Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

We do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions of our all Letters must bear the name and address of the "Writer , not necessarily for publication , but aa a guarantee of good We cannot undertake to return rejected communications .

THE BOYS' SCHOOL AND ITS RULES

To the Editor of the FREEMASON S CHKONICIB . DEAB S IR AND B ROTHER , —For many years past I have been much interested in the Royal Masonio Institution for Boys , and oonseqnently have read with very mixed feelings the report in yonr { nnrnal of 18 th inst . I should have liked to be present to oatoh the

tone of Bro . Scurrah ' a words . I fancy they must have been very uncomfortable words as spoken for the Council to hear , at least so far as hia contention went for suitable help for the widow ' s son already apprenticed but now wanting assistance , in consequence of the widow having impoverished herself and spent her all before she

asked assistance to purchase her lad some clothes . Oh ! the bitter , bitter irony of our much-vaunted Masonio Charity , that subscribes so ungrudgingly its tens of thousands of pounds annually for tho purpose , according to Law II ., " to receive nnder its protection , and fn maintain , clothe and educate the soaa of Freemasons requiring

the benefits of the Institution , and according to Law LXXXK . to assist deserving lads to get suitable employment , but that doles out such relief with suoh parsimonious care , aud yob so very magnanimously spends from 55 per cent , to 70 per cent , of the sums so subscribed in management and structural espouses , even in the face

of all that is at present being done by the nation out of taxation and all that is likely yet to follow . I am of the opinion , and I hope there are many others who share it with me , that our present greatest necessity is not an Institution that will highly educate one or two children of a family , bub one that will assist the widow ur parents or

guardians to educate and train up the remainder of the family in the same , or as nearly as possible , the same style as the preceding children have been educated , or as the parents would have trained and educated them if spared . If a widow is left with but very scant means , or , as often

happens , none at all , and 4 or 5 children to bring up , the amount that one child costs ab the Institution , if given to her , under proper management and superintendence , would enable her to bring up her entire family in moderate respectability , and then , after they had gone say through the seventh standard examination wich honours , givo snch

promising lads a helping hand , either to higher grade education , even collegiate if suitable , or to fix and provide them some way of earning a respectable , honest and honourable living . At present we are feeding , clothing and lodging , afc a vast expenditure , a lot of children , both boys and girls , who could be much more

suitably provided for under the wholesome rogime of home influence , and as for all onr teaching what does it amount to beyoud what can now be obtained say in a higher grade Board School ? Bnt some will » sk , what will you do with our Schools ? To such , Brother Editor , I would say , what would you do with a white elephant

if you had one aud only a small uack-yard in which to keep it ? Woll , if you cannot turn thom into Colleges or higher grade Schools , sell them , aud get rid of the biggest end of your useless expondituro . What becomes of all the bnys and girla chat pasj through our Schools ? Who knows , or who cares ? They are turned auiifSdt a

certain age , taught or untaught , somo to homes whero pinen ' ug poverty aud drudgery is their only goal , and some to no homes at all . Is there ever a remark in auy report as to tha children so drafted ont on the world , Lo what care or keeping have they been entrusted aud what has been done to help thom to honest self sup .

port ? I do not remember seeing anything of tho sort , nor do I find anything in the Laws requiring a report from those who sent thom up as to what has beeu doue with them upon their return . I have tried in this Province to get somo report from our local Institution as to our own children , but although a resolution haa been nassod

( I believe twice ) upon the subject no report ia yet forthcoming - the secretary either has not got the information or has neglected to provide the material for fche report . I happen to know one girl , discharged a few years ago with glowing credentials j she is now a barmaid . I have no doubt she ia a very

good girl , she has a very pleasing manner with thoso sho knows , but is it worth our while to spend over £ 50 per year to turn out very agreeable barmaids ? If onr Schools aro to be kept up afc all , wo wani au added department , that will provide our children with some trade profession , towards which their School training shall conduce . Had

this been done instead of instituting a Preparatory School some time ago it would have been of much more use . Instead of admitting boys at 7 years of age , do not admit them under a satisfactory pass in say the fourth ^ or even tho fifth standard , but n-jy for their homo keep and education from 6 or 7 years up to thon , aud ovc' after that relax

tho laws so as to leave it optional as to whether tho child goes into the Institution or not , except for examination nurposos ; but all children in the establishment should be provided rritb . aomo moans of earning a living , unless application ia mado to the contrary , and tho wishes of parents or guardians ought to bo consulted . I must , however , before closing express JDV dissent from Bro . Scurrah

s view as to Law 45 . According to tbat Law no grant of money however trivial , could be made without notice given at a previous Quarterl y Court ; whereas Law 89 authorises tho Council to appro - priate not exceeding £ 20 for thc advantage ofa deserving boy leaving or having left the Institution . Of courso thom are two bio * " ifa " nore ; first the boy moab bo considered deserving , and second tho ^ ouncil must be satisGed it will be woll-apont money . Apolo ^ iaine for tho length of this letter . ' "pjiu 0 * awg

I remain , yours fraternall y , nr _ , Wlt * ^^ UQLL , V . Proa . B . M . I . B Manchester , 25 th July 1891 , P . M ., * P . G . Treas . E . ' Unawifc ' w .

In Memoriam.

In Memoriam .

Wo take the following . from the Admiralty and Horse Gauds Gazette , of 23 rd Jnly 1891 : — We announced wifch profound regret , in our issue of Saturday last , the death of Colonel Alexander Ridgway , founder of the Broad Arrow , and editor of that journal , and the Naval and Military Gazette for nearly twenty years . The deceased was fche doyen

of Service journalists , and most of the writers on the four leading naval and military papers now published iu this country have entered upon journalistic life nnder his tejis . The work of the journalist , anonymous as it is—and rightly so—is to a great extent , in thia country , somewhat unthankful . A man may for a quarter , or even half a centnry , net as a Teacher , a Leader to his fellow men , and at

the end of that period be unknown beyond the printing-office and the editorial sanctum of the particular paper with whioh he is connected . Nay , worse , at the end of his labours , he may , as is too often the caso , find tbe result of his intellectual toil benefitting others , who reap where he has sown , whilo he passes away forgotten , obscure , and perchance , embittered in spirit , impoverished in purse , and

enfeebled and worn out in person . Fortunately this cannot be said of Alexander Ridgway . Ho had his work fco do , and right well he performed it . IIo has passed away , and after life ' s fitful fever sleeps well , but his Work and his Memory abide . He was the "Father" of Service journalism in this country , and the renaissance of fche Naval and Military Press

iu 1868 may be said to be due entirely to his efforts . Colonel Ridgway's death leaves but two Service journalists of the first rank in England—J . Gray-Fleming and W . II . Russell . Of these two gentlemen the name of Dr . Russell is perhaps better known to the civilian public of this country . The first named , it may , however , be pointed out , gained a high reputation on the Indian Press long before

he centred his efforts with suoh remarkable success in raising the prestige of Service journalism in England . Ridgway , Russell and Gray-Fleming will be names honourably remembered for many u day in fche annals of fcho British Naval and Military Press . If , however , these gentlemen have long held the first rank it must bo conceded that they have been closely followed by suoh brilliant

writers as William White , Colonel Eardloy-Wilmot , Francis Morgan , Robinson , A'Beckett , the author of " Fifteen Years in the Royal Navy , " Thearle , and Dooner ; while ifc would be unjust to ignore the younger school of Service journalists , whioh includes such men as Alfred Kinnear , Admiral Colomb , Colonel Hozier , Shore , R . G . Smith ,

and Burges-Short . But it will be long ere we have again a man of predominant initiative foroa ao Alexander Ridgway , who as often been not inaptly termed tho king of Service journalists . However comforting it may bo to reflect tliar , we still havo Gray-Fleming and Russell loft , tho death of tho founder of tht > "Broad Arrow leaves au irreparable void in tho ranks of Naval and Military Pressmen . —

Wo hopo to say a few words iu regard to Colonel Hitlgv / ay ' fl Masonic work iu oar next i-siu ** .

A PitET'fY Lm't , K STORY . —A Past Master cf the Sin-rig Man Lodge , England , in 1877 , being at Trouville , a sea is ' ido roscrt or . the coast of Normandy , and desiring to extend his trip to Brittany , wrote to his bankers iu Loudon ior a remittance . On . receiving the draff , and presenting it to two banks , cuo at Caen aud tho other at Havre , ho was refused payment , aa tho dtaft was declared to be uot en regie .

Boing short of cash , and thus nnablt ) to proceed further , cr oven to pay hotel expenses , it occurred to him to try what Freemasonry Mould do for him iu tho difficulty . He , therefore , obtained tho names of two Masters or Vauerables of Lodges in the latter city , and , finding oue away , culled ou the other , to whom ho explained his dilemma . Tho Venerable , Tantallier by namo , after testing him to

his satisfaction , referred him to a banker friend , who at once advanced him tho desired sum , which enabled him to carry out his visit to Brittany . At the same timo ho instructed his Loudon banker to repay tbo amount to the Havre house , and , ou his return to England , referred to tho matter in hia Lodge , which passed an unanimous voto of thauka to the Havre Brother ; this was forwarded

to him , and also recorded on its minutes . Tho Past Master , Bro . F . W . Driver , points the moral that his satisfaction implies successfully passing au examination satisfactory to a French Mason was duo to his being a most regular aud attentive frequenter of a Lodge of Instruction , and to tho knowledge thereby gained . Bear this in mind , O yo of little faith and loss devotion , to tho advantages of instruction so imparted . —South Australian Freemason .

Afcruo Mason , imbued wifch the doctrine of universal religion , is no hater of any particular creed , for in every religion he sees something that is divino and something that is human—divine truth mixed with human error . —Helmuts Standard . Z ^ i . ¦ *************

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