Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.

Brethren , it is not necessary that I should waste your time in giving you the reason why we should drink this toast . We should drink it not only as loyal citizens , not only should we drink the health of one who will one day sit upon the Throne of this country , but we should drink it as the health of the chief of our Order , and as the health of one who has shown a great and constant interest in all that relates to Freemasonry . I am sure that

there are those present who could tell you much more about it than it is in my power to do ; how much the Charity which we are to-day celebrating , and the other Masonic Charities , owe to the exertions of H-R . H ., assisted ably as he has been by other members of his family . H . R H . has lately shown his interest in our Craft by himself , I believe , initiating his eldest son as a Freemason . I am sure it is not necessary that I should detain you

longer , because I know you will with all cordiality and enthusiasm drink the health of H . R . H . the Prince of Wales , M . W . G . M . Bro . Col . SHADWELL H . CLERKE , Grand Secretary , then said : I am privileged to propose to you the next toast , and it is one which I am confident will be received by every person in this room with the greatest enthusiasm ; it is " The Health of your noble Chairman . " I am quite sure that our

Bro . Binckes will agree with me , and I trust that others present will agree with me , when I say that it is a very great advantage , and certainly it is a very great pleasure , that among the earnest and good men and true that we number on our list , we have among us a very large number of noblemen and gentlemen who are highly distinguished in our country . These noblemen and gentlemen occupy themselves in furthering the interests and wellfare of their Sovereign and their country . These are found to act as true

and earnest Masons , to identify themselves with our Institutions , and to further their best interests . In fact , I may describe them as true specimens of the English working man . Of this truism I think at the present moment our noble Chairman is an excellent example . Hebelongstooneof thoseexalted Houses which have provided old and tried Statesmen , who have contributed to the great success and interests of this country ; and yet among the multifarious duties of his life he has found time to be the Prov . Grand

Master of Derbyshire for over a quarter of a century , and he has presided over that " province with the greatest skill and ability . The Marquis of Hartington has been good enough to come to preside over our Festival , and I think I can venture , in the name of the School , to thank his lordship for his presence this evening . lam quite sure that Lord Hartington ' s presence to-nig ht will be productive of much good to the Institution ,

and I trust we are likely at our various Festivals to have noblemen like himself , distinguished among the brethren , to preside on these occasions . I ask you to join with me in drinking "The Health of the Marquis of Hartington , Provincial Grand Master for Derbyshire , the Chairman of the evening . " ( Cheers . ) The CHAIRMAN , who was very enthusiastically greeted on rising to

respond , said : I need scarcely say that I feel much indebted to Bro . Shadwell Clerke for the manner in which he has proposed my health , and to you also for the manner in which you have received it . I admit that I feel that what has been said about the manner in which I have discharged my Masonic duties I can scarcely take credit for . It is true that I have had the honour of being Provincial Grand Master of Derbyshire for more than

a quarter of a century —( hear , hear)—and if the affairs of that province are , as I trust and believe they are , in a satisfactory state , I must honestly say that the credit for that condition of affairs is due entirely to the distinguished breihren wl o have successively occupied the position of Deputy Provincial Grand Master , and who have relieved me entirely , or almost entirely , of all the Masonic cares which ought more properly to have

devolved upon me . I have , as has been said by Bro . Clerke , some excuses —some good , others perhaps not quite so good—for my neglect of my Masonic duties . It appears to me , and I take blame to myself , that I have too long resisted the applications which have frequently kindly been made to me to take the chair upon one of these interesting occasions . It seems that in overcoming the diffidence which I felt upon that point with reference to

the present occasion , I have shown something approaching to the gift of prophesy . I have always had the excuse that my official duties were very severe —( laughter)—and that my time was so constantly occupied , that it was impossible for me to undertake other than absolute necessary duties . Well , brethren , for reasons with which I need not now trouble you —( laughter)—some months ago I overcame my reluctance on this subject , and I

acceded to the request of the distinguished and most energetic Secretary , Bro . Binckes , that I would take the chair upon this occasion , trusting that Providence would in some way or another enable me to fulfil the duty which I thus undertook . ( Laughter . ) Providence has enabled me . ( Laughter and hear , hear . ) It is what I trust may be a substanlial and a satisfactory holiday which I am now beginning . ( Laughter , and cries of " Yes " and

" No . ) For , brethren , I can assure you that if I have to apologise to you for having kept you waiting to-night —( " No apology is necessary " ) —I was late only because I had just returned from Windsor , having performed the act of resignation of my official duties , ( Hear , heir . ) Having detained you sufficiently long with regard to myself , I propose to make a slight departure from the order in which the toasts have been arranged , and to take

the opportunity of atoncebringingtoyour notice the most important toast with which we have to deal to-night . Not having attended , as I have explained on many of these occasions previously , I do not know what sort of speech it has been the custom to make ; but I cannot help feeling a very considerable suspicion that those of you who have attended on many of these occasions must have found a very considerable similarity in the topics brought before

you , and I am afraid that anything which I am likely to be able to say to you will be even more trite and well-worn than what many of you have perhaps heard on previous occasions . Then , also , I cannot omit the consideration that we are in the midst of a very extraordinary and sudden change in our somewhat variable climate , and that the temperature of this room in which we sit , and are likely to continue to sit for some time , is

somewhat high , and that the grounds outside this beautiful Palace appear to me to be somewhat more inviting than listening to speeches , whether they be new or stale ; and therefore 1 do not propose to detain you very long with any observations upon what is called the toast of the evening . There are difficulties in the way of my dilating at any length upon purely Masonic subjects . All the world knows that we do possess recondite and mysterious secrets , but the presence of numerous ladies whom I am glad to see around

us prevents me entering into a discussion of any of the secrets , as to which they would be so glad to obtain information . ( Laughter and hear , hear . ) I can only therefore speak , ladies and brethren , to-night upon those topics of our Craft which are known and are patent to all the world . I have already said in proposing the first toast that there are countries in which Freemasonry on account of the secresy of its proceedings , labours under some suspicion , and is connected in the minds of the governments and ruling powers of those

Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.

countries with the proceedings of other secret bodies . But I think enough is known of us to satisfy everbody that the secrets we possess are not secrets which are in any degree antagonistic to any of the fundamental princi ples on which society rests , and are not antagonistic to any of the principles either of morality or of reli gion . ( Cheers . ) It is known to all the world that some of the first principles of our Cralt are contained in the words " brotherhood

and benevolence , " and it is in furtherance and in endeavours to carry into execution those principles that we are met here this evening . ( Hear , hear . ) There may have been times—times long past—when society and the world were not so large , when our own body was not so large , and when it was not necessary that the charity and benevolence which we inculcate should be organised as it is necessary that it should be organised now . In those past

times it might have been possible for brother to appeal to brother , or , at all events , for a distressed brother to appeal to his own lodge to obtain the assistance and sympathy which he required . But everything now is so large , and our own body is so large , that some organisation of the benevolence and the charity which is an essential principle ot our Order is absolutely required . We all know that indiscriminate charity and indiscriminate benevolence

practised by individuals is likely to do more harm than good ; and I cannot help feeling that but for the organisation which has been introduced into our Masonic Charities , Masonic Charity might possibly have tended to have had the same effect . ( Hear , hear . ) Therefore , brethren , I think we owe a very deep debt of gratitude to those Masons who in times past , and who with still more energy in the present time , have devoted themselves to the

work of organising Masonic Charity . ( Cheers . ) And in consequence of these exertions the three splendid Masonic Charities now exist , of which the one whose Festival we are at present celebrating is I think the leading one , or at all events in the very first rank . ( Hear , hear . ) I am not going to detain you with any history of this Institution , with which no doubt many of you are very much better acquainted than I am ; but there are one or

two facts I may state which will be of interest to those who are perhaps not so fully acquainted with them . This is , I believe , the eighty-seventh Festival of this Charity , and during the 86 years this Institution has been ih existence the number of boys who have received its benefits has been 1657 , that is to say , 165 7 sons of Masons have received the education which is given to them by this Institution . When it was first

founded there were only 25 boys , who , in a somewhat irregular and unsettled manner , were receiving an education at the various institutions all over the country . There are now 215 boys in the School of this Institution at Wood Green . ( Cheers . ) And the Committee have made arrrngements for providing additional buildings and other accommodation , which will enable the benefits of the Institution to be extended to 50 more boys . ( Hear ,

hear . ) It is hoped that in October of the present year a certain number of additional candidates will be elected for admission in January , 1886 . I need scarcely say that for the completion of those buildings funds are most urgently needed by the Committee . The ceremony of laying the corner stone of thisaddition to the buildings of the Institution will be performed by a lady well known for her benevolence , and for the lead which she has

taken in works of public utility of every description . I refer to the Baroness Burdett-Coutts . ( Cheers . ) This Institution is , I believe , essentially and completely a Masonic Institution . A few other benefactors we may haye had ; but " that I believe to a very small extent . We ask for no assistance from the State ; we ask for no assistance from any other Institution ; we ask for no assistance from any other body but the Masonic body . All that we

have asked from any other body has been , that we have taken advantage of the liberal and generous procedure of the Universities , and have availed ourselves—that is to say , the Institution has availed itself—of the facilities which have been given by the Universities of Oxlord and Cambridge for examining and enquiring into the educational results produced by this Institution . Since 1867 a total of 230 boys have passed the University Local

Examination , and 14 8 have obtained honours , while 82 have earned certificates . ( Cheers . ) In conclusion , I have only to say that results such as these which I have imperfectly endeavoured to bring before you are not accomplished without a very considerable expenditure of money . I am informed that the ordinary expenditure of this Institution in the past year was . £ 9793 , in addition to which there was a special expenditure of £ 1000 .

To meet that expenditure , the Institution has only got funded stock amounting to ^ , " 17 , 000 , the dividends upon which—being the only reliable income upon which the Institution has to depend—amount to about £ 732 per annum . I must say that when I first read these figures I was struck with the boldness of a Committee which could carry on operations involving so large an expenditure , and which appeared not to shrink from the

responsibility of still further extending its operations upon an income which was so precarious as one rely ing upon the annual subscriptions . But when I looked at the list of the recent Festivals , when I saw the vast amount , and , on the whole , the steady and continuing amount which each successive Festival has brought into the coffers of this Institution . I no longer wondered , and I only

admired the confidence with which the Committee of this Institution rely upon the benevolent and fraternal principles which unite the whole Masonic body , and rely that they will receive in the future , as they have received in the past , a generous support to this most deserving and this most useful Institution . I beg to propose to you " Success to the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys . " ( Cheers . )

Bro . GEORGE PLUNKETT , Treasurer of the Institution , responded . The CHAIRMAN then said : I propose to give you the next toast , and after that I think I shall ask the Stewards , or those in charge of this Festival , to request some other brother to propose the remaining toasts , and not to make it necessary for me to inflict any more speeches on your attention . ( No , no . ) I should be sorry , however , to entrust the toast that I have now to ful

propose to any other hands—it is " The Health of the Most Worship Pro Grand Master and the Right Worshipful the Deputy Grand Master , and the ex-officio Vice-Presidents of this Institution , the Provincial Grand Masters , and the Present and Past Grand Officers . " Two of the high officers I have just described to you by their titles are the Earl of Carnarvon and the Earl of Lathom ; and , brethren , I should have been extremely sorry

if it could have been supposed for a moment that any such trifle as a difference in political opinion would prevent me from proposing the healtn of the two esteemed friends of my own , whose conduct in the discharge ot the important Masonic duties which they fulfil has commended them to tne universal approval of the Craft . I must say I think it is a singular coinwhen

cidence—I believe it is extremely probable—that the train which I met left Windsor this afternoon may perhaps have contained the Grand Officers whose health I propose—the Earl of Carnarvon and the Earl of Lathom-It may be that they cannot do without Masons . If the House turns out o office any members of the Craft they replace them with other members 0 the Craft , and perhaps we ourselves may have to acknowledge that we ar