The Recent Extension Of The Girls' School.

therefore we think that tho subscribers who opposed the expenditure are to be commended for seeking to put the matter on a proper footing for tho future . Now thero is no erious harm done ; but who will say what a future propoi tion of a similar nature might lead to ? We are ,

thereiore , pleased to seo that so easy a way of obviating tho evil presents itself . Wo already havo " Snstentation " Funds attached to our Institutions , and these , it is Mr . Webb ' s opinion , should supply the amounts to bo expended in tho further extension of either the gi'ounds or buildings of

our Charities . It is , therefore , an easy matter for any one who approves of enlarging our Schools to make their donations , either in part or wholly , to this special branch . They would thereby be assured that their own particular ideas would be carried out , and thoso who

disagreed with them would not feel that they were subscribing to an unworthy object , in the shapo of buildings , and other matters of which they disapproved . In an early part of our remarks we stated that the subject was likely to be referred to again ; if it is , we believe it will bo in the form

of a suggestion to make a Special Appeal to the Craft to increase the balance standing to the credit of tho Sustentation Fund . If this wero done at onco , and tho object stated as being to recoup the General Fund for tho latest addition which has been made to the Girls' School , we

believe a hearty response would follow , and the new building would eventually be acquired without in any way affecting the total of the General Fund . Before closing our remarks on this subject , we desire to briefly refer to the action taken by the Britannia Lodge ,

No . 139 , Sheffield , the oldest Lodge in the Province of West Yorkshire , which may be best explained by a perusal of the following reproduction of a circular communicated officially by that Lodge to the General Committee of the School : —

BEITANNIA LODGE , 139 . Report of the Committee appointed on the 8 th January 1880 as to the Purchase of Lyncombe House , & c . That in the opinion of this Committee tho purchase of Lyncombe Honse and grounds is to bo condemned for tho reasons following : —

1 . That tho price is excessive . 2 . That the premises are neither required nor desirable . 3 . That it is not at present desirable to invest so largo a proportion of the funds of the Charity in land and buildings .

4 . That tho rules applicable to tho clothing and education of girls out of the Institution should in preference be acted upon . 5 . And the Committee would add their protest against the present management of the Charity , with special reference to tho representation of provincial subscribers , it being their opinion that such subscribers should have tho right of voting by proxy .

H . J . GARHETT , Chairman . Masonic Hall , Sheffield , 4 th February 1880 . From this it will be observed that the members of Lodge No . 139 entertain views very similar to those we have expressed on various occasions , and therefore our

readers are aware of our arguments in support thereof , but there are one or two points which we may dwell npon in a future number . In the meantime , we would suggest a

friendly organisation among the Provincial subscribers in order to secure for themselves a more equitable distribution of the benefits , in the form of voting power , conferred in consideration of donations and subscriptions .

The Royal Masonic Pupils' Assistance Fund.

THE ROYAL MASONIC PUPILS ' ASSISTANCE FUND .

WE give elsewhere a full report of the proceedings at the opening meeting of those interested in the establishment of this Fund . The chair , as will be seen , was occupied by Lord Skelmersdale , Deputy Grand Master , in the unavoidable absence through ill-health of H . R . H .

Prince Leopold . Lord Rosslyn , Pasfc Grand Master of Scotland , took a leading part in the proceedings , and was more or less ably seconded by other brethren of influence . In the end the meeting was adjourned till , as we feel justified

in believing , Prince Leopold is able to attend and give the proposal the benefit of his personal influence . If we add thafc there was a goodly atttendance , that everything passed

oft smoothly , and thafc there is every reason to anticipate that the effort thus' auspiciously begun will prove a great success , we shall have said all that is necessary as to the

The Royal Masonic Pupils' Assistance Fund.

general characteristics of tho meeting . As to the details we must bo a littlo moro minute . After the customary preliminaries , Lord Eosslyn , to whom wo aro indebted for the suggestion of the idea which has led to this proposal , rose and fully stated his views as

to tho character tho Fund shonld assume , and it seems to us that any ono who carefully reads throngh tho speech of tho noble lord will come to the conclusion that thoso views wore , in many respects , described by us at somo length ia our article of last week . That tho proposal as now

formulated has exceeded its original dimensions is true . Thafc tho project , as described in circulars , may strike people as an ambitious ono is most likely . Bufc when allowance has been mado for every description of eccentricity , we feel it will be generally acknowledged that the original programme

has been adhered to , with , however , additions which our readers , we think , will agree with us in saying aro also improvements . That the paraphernalia of vice-patronage , life-governorships , and so forth , with a Fancy Bazaar thrown in as a more than usually attractive appendage ,

should strike the outsider and even the initiate as implying a veiy grand undertaking is more than probable , and we are not surprised that Lord Eosslyn's speech should havo been , to a certain extent , of a deprecatory character . So many misconceptions have been started as to the purposes

to which it is intended to apply tho benefits of this Fund , that no one , and least of all those who havo taken an active part in promoting it , will wonder at his lordship having been taken somewhat aback at tho apparent magnitude of a scheme , for the origin of which he is doubtless in somo

measure responsible . Bufc as the tree requires careful pruning of its surplus branches in order to bear good fruit , so in estimating the real character of the proposed Fund we must strip ifc of its ornamental details and we shall then

find that it is what it was proposed to be from the very outset—a mere supplement -to our Schools , not a rival establishment whose claims upon tho support of tho Masonic public will ever in the slightest degree interfere with their interests . When we mention that ono brother

stated at the meeting that ho had been told the Fund was meant for the life-long support of the children educated at our Schools , we have as little reason to wonder that others should havo formed erroneous , though less egregious , misconceptions as that anyone with a grain of sense in his cranium should ever havo allowed himself to entertain so

wild a notion . But to resume , Lord Rosslyn explained clearly enough how he came to originate the idea which in an expanded form is being so well worked out . He rightly enough said on Thursday , as he did afc the Boys' Festival last year , that the good done by our Schools fell short of

completion , inasmuch as many of the pupils when , in . the ordinary efflux of years , their time for leaving came , were sent adrift into the world without means or friends to help them . His idea seems to have been that a Fund might have been formed to assist them , and administered by the

authorities of the Schools themselves . Instead of this , a separate Fund has been started , and is in course of establishment . So much for the idea originally conceived . Since then it has occurred to several of those who take an interest in whatever relates to Freemasonry that , as thero

are many candidates for tho benefits of our Schools who , in the very nature of things , are disappointed , the object of this supplementary Fund might he of a twofold character . On the one hand it might render valuable assistance at a most critical timo to deserving pupils who , on leaving , had

no prospect before them ; and on the other it might do a service at small cost to somo of the unsuccessful candidates . Hero , then , wo have the leading ideas by which the promoters of tho Pupils' Assistance Fund are animated , and to these ideas all other parts of the scheme will

of necessity be made subservient . We think , then , we may take upon ourselves to say , so far as we have been able to gather from the promoters' prospectuses , thafc Lord Rosslyn ' s original idea has been preserved . Tho new

Fund will be established nofc in rivalry with , but as subsidiary to , the Boys' and Girls' Schools' Funds , on the ono hand relieving them of expenditure now incurred in helping pupils on leaving , and on the other , contributing in some measure towards the education of unsuccessful

candidates . We feel with his lordship that it would be most unwise to do anything which even in tho slightest degree might bo calculated to disturb the equal flow oi charity into the coffers of our two scholastic institutions . We are of those who think , and have again and again said , that it is better to consolidate than to