The Approaching School Elections.

a sister in the School , and is the only child now dependent on the mother . Clara Pratt has both parents alive , and is one of four children looking to them for support . Our Brother Pratt , in years gone by , has borne his share of the burden of the day , and we hope

that the aid he has rendered to others will now enable him to secure sufficient support to place his child in our School . His long and varied services would thus be amply repaid , and at a time when he is most in need of recognition . There are three other applicants on the list of cases

standing over from the last election who have each a sister in the School—No . 8 , Juliet S . H . Priestley , third application , 194 votes forward , who is , with two others , dependent on a widowed mother ; No . 10 , Emily Alford Cecil , 209 votes already recorded , one of three similarly circumstanced ;

and No . 22 , Annie Elizabeth Hill , whose mother has four children to support ; she has stood but one election , on which occasion 13 votes were placed to her credit . Coming as she does from Hants , we think her case may safely be left in the hands of the Masons of that district , who will

not fail in effecting her election if they in any way can secure it . Laura Sophia Cheek , No . 12 , appears for the second time , with 360 votes standing to her credit ; she and another child rely on their mother for maintenance . Tho father , who was initiated in the Domatic Lodge , No . 177 ,

died in 1873 . No . 14 , Fanny Elizabeth Wain , comes forward with 245 votes , and being the only candidate from Kent should have a good chance of success ; her mother is the only parent living , and she has five children to provide for . The mother of Mildred Evens , No . 16 , has five children

entirely , and one partially dependent on her . The child it is now proposed to place in the Girls' School has already had 139 votes recorded for her by the brethren of Devon ( from which Province the case emanates ) and other friends . Both parents of Annie Sarah Parker , No . 11 ,

are living , and have seven children to provide for , assistance being given them in the case of two ; they have 135 votes recorded in favour of their daughter , and may reasonably expect , if they can secure the support of the father ' s Province ( West Lancashire ) , to speedily

secure her election . No . 24 , Emily Beatrice King , to whose credit havo been placed 77 votes , is one of five children rolying on their parents , both of whom arc living , for maintenance . Elizabeth Minnie Parker , No . 2 , has taken part in two previous elections , but has not

yet secured much support , only 49 votes now standing to her credit ; her widowed mother has five children to support , aud is unfortunate in the district from which her case emanates . The brethren of Cambridgeshire have not yet discovered the power of votes , nor indeed have they exhibited much desire to obtain them wn

trust a change is not far distant . Surel y there should be sufficient charity among the Masons of that county to prevent the child of one of its past members from applying to the School iu vain . Fort y votes are all

that havo been recorded in aid of Edith Brown ' s candidature ( No . 6 on the list ) ; she has already stood two elections . Both her parents are living , and there is a family of eight children looking to them for support . Devonshire has its hands too full to allow

of much aid being rendored to this case b y the Province , but we think if a little outside help was offered , they would , perhaps , make a struggle to secure a place for this child at no very distant date . Annie Gover ( No . 18 ) had 15 votes recorded in her favour at the last

election ; her mother , the only parent living , has this child and two others to support . Minnie Howie , No . 23 , has but two votes in her favour , she is one of four children relying on the mother . The brethren of Warwickshire ( the father'

Province ) can , unless they aro otherwise pledged , make this total very different after the next election ; we hope the widowed mother will have the good fortune to secure their co-operation .

We have now referred in turn to each of the candidates of the Girls' School who have appeared on previous ballot papers , and also to the one " first application " who will be debarred , through age , after this election , from competing further . We must leave our comments on the Boys until next week .

In conclusion , we would point out that to secure success with any candidate it is necessary that united effort should be made by all who lend their names in support of the application . Tbe number of votes that are , so to speak , wasted at each election is considerable ; but we question if the yarious combinations which are in existence to prevent this

The Approaching School Elections.

do not in a measure counteract the benefits which are sup . posed to accrue from open voting . It is but reasonable to expect London to combine if the Provinces do so ; and we admit it is necessary if any equality of benefits are sought , but it leaves a very small chance open to those who are

unable to secure the support of one or other of the great centres of voting power . Should any of our readers have votes unpromised , wo shall be very pleased to receive them . We need hardly add that any sent us will be thankfully received , and , to the best of our judgment , beneficially applied .

General Assembly Of The Grand Orient Of France.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE GRAND ORIENT OF FRANCE .

[ C OMMUNICATED . ] THE Annual Convent of tho Lodges under the jurisdiction of the Grand Orient , which opened early on Monday the 8 th instant , was closed on Saturday the 13 th by the usual banquet of the Order , after holding seven successive meetings , afc which were discussed and transacted the business , both legislative and administrative , of theltite . The most imDortant sitting was that held on Tnesdav the 9 th

instant , at which was passed a new law respecting the dues to be paid to the Grand Orient , as Grand Lodge's Fnnd for General Purposes . TheLodge was opened in due form at 2 p . m . on that day by Bro . Le Pie , assisted by the members of the Council of the Order , and in presence of upwards of 200 delegates . Bro . Le P 16 , Venerable of the Lodge

"Les Arts Eeunis , " of Rouen , had been elected , the day before , chairman of the Assembly , in consequence of tho desire oxprossed by M . W . Bro . De Saint-Jean that he shonld not this year be voted to tho chair as customary , his present bad health rendering him unfit for so arduous a task . After the opening ceremony a decree of tho Council of the Order , appointing tho brethren to officiate

in tho Grand Lodge during its session , was read , and those Officers were immediately installed in their respective functions , as follows : — Bros . Prosfc , delegate of the Lodge Solidarite et Progres of Dijon , G . S . Wavden ; Petitfrore , Venorable of the Lodge Amis Bienfaisants of Paris , G . J . Wnrden ; Francolin , Ven . of tho Lodge Ecole Mutuelle of Paris , G . Orator ; Fnrt . Ven . of the Lodge Sincerite of Bordeaux ,

A . G . Orator ; Gambini , Von . of the Lodge Parfaite Sincerite of Marseilles , G . Sec ; Josset , Ven . of tho Lodge Etoile de l'Esperance of Beanvais , A . G . Sec . ; Plassau , Ven . of the Lodge Encyclopudique , G . Expert ; Peau , Von . of the Lodge Democratic Maconnique of Pantin , S . A . G . Expert ; Dnprc , delegate of the Lodge Cosmopolito of Vichy , J . A . G . Experfc ; Cammas , delegate of the Lodge Progres of Constanti .

nople , G . Hospitaller ; G . Directors of Ceremonies and G . Stewards , G . Inner Guard , Tyler , & e ., wero also nominated and invested . The Grand Lodge being thus formed , tho minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed , and aftor that the Secretary of tho Fourth Bureau of tbe Assembly was called npon to mako known the report of the Committeeupon theproposed substitution of one single

impost to tho permanent and temporary contributions paid by the Lodges to the Grand Orient as annual dues . Bro . Decembre-Alonnier then read a report which was so comprehensive ns not to permit much discussion about the points raised against the present system of contributions . Yet , however good were the arguments set forth against those contributions and the evil of inequality that is so

evident in the mode of levying them , the proposal of putting in lieu thereof some moro rational tax was not allowed to pass without much opposition . First among the objectors was Bro . Poulle , a member cf the Council of the Order ; but despite the ability with which he , as a lawyer , defended tho existing system , the latter was condemned beforehand , not only by the common sense of the Assembly ,

but also by that instinctive peculiarity of the Frenchman ' s mind that leads him irresistibly to level differences and make equals in everything . But in this case there seems to have been sufficient evidence to entirely justify that eagerness with which the partisans of this reform carried all before them . For tho fact was made palpable that the Grand Orient receives from every one of its subordinate

Lodges a fixed annual contribution of a hundred francs , and besides this an amount varying with the number of members of each of the Lodges , which are for that purpose divided into four classes . In the first class tho charge is seventy-five francs , and in the last only two hundred francs . So that it does naturally happen that a Lodge of only ten members pays in annual dues a sum amounting to 175 francs ,

making that 17 francs 50 cents per head , whilst the Lodge that is possessed of a list of three hundred members does not pay more than oue franc per head—tbat is : three hundred francs in all—as Grand Orient annual dues ! After an interesting discussion , in which many brethren joined , and npon its favourable conclusion by tho Bro .

Orator , the following resolution was passed by 142 votes : — " All the Lodges of the Obedience shall pay to the Grand Orient an annual and single contribution , each in proportion with the number of its active members , according to its quarterly return . " Tbe other clauses that provide for the means of facilitating the regular execution of the law wero voted afterwards without much

objection , and then the Grand Lodge adjourned . Next day's sitting , and tbat of Thursday and Friday , were fully occupied with mere routine bnsiness ; proposals of modifications to be introduced in some regulations ; votes of several grants for

charitablo purposes , and examinations of the Budget of the Grand Orient , whose expenditure for next year is calculated at 168 , G 38 Fr . 70 c . In the elections , which took place on Thursday , of the eleven members to replace those eleven displaced by lot , according to the article of the law constituting the Council of tbe Order ,