Festival Of The Royal Masonic Institution For Girls.

FESTIVAL OF THE ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR GIRLS .

THE Ninety-third Anniversary Festival of the Eoyal Masonic Institution for Girls will be held at Freemasons' Tavern , on Wednesday , the 18 th May . The newly-elect R . W . Prov . Grand Master of Gloucestershire , the Right Hon . Sir Michael E . Hicks-Beach , Bart .. M . P .,

has consented to preside , and what with the support he may rely upon receiving from his Province , and the exertions which we are justified in anticipating will be made by the Board of Stewards , wo trust the announcement

which it will devolve on Bro . Hedges to make will be as satisfactory as the friends and supporters of the School can desire . There are , however , apart from the very natural anxiety of the brethren to support so long-established ,

well-ordered , and serviceable an Institution , many and various important reasons why Bro . Hedges and the Board of Stewards for the year should meet with a prompt and liberal response from the Craft generally to their eloquent

appeals for the pecuniary help which is so much needed , and these reasons we will devote some modicum of space to consider in this article , so that our readers may have an opportunity of weighing them well between now and

tho day of the Festival . Our friends need hardly to be informed that our Girls ' School was founded in the year 1788 , chiefly through the active exertions of the late Bro . Chevalier Ruspini , surgeon

dentist to George III ., who for a succession of years held the office of Grand Sword Bearer , and other enthusiastic brethren , who with him succeeded in enlisting the sympath y of our then Grand Master , His Royal Highness the

Duke of Cumberland and his Duchess , after whom , indeed , the School was at first named . From the beginning of its career , it appealed successfully to the good wishes of the Craft , and it can proudly boast , that in the period of its

existence , it has educated , clothed , and maintained as many as twelve hundred and fifty daughters of distressed or deceased brethren . Like many successful institutions of a similar character , it had but a very modest start in life , but

it has been slowly but surely increasing , till now there are maintained within its walls no less than 228 girls . That so much substantial assistance should have been rendered , and be in the way of being rendered to children

who would otherwise have been brought up in comparative poverty , and have had no better education , perhaps , than is afforded at a small day school , must be in the hi ghest degree gratifying to the Craft generallybut

, especiall y to those who have had a hand in effecting so much good . Bat having brought the School to this state ° t efficiency , and having undertaken the maintenance and education of so large a number of girls , there is all the

greater reason why the Craft must continue annuall y its exertions . It is scarcely necessary to point out that the greater the undertaking , the greater must be the amount ot support , and the greater will be the energy indispensable TO furnish such supportAnother element that cannot be »¦ OICLU CU UUili

. I , , - — " «¦"" ""^ f "' " - "UIUC 1 U U UtlLUIUU UB « wt sight of is , the just pride we must all feel at the splendour of this particular monument we have been sueesstul in rearing in honour of the grand principles of reemasonry , and having erected this monument , it is our uuacien

duty to maintain ifc in the most perfect state of . ency . ~& must never be in the power of any folk to Point the finger of scorn at the English Craft , and charge em wjth having entered on a task which , as the years ° ned on , they found it was impossible for them to con-

Festival Of The Royal Masonic Institution For Girls.

tinue . We have more than once expressed ourselves strongly against the practice during these later years of too rapidly extending our central Institutions . But now that the extension has been made , wo loyally bury our old opinions out of sight , and are prepared to support any and every

measure which , after due consideration by the authorities , may be thought necessary in order to maintain thenpresent status . Thus , it having onco been resolved to purchase Lyncombc House , and receive into the School an additional twenty-five girls , we are as eager as those whom ,

in the exercise of what wo conceived to bo our duty , we opposed , to do all we can to keep the School up to its present strength . These aro among tho principal reasons why we trust the Festival about to be held next Wednesday fortnight will bo at least as successful as any of its

predecessors . Let us next consider tho income and expenditure of the School , so that we may judge of the amount which must be provided annually for its support . The ordinary expenditure for the year 1880 , during which there was an

average of 199 pupils on the roll of the Institution , is reported by the Auditors to have amounted to £ 7 , 184 Is 9 d , which gives an averago cost per girl of £ 36 2 s . If we take into account the cost of the additional twenty-five who

began their school career in Jannary , we shall find that for ordinary purposes , the sum of , in round figures , £ 8 , 000 is absolutely necessary . Leaving the purchase of Lyncombe House and certain Government Stock out of the

question , we find the further expenditure incurred reached the sum of £ 1 , 655 12 s 4 d . Taking the two together we arrive at a total of over £ 9 , 655 ; or , if we allow a liberal margin for contingencies , we shall at the same time be not very greatly exaggerating if we affirm that a round

£ 10 , 000 must be forthcoming cveiy year towards the support of our Girls' School . Towards this amount Grand Lodge contributes £ 150 and Grand Chapter £ 10 10 s , while the interest on invested moneys is set down in 1880 as having been £ 1 , 245 , so that adding these together , the total

permanent income is £ 1 , 405 10 s . But stating it broadly at £ 1 , 500 , it must nevertheless be obvious to our readers that about six-sevenths of the year ' s requirements must be subscribed by the Craft , if at least the School is to be maintained at its present strength . Be it also

remembered that , in saying this , we are leaving only the very smallest possible surplus to meet a serious contingency such as must be looked upon to occur every now and

again even in the best regulated Institutions . This farther reason ought to , and we believe will , have the effect of stimulating the Craft to such efforts as will secure the success of the approaching anniversary .

We have spoken of the School as being well-managed . This will be the more apparent if we institute a comparison between the expenditure of 1877 and 1880 . In the former , as in the latter year , a large sum was disbursed in enlarging the premises ; but leaving this out of the calculation ,

the ordinary expenditure , which we have given as £ 7 , 184 Is 9 d for last year , in respect of 199 girls , or an average per girl of £ 36 2 s , was in 1877 £ 5 , 870 13 s 7 d for 162 girls , giving an average per girl of : 635 15 s lid . The Extraordinary expenditure was £ 783 12 s 8 d as against

£ 1 , 655 12 s 4 d last year , so that comparing the sum of the two classes for each year , we have a total in 1877 of £ 6 , 654 , and in 1880 of £ 9 , 655 . The difference in the extraordinary

expenditure may be explained by the outlay of over £ 650 on laying out grounds , tar-paving playground , building dwarf boundary wall , painting and cleaning laundry , & c . expenses which , it must be admitted , are not likely to be of