The Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.

THE ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR BOYS .

WE have received a copy of a pamphlet , purporting to be the Report of a Committee of Investigation appointed by Provincial Grand Lodge of West Yorkshire " to investigate the management and expenditure of the Eoyal Masonic Institution for Boys . " Into the causes that

led to the appointment of this Committee it is not our purpose to enter , although we cannot help expressing onr opinion that something like unfriendliness of tone pervades the wording of the report , which cannot be altogether ascribed to the results of the enquiry . It does not appear that these results are of a verv serious character . The

Committee asserts that the total cost per boy in the Masonic Institution is considerably greater than a reference to the cost of other similar establishments would seem to justify . The London Orphan Asylum School , for example , in 1874 , maintained and educated 491 children , at an

average cost per head of £ 31 6 s 3 d ; the Commercial Travellers' School in like manner maintained 228 children , at a cost of £ 30 4 s per head ; the Ackworth Schools , with 290 inmates , cost £ 8110 s Gd per head ; the Sidcote Schools , with 97 inmates , ^ 833 19 s ; tlie Yorkshire Boys' School ,

with 55 inmates , £ 33 ; tlie Masonic Girls School , with 140 inmates , £ 3010 s Hid , and the Clergy Orphan Boys' School , with 110 inmates . £ 43 18 s 0 | d . As compared with these figures , the cost per head in the Masonic Institution , £ 54 10 s 3 d , certainly appears high , though it by no means follows that it is excessive . Even if it be a fact that the

Masonic Institution is more expensive than other Institutions of a similar kind , a fact by the way which can hardly be said to be proved by a comparison with the cost of some half dozen selected establishments , it might still bo replied that the full worth of the money was obtained , that the

subscribers did not begrudge the expenditure , and that the Institution was in a position to afford it . We do not say that this reply would be made , but only that , for all that the investigation has proved , such a reply might be made . The second charge is a more serious one , viz . : that the

instruction has not been attended with the most satisfactory results . Of the nineteen boys entered for the Cambridge Local Examination in December 1869 , six failed entirely , and eleven obtained certificates only ; of the ten entered for the Oxford Local in June 1871 , three only obtained

second class honours , four third class , and three failed entirely : and of the three entered for the Oxford Local in June 1873 , two failed entirely , and the other only obtained third division . Without further particulars it would be impossible for us to express any opinion in regard

to this allegation . But we would ask , may it not be that the conductors of the School aim rather at a fairly hio-h general standard for all , than a superlative degree of excellence for a small number of show pupils ? The only other subject of complaint is with regard to the mode of keeping

and presenting the accounts . The Committee recommends the adoption of a mode of presenting the accounts in use in the London Orphan Asylum , by which the average outlay per head for the various items of expenditure is clearly

shown . This , and some other trifling suggestions , mio-ht perhaps be adopted with advantage to the institution . But until we have both sides of the question before us , we must refrain from expressing any decisive opinion upon ' the other questions raised by the Committee of Investigation .

Masonic Portraits (No. 19.) A Model Mason.

MASONIC PORTRAITS ( No . 19 . ) A MODEL MASON .

" Dub thyself hero , and the false , fiokle world , Will pay thee witling ; homage . Declare thyself . Saint , and the dnll throng will bend the knee And worship . Bnt , play thy part in silence , And be but honest man ; bend to no rising

Sun ; keep to thy work most steadfastly , And sqnaro thy life by dnty ' s strictest rule ; Yet shall tho mob curse thee , and Impudence Shall trample on thy skirts , and push before thee , To fortune and to fame . "

IT has been our fortune , hitherto , to sketch the lineaments of brethren who have achieved high distinction in the Order , ' and , in giving them our special attention , we

have been obliged to pass over many men whose zeal for Masonry is second to none of those who have achieved Grand Lodge honours . We have in our portfolio a long list of eminent Past Masters whose features and mental

characteristics we hope ere long to transfer to the canvas . These gentlemen are indeed the pillars of the Masonic edifice . The fame of many of them is confined within the immediate circle of their Lodges ; but they have been content to toil on in comparative obscurity , aud their work is

not the less valuable because . it has not been trumpeted to the four winds of heaven by the heralds of fame . The Order owes much to the steady industry of a host of worthy brothers who never seek publicity , and who would be , perhaps , rather annoyed than pleased if we were to

drag them , without ceremony , into the full light of day . We have the highest respect and admiration for theso modest ones , and we aro of opinion that the best work , both in the world and within the Order , is done by people who never take the trouble to assert themselves , and who

are simply animated by a loyal devotion to duty . The subject of our sketch is a man of this stamp . He cares nothing for fame , or tho hollow applause of the multitude , and we are quite certain that he will be very angry with us if we venture to say a word too much of his private worth ,

or of his Masonic career . To us he is known as a painstaking official , in the confidence of a great Corporation , in whose service he has spent the best years of his life . Thirty-six years since , onr brother took service with the Civic Fathers , and spent the usual term of probation , if we

may so call it , in hard and honourable work . Step by step he advanced in the esteem of his official chiefs , and at this present writing he holds a position analogous to that of a secretary in a great public company . Few persons who are unacquainted with the subiect know anything of

the real nature of the work or the responsibilities of public servants . Thoughtless people suppose , that official life is a bed of roses ; they imagine that the official merely plays , like Trafalgar Square fountains , from ten to four , and then retires to his neat suburban villa , to dine in happy

contentment with his family . The public know nothing of the wear and tear of such a career ; of the long hours of stead y labour which are often exacted from a pub'ic servant , or of the heavy responsibilities which he is called upon to bear . It would he useless for us here to attempt to set the world

right with reference to the duties or the emoluments of men of this class . We might as well attempt to set forth the true nature of Freemasonry to the denizens of the outer world . It is sufficient for us to say , and sve speak , be it rememberer , from experience , that the strain of official life is very serious , and that its rewards are not