Anniversary Festival Of The Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.

dinners , because it is the climax of unremitting-and untiring efforts which have been going on for some time past throughout the country for the purpose of collecting the needful money and support for one of the most deserving Charities which ever could be put before us . ( Applause . ) And I can say from every Mason in this room that we fully appreciate the honour which

has been done us by the ladies who countenance this our gathering , and stimulating if possible our efforts in this direction . ( Cheers . ) It is , perhaps , unknown to- them , but it is an absolute fact , though one which is hardly credible , that we have for so many years 'been able to keep from them those much coveted secrets of our Craft ; but still I am sure they

will give us credit for it . I might mention the fact —I have not asked permission todoso , but I will tell you—that thercexistsamongus one of the most esteemed brethren in my province who for 20 years , I think I understood him to say . if not longer , has kept till this day a box full of Masonic documents in his room without even having unlocked it , or examined the contents of it .

So much for the reticence of Freemasons and the power of keeping , a secret which we possess . I may tell you it was Bro . Salter who assisted just now in handing over to the Howard Lodge in this province some documents which had been left him by his grandfather , the Master of that lodge many , many years ago , on the understanding that he was not to open the

box until he arrived at such a degree of Masonic perfection as would justify him in opening it and making use of its contents . ( Cheers . ) My brother has handed over , through me , that box to the lodge to-day , and I can assure you it was a most interesting ceremony . Well , I trust you will forgive me for diverging- from my topic , but I thought this circumstance

was sufficiently interesting to bring your attention to it . I am sure if you had been with me yesterday at thc prize giving of the Boys' School , which we arc met here to support to-day , you would have been extremely interested and gratified at the healthy appearance of the boys , and by the manner in whichj they showed their proficiency in the education which we give them

( Hear , hear . ) I think it is a most interesting sight , because if all of us look back perhaps to our school-boy days , we shall find that they were certainly days not by any means the least interesting of our lives , for during our time at school I think the characters of many of us are formed and moulded ; we have our little trials and our little triumohs to go through , and it seems to

mc that wc have been made to smoothc somewhat the paths of these Masonic children in our public Masonic Institutions , and I sincerely hope in the future they will prove themselves worthy descendants of our Order . ( Applause . ) It seems to me , however , that one would like , if possible , to follow them a little longer in their lives , and if possible , if the chance comes to one ,

to prefer the children of one of the brother Masons in employment to others outside . ( Hear , hear . ) However , I am quite sure we do not wish that all interest with them should slop on their leaving School , many of them lo higher walks in lite . At thc commencement of their career we have looked after their interests , and we have another most valuable Institution

—thc Benevolent Institution , which looks after Masons and their widows in their declining years , and smoothes them and makes them pleasant , and although that life which the boys and girls have gone through at School is such as to qualify and enable them to bear the hardships which are before them , yet still when they go out and face those hardships wc may assure

them of our cordial sympathy and support as far as we arc able to give it . I do not know whether you will allow me , brethren , to detain you with a few words which I have cxlracted from an excellent book which we all have before us , which is a record of the work of our Institution , and which you may not all be aware of . The Institution was founded in 1798 by brethren

of the " Ancient" or "Atholl" Society of Freemasons , among whom Bro . William Jiurwood and other members of the United Mariners Lodge—now ranking as No . 30 on thc roll of Grand Lodge—were the most prominent . In 1801 , thc Duke of Atholl , who was Grand Master of the Society , became Patron of the Institution , and some four or five years later the Atholl Grand

Lodge adopted it the recognised Charity of that section of the English Craft . In 1810 the children were increased to 50 in commemoration of George Ill . 's Jubilee . In 1814 , after the union ol 'Ancients' and ' Moderns' had been effected , the benefits of thc Schools were extended lo the sons of all English Masons under United Grand Lodge .

In 1 S 1 S the number of children was increased to 70 , but subsequently owing to the more limited support they received , but more especially to the misconduct of one of their chief executive officers , the Committee found themselves unable to maintain so large a number , and it was not till the year 184 . 1 that the establishment was restored to the footing of 1818 . In the

meantime , in 1 S 38 the varying contributions which Grand Lodge , following the example of the ' Ancients , ' had paid over to this and the Girls' School was commuted into a fixed annual grant of £ 150 . In 1848 the Jubilee of the Charity was celebrated , but under whose auspices and with what result is not ascertainable from the minutes or other records . It must , however ,

have had thc effect of drawing altention to the Charity , for in 1849 and again , in 1850 , the scheme of education was extended , and the benefits conferred were enlarged . In 1852 it was determined to build or rent a Schoolhouse , and accordingly a building fund was started , with which the bulk of the present estate at Wood Green was purchased , and the mansion ,

then known as Lordship House , converted into a School . In 1857 , 25 of the boys were admitted as an experiment , and this proved so successful that the Committee resolved on housing the whole establishment . In 186 3 steps were taken to build a new and enlarged school , and two years later the main portion of the present building

was inaugurated by the then Deputy Grand Master of England , Since then thc Institution has been more than doubled , and at the present time there are 268 boys on the establishment , the great majority of whom arc maintained , clothed , and educated at the Institution at Wood Green , while for the non-resident an annual grant of £ 20 is made to the parents or ru . irdians of each child .

Anniversary Festival Of The Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.

Such , briefly , is the history of our Masonic Institution for Boys , which in 1798 started on its career by providing clothing and education of tnr , simplest kind for six children , and which now maintains , clothes , an < * educates 268 , the boys who have received its benefits from first to last being 2052 . As for the character of the work done and

the manner in which its government is administered , there is every reason to believe that since the present regime was inaugurated in 1889-90 , the management has been generally successful . The tone of the School has been raised , the education made more practical and the funds disbursed with a due regard to economy and efficiency

combined . Unfortunately , the invested capital , which consists of only ^ " 31 , 000 stock , is small for so large an Institution , while the feeling is rapidly strengthening among the Craft , not only that it is very desirable the School should be removed to a healthier and less crowded neighbourhood , but that in the long run the removal would be of pecuniary advantage . But these

matters may safely be left out of our consideration for the present . As for the character of the work done , speaking horn personal experience and from that of the brethren , I consider it to be first rate . There is only one point which struck us , the somewhat cramped nature of those buildings , which , although , undoubtedly suited to the times when they were erected

are almost inadequate to the present time , and will be quite inadequate to the number of boys to be admitted in the future . I trust to the benevolence of Freemasons to increase them . It is impossible to think of it now , but we shall , a few years hence , have to provide somewhere in the country schools suitable and more commodious for our boys . ( Hear , hear . )

Brethren , I must , in conclusion , say how deeply I feel honoured b y the trust you have placed in me to-day by putting me in this chair . I must apologise to you for the very poor and inadequate manner in which I have placed before you the merits of this most deserving Institution . I know

that you have been hard at work throughout the provinces of this countrj collecting money on behalf of the School , that I can only trust that I may have the honour of feeling that those exertions have been rewarded and crowned with the fullest success .

Bro . RICHARD EVE , P . G . Treas ., who was called upon to acknowledge the toast , said : My Lord , Right Worshipful Chairman , Ladies , and Brethren , —I am sorry that we have not this evening with us our Grand Secretary , Bro . Letchworth . He is unable to attend , though he was set down to respond to this toast as the Treasurer of our Institution . But , as

Chairman of the Board of Management , I am called upon by his lordship to respond on behalf of this toast . I can assure you that we of the Board of Management thank you very much for the kind way you have received the toast so ably proposed by his lordship . We , and I am sure you , have the greatest interest in our boys . I was going to say that the Board of

Management , in common with all Masons , love our girls , and have the greatest affection for our boys , as we know the boys will take care of the girls . Wc thank you very much for the kind way in which you have received thc toast of the Masonic Boys' Institution . We feel that the Institution for Boys stands now as well as ever it did before—I may say it stands better to-day

than it has stood before j we have a larger . number of boys j wc have a larger number of healthy boys * , and his lordship , was quite right in saying that to look upon them as we did yesterday was a thing of pleasure and rejoicing . We are pleased to find that they are not as they were sjme seven years ago , but they are dressed as the sons of well-to-do men of the

world . I can assure you the education given to those boys is an excellent education . We know that under the management of our Head Master they have the greatest attention paid to them , not only their intellectual education , but their moral education , and also their physical education and health are well attended to in that Institution . And I put it that any

brother or any sister who will favour us by visiting the Institution , and if they happen to be acquainted with what it was some few years ago , I know if they will go there they will see that there is a marked improvement in the boys in the moral and in every respect . I do not wish to take up your time with a long speech , but I do feel that the interest you have felt in the

Institution by attending here in such large numbers as you have to-day is a great feature , and the Board of Management feel the great sympathy you are exhibiting with the Institution ; they feel that they owe some return for the exertions you make , and that the best way of doing so is to make the Institution worthy of thc Masonic Fraternity of this country . I assure you

there is no other like it . Its condition in the present has been contrasted with what it was in the past . It is true we are not educating so many boys as we ought . We ought to be able to support and educate more than 268 boys . Another five years will bring about the centenary ol the Boys' School , and I want you all to make up your minds to keep up tnc

present regime ; I want you to strengthen your hearts ; you have cohccie in one year over £ 69 , 000 for Aged Freemasons and their Widows ; I " * you to say that not less than £ 100 , 000 shall be collected for the centcnaO ¦

of the Boyt Institution ; I want you to double the number ot ooys w Institution , and to increase its usefulness . But I thank you for your kin sympathy already shown to-day , for the powerful expressions of the Chair man , and I appeal for your further services on behalf of the Institution *

( Cheers . ) ' . Bro . EVE then proposed " The Health of the Chairman , " who had ^ pressed his regret that on account of the heavy nature of the lists the Secr ^ tary had not completed a correct announcement of the result of l " scriptions . Bro . Eve said that it had fallen to his lot to speak to the co 1 ... .... * -.,,, / -L-l . ^ inn IN * onaii

pany on the next toast , lheyhad been told by tne K . w . ** * - ( the toast hc last proposed was " the toast of the day . " Well , if tna ^_ the toast of the day the toast he had to give now was the toast of l ? ni ing . He could assure them that hc was sorry their V . W . Bro . the ^ Registrar , Bro . Philbrick , was not there to give them thc toast «'•