The Approaching Boys' School Election.

THE APPROACHING BOYS' SCHOOL ELECTION .

The Quarterly General Court for the election of children into the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys will be held in Freemasons' Tavern , on Friday , the 31 st instant . The List of candidates contains 53 names , and the number of vacancies to be filled is 19 , so that the proportion of candidates to the latter is

considerably less favourable than at the Girls' Election the day following . London furnishes 13 candidates—there are two partly London and partly Provincial—and the Provinces and foreign parts contribute the remaining 3 8 . Seven of the London candidates remain over from the election in April , and the other six

( Nos . 39 , 40 , 42 , 43 , 46 , and 49 ) are applicants for the first time . Of the former , No . 9 has 148 4 votes to his credit ; No . 10 , 168 votes ; No . 18 , 493 votes ; No . 19 , 1249 votes ; No . 22 ,

16 97 votes ; No . 25 , 811 votes ; and No . 27 , 1058 votes . No . 21 , with claims on Kent arid London , starts with 417 votes to the good , and No . 31 , who will look for support to London and Surrey , has 1343 votes . Turninp- to the Provincial and other candidates we note that

Derbyshire , Durham , and Staffordshire each of them contribute three candidates , the Derbyshire trio being No . 14 , with 1498 votes in hand ; No , 28 , with 147 votes ; and No . 30 , with 86 9 votes . The Durham three are No . 5 , with 168 votes ; No . 6 , with 604 votes ; and No . 32 , with only 8 votes ; while those from

Staffordshire are No . 11 , who brings forward 21 votes ; No . 35 , with 176 votes ; and a new case standing at No . 3 8 . Cumberland and Westmorland , Hants and the Isle of Wi ght , Kent , West Lancashire , Sussex , and Warwickshire send each of them two candidates , Nos . 4 and 20 , with no advantage to speak of from

their previous attempts , hailing from Cumberland and Westmorland ; Nos . 16 and 36 ( new case ) from Hants and the Isle of Wight ; Nos . 26 and 29 from Kent ; No . 15 , with 4 8 9 votes , and No . 33 , with 28 9 votes , from West Lancashire ; Nos . 24 and 34 from Sussex ; and Nos . 12 and 17 ( with 303 votes )

from Warwickshire . The remaining 17 candidates are from as many different Provinces , Districts , or combinations of Provinces . Berks and Bucks sends up a new candidate at No . 41 ; Bedfordshire and North Wales are together responsible for No . 47 ; Dorsetshire for No . 44 ; Hertfordshire for No . " ,- ? :

Jersey , Cheshire , and Staffordshire together for No . 2 , who , though he has been on the list for three years , has only 14 votes in hand ; Lancashire ( East Division ) for No . 51 ( new case ) ; Lincolnshire for No . 3 , who stands well with 1779 votes ; Madras for No . 13 , with 79 votes ; Monmouthshire for No . 23 , with 210

votes ; Nottinghamshire for No . 7 , with 707 votes to the good ; Shropshire for No . 8 ; Somersetshire for No . 4 8 ; and Somersetshire and Devon together for No . 1 , with 254 votes to his credit ; Suffolk for No . 45 ; West Yorkshire for No . 37 ; Worcestershire and Cheshire for No . 52 ; and South America for No . 50 . There

are five cases in which the friends must manage to carry the candidates they are interested in or the names will be removed from the List in accordance with Law 53 . These are No . 6 from Durham ; Nos . 10 and 27 from London ; No . 17 from Warwickshire ; and No . 53 from Hertfordshire . Six of the 53 children

have both parents living , three have lost both parents , and one is motherless , while the remaining 43 are fatherless . As in the case of the girl candidates , the fathers of many of these children had held office in their lodges , while some had received Provincial or District honours , and several , in the days of their

prosperity , had done service to one or more of our Institutions either as Steward or contributor , or in both capacities . The number of cases remaining over from April is 35 , and to these have been added 18 new cases whose petitions have been successfully scrutinised and approved . In conclusion , we can

only express , as usual , the hope that success will crown the endeavours of those who are exerting themselves on behalf of the five " last cases . " The presence of their names in the List shows that they have been adjudged worthy of admission , and we trust they will be found among the fortunate 19 who will be received into the School at the beginning of next year .

The Approaching Girls' School Election.

THE APPROACHING GIRLS' SCHOOL ELECTION .

Whether it is in consequence of the appointment of a Petitions Committee to examine more minutely than heretofore into the circumstances of the several girls who offer themselves as candidates , or owing to a mere passing diminution in the number of duly qualified applicants , we are unable to say . The

fact remains that during the present year the Lists of approved candidates for election into the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls have contained fewer names than in preceding years . At the same time it has fortunately happened that the proportion of vacancies to candidates has been considerably more

favourable , so that , in the event of the Lists remaining for some time on the present diminished scale , there is no reason why every approved applicant should not be admitted to a share in the benefits to which she is entitled . In April last the List was made up of 43 candidates , of whom 31 were brought forward from the

previous election , while 12 were new cases ; and out of these 43 candidates no less than 22 were elected . For the election , which will be held on Saturday , the ist November , the number of candidates is 31 , of whom 18 have been brought forward from the April election , while the remaining 13 are new cases .

The number to be elected is 14 , so that the proportion of candidates to vacancies is just a trifle less favourable than it was at the spring election . Of the 31 candidates , nine hail from London and 22 from the Provinces . Taking the former first we find that No . 5 has 185 votes to her credit as the result of four

previous ballots ; No . 6 , 1124 votes from three ; No . 9 , 88 4 votes from two ; No . 13 , 1531 votes from the same number ; and No . 17 , 6 34 votes from April last . The remaining four—that is , Nos . 20 , 23 , 24 , and 27—will be applicants for the first time on this occasion . Of the 22 Provincial applicants , West Yorkshire

and Devonshire furnish three each ; Norfolk , Suffolk , and Sussex two each ; and Berks and Bucks , Cornwall , Dorsetshire , Durham , Hants and the Isle of Wight , and North and East Yorkshire together , Cumberland and Westmorland combined , Malta , New Brunswick , and the Orange Free States , one each . Of the

Devonshire candidates ( Nos . 8 , 10 , and 16 ) only No . 16 has any great advantage from the number of votes already to her credit , her total in April having reached 429 votes . The West Yorkshire three are Nos . 7 , 11 , and 28 ( new case ) , and as No . 11 will start with 2470 votes in hand , there is small room for doubting

that her election is pretty well assured . Both the Norfolk girls start well , No . 1 having 2141 votes to her credit from four previous trials , and No . 18 , 2273 votes from the April election ; but both the Suffolk ( Nos . 25 and 29 ) and the Sussex ( Nos . 22 and 32 ) girls are in the List for the first time . So also is the

Berks and Bucks candidate ( No . 31 ) , while the girl from Cornwall ( No . 18 ) , who made her debiit in April , has 133 votes . The Dorset girl ( No . 15 ) , though she figured in the List in April , brings forward no votes , but the Durham ( No . 4 ) , after four

unsuccessful ballots , has 908 votes to help her on the road to success . The candidate from Hants and the Isle of Wight ( No . 30 ) is a new one , but the one from North and East Yorkshire stands extremely well with 2593 votes in hand . The girl with claims on the Provinces of Cumberland and Westmorland and West

Yorkshire ( No . 21 ) , as well as No . 26 from the Orange Free States , are new cases , whereas those from Malta ( No . 2 ) and New Brunswick ( No . 3 ) have 1517 votes and 6 91 votes to their credit respectively . It will be necessary , however , for the friends of the latter , as well as of No . 20 , a London candidate , bring all

their influence to bear in obtaining votes , as these two children will exceed the age of 11 years before the next election comes round , so that this is their only chance of obtaining admission .

We may state that all the candidates are fatherless with the exception of No . 7—a West Yorkshire lassie—who has both parents living , and Nos . 20 and 24 , both hailing from London , who have lost them both . As regards the fathers of the

candidates , the majority of them had held office , and in some cases high office , in their lodges , while several had received Provincial or District honours , In some half-dozen cases they had in their