United Grand Lodge.

UNITED GRAND LODGE .

The meeting of Grand Lodge on Wednesday passed , as was generally expected , quietly and without incident of a character to call for any lengthened remarks on our part . Indeed , about the only duty we have to perform in relation to it—and it is one we perform with the utmost pleasure—is to tender our hearty

congratulations to Bro . AUGUSTUS HARRIS on his election to the important post of Grand Treasurer for the ensuing year . It is only during the last few years that Bro . HARRIS has made his name in Freemasonry ; but in those few years he has done in connection with the Drury Lane Lodge so much more than is

ordinarily done for the promotion of Masonic interests , that we think , it will be admitted on all hands that the honour which he received on Wednesday , and which will be perfected by his investiture at the approaching Grand Festival , has been well deserved and is , therefore , well and worthily bestowed . We must also

congratulate Grand Lodge on having acquired the portait we referred to last week of Bro . Sir JOHN B . MONCKTON , P . G . W . A gallery of Masonic worthies of such eminence would be a ' great acquisition , and we trust that other gifts of a like character may follow in the wake of Bro . Sir J . B . MONCKTON ' S presentation .

The Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.

THE ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR BOYS .

The various reports which have at different times been presented to the House Committee of the Boys' School by the new-Head Master , and which were read for the information of the General Committee at its meeting on Saturday last , show unmistakably that the School is very far from being in the condition in

which the friends and supporters of the Instituion hoped it would be found by the Rev . H . HEBB on taking up his appointment . No doubt the Report of the Investigation Committee must have prepared them for most of the shortcomings enumerated in their statements , but nevertheless it is the reverse of pleasant to find

Bro . HEBB drawing attention to the insufficiency of class-room accommodation ; to the comparative worthlessness of a considerable portion of the library ; and the want of tone and character among the boys generally ; and then concluding his series of reports by stating , without qualification of any kind ,

that to effect a real improvement and place the School on a higher level as regards manners and habits , " will take a long time and hard work , " and that he does not expect " any great results for a couple of years . " We had been told already that the system in force at Wood Green under the late rcrime was

faulty , and responsible therefore for most of the ills that existed , but we were hardly prepared for such an estimate as Bro . HEBB has given us of the time and labour which will be required in

arousing among the boys such a state of feeling as should characterise an Institution of this class . However , it is better , when a fresh start is being made , that we should know what has to be done ; and Bro . HEBB deserves the thanks of the Governors

and Subscribers , not only for the energy with which he seems to be grappling with the difficulties he has to surmount , but also for his clear exposition of the defects which it will chiefl y devolve upon him to endeavour to remedy . We trust the Committees

will heartily support him and allow him that comparative freedom of action which it is necessary a man in his very trying position should have if the reforms which are so urgently needed are to be carried out thoroughly and well .

Attendance Of Past Masters.

ATTENDANCE OF PAST MASTERS .

_ We are of opinion that •' IGNOTUS " in his kindly criticismwhich appeared in our correspondence columns on the 22 nd ult . —of our article on the " Attendance of Past Masters , " has not quite seen the point at which we were driving . The text for that article was a certain motion b y a Past District Grand Officer of the Eastern Division of South Africa to the effect that the

Attendance Of Past Masters.

Secretaries of lodges , in making their annual Returns to District Grand Lodge , should be required to include amongst them one in which was set forth the number of attendances of each Past Master at the several stated and emergent meetings of his lodge

during the year ; the object of such motion being to enable the District Grand Master to know more about the qualifications of the various Past Masters in his District than he could possibly know under the present system . To this motion we stated

sundry grounds of objection ; but , in expressing our satisfaction at its defeat , we carefully abstained from saying or suggesting anything in the nature of an encouragement to Past Masters to neglect the duties of the lodge . We certainly said that " the absent Past Masters have done their share of work and

very naturally leave the bulk of the work to be done by the younger brethren ; " but a little further on we said " we like to see Past Masters supporting their lodges by their attendance as well as by their subscriptions . " We are of this opinion still , notwithstanding the arguments which "IGNOTUS" has been at

the pains of laying before us . We are always well pleased when attending our own , or visiting other lodges , to see the Past Masters numerously represented . We believe their presence in considerable numbers—supposing the lodge is old enough to have many of them—acts as an incentive to the younger brethren

to acquit themselves well in the performance of their duties ; while we know , as we said in our former article , that " there are lodges which suffer by the apathy of their Past Masters . " Yet , though we recognise the force of the earlier proposition , and admit the truth of the latter , we still hold that Past Masters ,

having , so to speak , borne their part in the heat and burden of the day , should be free to attend or not , as it pleases them , and without rendering themselves liable to be placed on a kind of "black list" as regards District or Provincial honours in the event of their not proving themselves good attendants . In the

first place , mere regularity of attendance on the part of Past Masters who have no allotted duties to perform is about the lowest criterion of merit in selecting for the honours of the purple Avhich could be devised . The most incompetent brother that ever passed the chair of his lodge , if his health permits him

and his professional or business duties do not stand in the way , may prove himself a very paragon of regularity , and yet be of no use whatever to the lodge in a real difficulty ; while another , who was careless in his attendance or prevented by his avocations from attending often , might be able to render the most important

services to his lodge at a pinch , because he happened to possess the requisite ability , tact , or judgment . In the second p lace—¦ and this was our principal , though not our only , contention in our former article—anything in the nature of a restriction upon the freedom of Past Masters to attend or not to attend their lodges

is most objectionable , and , in our opinion , would do more harm than ever it could do good . In nearly all lodges that are old enough to have three or four Past Masters on the roll of members , the important offices of Treasurer and Secretary are almost invariably held by Past Masters , and to them must be added the

l . P . M . These may generally be relied upon to attend in their respective places and render to the W . Master any assistance which he may require in the performance of his duties . In the older lodges where the body of Past Masters is more numerous the office of D . C . is very often held by a P . M ., and

that of Steward—or Senior Steward , if more than one are appointed—likewise . As far as our experience goes , there is always a sufficiently numerous attendance of Past Masters at our lodge meetings , both in town and country , to ensure that the work is well done , and on the rare occasions when the work has

been indifferently clone , or done in a slipshod , happy-go-lucky sort of fashion , it certainly has not been for lack of Past Masters . But , after all , we are content to rest our opposition to any law requiring such a return as the District Grand Lodge of the

Eastern Division very properly declined to adopt , on the ground that in Freemasonry all restrictions on the freedom of the brethren , whether Past Masters or simple members , except such as are imposed by the Book of Constitutions and of the Lodge By-Laws ,