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CONTENTS . PAGE . L EADERSThe Approaching- Festival of the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls ... 179 Freemasonry in Norfolk ... ... ... ... ... 'So

Centenary of Columoian Lod p e ... ... ¦•• ... I 51 Consecration of the Fellowship Chapter , No . 2535 ... ... ... 1 S 1 Consecration of the White Rose of York Chapter , No . 2491 ... ... 1 S 3 Order of the Secret Monitor ... ... ... ... ... 1 S 3

Ye Oide Masonians ... ... ... ... ... •¦• ' ° 3 Mark Masonry ... ... ... ... ... •¦• ' 83 Knights Templar ... ... ... ... ... - 1 S 3 Masonic Notes ... ... ... ... ... ... 1 S 5

Correspondence ... ... ... •¦• ... — > o ° Craft Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... 1 S 6 Royal Arch ... _ _ ... ... ... ••• ... — lSS Royal Masonic Institution for Boys ... ... ... ... ... 18 S Lodges and Chapter of Instruction ... ... ... ... ... iSS Masonic and General Tidings ... ... ... ... ... 190

The Approaching Festival Of Tee Royal Masonic Institution For Girls.

THE APPROACHING FESTIVAL OF TEE ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR GIRLS .

It is desirable we should again call attention to the second of the great anniversary Festivals of the year—that of the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls . This , as our readers are aware , has been appointed to be held at Freemasons' Tavern on

Wednesday , the 13 th May , and it was announced many months ago that the Right Hon . the Earl of YARDOROUGH , Provincial Grand Master of Lincolnshire , had very kindly promised to preside as Chairman . As regards the Board of Stewards which

will support his lordship's advocacy , we believe we are correct in stating that the number of those whom Bro . HEDGES , the esteemed Secretary of the Institution , has succeeded in enlisting is , if anything , slightly in excess of the number at the

corresponding period of last year . But though this is satisfactory so far as it goes , we fear we must add that the prospects are by no means as encouraging as we could wish them to be . Lincolnshire itself , as the " Chairman's Province , " has sent up a fair

contingent of brethren , and we may be very sure that it will spare no effort to return a goodly sum , not only from its known loyalty to its Provincial Grand Master and the great interest it lias for a long time past manifested towards all our Charities ,

hut also , we doubt not , just to show that , though it maybe many years since it took a leading part at one of these great annual gatherings , it can , nevertheless , do excellent service even by comparison with other Provinces which have had greater

experience in connection with these meetings and of the methods of organisation which are best calculated to ensure a bi g success . But though we fully realise ,. as we have ^' ¦ d , that Lincolnshire will put forth its whole strength

" 1 behalf of the Girls' School in order to ensure > t a good return under the auspicies of its chief , we must not lose S 1 . "ht of the fact that it is mainly an agricultural county , and that almost year by year the fortunes of agriculture have been on the

wane , nor are there any great local industries which would help to serve as a counterpoise to the depression which exists in what-CV | ''' is connected with or dependent upon agriculture . Again , iere never was a time when the competition amoiw our

Institu-10 ns for the support of the Craft was so great as it is now , and 1 ( 1 would be a keen judge of passing events who should take u Pon himself to decide offhand that the brilliant success which , l tended the recent Benevolent Festival will not exercise a

de-P'essing effect upon the results of the approaching Festival in J ehalf of " Our Girls . " Doubtless , in the long run , after comt ' g the results which have been achieved during a succession

years , it will be found that there is little , if any , difference to e 0 ll "d in the favour with which the claims of our three Chari-( s nave been received by the general body of the Craft . lus " 1 18 93 , 94 i a"d 18 95 . this Institution obtained a very

The Approaching Festival Of Tee Royal Masonic Institution For Girls.

generous measure of support from both town and country , while the Benevolent Institution—which held its Jubilee in 1892—was less successful than it had been on the average prior to the celebration of that important anniversary . It may , therefore , be the

turn of the Girls' School to experience a falling off in its receipts from the Festival ; but -we trust this will not prove to be the case , and for this most excellent of reasons—b y its successes at the Festivals of the past three years , it has been enabled to

raise its average Returns for the seven years since its Centenary in 1888 more nearly to a level with that of the seven years which preceded that event . But if next month there should happen to be an appreciable diminution in the total of the donations and

subscriptions , there will again be a reduction of the yearly average and this , of course , will need to be followed by an effort to restore it . What we strongly desire is that the flow of subscriptions into the treasury of each of our Charities should be as

nearly equal to the year ' s requirements as possible . We do not admire this see-saw performance in which two or three successful years are followed by two or three which are comparatively unsuccessful . At all events , there appears to be a

prospect of a falling off in the Returns at the approaching Festival unless in the meantime a strong effort is made to strengthen the Board of Stewards ; and for this there is ample time between now and the 13 th May , provided onl y that the lodges

which are at present unrepresented on the Board bestir themselves and those who have alread y volunteered their services become still more urgent in their canvass . The average annual expenditure is between £ 13 , 000 and £ 14 , 000 , and the average

permanent income about £ 2000 , so that the deficiency to be made good is about £ 11 , 500 ; and considering that the number of children in the Institution is close upon 270 , we do not think the amount is overwhelmingly large , more especially as it is to

the interest of the Craft as a whole that the School should be maintained in a condition of unimpaired efficiency . Moreover , the evidence of the splendid work which it is doing goes on accumulating from year to year . It was only in the beginning

of last month that it was our privilege to report that the whole of the 30 girls who entered for the Cambridge Local Examinations in December , 18 95 , succeeded in satisfying the Examiners , namely , II for the Preliminary and 19 in the Junior Division

of candidates , while of the latter , six were placed in the "honours" classes , and il distinctions in one or other of the prescribed subjects were awarded . For the College of Preceptors' Examination 77 passed out of 7 8 , and as the nine who

submitted to the examination by the Associated Board of the Royal College and Royal Academy of Music were likewise successful , it follows that 117 out of the 26 9 girls on the establishment—or allowing for those admitted during the year and

those retained for further educational purposes—fully one-half of the School passed in the prescribed examinations , there being out of the whole number just one solitary failure . But this is not all . It is the fourth year consecutively that all who have

entered for these Cambridge locals have succeeded in passing , while out of 143 entries during the last seven years the number who have failed is only three . Here then , as we have said already and in many previous articles , we have evidence

annually becoming stronger and stronger that the Institution is fulfilling its duty admirably towards the children who are admitted to its benefits , while it is only necessary that a

brother should visit the School in order to see and judge for himself of the excellent tone and high character of the pupils as the result of the training they receive , But we need not lay stress