Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

All Letters must bear the name anl address of the Writer , not necessarily for publication , but as a guarantee of good faith . We do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions of our Cor . respondents . We cannot undertake to return rejected communications .

THE GIRLS' SCHOOL . To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DFAR SIR AND BROTHER , —I see from your advertisement columns of last week , that it is proposed , on the motion of Bro . Col . Creaton , to increase the number of pupils in the Royal Masonio Institution for Girls to 23 ( 1 , and consequently that the whole of the girls on the list of candidates will be declared duly elected . Now I am very

sensible of fche fact that whoever raises his voice against a proposition of this kind rnns tho risk of being charged with a want of liberality . He , ifc will be said , who grudges the additional annual outlay thus incurred—some £ 220 more or less—must be naturall y ungenerous . But there is an old saying , to the effect that people must be just before they are generous . Had this been the only

proposition of its kind that had been made for some considerable time I should not dream of raising a word of opposition . I cannot , howover , shut my eyes to the immense increase of responsibility which the Craft has assumed dnring the last five or six years , and this responsibility , be it remembered , is not limited only to the present , but must be handed on to tho next and the next and the next generation

of Freemasons . The mere additional outlay of £ 220 per annum may seem trifling enongh if taken by itself , bnt ifc is an addition to some £ 880 per annum made a year or two ago , which , in its turn was an addition to an additional £ 1 , 760 per annum over and above fcho expenditure as ifc stood about fche year 1876 . In other words bavins ; increased our liabilities since that year by 50 per cent , and

having in the same period paid away quite £ 20 , 000 in hard cash for new buildings , & c . & c , wo still continue the policy of increasing our responsibilities , aud leave the future to take care of itself . About 1876 the sum actually required for tho support of tho School at its then strength was about £ 5 , 300—1 am speaking ronjrhly and from memory—whereas with a School of 236 girls , considerably over

£ 8 , 000 must be raised every year , while the permanent income of the Institution remains at the same figure . This , I admit , is a policy of generosity , and as such looks admirable ; but aro we quite just to those who come after us in committing them to an annual provision of over £ 8 , 000 ? Are we quite sure that , having the will to do this splendid work , they will always bo in a position to find tho means ? Nor must we quite lose sight ; of another fact which must

have an important bearing npon the case . The liabilities of the Craffc in respect of the other Institutions—the Boys' School and the Benevolent Fund—have also been very largely increased , and no material increase , at least in the case of the latter , has been made iu their permanent means . Will it nofc be better for us to move " slowly yet surely ?" Fraternally yours , E . L . F .

A SUGGESTION

To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —I am about to make a suggestion ; I do not expect ifc will be met with favour ; at the same timo my views may induce some of your readers , more fluent with tho pen than ever I can hope to be , to express their sentiments . It is the general opinion that our worthy Grand Treasurer ' s proposal— " That tho

twenfc y-eighfc approved candidates now on the list be declared duly elected "—will meet with unanimous approval on Saturday next , and , as a consequence , tho list of applicants for election to the Girls ' School in Oetober wilt be a small one . Now , Dear Sir and Brother , would it be too much to ask the executive of the "Royal Masonic Institution for Girls whether , under the

circumstances , they could not help their brethren of the Boys ' School by doing something for the numerous applicants for fche benefits of thafc Institution—say , by providing for the education and maintenance of six or ten of these destitute lads ? I am fully aware there are many objections that can be urged to such a course , out . we are—or should be—one united family , and the needs of the

lemale portion of thafc family may one day press as heavily as do thoso of the males to-day . Moreover , thero is , affcar all , but one teeling that shonld actuate us—fco relieve onr distressed brethren and their belongings . If anything can be done in tho way I here suggest , I am convinced the Institution that would thus lend a hand would nofc be forgotten on a future day , should its claims be equally pressing . J

I am , " Dear Sir and Brother , Yours fraternall y , A YOUNG MASON

GIRLS' SCHOOL ELECTION .

To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CIIROMCLE . '"in n S - "' BR ° rnKt ! , —I imagine there must be small difficulty no on ™ " * - ' " '*"* Wliat 5 -c , lr correspondent " E LECTOR " speaks of . I fancy all the ri 'J cct to receive Girls' votes , for the simple reason that offered J v . ai ° ' ' cctei : b "" "" I therefore , whatever votes aro ea » the candidates , one and all , will be elected . There are ,

Correspondence.

doubtless , many difficulties to bo encountered , bnt , under any circumstances , it is necessary we should be considerate . Wo mnsfc bo in a position to speak forcibly , and wo feel sure tho supporters of the Girls' School will do their utmost to support their own venture . In this belief , I remain , fraternally yours , G .

Woman And Masonry.

WOMAN AND MASONRY .

PAST Deputy Grand Master Bro . the Hon . Charles Levi Woodbury was the champion of the ladies at tho last " Grand Feast " of tho Grand Lodgo of Massachusetts , and responded to tho toasfc proposed in their honour in the following humourous style : —¦ MOST WORSHIPFUL GKAND MASTER : Why am I selected for this toast ? Is it because , in my state of innocence , like Adam " waiting in the garden for the coming Eve , " a presumption arises thafc tho

idealised and perfect woman is present to my imagination ? Woman , as she is , lives a glorious institution ! Does this Grand Lodgo wish she was better ? I can throw no light on such a conundrum . Woman followed Adam into tho Garden , and drove him out , and mado him work , toil and moil , until those creations of modern civilisation , the dry-goods shop and the jewellery store , arose in

grandeur to minister to hev rosfchefcic taste . Tho apron which she gracefully wore after tho fall , has given place to the silks and laces , gold , jewellery and precious stones , that Paradise did not furnish for her aspiring senso of the beautiful . Conservative man still wears tho apron , and cherishes fche tradition of the fig-leaf ; but her memories of that primal state are most

prominent in her rage for birds of Paradise . Has nofc woman gained iu power by her transmigration from Paradise to earth ? There a wriggling snake was wily enongh to humbug her , but here the fascination with which " tho serpent on fche rock " lures the bird within its mysterious influence is not as subtle or subduing as woman ' s power . Our first Grand Master King Solomon was beguiled out of

heaps of presents by that charming widow , fche Queen of Sheba . Even his own wives , say the prophets , conquered his wisdom and led his soul into captivity . Solomon's Masonic successors have undergone a similar lot . In their homes woman is a pervading deity of love and government . The French Masons say , "What woman will , God wills . " She is

irresistible . ' She is not here because she has nofc willed to be here . It is by her generous sufferance that Masonry exists . Of what consequence to ns are these foreign women ? Solomon had no Yankee girl among his wives . He never saw one . I am of those who think our fair countrywomen are peerless among their sex ; but I ought also to say that American Masons have an

unerring instinct that guides them to select for better halves fche mosfc reasonable among them , those least tinctured with thafc fatal curiosity which drove the sex from Paradise , and mosfc endowed with thoso admirable qualities which adorn the relations of a wife , mother , nurse , and daughter . To woman as an object of adoration for all good Masons my humble

offering has been made . But some women reach thafc state of life where they become oftener objects of objurgation . Had you wished words of wisdom concerning that transcendent climax of moral development , you should have remembered that our firsfc father , Adam , when he was a happy man in Paradise , had no mother-in-law ; thafc Eve was expelled before sho grew to boa

mother-in-law ; that , in fact , there is no record of a mother-in-law in Paradise ; and that it is still uncertain whether woman ' s influence shall lead me to a mother-in-law , or that I shall eacapo into Paradise . I shall hazard at this time no imprudent remarks . Having astonished his auditors with theso and sundry other unexpected and startling cogitations upon the theme assigned him ,

Bro . Woodbury suddenly " switched oft ' , " avid closed with a grave and stately discourse as to the influence of Masonry upon the State , showing how tbe quiet dissemination of its moral and humanitarian ideas might bo traced in tho amelioration of tho constitutions of governments , and the aid afforded in the struggles of man for his place of nobility under God and tho right to enjoy all divinely planned institutions .

The Gallery Lodge , No . 1928 , will meet on Saturday , and has a fair proportion of work before it , viz ., a raising , fonr passings , and an initiation . All the members of this Lodge , with the exception of the honorary members ,

belong to tho newspaper press , the majority belonging to the reporters' gallery in the Houses of Parliament . The Lodge has made considerable strides since its consecration on the loth August last , and is doing some excellent Masonic work in connection with the Charities of the order .

On Boat Race day a numerous company assembled on board the Maria Wood , which was moored at Mortlake , near the winning post . A . sumptuous and ri-cJiercIia luncheon was provided by Bros . Ritter and Clifford , who personally superintended . Mr . Wellington ' s 2 nd Light

Cavalry Band discoursed sweet music , aud the company enjoyed several dances while the boat was being towed np fo Kew by a steam launch . The umpire ' s boat , with His

Jvoyal Plighness the Princo of Wales on board , stopped while the Band played " God Bless tho Prince of Wales . " Among the company were Bros . T . Beard , O . C , Poster , J . Gow , Langton , Ridley , A . Painter , H . M . Levy , & c .