Royal Masonic Institution For Girls.

ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR GIRLS .

A Special Court of the Governors and Subscribers to this Institution will be held at Freemasons' Hall , on Tuesday next , the Cth inst ., for the purpose of considering- the provisional contract entered into by the Secretary , at the instance of the House Committee , on behalf of the Institution , for the purchase of a certain plot of land , adjoining

the School , for the sum of _ f 57 oo . Due notice of motion vvas given at the meeting-of the General Committee on Thursday , the 24 th ult ., when it vvas agreed that a Special Court—not Committee , as erroneously stated in our report last week—should be held on the Gth inst ., and it is to be hoped the provisional contract will be confirmed . The Quarterly Couit will meet on Saturday next , when the election of 16 girls—or 17 , as the case may be—from a list of 34 will take place .

Report Of The Charity Committee Of The Province Of Worcestershire.

REPORT OF THE CHARITY COMMITTEE OF THE PROVINCE OF WORCESTERSHIRE .

The following report was read at the Provincial Grand Lodge of Worcestershire , which vvas held at the Masonic Hall , Kidderminster , on the 16 th ult .: — Your Committee herewith present their sixth annual

report . In October last , your Secretary received 300 girls ' votes and 44 S boys' votes . The girls were loaned to Warwickshire , the boys to Gloucestershire . In April of this year , your Secretary received 275 girls ' votes and 506 boys' votes . The girls were loaned to the Province of Durham , the boys to Derbyshire and Wiltshire . For the annual election to the Benevolent Institution , in

May , your Secretary received 347 widows' votes and 189 men ' s votes . The former were repaid to Wiltshire for an old loan , and the latter loaned to Wiltshire . Your position is as follows : — You have three boys and two girls in the Schools , of whom favourable accounts of progress and well-doing have been received . You have also one widow annuitant . Vnirm ? n— H _ " _» . ' i _ .

, __ V ^ gS " Widows ' . Girls ' . Boys ' Monmouthshire 15 S 591 E . Div . South Wales 105 52 Wiltshire -505

263 52 S 90 Or a total debt of 1211 votes . You have owing to you by—Voce ' s . Widows ' . Girls' Boys ' . The London Charity Association 26 S Gloucestershire 24 S Somersetshire 597 Derbyshire 444

Monmouthshire 1102 707 Wiltshire 162 S 79 Warwickshire 500 Durham 225 Northumberland ... 2 S 9 A . London Brother ... 12

1 C 2 1391 737 3143 Or a total of 5433 votes . Deducting the 1211 owing by you , it leaves a nett total of 4222 , and when those issued this month , many of which are already received , are added , you have a disposable balance in your favour of 5000 votes .

Your financial aid to the Charities during the present year is as follows : — The guinea subscriptions to the annual ballot scheme , in April last , amounted to £ 136 ios . 14 guineas from Lodge 252 | 3 guineas from Lodge 5 G 4 ' 3 „ „ „ 2 S 0 13 „ „ „ 573

! J 11 it n 3771 ' 4 _ , 11 it 120 4 3 „ „ „ 49 s j ' 4 „ ,, „ is 74 31 ,, „ „ 529 2 „ „ the P . G . M .

•1 . ,, ,, ,, 560 1 3 „ ,, „ D . P . G . M . Lite subsenberships of £ 5 5 s . each going to 3 members of Lodge 252 2 members of Lodge 564 1 member „ „ 2 S 0 1 member „ „ 573 2 members „ „ 377 5 members „ „ 120 4 1 member „ „ 49 S 4 members „ '„ 1 S 74

5 members „ „ 529 and the D . P . G . M . 1 member „ „ 560 This sum of £ 136 10 s . has been increased by other donations from the following Stewards : Bros . A . F . Godson , W . B . Williamson , H . G . Budd , W . E . Walker , J . W . Consterdine Chadwick , and VV . M . Roden , representing the Benevolent Institution ; their united lists amounted to

. C * 7 * 3 s . ; Bros . A . F . Godson , G . W . Grosvenor , and J . W . Consterdine Chadwick acting for the Girls' School , with a total of £ Sg 53 . ; Bros . A . F . Godson , Geo . Taylor , W . C . Green , and J . W . Consterdine Chadwick supporting the Boys' with £ 136 ios ., making for the year a total of £ 396 . 18 s ., and a grand total for the seven years your organisation has been at work of £ 3254 ios . Your Committee call the attention of the brethren to the

fact that 42 subscribers to the annual ballot having finished their payments last April , earnestly hope that many of these will continue for another period of five years ; as also that many who hitherto have not subscribed will adopt this easy method of becoming Life Subscribers to the Charities . Your Committee have had brought under their notice the case of Mrs . Jones , of Stourbridge , widow of the late Bro . W . H . Jones , P . P . G . S . W ., a brother who was widely

known and respected for his great Masonic worth ; and , having considered thc circumstances of the appeal , have adopted her as a candidate for election , in May next , as an annuitant to the Benevolent Institution for Aged Freemasons and Widows of Freemasons . Your Committee report the inability of Bro . Geo . Taylor . n ^ " accept the office of Charity Secretary at the hands ° f Provincial Grand Lodge , and recommend the election "t Iiro . Hy . Wilson , P . P . G . Reg ., who has kindly consented to ( ill this important post , if elected .

the sum paid in benefits lo the families of . , j . members by the Masonic Mutual Benefit Society ot Indiana during- the 16 years it has been in . existence amounts to close on 2 , 741 , 73 s dollars .

Presentation To Bro. William Judd, J.W. Chine Lodge, No. 1884, Shanklin, Isle Of Wight.

PRESENTATION TO BRO . WILLIAM JUDD , J . W . CHINE LODGE , No . 1884 , SHANKLIN , ISLE OF WIGHT .

On Thursday , the 24 th ult ., the members of this lodge gave a complimentary farewell banquet at the Masonic Hall to Bro . Judd , J . W ., who is leaving Shanklin for Chorlton-cum-Hardy , Manchester . There were present Bros . j . Bailey , VV . M . ; Dr . Dabbs , P . M . ; F . Cooper , I . P . M .

and Treas . ; Alfred Greenham , S . W . ; C . Scott , Sec ; F . Rayner , S . D . ; C . H . Moorman , J . D . ; Humby , D . C ; Mew , Tyler ; Deeks , Riddick , A . F . Swayne , W . Collings , and L . Colenutt . Visitors : Bros . Sir W . Gordon Macgregor , Bart ., George Kenninar , P . M . 192 & 1657 , P . G . D . Middx . ; Councillor Corke , P . M . & Treas . 1613 ( London ) ; Jennar , P . M ., S . Mendl , VVhitehill . T . H . I . Petherick , P . M . 5151 : I . Conner , P . M ., Forth , Withers , and Cluitt , 1 S 60 .

The W . M ., having proposed the usual Masonic toasts , read and then presented an address to Bro . W . Judd , saying it contained his sentiments , and he felt it expressed the feelings of every member of the Chine Lodge . The address vvas as follows : — " Dear Sir and Brother , —The brethren of your parent lodge take this opportunity of expressing to you their very high sense of all you have done for Chine Lodge , No . 1 SS 4 ,

since its foundation , inauguration , and incorporation in the great fabric of Masonry . Much do we regret that this occasion should combine complimentary expressions with valedictory feelings , but , hearing that you are about to leave us and Shanklin , we have thought we could not allow you to quit the place and the lodge which has grown up with you amongst us without some public testimony to your worth in the Craft and your virtues as a citizen . To say

" Farewell " is always difficult , and though we link with the word in your case the natural hope that you will still be one of our lodge and now and then visit us , we cannot help feeling all the same that our fortunes , which have been your fortunes , our hopes , which have been your aspirations , our dread of failure , which has been an equal expression of your personal fear , —all these will cease to claim the undivided attention and anxiety which they have usurped in

your mind during our short tenure of Masonic existence . We wish , however , while time is yet given us and the opportunity remains , to tender you the sympathy of friendship which you will need in the severing of old ties , to assure you that the Chine Lodge brethren offer you no empty compliment in bidding you accept their thanks for all you have done and tried to do for Masonry , and that the regret of parting is no light one , you will be able to judge

whensoever in the future you are able to renew old ties of friendship and of brotherhood by coming into our midst as of old . Wishing to you and yours all material and spiritual welfare , " & c . Bro . Dr . DABBS , P . M ., said : I cannot let thisopportunity pass without adding my word of tribute to the general accord of praise and regret in Bro . Judd's impending departure from amongst us . My relations with him have been peculiarly

intimate . It vvas my high privilege to be the first W . M . of this young lodge , and from him , as from others , I received an amount of assistance , support , and even guidance , for which 1 can never be too grateful . We were doubtful--in those days whether vvith the slender materials at our hands , we should ever properly be able to form and work a lodge , but we persevered through good and evil report , and formed our lodge , and have worked it since to

the best our powers . Bro . Judd is now going to fresh fields and pastures new . No words that I could use , could emphasise the phrasing of the testimonial we have given him , that says shortly , but truly vvith no wasteful complimentary verbiage , just what I should wish to express , every word there written 1 endorse , and every word transcribed there is true on our side and deserved by Bro . Judd . All good things we wish for him , and that in his new home he may

find fresh friendships under the sacred roof-tree of Masonry , for hc will find , so long as the tenets of the Craft are no empty woid , that these tenets embody the principles of true friendship and of brotherly love . Bro . ALFRED GREENHAM , S . W ., followed , and said : W . M . and brethren , if we look at one side of the picture presented to us to-night , it is one ot pleasure , and one which we ought to feel proud to look on . The picture that presents

itself , to my mind , isone stretching away vvithabackground representing the earlier stages of the lodge ' s history , and the admission of Bro . Judd as a member . I well recollect that day ; he preceded me but by a few minutes in his initiation , for at that time we were great friends , without any Masonic link to connect us . He afterwards generously wished me to precede him by one step in the offices of the lodge , when our Bro . P . M . Dabbs had the office of Inner Guard to

bestow . It will not be necessary for me to tell you how , step by step , Bro . Judd entered into the work of the lodge , nor how much in various ways he had done for its welfare . Thoroughly imbued vvith the spirit of Masonry , he has been one of our most regular attendants at all meetings , and there has grown , as it were , an influence which has pervaded our deliberations , and which in the future I know we shall all miss very much . We have been wont to lean

on his advice on many occasions , and it is by such a slow process as this , that a man ' s influence permeates the opinion of those around him , intangible though it may be , yet the subtle workings of that which is unseen , produces in others visable actions , which in reality is its offspring and its fruit . You may be in a lodge , or in a society , where the mind of one exercises strange sway without any perceptible efforts , and this I claim for Bro . Judd , for he has

by the geniality of his disposition , and the kindness of his manner endeared himself to all around him , and now this separation is taking place we almost feel a part of ourselves going too ; such sunderings as these , brethren , tinge life with a melancholy touch , and casts a saddening gloom , the shadow of which will remain over us for a long time to come . To have one taken out of your midst who has been so much of your pleasure , who has been so much of your life ' s , as well as your lodge's enjoyment , is a wrench that

tn-day you will feel acutely ; but we shall assuredly feel the slow pain of separation long after he has left us . Just as we seemed to be settling down upon a solid basis of prosperity , and with a unity of feeling not surpassed by any lodge in the island , there comes like a thunderbolt from the sky , this sudden departure of Bro . Judd . 1 have thought as much of his absence as anyone , and I know how deep is the blow to this lodge . To me individually it is a deeper blow , yet perhaps Bro . Judd and myself were more together than any two business men in Shanklin . Wcseemed to attracted by some mysterious , yet intuitive feeling , and our friendship has grown—strengthened I will admit by our

Presentation To Bro. William Judd, J.W. Chine Lodge, No. 1884, Shanklin, Isle Of Wight.

Masonic meetings , —that I shall feel his leaving as keenly as anyone , for I lose one whom 1 valued as a friend , and one whom I very much appreciated as a companion . Through all the long years he and I have known each other no difference has marred our friendship , or separated us an hour in our lives ; therefore I feel it unnecessary to touch vvith but a light hand the expression of my regard for him , for that is already known to him , and I know what

I shall feel when he is gone away , that void in my everyday life , that feeling we express by saying " we miss one , " he will equally feel in his distant home in the North . Brethren , in my leisure moments I often ponder over what I term abstract qualities and conditions of life , and I shall here make an assertion which probably some , when they hear it will mentally contradict mc , yet some may possibly support my opinion . It is that the sum of human happiness is not

increased , neither is it predominant in those who appear to have so many friends , but that you attain its highest excellence of perfection , in the choice of rarity in the few . Yet after all it seems to me though you may surround yourlife , and your views of life with cultivated pleasures , and narrow the circle of your friends , and have but few avenues of enjoyment , and those shall be rich and rare ones , though you may concentrate your sphere of happiness within as

small a compass as you possibly can , then contemplate your narrowed world as I have done , and I think by its very exclusiveness it is safe from invasion , yet it is assailed by an unfortunate circumstance like this , which vvas life of one of its best pleasures , and leaves you to cast about vvith a ¦ want , that perhaps you will never again satisfy . Such , brethren , will the loss of Bro . Judd be to me in sickness or in health , daily almost have we seen each other , and in the

routine of a life which necessarily contains dull months , for recollect in a place like Shanklin , you have to create your own pleasure in the main ; it is not produced for you , we have , when together , been able to envolve from within ourselves , by ourselves , and for ourselves , a pleasure that has sweetened the dullness of Winter and heightened the enjoyments of Summer . I have endeavoured to express my regard and esteem by indicating the measure of my loss :

I trust the Great Architect of the Universe will preserve and prosper him , and in the round of Fortune's wheel , He may some day place him once more amongst us . Bro CONNER , P . M . Sandown Lodge , expressed his deep regret at Bro . Judd leaving , as he had always been a welcome visitor to Sandown Lodge . Bro . WILLIAM J replied at some length , conveying to the brethren his appreciation of the kindness displayed and

of the unexpected tribute of their esteem , which he should always value , however far from Chine Lodge he might be . His separation from the lodge he should feel as keenly as they would , but he hoped they would meet sometimes in the future to renew old ties of friendship . The W . M . proposed "The Health of the Visitors , " and said how proud he felt to see them attending that evening . He welcomed , especially as visitors to Shanklin , Bros . Sir

W . Gordon Macgregor , Bart ., George Kenning , P . M . 192 and 1657 ; and Councillor Corke , of London , and he hoped that at some future time they would honour the lodge by another visit . Bro . Sir W . GORDON MACGREGOR , BART ., in responding , spoke of the gratification it gave him to be present as an old friend of Bro . Judd , and to see the warm feelings of friendship all the members had for him , which he should never forget ,

and , as a memento of his visit , he should present the lodge with a Masonic portrait of H . R . H . the Prince of Wales , Grand Master of England , an announcement which was received with loud applause . Bro . GEORGE KENNING thanked the W . M . for coupling his name vvith the toasts , as it gave him the opportunity to express his esteem for Bro . Judd , whom he had only known forafew weeks , butof whom he had learned from many of the

brethren the very great interest he had taken in Masonry , and in Chine Lodge since its formation , and to whom much of the prosperity of the lodge was due . He spoke in terms of admiration of the zeal and energy the brethren had displayed in erecting such a commodious building as soon as the lodge vvas formed , and that such a unity of feeling prevailed amongst them , as was evident by the reception accorded to Bro . Judd , and hoped that at some future time

he should have the pleasure of visiting them again . Bro . J CORKE , P . M . and Treasurer 1613 , said it gave him great pleasure to be present , and , as an old P . M ., he hoped the brethren would never forget "Charity , " which was one of the pillars of Masonry . Bros . INMAN , WHITEHEAD , MENDL , PETHERICK , FIRTH , and WITHERS replied for their respective lodges . Bro . Dr . DAUBS proposed "The Health of the Worshipful

Master . " The WORSHIPFUL MASTER thanked them for the cordial manner in which it vvas received , and said he was happy to announce that at the lodge meeting he should propose a candidate , and one whom he believed the brethren would be proud of as Chaplain . Bro . ALFRED GREENHAM , S . W ., proposed " The Past Masters' Health , " and acknowledged the services Bro .

Dabbs had rendered the lodge , and how much he had done to augment the Building Fund , which this year , he believed , would be reduced £ 150 . Bro . Dr . DABBS thanked them for the kind way in which he had been spoken of , and the hearty reception the toast received . He assured them it was a great pleasure to him if he could help them in any way , and having been the first W . M ., he should always take an interest in its welfare .

Several good songs were sung , and Bro . Dr . Uabbs gave an amusing recitation , which was very much appreciated . It was given in his best style , and thoroughly deserved thc loud applause it received .

London theatrical managers are to be congratulated on the removal of a vexatious restriction hitherto inserted in their licenses . The present Lord Chamberlain in all licenses granted from the 29 th September permits the opening of theatres on Ash Wednesday . Thus the anomaly of closing theatres and opening music halls on Ash Wednesday at last is ended .

We learn from the " Masonic Advocate" of Indianapolis for last month , that on the 2 nd August , the hall of the Somerset Lodge , No . 3 S 3 on the roll of the Grand Lodge of Indiana , was vvith the charters , books , furniture , and all the other property of the lodge totally destroyed by lire , the llames making a complete sweep of everything . Fortunately the property was insured for Coo dollars CC 120 ) .