Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Festival Of The Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.
Grand Masters for their government . And now for the present and past Grand Officers of England . I am in the position of both , being a present and past Grand Officer ; and in acknowledging this portion of the toast , I can only asssure you that anything and everything any of us can do to
promote the wehare , success , and good of the Craft , whose interest we have so deeply at heart , will be cheerfully rendered by us all . The roll of the Grand Officers of England contains the names of many men to whom our respect and admiration are due , and our only hope is that we may not at the
end of our term of office have to reflect that by any act of ours we have tarnished our fame . We try to follow in the steps of those who have gone before us , and hope we may be entitled to the same approbation as they have met with at your hands . I beg to thank you in the name of the Deputy
Grand Master , the Provincial Grand Masters , and the past and present Grand Officers for the kind way in which you have received the mention of our names . ( Applause . ) Bro . Algernon Perkins , P . G . D .: Brethren , I have a very pleasing duty to perform this evening in
giving you " The Health of the Right Worshipful Bro . Sir Watkin Williams Wynn , Provincial Grand Master for North Wales and Salop , " and your chairman . I am delighted to find a brother whom I have known in Masonry some few years , who has always been very eager for Masonry , and
shown great zeal for the progress of it , at last take the chair on such an important occasion as this . To him . I know it is a labour of love , but still it is a labour , because he has been working very hard to-day , and his work is not yet over . I think it very kind of him , and I hope it will be , as I feel it
must be , of great advantage to the institution , seconded by the efforts of the other brethren . I cannot make a long speech , and I do not think it would be right if I did , because I should be keeping our chairman from proposing the toast of the evening , and completing the work he has so
industriously begun . I shall therefore at once give you " The Health of our Chairman . " ( Cheers . ) The Chairman : Brethren and Ladies , I beg to return you my most heartfelt thanks for the honour you have done me in drinking my health ; and I must say it is a very proud position for any brother
to be in to preside over such an assembly . I may preside over a province which covers a large area , but a very great portion of it , I am aware , is not so thickly inhabited as the district I saw to-day when I went down to Wood Green . Still I believe Masonry is spreading in it , because I am continually
being called upon to assist at the consecration o new lodges ; and I trust that , as the people in the ' remote parts of Wales gradually see the excellent feeling of Masons , and the good that Masonry does , it will spread still further . We have just been listening to a beautiful song— " The | Bells of
Aberdovey , " and I hope ere long to hear the bells of Aberdovey ringing over Freemasonry . There are at present lodges at a great distance from it ; and as I see now the people of the manufacturing districts are gradually , through the introduction of railroads , being carried down to our Welsh coast ,
I hope we shall have the brethren from all districts , even from London , coming down to see what beauties Wales , both in lodges and in scenery , can afford . I was excessively pleased to-day at seeing the schools of your institution ; but I suppose my remarks on that I ought to give you by-and-bye . I
may say , however , it is not a very long journey from London , and I was amply compensated for any little trouble I took . Bro . Binckes : In accordance with our custom , Bro . Chairman , there is now , I hope it will be considered , anagreeablcbreak in the proceedings of the
evening by introducing to the notice of our friends generally , and to the chairman , those pupils of our institution who have distinguished themselves in the past year , and gained that meed of reward which is adjudged to them by the kindness of various brethren . And I have great pleasure in
saying that these prizes are of a mixed character . Some of them arc for educational proficiency , and some for good conduct . Now , I humbly submit to a gathering such as this , that while we are quite prepared to admit that fostering good teaching , good education is the main object we have at heart ,
there is one thing that cannot be overlooked , and that is good conduct . Therefore , it is not for the members of our Managing Committee , still less for myself—and I am sure it will not be for our excellent chairman—to draw any comparison that would be more or less invidious between the peculiar excellencies that demand alike such rewards as
those you are about to dispose . Wc know that Providence gives us talents of different sorts and different measure—to some remarkable intellect , to some remarkable amiability ; and I don't know which , on the whole , is more likely to go successfully through the passage of life . I have known great intellectual ability to be connected with great irritability of temperament ; and men who have not had great education wc find take leading positions .
Festival Of The Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.
I am one of those who do not ignore the claims o * one or the other . We cannot be all alike , fortunately for us , in this world . There are various fields of success open to us all . We cannot be all successful in every pursuit ; and so in our little community we endeavour to signalise merit under
whatever classification it may be placed . However , Bro . Chairman , I apprehend that I am bound to give the palm , perhaps on an occasiori' like the present , to intellectual proficiency ; and therefore I present George Windham Martin—who has not only achieved the highest honours of our school at the
Oxford Local Examination last year , but came out with second-class honours at the Cambridge University examination in December last , and who has so won the esteem and admiration of those who conduct the interests of this great institution and earned for himself the approving testimony of the
Head Master , that he has not left us at the expiry of his term , but is sustained in our school in the honourable position of pupil teacher . I therefore ask you , Sir Watkin , to present this prize to himthe gold medal , for having passed with honours at the Oxford and Cambridge Local Middle-class Examination .
The Chairman : I have great pleasure , Mr . Martin , in presenting you with this little honour I hope that the proficiency you have shown in your early days you will carry out in your latter ones . Recollect one thing , that there have been men who
have had great early excellence , but have not carried it out afterwards . Let that be a warning to you . You have by your zeal , hard working and general good conduct , obtained this mark of respect from your masters . Try in your latter life to justify the good impressions they have of you .
Bro . Binckes : The next will be the silver medal , which is awarded from the funds of the institution to that boy who , by his good conduct to his masters , teachers , and those set over him , has given the least possible trouble . Now , as I said before , to speak of the various merits which we reward , I think any
one will know that those who have to deal with the 120 boys , have not a light or an easy task to fulfil—and I think can be nothing more judicious—and it speaks well for our ancestors' wisdom when they founded the Institution—that good conduct , apart from intellectual excellence , should not be without
its reward . But it is not to be supposed that with the highest character for good conduct the recipient of this prize is deficient in intellectual mcrit , although he may not be facile priuceps in that particular , he is a boy of more than average merit , and has eclipsed all the others in good conduct , and thereby
won the reward . I will thank you , sir , to present the good conduct medal to George Samuel Wrecknell . The Chairman : Mr . Wrecknell , I have much pleasure in carrying out the request of the Committee in presenting you with this medal . Perhaps it has not pleased God , whose all-seeing eye is over us , to give you the talents some others have ; but
you have had the good sense and tact to make use of what talents have been given you , and you now get this medal which shows that you , among 120 boysjhave worked effectually , and have merited the respect of your masters , and I trust that , in after years , you will strive to keep the good opinion you have earned already .
Bro . Binckes : The last recipient of reward at your hands is one who earns a prize on terms and conditions , that I think are perfectly unique—that is , as regards our Institution . As I have said , there may be boys , that deserve the highest rewards , that manifest great intellectual power . There may be
those who earn reward by evincing the largest amount of discipline—that is to say , follow out consistently a career of good conduct . But I think I may appeal to you , sir , and all here who know of large institutions , to bear me out when I say that there are a class of boys who may neither be gifted
with intellectual power nor yet with that wonderful quality that renders them subservient to discipline , and yet by that mysterious dispensation of an allseeing Providence , who rules everything in this world , they are gifted with that disposition which endears them to the hearts of those of whom they
are co-mates and school-fellows . Recognising this , through the kindness of a most excellent and distinguished supporter and Vice-President of this Institution , Bro . Edward Cox , there has been founded , in perpetuity , a prize value four guineas , called the Canonbury Medal , which is awarded to
that boy who , by the unbiassed votes of his schoolfellows , is annually found to be the most respected by them . Now , sir , for me to attempt to describe for a moment what may be , and what have been , the various qualifications , that from time to time entitle a pupil in our school ,
as I said just now , to this unique distinction which has been founded . I am one of those who hold that boys are a most critical and observant class ; and I undertake to say that a boy who , out of 120 , can earn such a reward as this , has in him the elements to make a good man . This boy is Percy Banks , who left us last December . He is the re-
Festival Of The Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.
cipient of this medal , which the Chairman will no w present to him . The Chairman : This prize is one the like of which I have not seen established in the many schools I have had experience of . As your worthy Secretary has said , it is perfectly unique . To Bro .
Cox's kindness you are indebted for instituting the gift . Your obtaining it this year shows that , whilst you have been in the school , you have made yourself a friend with all the boys . ' And it is my advice to you in later life to cultivate the good qualities that have endeared you to your schoolfellows . It may be the means of finding you a good friend in
whatever society you are thrown . I trust , whenever you look at this reward , you will reflect that it is one of those things which should subdue any angry feelings that may arise in your breast towards any one ; and I wish that many other schools would adopt the plan of finding out , as this school does , what boys are most appreciated by their schoolfellows . ( Cheers . )
[ The Canonbury medal , so named after the Canonbury Lodge—of which Bro . Edward Cox , the founder of the prize , was a P . M . —was established in 1862 with the one and expressed intent of promoting a feeling of amity amongst the boys of the institution to the exclusion of selfishness and overbearing inclinations . The fostering of a spirit of
emulation among the pupils was another object of its establishment ; and we conclude that the earnest desire of the founder has been fulfilled . The prize consists of a spade-guinea piece , swung by gold rings from a circle bearing on its face the origin and foundation of the prize , and on the obverse the inscription of the recipient ' s name , the mode of election , and the date of presentation . ]
The Chairman : Brethren , the next toast I have to give to you is , " Prosperity to the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys . " I to-day had the privilege of going over the school , and I was shown , I think , everything in it . Through the kindness of the Master also I was told a great number of
details . He showed me all the boys , and with a certain amount of knowledge of human nature , I do not think you would wish to see 120 boys looking cleaner , and better , and healthier than they were . ( Hear , hear . ) Recollect that many of those boys are the children of brethren who have been
prosperous at one time , but who , through unforeseen circumstances , are not in that position now . It was very pleasing to me to see them so happy , healthy , and comfortable . I was glad to see there was a space set apart for an infirmary , with every appurtenance , in the most perfect order ; but it was
doubly agreeable for me to learn that it had not been used for a long while . There is , I believe , a great question as to using strong measures in the management of children—I think they call it the rod . I was happy to hear that during the year that had been a perfectly useless article . This shows
that , by well-governing and well-teaching , all those things which are held as great faults and things to be avoided may be avoided frequently without using those strong measures to enforce lessons which are called punishment . This , however , is done without the strong measures being abolished
from the school as a means of enforcing discipline . I am happy to see that , in spite of the large sum which that school has cost , a great deal of the debt has been wiped out ; but still there is yeta very large amount—some ^ 6 , 000—to be liquidated . It is for you , brethren , to struggle to try and see whether
we cannot make sufficient exertions , in spite of the calls that arc made upon us for distant countries and distant climes , to clear this off at once , and look after those who are much nearer and dearer to us . ( Hear , hear . ) I will not for a moment say that our neighbours on the other side of the Channel have not suffered greatly and do not require very
great and very substantial assistance ; but still for all that do not let us forget those—perhaps the children of brethren whom we have often met in this hall on festive occasions like this , or I may say in our provincial lodges . A very large proportion of the Masons of England are mixed up in mercantile pursuits , and we all know that mercantile pursuits arc variable . Some of those men who were
most prosperous at one time , you will frequently see very much the reverse at another ; and therefore we must take care that their poor children shall not suffer for the misfortune of their parents .
( Hear , hear . ) I think that if the brethren and the ladies who are here to-night would go down to Wood Green , and see the domestic arrangements there , and the care that is taken to make the children of our unfortunate brethren
comfortable and happy , they would try and help us out of debt . You will see , if you look over the balance-sheet which is set out in the book which has been distributed in the room , that almost all
the items of expenditure arc reduced as low as they can be , having due regard to the proper conducting of the school ; and therefore I think that the words I read here , written by your admirable Secretary , very much express what your own feelings are—
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Festival Of The Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.
Grand Masters for their government . And now for the present and past Grand Officers of England . I am in the position of both , being a present and past Grand Officer ; and in acknowledging this portion of the toast , I can only asssure you that anything and everything any of us can do to
promote the wehare , success , and good of the Craft , whose interest we have so deeply at heart , will be cheerfully rendered by us all . The roll of the Grand Officers of England contains the names of many men to whom our respect and admiration are due , and our only hope is that we may not at the
end of our term of office have to reflect that by any act of ours we have tarnished our fame . We try to follow in the steps of those who have gone before us , and hope we may be entitled to the same approbation as they have met with at your hands . I beg to thank you in the name of the Deputy
Grand Master , the Provincial Grand Masters , and the past and present Grand Officers for the kind way in which you have received the mention of our names . ( Applause . ) Bro . Algernon Perkins , P . G . D .: Brethren , I have a very pleasing duty to perform this evening in
giving you " The Health of the Right Worshipful Bro . Sir Watkin Williams Wynn , Provincial Grand Master for North Wales and Salop , " and your chairman . I am delighted to find a brother whom I have known in Masonry some few years , who has always been very eager for Masonry , and
shown great zeal for the progress of it , at last take the chair on such an important occasion as this . To him . I know it is a labour of love , but still it is a labour , because he has been working very hard to-day , and his work is not yet over . I think it very kind of him , and I hope it will be , as I feel it
must be , of great advantage to the institution , seconded by the efforts of the other brethren . I cannot make a long speech , and I do not think it would be right if I did , because I should be keeping our chairman from proposing the toast of the evening , and completing the work he has so
industriously begun . I shall therefore at once give you " The Health of our Chairman . " ( Cheers . ) The Chairman : Brethren and Ladies , I beg to return you my most heartfelt thanks for the honour you have done me in drinking my health ; and I must say it is a very proud position for any brother
to be in to preside over such an assembly . I may preside over a province which covers a large area , but a very great portion of it , I am aware , is not so thickly inhabited as the district I saw to-day when I went down to Wood Green . Still I believe Masonry is spreading in it , because I am continually
being called upon to assist at the consecration o new lodges ; and I trust that , as the people in the ' remote parts of Wales gradually see the excellent feeling of Masons , and the good that Masonry does , it will spread still further . We have just been listening to a beautiful song— " The | Bells of
Aberdovey , " and I hope ere long to hear the bells of Aberdovey ringing over Freemasonry . There are at present lodges at a great distance from it ; and as I see now the people of the manufacturing districts are gradually , through the introduction of railroads , being carried down to our Welsh coast ,
I hope we shall have the brethren from all districts , even from London , coming down to see what beauties Wales , both in lodges and in scenery , can afford . I was excessively pleased to-day at seeing the schools of your institution ; but I suppose my remarks on that I ought to give you by-and-bye . I
may say , however , it is not a very long journey from London , and I was amply compensated for any little trouble I took . Bro . Binckes : In accordance with our custom , Bro . Chairman , there is now , I hope it will be considered , anagreeablcbreak in the proceedings of the
evening by introducing to the notice of our friends generally , and to the chairman , those pupils of our institution who have distinguished themselves in the past year , and gained that meed of reward which is adjudged to them by the kindness of various brethren . And I have great pleasure in
saying that these prizes are of a mixed character . Some of them arc for educational proficiency , and some for good conduct . Now , I humbly submit to a gathering such as this , that while we are quite prepared to admit that fostering good teaching , good education is the main object we have at heart ,
there is one thing that cannot be overlooked , and that is good conduct . Therefore , it is not for the members of our Managing Committee , still less for myself—and I am sure it will not be for our excellent chairman—to draw any comparison that would be more or less invidious between the peculiar excellencies that demand alike such rewards as
those you are about to dispose . Wc know that Providence gives us talents of different sorts and different measure—to some remarkable intellect , to some remarkable amiability ; and I don't know which , on the whole , is more likely to go successfully through the passage of life . I have known great intellectual ability to be connected with great irritability of temperament ; and men who have not had great education wc find take leading positions .
Festival Of The Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.
I am one of those who do not ignore the claims o * one or the other . We cannot be all alike , fortunately for us , in this world . There are various fields of success open to us all . We cannot be all successful in every pursuit ; and so in our little community we endeavour to signalise merit under
whatever classification it may be placed . However , Bro . Chairman , I apprehend that I am bound to give the palm , perhaps on an occasiori' like the present , to intellectual proficiency ; and therefore I present George Windham Martin—who has not only achieved the highest honours of our school at the
Oxford Local Examination last year , but came out with second-class honours at the Cambridge University examination in December last , and who has so won the esteem and admiration of those who conduct the interests of this great institution and earned for himself the approving testimony of the
Head Master , that he has not left us at the expiry of his term , but is sustained in our school in the honourable position of pupil teacher . I therefore ask you , Sir Watkin , to present this prize to himthe gold medal , for having passed with honours at the Oxford and Cambridge Local Middle-class Examination .
The Chairman : I have great pleasure , Mr . Martin , in presenting you with this little honour I hope that the proficiency you have shown in your early days you will carry out in your latter ones . Recollect one thing , that there have been men who
have had great early excellence , but have not carried it out afterwards . Let that be a warning to you . You have by your zeal , hard working and general good conduct , obtained this mark of respect from your masters . Try in your latter life to justify the good impressions they have of you .
Bro . Binckes : The next will be the silver medal , which is awarded from the funds of the institution to that boy who , by his good conduct to his masters , teachers , and those set over him , has given the least possible trouble . Now , as I said before , to speak of the various merits which we reward , I think any
one will know that those who have to deal with the 120 boys , have not a light or an easy task to fulfil—and I think can be nothing more judicious—and it speaks well for our ancestors' wisdom when they founded the Institution—that good conduct , apart from intellectual excellence , should not be without
its reward . But it is not to be supposed that with the highest character for good conduct the recipient of this prize is deficient in intellectual mcrit , although he may not be facile priuceps in that particular , he is a boy of more than average merit , and has eclipsed all the others in good conduct , and thereby
won the reward . I will thank you , sir , to present the good conduct medal to George Samuel Wrecknell . The Chairman : Mr . Wrecknell , I have much pleasure in carrying out the request of the Committee in presenting you with this medal . Perhaps it has not pleased God , whose all-seeing eye is over us , to give you the talents some others have ; but
you have had the good sense and tact to make use of what talents have been given you , and you now get this medal which shows that you , among 120 boysjhave worked effectually , and have merited the respect of your masters , and I trust that , in after years , you will strive to keep the good opinion you have earned already .
Bro . Binckes : The last recipient of reward at your hands is one who earns a prize on terms and conditions , that I think are perfectly unique—that is , as regards our Institution . As I have said , there may be boys , that deserve the highest rewards , that manifest great intellectual power . There may be
those who earn reward by evincing the largest amount of discipline—that is to say , follow out consistently a career of good conduct . But I think I may appeal to you , sir , and all here who know of large institutions , to bear me out when I say that there are a class of boys who may neither be gifted
with intellectual power nor yet with that wonderful quality that renders them subservient to discipline , and yet by that mysterious dispensation of an allseeing Providence , who rules everything in this world , they are gifted with that disposition which endears them to the hearts of those of whom they
are co-mates and school-fellows . Recognising this , through the kindness of a most excellent and distinguished supporter and Vice-President of this Institution , Bro . Edward Cox , there has been founded , in perpetuity , a prize value four guineas , called the Canonbury Medal , which is awarded to
that boy who , by the unbiassed votes of his schoolfellows , is annually found to be the most respected by them . Now , sir , for me to attempt to describe for a moment what may be , and what have been , the various qualifications , that from time to time entitle a pupil in our school ,
as I said just now , to this unique distinction which has been founded . I am one of those who hold that boys are a most critical and observant class ; and I undertake to say that a boy who , out of 120 , can earn such a reward as this , has in him the elements to make a good man . This boy is Percy Banks , who left us last December . He is the re-
Festival Of The Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.
cipient of this medal , which the Chairman will no w present to him . The Chairman : This prize is one the like of which I have not seen established in the many schools I have had experience of . As your worthy Secretary has said , it is perfectly unique . To Bro .
Cox's kindness you are indebted for instituting the gift . Your obtaining it this year shows that , whilst you have been in the school , you have made yourself a friend with all the boys . ' And it is my advice to you in later life to cultivate the good qualities that have endeared you to your schoolfellows . It may be the means of finding you a good friend in
whatever society you are thrown . I trust , whenever you look at this reward , you will reflect that it is one of those things which should subdue any angry feelings that may arise in your breast towards any one ; and I wish that many other schools would adopt the plan of finding out , as this school does , what boys are most appreciated by their schoolfellows . ( Cheers . )
[ The Canonbury medal , so named after the Canonbury Lodge—of which Bro . Edward Cox , the founder of the prize , was a P . M . —was established in 1862 with the one and expressed intent of promoting a feeling of amity amongst the boys of the institution to the exclusion of selfishness and overbearing inclinations . The fostering of a spirit of
emulation among the pupils was another object of its establishment ; and we conclude that the earnest desire of the founder has been fulfilled . The prize consists of a spade-guinea piece , swung by gold rings from a circle bearing on its face the origin and foundation of the prize , and on the obverse the inscription of the recipient ' s name , the mode of election , and the date of presentation . ]
The Chairman : Brethren , the next toast I have to give to you is , " Prosperity to the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys . " I to-day had the privilege of going over the school , and I was shown , I think , everything in it . Through the kindness of the Master also I was told a great number of
details . He showed me all the boys , and with a certain amount of knowledge of human nature , I do not think you would wish to see 120 boys looking cleaner , and better , and healthier than they were . ( Hear , hear . ) Recollect that many of those boys are the children of brethren who have been
prosperous at one time , but who , through unforeseen circumstances , are not in that position now . It was very pleasing to me to see them so happy , healthy , and comfortable . I was glad to see there was a space set apart for an infirmary , with every appurtenance , in the most perfect order ; but it was
doubly agreeable for me to learn that it had not been used for a long while . There is , I believe , a great question as to using strong measures in the management of children—I think they call it the rod . I was happy to hear that during the year that had been a perfectly useless article . This shows
that , by well-governing and well-teaching , all those things which are held as great faults and things to be avoided may be avoided frequently without using those strong measures to enforce lessons which are called punishment . This , however , is done without the strong measures being abolished
from the school as a means of enforcing discipline . I am happy to see that , in spite of the large sum which that school has cost , a great deal of the debt has been wiped out ; but still there is yeta very large amount—some ^ 6 , 000—to be liquidated . It is for you , brethren , to struggle to try and see whether
we cannot make sufficient exertions , in spite of the calls that arc made upon us for distant countries and distant climes , to clear this off at once , and look after those who are much nearer and dearer to us . ( Hear , hear . ) I will not for a moment say that our neighbours on the other side of the Channel have not suffered greatly and do not require very
great and very substantial assistance ; but still for all that do not let us forget those—perhaps the children of brethren whom we have often met in this hall on festive occasions like this , or I may say in our provincial lodges . A very large proportion of the Masons of England are mixed up in mercantile pursuits , and we all know that mercantile pursuits arc variable . Some of those men who were
most prosperous at one time , you will frequently see very much the reverse at another ; and therefore we must take care that their poor children shall not suffer for the misfortune of their parents .
( Hear , hear . ) I think that if the brethren and the ladies who are here to-night would go down to Wood Green , and see the domestic arrangements there , and the care that is taken to make the children of our unfortunate brethren
comfortable and happy , they would try and help us out of debt . You will see , if you look over the balance-sheet which is set out in the book which has been distributed in the room , that almost all
the items of expenditure arc reduced as low as they can be , having due regard to the proper conducting of the school ; and therefore I think that the words I read here , written by your admirable Secretary , very much express what your own feelings are—