Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.

number of pupils who have submitted themselves for examination , three having been awarded the degree of -A . A . fit thr * Oxford Local Examination in June , while at the Cambridge ditto , in December , four-tesn to > k honours , and twelve obtained certificates . The principal items

under the Lend of Ordinary Expenditure are of tho usual character , lor the general office was spent the sum of £ 1 , 175 15 s 8 d , while for the educational and other staff , including servants' wages , Ac , & c , the expenditure amounted to £ 1 , 609 16 s lOd . Provisions cost £ 2 , 282 5 s Id , clothing

£ 1 , 469 19 s 2 d , household requisites , £ 267 10 s 2 d , various , including coals and coke , water , gas , rates and taxes , school stationery and books , scientific instruments , & c , & c , 840 10 s 9 d , making the general total under this head of service , as we have already stated , £ 7 , 646 7 s 8 d . The

Sustentation Fund shows receipts , including balance from previous account , to the extent of £ 509 18 s 7 d . The expenditure for various kinds of repairs amounted to £ 382 2 s 8 d , so that there remained at the close of the year a balance to credit of the fnnd of £ 127 15 s lid . The

Fund for the Advancement of Boys ou leaving the Institution was , on the receipt side , £ 10 8 s 9 tl , with no outlay whatever , while on the Stock Account there is a small balance due to the Secretary of £ 1 13 s 3 d , the receipts from Sale of Stock , and including cheque for purchase of cow , being

£ 60 19 s , and the expenses , £ 62 12 s 3 d . We think the House Committee are to be congratulated on the result of their labours , and the careful supervision they have exercised over the expenditure . We shall not be surprised to hear that some objections aro raised to the increased cost

per boy as compared with the year 1875 . In the latter the average outlay on each pupil amounted to £ 40 9 s 8 id , of which £ 34 8 s 5 d was set down to Establishment charges , aud £ 6 Is 3 | d to Office charges , while in 1876 the average cost per pupil was , in respect of Establishment charges ,

£ 37 3 s 8 | d , and in respect of Office ditto , £ 6 15 s l £ d . The Committee , however , have explained most satisfactorily how this increase of £ 3 9 s 2 d has come about . £ 117 s 0- | d is due to extra clothing under exceptional circumstances , and the remainder to the increase in salaries and wnsres , rendered

necessary by the increased cost of living . We do not see how any reasonable being can object to so modest an increase , for which so lucid an explanation is offered . It will , moreover , be rioted that the increase in the average per boy of Office expenditure forms only a smaH proportion

—under fourteen shillings—of the total increase . This fully bears out what has been said in other quarters , as well as in these columns , that , however the Eestablishment ch . irges may fluctuate , now exceeding , now falling short of the outlay in any particular year , the average Office Charges

will never vary seriously in excess , while in the event of any considerable permanent addition being made to the numerical strength of the School , it will go on slowly but regularly diminishing to a very modest limit . Indeed , we do not believe that if the number of pupils were

immediately raised to 300 , there would be any substantial increase in the Office expenditure , except , perhaps , in respect of the postage and stationery , and what now costs £ 6 15 s 2 d per boy , would probably cost only about £ 4 , a little more or a little less .

If we turn irorn the statement of accounts to note the results of the education provided , we have equal reasou to be gratified . Three pupils , as we have said , were awarded the degree of A . A . in June last by the Oxford local examining body . At Christmas twenty-eight presented themselves

for examination by the Cambridge examiners , and twentysixoftbem passed—one senior and eleven juniors obtaining certificates ; while of the remaining fourteen two obtained first class , three second class , and nine third class honours . In addition , several pupils have passed the Science and Art examinations in various branches . We do not

need better evidence than this that the educational system pursued at . Wood Green works admirably . Of the 102 pupils ( 49 honours and 53 certificates ) who have passed the University examinations in the decennial period ended last Christmas , no less than 29 ( 17 honours and 12

certificates ) , or over 25 percent , of the wbole , belong to the year 1870 . However , a report appears elsewhere in the Chronicle of the distribution of prizes on Monday , so that we need say nothing farther on this point . Our principal object

was to submit to onr readers the leading features in last year ' s balance-sheet . This we have done most fully , while any further comment on educati nal matters will be found in its proper place , in connection with the proceedings of Monday or Wednesday .

Masonic Portraits. (No. 39.)

MASONIC PORTRAITS . ( No . 39 . )

TIME-HONOURED LANCASTER . " Not marble , nor the gilded monuments Of prince 3 , shall outlive this powerful rhyme : But you shall shine moro bright in these contents Than unswept stone , besmeared with sluttish time . When wasteful wars shall statues overturn ,

And broils root out tho work of masonry , Nor liars his sword nor war ' s quick fire shall bum The living record of your memory .

Gainst death and all-oblivious enmity Shall you pace forth ; your praise shall still find room , Even in the eyes of all posterity That wear this world out to the ending doom . "

THERE is no country in the world in which personal worth is more truly appreciated than in Britain . No matter what a man ' s origin may have been , if he achieve distinction iu the calling he has chosen to adopt , he is invariably respected , and people hold him up as an

example for others to follow . Hardly a day passes but we hear of some one who , by his own unwearied and unaided efforts , has attained to a position of eminence , receiving at the hands of his fellow-citizens some signal mark of their esteem . It may be he is elected to some position of trust ,

in which his zeal and ability will be at the service of the community . He may have conferred upon him some honorary distinction , some title over and above that which he already enjoys to the love and respect of society . Or , perchance , the recognition of his merits may take the

form of a testimonial , which he can hand down to his sons and his sons' sons , as evidence of the esteem in which he was held . It matters not by whom , or in what form , the appreciation is shown , we are never weary , in this island home of ours , of rendering honour to whom honour is due .

In one sense , we rarely allow virtue to be its own reward , at all events , not its only reward . It is , indeed , to this wise recognition of merit among all classes , that we are indebted for the sound and healthy tone which pervades

society , and so long as we cultivate this wholesome practice , so long may we hope for a continuance of that prosperity which has been the lot of this country for so many generations .

I he brother , whose portrait we are now presenting to our readers , is but slightly indebted to Fortune for the position he now occupies . He has laboured assiduousl y in the station of life in which he has been placed , and the distinction he has achieved is due to the energy and indomita .

ble pluck he has exhibited at each successive stage of his career . Though descended from oue of the oldest and most respected families in his county , he is , in fact , the architect of his own fortune , and we are telling only a plain unvarnished talo when we say that , whether it be in

the immediate circle of his own friends , or in that wider and more extended sphere in which he has followed the daily business of life , there are few men who have earned for themselves such universal esteem . The bare mention of his name acts like magic on those who hear it , nor will

anyone have reason to consider himself a stranger—albeit a stranger , in one sense , to the county in which our brother lives—who enjoys the friendship or acquaintance of him we have designated " time-honoured Lancaster . " However , it comes not within our province to dwell , at length , on

the private acts of any Craftsman . It i 3 enough for us to say , as indeed we have said already , that his conduct throughout life has been such as to win for him golden opinions from all classes of men . He has made for himself a host of friends , and it would be difficult in the extreme to

find any who are prepared to say the respect in which he is held has not been deservedly won . But though we feel it is our duty to avoid further reference to his bnsiness relations with the world , we do not consider we shall be exceeding the limits of propriety

if we describe , at some length , his Masonic attainments , and the efforts he has so persistently made , in order to confirm and extend the interests of our Fraternity . It is almost needless to remind our readers that his career in Masonry has been a long and useful one . A whole

generation has passed away since " time-honoured Lancaster " ascended , so to speak , the first rung of the Masonic laddei ' He was initiated into our mysteries in the year 1848 , in

St . John s Lodge , then No . 407 and meeting at Eccles , now No . 325 and having its quarters at Salford . In order to show how highly he was esteemed in this his mother-Lodge , we may state that , after serving the office