The Boys' School Election.

THE BOYS' SCHOOL ELECTION .

THE roll of candidates for the benefits of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys is twelve in excess of those seeking admission to the sister Institution ,

while there are but three more vacancies to be filled at the coming election , which will tako place on Friday , the 14 th prox . ; the actual number of candidates is 38 , of whom 24 can be elected . While this is not so satisfactory a state of affairs as is presented

in the case of the Girls' School , it is yet gratifying enough to justify a word of approval , and congratulation on the fact that the Institution is able to do so much for those in need of assistance . Of the candidates on the list 13 have taken part in previous

contests , one now making a fourth application , one a third , and the other eleven coming forward for the second time . The total votes brought forward by these candidates is but 5055 , of which number G . W . Poster , No . 2 on the list , has 2121 , as the result of his two previous appeals ; and No . 7 , H . R . Harris , 1147 , polled on his behalf at the election in April last .

Two of the lads are now making the last application allowed to them by the age law , one being No . 7 , H . R . Harris , already referred to as having 1147 votes in hand . It will not be safe for his friends to risk a mere repetition of their work in April last , although such a record might be sufficient to carry the case . He is one of six children dependent on a widowed

mother ; the lather was a member ot the Evening Star Lodge , No . 1719 , London , dying within fourteen months of his initiation , but even during this short association with Freemasonry he showed his interest in its charities by subscribing to the Girls' School .

The other "last" case is No . 15 , W . E . Ballamy , son of a Staffordshire Brother ( Abbey Lodge , No . 624 ) who , with four others , is left to the care of their mother . The father was a subscribing member of his Lodge until his death , in 1891 , and the lad being the only case from the Province there are good grounds for hoping lie will receive the support of the district at the election , and be thereby admitted to the School .

The list is strong in cases where both parents are dead , there being no less than five of the candidates so circumstanced . The first among these is No . 9 , E . A . Thornber , who is one of a family of three . The father was a member of a Province of Cumberland and Westmoreland , having been initiated in the Union Lodge , No . 129 , and subsequently

assisting to found Windermere Lodge , No . 2217 , in which latter he passed the chair ; the lad was a candidate m April and then had 7 votes recorded in his behalf . No . 17 , F . E . Hobden , is one of a family of two parentless children ; his father was an initiate of the Worthing Lodge of Friendship , No . 851 , Sussex , to ¦ which he subscribed for upwards of 18 years . No . 19 , J . R , Bradshaw , is one of a family of five ; their

The Boys' School Election.

father was initiated in Amity Lodge , No . 283 , East Lancashire , and subscribed thereto until his death last November . No . 29 , C . W . W . Bewsher , is the only child left by a brother initiated under the Irish Constitution , who subsequently joined the British Lodge , No . 736 , Mauritius ; the lad is now dependent

on his stepmother . The next case is that of 11 . T . Evans who with five others are left to fight their way in the world parentless . Their father was initiated in the Hamer Lodge , No . 1393 , West Lancashire , and subsequently joined two other Lodges iu the same Province , continuing'his membership until his death in 1889 . As this is the only application

from the Province of West Lancashire we may assume it has the official support of the district , in which case there is little doubt but what success is in store for the lad . We may point to the address given on the ballot paper for this case as a striking evidence of the state of affairs in the family . Here are six parentless children apparently in charge of a Drotner is i Lieu tnat

—WHO omy agea » . us nope Freemasonry will , ere long , como to the aid of such an apperently deserving case . Of the 38 candidates only six come from London Lodges , the others being distributed as follows : Devonshire , Kent , and Suffolk three each ; Dorsetshire , East Lancashire , and Sussex two each ;

Berkshire , Cambridgeshire , Cornwall , Cumberland and Westmoreland , Gloucestershire , Hampshire and Isle of Wight , Herefordshire , West Lancashire ,

Lincolnshire , Norfolk , Oxfordshire , Shropshire , Somersetshire , Staffordshire , Warwickshire , and Mauritius one each ; while there is one case in which Bucks and Herts is jointly interested . This wide distribution of cases supplies evidence that the

different Provinces are more than ever making a business of working for the scholarships of the Masonic Institutions ; it becoming more and more the rule to put forward only such cases as are officially nominated , and for whom the whole strength of the district is enlisted . This no doubt saves a considerable amount of anxiety , trouble and heartburning , but we are not sure that such systematic working is wholly advantageous to the cause of Masonic Benevolence .

Why Masonry Prospers.

WHY MASONRY PROSPERS .

An Oration by Bro . E . R . Roc , at the Public Installation of the Officers of the Grand Lodge of Freemasons of Illinois , in Alton , J / ih October 18 . J 8 , in which he portrayed the character and trials of Masonry and the cause of its prosperity .

" \\ T ~& havo assembled to-day for tbe pnrpose of VT commemorating the ninth annivcrsavy of tho Grand Lodge of Illinois ; and I feel sure , my brethren , that you will join in the feelings of gratification which I