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Article THE ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR BOYS. Page 1 of 1 Article THE ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR BOYS. Page 1 of 1
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The Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.
THE ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR BOYS .
TWO of the three Festivals -which are held annually on behalf of our central Masonic Charitable Institutions have passed off with a success which , if not unparalleled , is nevertheless intensely gratifying to their friends and wellwishers , and there only remains ono to be celebrated in order to completo the triad . The results which have been
thus far achieved give promise of a success which will very closely approximate , if it does not equal , that of last year . The Benevolent Institution , for which Bro . Terry labours so assiduously , led the way with a total exceeding £ 11 , 000 , and this , though considerably behind the total for 1879 ,
must , under the circumstances , be deemed excellent . The Girls' School Festival , which was held last week , has , on the other hand , far surpassed . what was done in its behalf in 1879 , whon was heldj under the auspices of Grand Treasurer , the first Festival since Bro . Hedges ' s appointment as
Secretary . Then the splendid figure of £ 12 , 000 was the result ; but last week , with the prestige which of necessity attaches to the presidency of a member of the Royal Family , the sum of £ 13 , 500 was exceeded , so that taking them together the Festivals of the Benevolent Institution
and the Girls' School will this year realise little , if anything , short of £ 25 , 000 . There remains , as we have said , the Festival of the Boys' School , which is fixed for the 30 fch of June . Lord Skelmersdale , Deputy Grand Master , who is also Grand Master of the Province of West Lancashire , has
very kmdiy consented to preside , and , as his lordship ' s Province is one of the strongest in the country , we are reasonably justified in believing , as well as hoping , that through his presidency the Festival of the Boys' School will produce more nearly what it did some three or four years ago than
the sum it yielded in 1879 . His lordship , to begin with , is . deservedl y popular with the Fraternity , not only on account of his personal qualities—though , if we spoke of them as they deserved , we should run the risk of being thought adulators : but also because of the interest he has
always exhibited in our Charities . Then , as we have just remarked , he has to back him up one of the largest of our Provinces which , on the last occasion he presided at one of our institutions , contributed over £ 1 , 500 . This very handsome amount has since been exceeded by the
province of Warwick , which supported Lord Leigh , its Grand Master , to the extent of £ 2 , 000 , and by East Lancashire , which similarly honoured the gentleman who presides over its Masonic fortunes to the extent of » o , 500 . There is now an admirable opportunitv for
the Western half of this wealthy and influential count y to endeavour , in a true spirit of honourable rivalry , to surpass the former effort of the Eastern half . We know it will prove a hard task , for so large an amount as
~ ° > ° w is not raised every year by a single section of kagnsh Freemasonry . But West Lancashire will not find " impossible , and by " a long pull , a strong pull , and a pull
altogether , " there is the chance that West may eclipse ^ ast Lancashire in its efforts on behalf of our Charities . Jjiverpool alone is a host in itself . It has over thirty ¦ Liod ges , or about as many as Manchester and Birmingham Put together . Scattered about the rest of the Province
are some four dozen Lodges more ; there being altogether over ei ghty on the roll of Lord' Skelmersdale ' s Province , so that the task of out-doing East Lancashire , which can » oast some ninety Lodges , albeit a difficult one , is , as we fl ave said , not impossible of achievement . But while the
The Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.
personal popularity of the chairman , aud the numerical strength and inflnenco of his Province are tho chief grounds of the hope we have expressed , —that tho Boys' Festival of 1880 will exhibit a return approximate , if not equal , to the amounts formerly realised , —there aro other reasons which
induce us to hope that the contributions in June next will swell the total to the £ 40 , 000 which seems to be considered now-a-days as the amount to bo raised annually for our three Institutions . We need not be at the pains of specifying all these , for some apply with equal force to our
other Charities . Two , however , must be singled out for mention , namely , that , in the first place , the annual income of the School , while it is exactly equal to that of the Girls ' School in respect of the assistance it derives from Grand Lodge and Grand Arch Chapter , is very much below it in
respect of the dividends it receives from invested moneys . This is a point on which , at the risk of being thought peremptory , we conceive it to be our duty to insist with all the urgency we can bring to bear . It is only a very few weeks since we pressed the duty of consolidation on the
authorities of our Institutions , but we did so m general terms , though the recent extension of the Girls' School was the text of our article . If , however , we hold that in the latter case a policy of consolidation is preferable to one of extension , a fortiori , must it be essential in respect of the Boys '
School which has a still more limited permanent income , —speaking roughly from memory , about one-third of that of its sister institution . To bring the two more nearly level in this particular is a duty which ought not to be lost sight of , and on which we repeat it is our duty to
insist , in season and out of season . This is one of the two special reasons , while the other is that at most , if not all , of the elections which have taken place these last few years ,
the excess of candidates over vacancies has been more remarkable in the case of the Boys' School than in that of the Girls . Only the other day , while the ratio of candidates to vacancies was for the Girls '
School about three and a half to one , that for the Boys' was about four to one ; or to put the matter still moro clearly beforo our readers , while thirty-two of the forty-five candidates for the Girls' were necessarily disappointed—as it was impossible to elect more than
thirteen—fifty-nine out of the seventy-nine Boy candidates found themselves in the same unfortunate predicament . There is not much difference in the numerical strength of the two Schools , but for reasons we do not pretend to explain , there seems to be a great preponderance of Boy
candidates . Thus , with an inferior stated income on which to rely in the hour of need , and a greater number of applicants for its benefits , the Boys' School should commend itself especially to the support o £ the Fraternity during the current year . There is yet another reason to which we
are justified in making passing reference . Bro . Binckes ' a Festivals havo for the last three years shown a descending scale of results , and it is time this descent was arrested and the scale converted into an ascending one . Let the third achievement of the Masonic year be also its greatest , and
thus lend encouragement to Oar Hercules to work , if possible , more energetically in the future than he has done in the past . JNeither Bro . Terry nor Bro . Hedges , wo feel assured , will feel the slightest degree of envy if they find their own efforts surpassed by Bro . Binckes . At all events , we can
but repeat the hope we have expressed ); that , in the interests of the School , and in appreciation of the kindness shown by Lord Skelmersdale , the third one of oar Festivals will compare satisfactorily with the two that have gone before .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.
THE ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR BOYS .
TWO of the three Festivals -which are held annually on behalf of our central Masonic Charitable Institutions have passed off with a success which , if not unparalleled , is nevertheless intensely gratifying to their friends and wellwishers , and there only remains ono to be celebrated in order to completo the triad . The results which have been
thus far achieved give promise of a success which will very closely approximate , if it does not equal , that of last year . The Benevolent Institution , for which Bro . Terry labours so assiduously , led the way with a total exceeding £ 11 , 000 , and this , though considerably behind the total for 1879 ,
must , under the circumstances , be deemed excellent . The Girls' School Festival , which was held last week , has , on the other hand , far surpassed . what was done in its behalf in 1879 , whon was heldj under the auspices of Grand Treasurer , the first Festival since Bro . Hedges ' s appointment as
Secretary . Then the splendid figure of £ 12 , 000 was the result ; but last week , with the prestige which of necessity attaches to the presidency of a member of the Royal Family , the sum of £ 13 , 500 was exceeded , so that taking them together the Festivals of the Benevolent Institution
and the Girls' School will this year realise little , if anything , short of £ 25 , 000 . There remains , as we have said , the Festival of the Boys' School , which is fixed for the 30 fch of June . Lord Skelmersdale , Deputy Grand Master , who is also Grand Master of the Province of West Lancashire , has
very kmdiy consented to preside , and , as his lordship ' s Province is one of the strongest in the country , we are reasonably justified in believing , as well as hoping , that through his presidency the Festival of the Boys' School will produce more nearly what it did some three or four years ago than
the sum it yielded in 1879 . His lordship , to begin with , is . deservedl y popular with the Fraternity , not only on account of his personal qualities—though , if we spoke of them as they deserved , we should run the risk of being thought adulators : but also because of the interest he has
always exhibited in our Charities . Then , as we have just remarked , he has to back him up one of the largest of our Provinces which , on the last occasion he presided at one of our institutions , contributed over £ 1 , 500 . This very handsome amount has since been exceeded by the
province of Warwick , which supported Lord Leigh , its Grand Master , to the extent of £ 2 , 000 , and by East Lancashire , which similarly honoured the gentleman who presides over its Masonic fortunes to the extent of » o , 500 . There is now an admirable opportunitv for
the Western half of this wealthy and influential count y to endeavour , in a true spirit of honourable rivalry , to surpass the former effort of the Eastern half . We know it will prove a hard task , for so large an amount as
~ ° > ° w is not raised every year by a single section of kagnsh Freemasonry . But West Lancashire will not find " impossible , and by " a long pull , a strong pull , and a pull
altogether , " there is the chance that West may eclipse ^ ast Lancashire in its efforts on behalf of our Charities . Jjiverpool alone is a host in itself . It has over thirty ¦ Liod ges , or about as many as Manchester and Birmingham Put together . Scattered about the rest of the Province
are some four dozen Lodges more ; there being altogether over ei ghty on the roll of Lord' Skelmersdale ' s Province , so that the task of out-doing East Lancashire , which can » oast some ninety Lodges , albeit a difficult one , is , as we fl ave said , not impossible of achievement . But while the
The Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.
personal popularity of the chairman , aud the numerical strength and inflnenco of his Province are tho chief grounds of the hope we have expressed , —that tho Boys' Festival of 1880 will exhibit a return approximate , if not equal , to the amounts formerly realised , —there aro other reasons which
induce us to hope that the contributions in June next will swell the total to the £ 40 , 000 which seems to be considered now-a-days as the amount to bo raised annually for our three Institutions . We need not be at the pains of specifying all these , for some apply with equal force to our
other Charities . Two , however , must be singled out for mention , namely , that , in the first place , the annual income of the School , while it is exactly equal to that of the Girls ' School in respect of the assistance it derives from Grand Lodge and Grand Arch Chapter , is very much below it in
respect of the dividends it receives from invested moneys . This is a point on which , at the risk of being thought peremptory , we conceive it to be our duty to insist with all the urgency we can bring to bear . It is only a very few weeks since we pressed the duty of consolidation on the
authorities of our Institutions , but we did so m general terms , though the recent extension of the Girls' School was the text of our article . If , however , we hold that in the latter case a policy of consolidation is preferable to one of extension , a fortiori , must it be essential in respect of the Boys '
School which has a still more limited permanent income , —speaking roughly from memory , about one-third of that of its sister institution . To bring the two more nearly level in this particular is a duty which ought not to be lost sight of , and on which we repeat it is our duty to
insist , in season and out of season . This is one of the two special reasons , while the other is that at most , if not all , of the elections which have taken place these last few years ,
the excess of candidates over vacancies has been more remarkable in the case of the Boys' School than in that of the Girls . Only the other day , while the ratio of candidates to vacancies was for the Girls '
School about three and a half to one , that for the Boys' was about four to one ; or to put the matter still moro clearly beforo our readers , while thirty-two of the forty-five candidates for the Girls' were necessarily disappointed—as it was impossible to elect more than
thirteen—fifty-nine out of the seventy-nine Boy candidates found themselves in the same unfortunate predicament . There is not much difference in the numerical strength of the two Schools , but for reasons we do not pretend to explain , there seems to be a great preponderance of Boy
candidates . Thus , with an inferior stated income on which to rely in the hour of need , and a greater number of applicants for its benefits , the Boys' School should commend itself especially to the support o £ the Fraternity during the current year . There is yet another reason to which we
are justified in making passing reference . Bro . Binckes ' a Festivals havo for the last three years shown a descending scale of results , and it is time this descent was arrested and the scale converted into an ascending one . Let the third achievement of the Masonic year be also its greatest , and
thus lend encouragement to Oar Hercules to work , if possible , more energetically in the future than he has done in the past . JNeither Bro . Terry nor Bro . Hedges , wo feel assured , will feel the slightest degree of envy if they find their own efforts surpassed by Bro . Binckes . At all events , we can
but repeat the hope we have expressed ); that , in the interests of the School , and in appreciation of the kindness shown by Lord Skelmersdale , the third one of oar Festivals will compare satisfactorily with the two that have gone before .