freemasonry is likely to be a Masonic destructionist . There is safety only in conformity to Masonic usage , custom and Landmark , equally in the work of the Craft , in Lodge proceedings and in individual Masonic action . —Keystone .

Rituals In Freemasonry.

RITUALS IN FREEMASONRY .

ARE rituals essential to the preservation of tho practical unity and universality of Freemasonry ? This question comes naturally when one hears the flippant sneers of certain brethren who seem to find nothing so utterly useless and reprehensible as an absolute fidelity to the ritual . " The parrot-like repetition of tbe ritual "

comes easily from the lips of those who , having a ready flow of language , seem to believe that they are the only thoughtful and intelligent men in the fraternity , apparently unmindful of the fact that many a long address contains but a grain of thought in a great mass of verbosity . The

men who have left their impress on the great Institution from the earliest times have believed in , aud been active in favour of a ritual in every Masonic body of either Rite . Not that the ritual is all there is to Masonry by any means , but that a ritual is essential , if the Institution is not to be

allowed to degenerate into a mere series of social clubs , thereby losing that which more than any other one thing has preserved its real unity throughout the whole civilized world . It is easy for the fluent and indolent man to talk of the useles 3 ness of committing the ritual to memory , when

the great trouble is that he is too indifferent to learn , though his assurance is so great that he thinks his own weak words will convey more meaning than the language of the ritual . Too many men of this class are in the Institution , and they do it injury by their vapourings .

The fact is that the ritual carefully learned and earnestly rendered will always make an impression , even though the Officer has not had " the advantage of a college education , or the gift of oratory . Wherever and whenever the Officers of any Masonic body render their work with fidelity to the

ritual , there , always and without exception , will be found a prosperous body , with good attendance , even when the Officers are not men of brilliant attainments , for the earnestness and thought they have given to memorising the

ritual manifests itself in the rendition of the work , and real earnestness is always impressive . Any Mason who has been an attendant on the meetings for many years can instance from his own recollection the truth of this

statement , and he may also remember where tbe prosperity of such a body has been seriously injured by having at its head some naturally brilliant man , too indolent to learn tho ritual , who substitutes his own flashy and vapid utterances for the stately , solid and thought-inspiring language of the

ritual . It is not claimed that the phraseology of the ritual in any of the degrees ia absolutely perfect by auy means , but it is the language that the great mass of the Craft has

decided should be used , and no man has any right to accept office unless he means " in good faith and conscience , and to tbe best of his ability " to give tbe work correctly .

A paper was quite recently read before a Masonic assemblage in which the author took occasion to speak sneeringly of Grand Lecturers and of their efforts to have the Officers of subordinate bodies endeavour to conform to