The Decoration Of St. Paul's.

THE DECORATION OF ST . PAUL'S .

It is not often that a discussion flows so smoothly and is listened to so attentively by an interested audience as that which took place over Bro . WOODWARD ' S motion at the recent Quarterly Communication of United Grand Lodge . The various

speakers vied with each other in commending the object which the proposer of the motion was desirous of effecting . They were in hearty accord , up to a certain point , as to the propriety of the Freemasons of England supporting , or at all events

doing their utmost to promote , so laudable an object . The majority of them , however , were of opinion that considering the character of our Society and its freedom from anything in thc nature of sectarianism in things religious and political , it would

never do for Grand Lodge to sanction such a project officially . And as with the majority of the speakers , so was it with thc majority of the members present—they considered the best

thing to be done under the circumstances was for Bro . WOODWARD to withdraw his motion , and Bro . WOODWARD at once fell in with the suggestion , and the discussion terminated .

The object which Bro . WOODWARD had in view was to enlist , if possible , the official support of Grand Lodge . His resolution was to the effect that Grand Lod ^ e should issue a circular to thc

lodges owing it allegiance , in which vvere set forth particulars of a scheme of his " under which the Freemasons of England would contribute to the Decoration Fund of St . Paul's Cathedral a sum sufficient for the completion of the Cupola and Transepts " ; and

the opinion of the Craft having been obtained by means of this circular , " that such steps be taken thereafter to secure the end in view as may commend themselves to Grand Lodge . " The speeches in which Bros . WOODWARD and HERBERT T .

STEWARD , Grand Supt . of Works , respectively proposed and seconded this resolution left nothing to be desired . The former , having referred to the alleged connection of Sir CHRISTOPHER WREN with our Order , went on to speak in terms of the highest

eulogy of our magnificent Metropolitan Cathedral , of which he was the architect , and which , indeed , is justly regarded as his masterpiece . He briefly described tho . efforts that were being made in order to decorate this splendid fane and the estimated

cost of the whole scheme , as well as of the portion of the work which he was desirous of influencing English Freemasons to undertake , and concluded an able speech by earnestly appealing to the brethren for support . In the discussion that followed ,

due credit was g iven to Bro . WOODWARD , both for the matter of his resolution and the manner in which he had brought it before Grand Lodge , but , as the Grand Registrar felt himself constrained to point out , it was before all things

necessary for them to remember that " Masonry is universal . " Much as he and every other brother might sympathise with Bro . WOODWARD in the proposal he had made , they must not lose sight of that universality , nor must thev

'lend the weight of that great assembly to anything that may be tortured or misconstrued into a departure from that great princi ple . " He preferred that Grand Lodge should maintain the Catholicism—in the sense of universality—of the Craft rather

than it should lend the weight of its authority to a scheme which , however meritorious in itself , was nevertheless of a sectarian character . He saw no reason why Masons , as individual

"' embers of the community , should not help to promote " thc ^ lamentation of a great national monument , " but he held "that "i their Masonic capacity they ought not lo support the movement . " Bro , the Rev . C . J . MARTYN considered thc : scheme was

The Decoration Of St. Paul's.

worthy of Grand Lodge , and of the support of every single Freemason , and in thc course of his speech made mention of the precedents to which we referred in our "Notes " on the motion . But Bro . EVE , Past G . Treasurer , supported the Grand Registrar ,

and Bro . KEYSER , speaking with authority as one who had conducted a somewhat similar movement—for the restoration of St . Albans Abbey—suggested that Bro . WOODWARD might obtain sufficient support from the Craft " in their individual capacity to

carry out part of the scheme of decoration that is now going on . " Bro . Past Grand Treasurer DiMSDALE was also of opinion that the circular should not be issued , but in withholding his support from the proposal before Grand Lodge , he expressed a hope that " the

moral weight of Freemasonry " would be given " to this great national undertaking . " In the end , as we have said , the motion was withdrawn , but though for the reasons so ably set forth by the Grand Registrar , the scheme in its present form has fallen

through , Bro . WOODWARD must be deeply gratified by the almost universal sympathy with which it was greeted . Doubtless he will be encouraged by this sympathy , and the knowledge of what has been done towards the restoration of sundry of our

Provincial cathedrals by Freemasons " in their individual capacity , " to formulate a plan by which the Masons of England may be enabled to assist in promoting what Bro . Alderman DiMSDALE so appropriately described as a "great national undertaking . "

The Approaching School Elections.

THE APPROACHING SCHOOL ELECTIONS .

The voting papers for the School elections next month have been issued , and we lind ourselves in a position to form some idea of the prospects of sundry among the candidates . The proportion of vacancies to approved applicants is far more

favourable in the case of the Girls' than in that of the Boys ' School , there being for the former only two candidates for each vacancy , while for the latter there are close on three . The election for the

GIRLS SCHOOL will take place at the Quarterly Court , which will be holden in the great hall of the Freemasons' Tavern on Thursday , the ioth October . The number of candidates is -54 , while the vacancies

for which they will compete are 17 . London furnishes eight of the former , which is a somewhat smaller proportion than usual , the remaining 26 hailing from the Provinces and Districts Abroad . Of thc London girls , No . 2 , who began her candidature in April

18 94 , brings forward no less than 2536 votes , so that her friends and supporters should have no difficulty in carrying her election . No . 16 , also , who made her first appearance before the electors in April last , had the satisfaction of then winning support to the

extent of 1492 votes , while No . 18 brings forward 504 votes . The other live arc placed at Nos . 27 , 28 , 29 , 32 , and 33 , and are all new cases , who , if they fail to win places on this occasion , will still have other opportunities of gaining election into the

Institution . Of the 26 Provincial and District candidates , Cheshire sends two , of whom No . 13 , with 2586 votes polled in April , appears to have every chance of being elected , while her companion at No . 17 brings forward onl y five votes , and as

unfortunately , this is her only remaining chance , it behoves those in charge of her interests to exert themselves strenuousl y in her behalf—or her name will be removed from the list . There are

two candidates from Hampshire and the Isle of Wi ght , of whom No . 8 has 201 votes in hand from her previous attempts in April and October of last year , while No . 10 was a candidate fpr the