The Girls School Festival.

THE GIRLS SCHOOL FESTIVAL .

WE are' fast ' appr 6 a ^^' i ^^ Wtimev , nx . bd fox the Anniversary Festival of the Eoyal Masonic Institution for Girlswhich is to be held on Wednesday , the 12 th of next month , under , 'the , # esid ene . y , of the - Eig ht Hon . Lord Llangattock

fi & Vifs & m . '" JSfe ^ n ^ ivlsioTi ;' -of ' South ^ ktes- ^ Und it is but pa | uralL ' a ^ geriain / ' |^ o ^ nt . / of , an xieity should exist , as . to the probable result of the celebration , which it being organised in the midst of the many other special matters that are engaging

t & e--.-. attention of '; the-, charitablyv disposed v , ra . this auspicious yearrbf our . - 'Sbve ' reign ' s'rTeigii . ¦ .. : M ~ * ¦ ¦ ' ¦ " ¦ '"• . ' «¦ ! ¦¦ - ' - ; W y . "•'•' . ' Th'e Masonic Girls School "this year' celebrates the . 1 |} 9 th '

anniversary of its establishment , its work is well known to members of the Craft , and it has long enjoyed a warm place in the ; affections * .-of ' influential ^ Brethren ,, int all parts of the eountry , Vbut :. the , mere fact of the regularity--with which appeals

are' made 6 h * 'its behalf—and , so far ; ' handsomel y responded to by the Craft ^ -is ;' in itself , a weakness ,-in : this year of special charitable appea | s . and fresh ^ . b jney _ plent . undertakings ..,..,. , .,..

We are not at all surprised to . hear that up to the present the Brethren of England have hot come forward as readily as

usual , offering to fulfil the . duties of Steward at the coming Festival ,- and we . fear the- ' final returns will compare most unfavourably with those of previous celebrations ; ; but even yet it is not too late to' make a final effort on behalf of . the

Girls Festival of . the year , and we hope our readers will one and all take--the matter into- serious" consideration , and , if unable to personally , act as Steward , at least make an effort

to induce ,-a fellow member ; -to do so . The cause is a truly deserving one , the work carried on by the Institution is most thorough and . practical , and the absolute necessity for a steady flow of contributions is manifest in the fact that the School is educating ' , clothing and maintaining 267 orphan daughters of the Craft ;

A Vindication Of Masonry.

A VINDICATION OF MASONRY .

IF we may believe the latest revelations in regard to the doings of Miss . _ Diana Vaughan—or to be- more correct , the confession - of the man who has assailed the Craft under that pseudonym— one " of the fiercest attacks ever made upon

Freemasonry has ; been proved to : have been , based upon falsehood and deceit of-the most shamefaced description . All the terrible tales related' at the time . of 'the Born an Catholic convention held last year at Trent , and all the denunciations

of the heads of that Church , based on what they were told in regard to the association of Freemasonry with . Devil-worship and th-e other toomfoolery of the " Diana Vaughan" revelations ;

afe swept away by the latest utterance of their author—that the whole of his statements were a joke , or as M . Leo Taxil himself puts it , .: the finest hoax of the century , and one which crowned his career . ' ' In another part of this issue we reproduce' the full report of the meeting , held in France ( and telegraphed by the Paris

A Vindication Of Masonry.

correspondent of the " Daily Telegraph" ) , at which the exposure was made known , and we also select a few of the paragraphs which have since appeared in other papers in regard to what was at one timeregarded as a serious outlook for Freemasonry ,

but which , as we have more than once mentioned , really proved to its advantage , because it was the means of directing publicattention to the advantages of which the Craft was able to boast , and which its most rabid opponents were quite unable to disprove .

¦ The question' that now presents itself is , how will the Borrian Catholics take this latest exposure of their professed authorities . We .: shall , expect them to say that M . Taxil has been bought over by the Freemasons , and that his latest

utterances are the untrue ones , while what he previously published as the experiences of Miss Diana Vaughan are true in substance - and in fact . Time will prove how far we are correct in our surmise .

The Grand Master's Hospital Fund.

THE GRAND MASTER'S HOSPITAL FUND .

WE are asked to mention that the Council who are working in' support of the Prince of Wales Hospital Fund , are most anxious ^ -as is usual under such circumstances —~ to get annual subscribers . The object aimed at is to secure a sum of £ 100 , 000 per annum for the Hospitals , which would

necessitate a funded capital of three millions , but if promises are received of annual grants the work will , of course , be very much lessened . We notice , the Percy Lodge , No . 198 , amongst others , has recognised this , and has voted two guineas annually ;

United Grand Lodge.

UNITED GRAND LODGE .

TinHE Grand Lodge for the installation of the M . W . Grand I Master , appointment of Officers , & c , will be held at Freemasons' Hall , London , " on Wednesday next , 28 th inst ., at four o ' clock in the afternoon . Grand Lodge will be opened at five o ' clock precisely . ,

Church Services.

CHURCH SERVICES .

A SPECIAL Masonic Service has be " en arranged to be held , under the auspices of many of the South London Lodges and Chapters , in St . Peter ' s Church , Liverpool-Street , Walworthroad , on Sunday evening , 2 nd May . Mozart ' s music for Freemasons will be rendered as voluntaries and anthem . The sermon will be preached by Bro . the Eev . J . W . Horsley , J . P ., says the

" South London Press , " and the offertory will be divided between the charity for aged Freemasons and the fund for reseating of St . Peter ' s Church . All South London Brethren are invited to

attend . A dispensation . has been obtained from Grand Lodge to enable those attending the service to appear in Masonic clothing . Dr . George Millson P . M . ( medical officer of health for-Newington ) is acting as Hon . Sec .

A BBANGEMENTS are being made for a Masonic service at J \_ St . Alfege , Greenwich , on 30 th May , which it is expected will be attended by the members of the Lodges not only of Greenwich and Deptford but of the surrounding district . The preacher will be Bro . the Eev . Brooke Lambert , and Grand Lodge is to be asked to grant a dispensation for clothing .