Our Twelfth Volume.

OUR TWELFTH VOLUME .

WITH tbo present number we enter on our Twelfth Volume , and under tbe circumstances we feel justified in glancing back at tbo past wbicb , tbanks to tbo ever-increasing support of our many friends , we bavo bad

tbe good fortune to surmount , aud at the same time to take a survey , as far as possible , of tbe future before us . We can say witb bonest pride that , as far as it has been possible , wo have fulfilled tbe conditions we imposed on ourselves at first startvnsr . We have endeavoured to furnish tbe latest

and best intelligence it was in our power to obtain . Wo have striven on all occasions to be strictly impartial . We have neither hastily adopted nor as hastily surrendered tho views we may have thought most satisfactory on this or that point ; at the same time we have felt it to be our duty

to retire with the best grace possible from any position we may have believed or ascertained to be untenable . We have studiously avoided saying anything which could , even with the most perverse ingenuity , be twisted into something personal , while , among our numerous correspondents ,

though it has been no new experienco for us to discover tho impossibility of pleasing all , we believe we may take upon ourselves to say we have succeeded in contenting tbe majority . So much for the past . As regards tbe future which lies before us , —we shall pursue tbe same policy , in

the firm belief that , as it has enabled us to overcome thus far the difficulties attendant on all journalistic projects at the outset , so it will carry us to a more advanced stage , when the constituency we shall address will be still more numerous and , if possible , accept our views more readily .

And , in order to arrive at this desirable consummation , we shall , as a matter of course , lose no chance of making our columns as attractive as possible . Having said this ,

we introduce to our friends and patrons the opening number of our Twelfth Volume in the hope they will be , as heretofore , both kind to auy virtues we may possess , as well as blind to our faults .

The Approaching Festival Of The Boys' School.

THE APPROACHING FESTIVAL OF THE BOYS' SCHOOL .

THE last of tbe Annual Festivals of our three Institutions —that of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boyswill be held on Thursday next , the 1 st July , under the

presidency of the Right Honourable the Earl of Lathom , Deputy Grand Master of England and Provincial Grand Master of West Lancashire . The place selected for the gathering is the Crystal Palace , Sydenham , and the

arrangements will be , in their main features , such as they have been in recent years , when the Festival has taken place j * t the Alexandra Palace . Then the brethren will appear "i plain morning dress without Masonic insignia of any kind , and tbe festive board will be graced bv tlie presence ot

numerous ladies , so that given a thorough July day , a well-ordered menu served by experienced caterers , jind the never-failing attractions of this beautiful neighbourhood , the occasion oiurbt to bo a most successful one . Uoreover , there is a conjunction of other circumstances

"" "Ch induces m us tbe belief that the Eighty-second Anniversary Festival of this Institution will be productive of financial results in excess of those achieved at any of its previous Festivals , nor are we indiscreetly sanguine in suggesting that even the brilliant successes of Bros . Terry and

The Approaching Festival Of The Boys' School.

Hedges may in this instance bo surpassed . True , the much talked of revival of trade has not proved as considerable as had been expected , but Bro , Binckes has tho satisfaction of being able to point to a Board of Stowards of unusual

—we are almost justified in saying of unprecedentedstrength , both numerically and individually . The President of this Board is a host in himself , being none other than R . W . Bro . Le Gendre Starkio P . G . M . of East

Lancashire . The acting Vice Presidents include Lord Cremorne , of Friendship No . G , and Bros . J . Wordsworth , J . A . Rucker , President of tbo Colonial Board ; H . Brooks Marshall , Clement R . N . Beswicke-Royds , and Lieut .-Col . Somerville Bnrney , all tried Masonic veterans , who have

proved their worth on many a festivo field day . Tho Hon . Treasurer is Bro . J . G . Stevens , who is likewise a veteran of some distinction , while Bro . Binckes docs duty in the twofold capacity of Secretary to the Institution and Secretary to the Board , so that with tho promised services of somo

280 additional brethren to uphold the cause of " Onr Boys , " we feel at liberty to indulge tho hope that the Festival of Wednesday next will be a brilliant success . ' Nov is this by any means a rash speculation , when we bear in mind who and what manner of man it is who will preside . Tho

Eavl of Lathom is not only influential by reason of his position as Deputy Grand Master of England , but he has at his back one of the strongest of our Provinces . West Lancashire has on its roll upwards of eighty Lodges . Liverpool alone has thirty-two Lodges , and Preston , Lancaster ,

Wigan , Warrington , and other towns can point with pride to the firm bold which Freemasonry has established on them . At tbe last Festival at wbicb tbo noble Earl , then Lord Skelmersdalc , presided , his Province most liberally supported him , but wo have grown accustomed to far lai'ger

amounts since then , and we may anticipate that the Western Division of Lancashire will leave no stone unturned to surpass , if possible , the brilliant result achieved by the Eastern Division , when Col . Starkio , its Provincial chief , took the chair at last year ' s Festival of the Benevolent

Institution , and that Province sent up eighty-one Stewards , who raised among them upwards of £ 3 , 500 as their joint contributions towards a total of over £ 14 , 300 . It is hardly possible , or were it the case , it would not be just , to expect that the chiefs of our largest Provinces , such as the two

divisions of Lancashire and West Yorkshire , should monopolise among them tho presidency on these occasions , but when they do find an opportunity for occupying tbe chair at one of our Festivals we naturally anticipate more brilliant results than usual . It is doing no injustice , even in

thonght , to a Province which can muster only some twenty or thirty Lodges when in its case wo limit our anticipations to a few hundreds . When a small Province takes the lead we must look to other causes and in other directions in order to supplement the good work which it is doing to the best of its ability .

Then there are other circumstances to be taken into

account . While the aggregate standard of contributions to our three Institutions may be , as nearly as possible , maintained from year to year , there is the possibility , amounting almost to a certainty , that the contributions to each of them , taken separately , will fluctuate . Thus , in

1877 , the Boys' School , as regards the total of its subscription list , stood in the first place , the Benevolent was second , and the Girls' School third ; in 1878 , the

Benevolent was first , the Boys' School second , and the Girls ' School last ; while , in 1 S 79 , the Benevolent was first , tbe Girls' School second , and the Boys' School third . In the case of the present year Brother Binckes may