The Approaching Election For The Boys' School.

and in face of the comparatively small number of vacancies it is too much to hope they can all be successful . We only hope that each of them will obtain the full amount of support it is possible for

their friends to secure , and that the most deserving among them will be received into the Institution . There are four candidates , in addition to the two already referred to , who have each lost both parents , and . as usual , we accord to each a few words of

special reference , deeming them particularly deserving of any support it is in the power of our readers to bestow . No . 21 , John Herault de Caen , is

one of a family of three parentless children . This lad has taken part in the last two elections , and comes forward at the present time with 664 votes to his

credit . His father was a member of the Eoyal Alfred Loge , No . 877 , Jersey , who subsequently joined St . John ' s Lodge , No . 454 , Ceylon , and rose to the dignity of a Past Master in the Craft . No . 23 , Ernest

Edward Whale , is one of four now dependent on thenfriends . He also has taken part in the last two elections , and has 18 votes to his credit . The father was initiated in the Harmony Lodge , No . 309 , Hampshire , and had passed the chair thereof . No . 55 , Frederick

Eden Walter Cooper , is one of four children left by an old member of Mount Lebanon Lodge , No . 73 , London , while No . 63 , William Joseph Williams , is

one of five similarly circumstanced , whose father was initiated in St . John ' s Lodge , No . 761 , Gloucestershire , and who rose to the dignity of Junior Warden . Both of these last mentioned lads now make their first

application ; we sincerely trust they will receive such sympathy and actual assistance as will ultimately secure for them that home in the Institution which they seek . We do not purpose to deal specially with any of the remaining cases , although there are many to which we

should like to refer , but by making exceptions we run the risk of offending the friends of those not mentioned , and this , as our readers are aware ,

is very tar from our desire ; besides this , it is so difficult to say which is the most deserving among so many who are one and all recognised as being worthy of all the help that can be given them .

We feel sure , as we have said above , that the coming contest will be a severe one , nothing but a high number of votes will render a case secure , and as , unfortunately , it is not possible for the friends of every candidate to secure the requisite number , even

where it possible to admit them all if they did , there is nothing but disappointment in store for a large number . We hope that all or nearly all of those

unsuccessful at the coming election will be enabled to try their luck at a future one , and that in due course they may secure the coveted benefits .

Free Masonry.

FREE MASONRY .

IN the olden times tbe word Freemason was written Free-Mason or Free Mason . The modern merger of

the two -words into one has tended to obscure the meaning of the term to some minds . Every Mason is free , and every candidate for Masonry must be free . Free , in its varied Masonic connections , is a term of wide significance .

In the United States the candidate must have been free born , although in England , in consequence of a departure from the ancient Landmark , it is now sufficient that he be a free man . He must approach the Craft of his own free

will , and not through the persuasion of friends , since Freemasonry is not in any degree a proselyting organisation . When he is made , he is then a Freemason . What is the purport of " free , " in this connection ? Authorities are

not concurrent . One explanation is , that thereby , in mediaeval times , he became free of the Craft Guild ; another is , that he was in operative Masonry a worker in freestone ; and a third , that he is a Brother Mason—from the Norman French , " Frere Macon . " All of these , as reasons , are justified by facts , but as to which of the three was the

Free Masonry.

operative cause for the name , may not be dogmatically asserted . In the present article we do not desire to justify or emphasize any of the above reasons , but rather to invite

attention to the fact that our Craft , -while it exacts free , dom as a qualification in all applicants for initiation into Masonry , also in a remarkable degree respects and acknowledges their freedom , and accords them the right freely to choose the Masonic Lodge with which they

would connect themselves . We the more willingly refer to this subject , because it has been sometimes mistakenly asserted that Freemasonry is a stern master , and will not permit any candidate for Masonry to apply for initiation

and membership to any other than the local Lodge , within whose jurisdiction he chances to reside . Unless the Constitutions of a Grand Lodge prohibit it , a profane living anywhere is free to seek initiation in a Lodge anywhere else . For example , an applicant for

Freemasonry living m Jr hiladelphia may petition for initiation in a Lodge working in Pittsburgh—both being within the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania ; or , an applicant living in Scranton , Pa ., may petition for

initiation in a Lodge working in Elmira , N . Y ., or in Trendon , N . J ., or the reverse . These are striking examples of the freedom accorded applicants by Freemasonry itself , and they are occurring constantly in practice , and are freely acknowledged by the jurisdictions named , as well as by

many others . There are a variety of reasons which may fairly actuate & profane to seek initiation and membership in a Lodge

distant from his place of residence . For example : his Father or other relative , or friends , may belong to the distant Lodge , or he may be a traveller , and more frequently in the vicinity of the Lodge he petitions than of the one nearest his place of residence . In any event his right to petition the distant Lodge is absolute , his freedom is

unabridged . Now , supposing such an application as the above to be made , tho course of procedure is as follows : The Lodge applied to , if it be in the same Masonic iurisdiction as that

in which the applicant lives , inquires of tbe Lodge nearest his place of residence , whether any Masonic objection exists to the action of the inquiring Lodge on said petition .

If fche Lodge petitioned be out of the Masonic jurisdiction of the applicant , it inquires , through the Grand Secretary , of its own jurisdiction , of the local Lodge , through its Grand Secretary , in a similar manner . In either case ,

consent is usually and readily given . The only proper question for the . Brethren of the local Lodge to consider in any such case is , Is the applicant a good man and true , is

he fit , morally , mentally and physically , to be made a Mason , and are his motives worthy in seeking to be made in a distant Lodge ? The reason why the Craft requires

this inquiry to be made by the Lodge nearest the place of residence of the applicant , is simply because it is only there that he can be properly known . Where a man has lived ,

and dwells , and has associated , there his fellows have come to know him , and are able to disclose whether he is , or is not , upright and of good report . It will thus be seen that no Lodge absolutely owns its

local material ; it only has the custody , so to speak , of those living within its boundaries , and the right to make Masons of them , if worthy , itself , npon application , or to report upon their worthiness to a neighbouring or a distant Lodge , when duly inquired of . Freemasonry is rightly named : While applicants for participation in its mystery must be free , they are at the

same time free to choose the Masonio body m which they would be initiated . They must be free born before they seek us , they must come of their own free will , they are free to petition any Lodge , anywhere , and when made Masons they are free of the Craft . —Keystone .

Masonic Grumblers.

MASONIC GRUMBLERS .

f ^\ RUMBLERS can hardly , of right , be designated by V _ X the adjective Masonic , for the chronic grumbler is guilty of decidedly un-Masonic conduct . It will not be denied , however , that there is a considerable class included

in the ranks of the Fraternity , who in common speech may be spoken of as " Masonic Grumblers . " They are faultfinders in and out of season . They have the gift of caustic speech and use it unsparingly . Domestic life is