Royal Masonic Institution For Girls.

is no rivalry between those chanties , except a rivalry as to which can confer the greatest benefits on those for whom they are designed , yet J am sure that we all feel that there is none

of those charities , which has a larger claim on our support than that , in whose honour we are assembled to-night . I feci therefore that it was my duty , in my position , that J should accept

this charge ; I am g lad that I have been able even partially to discharge thc duties of this chair this evening ; anti I return thanks for the honour you have done me . ( Applause ) . Thc Chairman : Brethren the next toast that

J iind upon this list , placed m my hands , is one which I trust will for many years still be drunk with respect and honour , on every occasion when the Craft assembles j it is " The Health of the

Right Hon . the Earl of Zetland , the M . W . Past Grand Master , and Patron of this Institution . " Now , Brethren , it would be impertinent in me to enlarge before any masonic assembly upon the benefits which the has craft derived from the ' . v O . . . . . . .

- ., m ,.-m .. ^ . . . . . . . . . ...., .... ^ ..... ^ .. ^ ,., ^ .. ... ^ _ , years of my noble friend s reign . All who tire in this room know well how greatly the craft advanced in every description of prosperity

during the last quarter of a century . "We all know how its Charities increased in power , in inihtence , and in utility , we all know how the Craft was raised in public estimation throughout the

country ; and although no one would be justified in attributing the whole of such prosperity to the single action of any man , however eminent—because the prosperity of the Craft depends upon the mutual action of every member—nevertheless

no one who watched the history of Masonry during that period can doubt that that prosperity was greatly due to the firm , the impartial , the

respected authority of him who enjoyed , for that lengthened period , the love and the devotion of his brethren . I give you " the Health of the Earl of Zetland . "

The Chairman : I now rise to ask you to drink " The Health ofthe K : irl of Carnarvon , the Right Worshipful the Depnty Grand AIaster , ' anti the rest of the Grand Olficers , present and past . "

I am happy to bc able to tell you that our noble brother Lord Carnarvon is gradually recovering from the serious illness under which he has lately been suffering . ( Applause . ) J need not dilate

upon the zeal which he displays , tor all that concerns the interest of the Craft . I shall always feel a debt of much gratitude to my noble friend for the mode in which hc filled my place during

my prolonged absence m the course of last year , ancl I am confident that in discharging , as he did , for mc , the duties of the g'cat ollice that I have the honour to fill , hc discharged them in a

manner which received the most complete approbation of every member of the Craft . ( Cheers . ) I trust that it may not be long before our noble brother may be able to come amongst us again ,

anil to take his place iu the Grand Lodge . ( Hear , hear . ) I therefore give you his Health and that of the Vest of the Grand Officers , and I beg to couple with it The Health of our Right

Worshipful friend Brother Colonel Burdett , the Provincial Grand Master for Middlesex . Colonel Burdett brierly responded .

The Chairman : Brethren , we arc assembled here to-night in honour of one of the foremost Institutions of this ancient Craft ; wc are tr-som-

Royal Masonic Institution For Girls.

bled here to celebrate the . Anniversary Festival of the Freemasons' Girls' School , which has existed now for a period not far short of a century , and which , during that lengthened time has been , as

I believe , year by year increasing in utility , and extending wider and wider the benefits which it confers upon the Craft . And surely , brethren , there can be no Institution more important than

the one -which has for its object to receive within its walls , and thoroughly , and wisely , to educate the daughters of those amongst our brethren who , without such aid , would be unable to afford

them the proper means of education . We nve , brethren , in clays in which all men are alive to the importance of education . Men , may differ as to what is to be included within the

meaning of the term ; they may differ as to the mode by which education is to be promoted ; but those who would tell us that education is not in itself a benefit , I think , I may say , exist

no longer in this country —( hear , hear , )—at least if there be any who cherish that exploded notion they are forced by the public conviction of the present day to keep their obnoxious opinions to

themselves —( hear , hear , )—and although we may be upon some points undecided as to what education should be , and how it should bc extended and maintained , we are united I believe , as one

man , in our conviction that it is the duty of all those who have the means at their command to aid in the spread of knowledge , and of instruction , in the widest and most extended meaning of

those terms throughout the length , ancl breadth of our country . Now , if that he the general conviction of the clay , it would be strange indeed if we , who profess that at the ven * root of our

ancient Order lies the great princi p le of brotherly affection , were to be insensible to the claims which lie upon us to promote the education of the children of our . poorer brethren . ( Cheers . )

Ancl surely , although the claims of the boys are great indeed , and the public as well as the private motives which make their education in these davs a necessity of the State as well as a claim of

charity irresistible , there is perhaps a yet tenderer claim , at all events , which may be urged upon us on behalf of the education of girls . ( Hear , hear . ) And this at least is true , that we in England have

hitherto heen but too neglectful ofthe education of girls . We have large means of various descriptions for the education of boys , means which are being rendered every day more ancl more

available for their purpose ; but the means for the education of girls iu this country , fall far short of those which ought to be supplied . And yet I venture to say that tho future of this

country depends even more upon the education of thc women of England than it does upon the education of the men . ( Hear , hear . ) And when I say that , 1 tlo not point to any such education

as would forget that those with whom it is concerned are , as we hope , to be the wives aud the mothers of the coming generation . "We hear a great deal these days about women ' s rights .

( Laughter . ) Well , that is a political question , upon which I must not touch to-ni g ht . ( Laughter . ) But at least this J hope , that whatever

may be the woman ' s rights in the future , they will be rig hts which are not inconsistent with the maintenance of that true womanhood which renders woman , the hlc . - *> iii '' of the life of man

Royal Masonic Institution For Girls.

( Hear , hear , and applause . ) I trust at least that whatever may be the theories prevalent elsewhere , we shall always find in the Freemasons' Girls ' School , that the education given is a true

womanly education , sound and extended though it may be . I am not the least inclined to say that women are inferior to men ; but on the other

hand , J am yet to be convinced that women and men are the same thing . ( Laughter . ) The poet was right when he said :

" Not like in like , but like in difference . " and I trust that that will be the motto of this valuable Institution . J rejoice to rind that such appears to be the princip le by which this

Institution is guided . If you look on this paper which has bcen laid upon the table to night , you will perceive in it that the objects of the Freemasons , Girls' School are distinctly laid down as being

those which secure , that the education given to the girls there brought up , is a sound , practical , education . It is , I crust to believe a good

literaryeducation , but it embraces also other subjects of no less importance , which will tend to make those who have the benefit of the Institution

valuable members of society in after life . Now , brethren nothing is easier than that , those who arc interested in an institution of any kind , should enter into a conspiracy to deceive the public by

praising their own Institution ; and if an Institution is never brought to any practical test , it is extremely possible that by dint of successive public dinners , you may praise an Institution till you

have praised it to death . But I am happy to believe that we can appeal to something in regard to this Institution , more searching and more convincing than the praise of any Chairman of a

public dinner because we can appeal t

Institution have passed through the searching ordeal—and searching it is—of the Cambridge Local Examination , ancl that several of them

within the last few years have taken honours at that examination , and many of them have carried off certificates . Now that is a test which cannot

be gainsaid : that is a proof ol the real condition of this Institution , to which there is as I venture to submit no answer to be made . Now brethren , I iind that it is thc intention of those who are

entrusted with the great responsibilities of managing this important Institution , to take measures as speedily as your generosity will enable them to adopt them , in the first place , to increase the

sanitary appliances ot the school , ancl at the same time to enable themselves to extend the benefits of it to even larger numbers of the daughters of the Craft . Now , brethren , we all know that in

these days , that which is considered to be necessary in regard to sanitary arrangements , is very different from what was thought to be required but , few years ago . We have made in that

respect happily very great progress within the last few years , and I am g lad to see that this Institution is keeping up with that progress , that it is awake to the necessity of making arrangements

of a thoroughly sanitary description ; and if at the same time you should enable them to extend the benefits of the charity yet more widely , you will then even—for the difference as I read it here , is only to bc a difference of accommodation