The Boys' School.

which they are brought up . There is no sense in them , as is the case with children ordinarily dependent on charity for their maintenance and training , of being a burden to the Craft , and the Craft would feel ashamed of itself were it possible such a feeling could be experienced . It is worth

while , in order to produce such splendid results as these , to spend a pound or two more per head per annum ; it is certainly far better than to have a school cheaply conducted and full of ill-conditioned , unmannerly whelps of boys . We think lightly , therefore , of the expense in our School being

somewhat above the expense incurred in other schools . On these grounds , we trust the Quarterly General Court will accept , if not unanimously , at all events by a very substantial majority , the motion so happilydrawn andsubmitted by Bro . Rev . A . F . A . Woodford . The charges raised last year turn

out to be no charges at all , and tho Quarterly Court will virtually stultify itself if it does not agree to Bro . Woodford ' s resolution . And the resolution accepted , wo hope and trust the dissensions of tho past few months will cease , and , as we said at the commencement of these remarks , that the

whole body of the Craft will work steadily and harmoniously together , to the end that this and our other Institutions may become more and more prosperous every year . At the

approaching Festival there will be 211 Stewards , and we hope the result of their exertions on behalf of the Boys ' School will be even more profitable than were those of last year ' s Stewards .

Masonic Portraits (No. 23). A Right Hand Man.

MASONIC PORTRAITS ( No . 23 ) . A RIGHT HAND MAN .

" A soul as dauntless ' mid the storm Of doily life , a heart as warm And pure as breast e ' er wore . " THOSE only who are admitted "behind the scenes " can form any adequate idea of the enormous mass

of dry business which is daily transacted by our paid officers . The position which these gentlemen fill , no doubt , seems a very enviable one , and perhaps there are young

Masons who would give their ears in exchange for the honour of holding an office of trust and confidence in the Order . At the first blush it may , indeed , seem that those who devote their whole time to Masonic affairs must have

a very pleasant time of it . That the primary motive force which animates them is love for the Order no ono can deny ; and much may be done cheerfully for love or for honour . Bufc the daily toil and anxiety , and the constant life of excitement which these gentlemen are fated to live ,

must wear upon the constitution , and the very enthusiasm which supports them has the effect of consuming the vital flame rather too rapidly . No paid officer ever yet fulfilled his commission , whose labours began and ended with his set list of duties . If the official has no zeal and energy ,

if he is not prepared to spend laborious nights as well as days in the cause , he is not suited to his post , and might just as well throw off his official traces , and retire to private life and obscurity . The visiting of Lodges is an important portion of the unwritten duty of these

gentlemen , and we all know how ably it is performed , and how welcome they are wherever they show themselves . The brethren are always pleased to see the working men as well as the leading spirits of the Order , and are only too glad to have an opportunity to learn from the lips of

those who have made Masonry the business of their lives . Perhaps if they knew how many sacrifices are often made by the permanent officials for the sake of Masonic progress , how often the visit to a distant Lodge or Chapter is made at the sacrifice of precious time and cash , they

would possibly still more highly appreciate services which mere money can never rtquite . Some few of us who know the details of official life can , at all events , bear testimony to the fact that Masonry owes to these steady champions a heavy debt of gratitude . The constant

watchfulness , the ready alacrity to oblige , the steady industry of theso gentlemen ; their zeal in hunting up information from the records of the Order , are only known to students of Masonry . The great mass of the Craft

have a vague idea that the brother who graceiaUj wears many honourably won decorations , often carries a weary heart under his gay trappings , and , in attending a grand Masonic gathering , has merely passed from the dry every day duties of his appointment to duties equally

Masonic Portraits (No. 23). A Right Hand Man.

responsible , though more fascinating and less matter of fact . We expect , as we have hinted , guidance , help , advice and assistance from brothers whose time is wholly devoted to the Craft , and with a due sense of responsibility upon him , the so-called pleasures of Masonry can hardly

ever be enjoyed by the devoted official with perfect ease and abandon . He is always in harness . Every one expects him to say a few words at table . His influence is eagerly sought on behalf of some benevolent object or other ; in short , he is , if he could but feel so , bored everywhere , and

yoked like a willing steed to the Masonio Chariot . We have in our mind ' s eye at this moment the features of a brother who entirely fulfils our ideal of a perfect official . We do not intend to hide his light under a bushel , and we shall , therefore , afc once say thafc he is tho

respected chief clerk in the Grand Secretary ' s Office , a position which he has adorned by his high Masonic virtues , his obliging disposition , and his blameless life . No more genial or kindly face ever shone upon us from the classic precincts of the Grand Lodge . He carries the heavy load

of his official duties with tho ease and grace of a warrior , whoso heavy armour , from constant use , has become a portion of the wearer . He never complains of over work , although the fulfilment of his unwritten duties involves serious labour and much sacrifice . He has his business on

his fingers' ends , and is always ready to get up information of a practical kind for those who seek it . He is essentially a practical Mason . For the speculations of literary brethren he does not care much , and does not readily wander from the solid stores of knowledge which are to be found in

an almost endless series of minute books and records . Within this maze of Masonic lore , this vast mass of material for a history of the Order , which , we hope , will one day be written by a competent hand , he is quite at home , and possesses the enviable art of at once pouncing

upon the information which he desires to unearth . He is always at his post at the right moment , and walks doggedly to business every morning , with the aft * of a man who has little or nothing of consequence on his mind . His cares , if he has any , are for himself , his jovial good

humour is for the world ; his innocent jollity for those who are privileged to sit at the same table with him . Our hero was born at Pentonville , just outside the sound of Bow Bells , and cannot , therefore , claim the enviable distinction which these famous chimes confer upon all

who are born under their spells . His father , a medical man , who had a somewhat extensive practice , was determined to give his son a sound commercial education , and the lad was sent at the proper age to an excellent school at

Tunbridge . On leaving this establishment he entered his father ' s surgery , and commenced the study of medicine . Whether this proved an uncongenial occupation or not wo do not know , but it is certain that he soon quitted the profession and devoted his attention to law . He was for some

years in the office of a barrister of eminence ; but his ability bad been seen and recognised by the late Grand Secretary White , who , in 1855 , gave him an appointment in his office as second clerk . He filled this position with great credit to himself and advantage to the Order , and upon the

retirement of the late Bro . Farnfield he was appointed to his present responsible and laborious post . In this position he has found his true sphere of usefulness , and being a real lover of hard work , he has always carried out the spirit as well as the letter of his duties . His connection with the Order dates from the year 1846 .

He is the founder of several Lodges ; and in 1850 he was W . M . of Lodge No . 27 , Secretary from 1851 to 1874 , and is now its Treasurer . He is an honorary member of many Lodges and Chapters , a P . Z ., also a Past Grand Almoner of Rome and Constantino , Red Cross , and a 30 ° Mason ; a firm

friend , a zealous brother , and a good man . Thoroughl y nn . assuming in manner , and utterly forgetful of self in his steady devotion to duty , onr brother has little or no ambition to be regarded as anything more than a hard working and

intelligent Mason . His official position has brought him into contact with men of the highest rank'and culture , and we are speaking " by the card " when we say that he is respected alike by the Chiefs of the Order , and by those who compose the rank and file of the Craft .

The Consecration of the Skelmersdale Lodge was fixed to take place yesterday evening , at Masons' Hall , Masons ' Avenue . Bro . Terry was to enact the part of Consecrating Officer . We shall give full particulars next week .