Contents.

CONTENTS .

LEADERS 2 $ Royal Masonic Institution for Girls 26 Royal Masonic Institution for Boys 26 Consecration of the Lodge of Prudence ,

No . 2 r 14 , at Liverpool 27 Grand Council Royal and Select Masters 27 CORRESPONDENCEConferring Degrees 2 g The Masonic Charities 29

Notes and Queries 30 REPORTS or MASONIC MEETINGSCraft Masonry 30

Instruction 3 S Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution 38 Masonic and General Tidings 39 Lodge Meetings for Next Week 40

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HAVING regard to the near approach of the Festival of the Benevolent Institution , as well as to the fact that the Marquis of HERTFORD , G . S . W ., who has kindly undertaken to preside , will have no particular province to support him , Bro . TERRY was well advised in placing the needs of that Charity so fully and forcibly before the brethren present at the New Year's entertainment at Croydon on the Gth inst . It was a matter of course that ,

with so many candidates left over from the election in May last , there should be a most formidable list preparing for the corresponding election in May next . Then the additions made last year to the number of annuitants involved an increase of liability on the part ot the Institution to the extent of some _ £ 8 oo . In the face of these facts it was necessary it should go forth authoritatively to the general body of English Masons that the Board of

Stewards for the Festival in February was short of its full complement of late years to the extent of some 60 or 70 members , and that consequently there was just reason to fear there might be a most serious falling off in the proceeds of that Festival , a decrease of some ^ 4000 or £ 5000 being , under these circumstances , not only possible , but even probabie . It is , as we remarked on a recent occasion , most unfortunate that all these additional

expenses by our three Charitable Institutions , which we have more than once specified , should have come upon us all in the course of one and the same year . But their so coming appears to have been inevitable , and the difficulty of meeting them , though admittedly great , is not insuperable . It is necessary the Craft should bestir itself more than it has done in previous years , while , as regards ourselves , we shall take each

Institution in turn , and , as its anniversary becomes due , do what is in our power to press its claims more and more emphatically on our readers . Within six weeks from now the Benevolent Festival will take place , as usual , at Freemasons' Tavern . The Board of Stewards is considerably below its ordinary strength ; there are some 130 candidates for election in

May ; and to keep the Institution going at its present strength a sum of close on ^ 14 , 000 lor annuities alone , to say nothing of the cost of management , must be found for the coming year . Here is the case in a nutshell , and we trust all our friends will lend a helping hand , so that Bro . TERRY ' S justifiable anticipations of a serious diminution in his Festival receipts may not be realised , at least , to their fullest extent .

• • * THE proceedings at our School Quarterly Courts in January and July are oftentimes tame and uninteresting by comparison with those which take place at the Spring and Autumn Courts , when the elections are held ; but notwithstanding , there is very frequently solid and substantial work done , which isof lasting benefit to the Institutions . Thus at the Quarterly Court of the Girls '

School on Saturday last , the requisite steps for the improvement and greater security of the School , which may be said to have become necessary through the erection of several hundred houses round and about the premises , were sanctioned . These will involve the outlay of ^ 1300 , but there is little doubt the money will be well spant , and that when the two lodges have been built and the rest of the proposed work completed , the House Committee , from

which the proposal emanated , will be found to have acted , as usual , wisely and for the best interests of the Institution . It is also , we think , a judicious move to have accepted the extension of Law LX ., as submitted by Bro . J . H . MATTHEWS , P . G . Sid . Br ., so that in the event of any vacancies occurring from any cause in the interval between the election and reception into the School of the new pupils , the next highest unsuccessful candidate or

candidates may be admitted at the next Quarterly Court . There is obviously no reason for the present enforced delay in filling a vacancy or vacancies which may have thus suddenly arisen , and there can be no injustice to the other unsuccessful candidates in drafting into the School at the earliest available opportunity those who , after the successful applicants , have polled the most votes . In fact , the highest unsuccessful candidates ,

provided they are of an age to be retained on the list for a further election , almost invariably secure places at the next ballot , so that while the advantages resulting from the extension of Law LX . are both obvious and great , any disadvantage that could possibly arise must be almost inappreciable . The one other item of business transacted was the settlement of the list of candidates , and the declaration of the number of vacancies to be competed

for . As regards these , it will be seen , from our report elsewhere of the meeting , that there is an approved list of 37 candidates , and that the vacancies to be filled will be 23 in number . Thus the former may look forward to the result of the April election with a reasonable degree of hope , the chances in each case being not very far short of two to one in favour of obtaining a place .

*»* THE business done at the Quarterly Court of the Boys' School , on Monday , was of a most varied character . It was , in the first instance , and very properly , resolved to leave the appointment of the Assistant Masters in the hands of the Head Master , such appointments , however , being subject to confirmation by the House Committee . Nothing could be more reasonable than that the Head Master , who is responsible for the educational system of the School , should have entrusted to him this power of appointing the men

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who , under him , will have the duty of carrying out that system ; nor can any fault be found with the arrangement which gives the right of final approval in the case of all such appointments to the House Committee , which is more immediately responsible for the entire well-being of the Institution . Then , as regards the arrangements for the April Election , the proposal to increase the number of boys by 10 was agreed to , so that there will be elected in April

next 30 , instead of 20 , pupils from an approved list of 4 . S candidates . Here , again , though the proportion of vacancies to candidates , being five of the former to eight of the latter , is slightly less favourable than in the case of the Girls' School , it cannot be said that the youthful applicants will go to the poll without a reasonable prospect of success . At all events , it is clear that the establishment of the Preparatory School is having the effect of making

these lists of candidates far more managable than they were a short time since , and that , as matters now stand , no case can be said to be quite hopeless of ultimate success , provided the name is entered in good time , and the friends and supporters of the applicant exert themselves to the utmost . On the other hand , it must be equally clear that , with the addition of 15 made in October last and the further 10 to be elected in April , the responsibilities

of the Institution will have increased to the extent of quite £ 1000 per annum , and that , as in the case of the Girls' School , the proposed expenditure of ^ 1300 for lodges , & c , added to the cost of purchasing land ( £ 5700 ) , will necessitate increased exertions on the part of the Stewards and their friends at the Anniversary Festival in May ; so here , the provision of the further

£ 2000 or £ , 3000 still required to start the Preparatory School free of liability , and the additional cost of maintaining 25 more boys , will render similar exertions imperative against the Boys' School Festival in June . Let us hope that in both instances the exertions will be made , and will be crowned with success .

*«* As regards Bro . RA . YNH . UI STEWART ' motion for a new system of electing the House Committee , one thing is clear , namely , that it was carried by a narrow majority of 10 to 8 , and that Bro . WEBB at once gave notice of a proposal to non-confirm the motion at the next Quarterly Court . But it is not equally clear that either Bro . RAYNHAM STEWART or anyone

else who took part in or listened to the discussion which followed its proposal fully understood the precise terms of such resolution . We do not mean that the wording of the motion was not plain enough . But it would seem as if in the course of the discussion the original idea must have gone through a series of conflicting transformations . One brother suggested an amendment , which Bro . STEWART expressed his readiness to adopt .

Another thought the scheme would prove unworkable ; a third wanted to know what it was ; and a fourth declared there was no motion before the Court . Then Bro . STEWART declared he had altered his motion , but had left it , where the tails of . Little Bo-Peep ' s sheep were , behind him . Further mixed conversation ensued , in the course of which it was suggested that the motion should be dropped , and Bro . STEWART said he would leave the law as it stood . A third parley ensued ,

in which it was sought to be discovered whether or not the present law had not acted beneficially , and , in the result , Bro . STEWART , having first of all declared that it had so acted , but might not always prove equally beneficial , succeeded in carrying his motion by , as we have said , the narrow majority of 10 to S , and there for the present the matter stands . However , it will be a source of satisfaction to every one to know that there are three months clear in which what is now in a state of confusion may be made comprehensible .

* # * BRO . W . R . KELLY , in his handy " Pocket Companion , " lately issued from the press of Bro . G . KENNING , is not afraid to tackle the subject of Masonic J urisprudence , and the able manner in which he treats that important department makes us long all the more for an authoritative work on the subject from an entirely English Masonic standpoint . Brother

KELLY is in error in supposing that the elections of Masters , & c , in England , " take place before and near to St . John the Evangelist ' s Day as possible , " for , as a matter of fact , the ) ' take place at any time during the year , according to the wishes of the members , duly approved . But in Ireland , as Bro . KELLY states , and the Laws declare , " AH lodges shall elect their officers in the month of November . "

* * * BRETHREN often in this country fall into the error of declaring that a " Lewis" can claim initiation at the age of 18 . This is quite wrong , for no such claim exists . All that the " Lecture " alluded to lays down is that his

initiation should take piacs before any one however worthy , & c , i . e ., he should have the preference during the evening by being initiated prior to any other accepted candidate . Naturally , in applying for a dispensation to initiate a minor , his being a " Lewis " might be urged as a reason for the favour , but not in any way as a right .

* * * CANDIDATES must be "free men , " but to insist that the old and obsolete requirement of " free born " included , and still includes , " born in wedlock , " is , as Bro . KELLY observes , " a very absurd interpretation . " Initiates become members of a lodge in England , but membership in Ireland is

confined to Master Masons , as in the United States , and so no one can vote on any question unless he has taken the Third Degree . The frequent comparison of English and Irish Masonic customs is not only a feature of this , the latest "Masonic Companion , " but it is one of its special advantages , tending as it does to make us acquainted with the Constitutions of both bodies . Neither is Scotland forgotten .