Stewards' Visit To The School.

by a fairly good reader is sure to secure attention , from the quality of the verses and the stirring incidents of the story , and therefore it is not remarkable that so really excellent a reader as Ada H . Clase should have been able to secure the loudest and largest continued applause . Indeed , this young lady—and those who instructed her—deserve especial praise for

preserving the rin » - and rhythm of these lines without falling into what i i is commonly called sing-song , which is perhaps more easily committed with this than with many other pieces . While however awarding all the praise she well deserves to Miss Clase , we cannot help thinking that if this lady and Miss Pike had separately studied the same piece the latter would have

produced the greater effect . Both however were excellent , and both should continue a study in which they have made so good a beginning . The programme concluded with a pianoforte duet by Brahms , " Ungarische T ;" uizc , " by twenty-four hands , which was loudly applauded by the company . The remainder of the prizes were then distributed by the Chairman , but

we have not the space at our disposal to give them in detail , and we must therefore be content to say that they included many handsome , useful , and intrinsically valuable articles , presented by Bro . Joshua Nunn , Bro . the Rev . P . H . E . Brette , U . D ., Mrs . Crick , Bro . John M . Clabon , Bro . Collard Moutrie , Bro . and Mrs . Louis Hirsch , Bro . John Faulkner , Mrs . Edgar

Bowyer , Bro . Alderman Sir Francis Truscott and Lady Truscott , and Bro . C . E . Atkinson . They also included the St . James "Yates' Memorial " Prize ( per lodge 4 S 2 ) ; and a prize given by the Supreme Grand Council of the thirty-third Degree . Prizes have also been awarded by the Science and Art department , South Kensington , but these it was announced had not yet arrived at the Institution .

Al the conclusion of the ceremony , the CHAIRMAN , addressing the children , said : My young friends , I can assure you that it gives me very , very great pleasure to come here again . It is several years since I have been here , and I cpuld have almost imagined that I should hardly have been remembered ; but I can assure you it gave me very great pleasure when I arrived to be

received by two ladies who are mistresses in this Institution , one of whom , in addressing me , said" I am a Warwickshire girl , " and , as I am a Warwickshire man , 1 was pleased to be thus greeted by a Warwickshire girl who had been brought up in this Institution , who assuredly looked very happy , and I have great pleasure in seeing you all looking so happy . We

have a very old friend in Miss Jarwood , who has been here for the long period of sixty-six years ; it is now ten or twelve years since I was here , and I must congratulate that old friend upon looking quite as young as she did twelve years ago . I hope I may not be so long absent again , and that when I return I shall find Miss Jarwood looking as well as she does now . I

consider that for the success of the Institution in its earlier years we owe everything to Miss Charlwood . I have to-day had the gratification of seeing you , my young friends , go through your calisthenic exercises , and the sight gave me great pleasure . My gallant brother on my left ( Colonel

Creaton ) when he saw it , said he never saw the regulars wheel column so well as the little girls did . Their drawing , too , does them the greatest credit ; and in other branches of education to-day ' s proceedings show that they have made good progress in those also . 1 congratulate them upon their progress , and 1 congratulate also the teachers and managers upon the condition of the whole Institution ; and I cannot close these few observations

without expressing , as far as I can , how . much the educational department owes to Mi : s Davis ; and I congratulate Miss Davis on the way the children have performed their duties . And now , my young friends , in conclusion , let me remind you you are the children of Freemasons—that you have had for your fathers the members of that grand old Institution—the Order of Freemasons ; and that the great principle of that Order is to fear God , to love the brotherhood , and to honour the Queen .

Bro . J OSHUA NUNN proposed a vote of thanks to Lord Leigh for the handsome manner in which he had presided over the distribution of prizes . His lordship had also kindly consented to preside over the Festival on Wednesday ; and he ( Bro . Nunn ) thought that the honour conferred by his lordship would prove of the greatest service to the Institution . " God Save the Oueen , " sung by the children , brought the

entertainment to a close , and the company adjourned to the tea-tables , which were aid out in several rooms , and amply provided with substantial refresh-Iments . The company were in a short lime again strolling about the Institution inspecting the dormitories , and generally expressing themselves , as a summary criticism at all they saw , that il the children were not happy they ought to be .

At half-past seven the visitors again assembled to see " Miss Davis ' s soldiers , " and witness the evolutions , a preliminary exiiibition of which to the Chairman had elicited the allusions made to il in his address . Then followed more strolling and a little dancing , an J the company separated by 10 o ' clock , after having had a very pleasant afternoon .

Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.

ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR BOYS .

The monthly meeting of the General Committee of this Institution was held last Saturday at Freemasons' Hall , Bro . Raynham W . Stewart in the chair . There were also present Bros . S . Rosenthal , Leopold Ruf , Alfred

Williams , G . P . Britten , Rev . Richard Morris ( Head Master ) , Joyce Murray , George J . Palmer , Herbert Dicketts , Henry Venn , James Moon , C . H . Webb , Edgar Bowyer , F . Adlard , W . Maple , Henry W . Hunt , Frederick Binckes ( Secretary ) , and H . Massey ( Freemason ) .

After the reading and confirmation of the minutes , the Chairman was authorised to sign cheques for accounts which had been passed . Two petitions were examined and considered , and the boys therein named were placed on the list of candidates for the October election ,

Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.

Outfits of £ 5 each were granted to two former pupils of the Institution . The sum of £ 1000 out of £ 1100 subscribed towards the Preparatory School Fund was ordered to be invested . Nominations for the House and Audit Committees , to be elected at next meeting , were then given in , the Scrutineers of votes were appointed , and the brethren then separated .

Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

ROYAL MASONIC BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION .

A meeting of the Committee of Managemsnt was held at Freemasons ' Hall on Wednesday , at which Bro . Raynham \ V . Stewart presided . There were also present Bros . C . Atkins , H . Cox , J . Newton , J . Quitmann , J . R . Gallant , J . H . Leggott , C . J . Dilley , J . Brett , C . J . Perceval , William March , j . V . Mather , Charles Lacey , J . N . Farnfield , T . Cubitt , W . H .

Farnfield , A . F . A . Woodford , C . A . Cotlebrune , William Hale , J . L . Hine , H . T . Smith , James Moon , William Clarke , VV . F . Crutch , G . Bolton , V Adlard , L . Gordon Robbins , Charles Daniel , Thomas Goode , T . VV . C , Bush , T . H . Miller , Edgar Bowyer , G . P . Brockbank , John Dennis , William Hilton , W . Stephens , L . Slean , and E . C . Massey ( Freemason ) ,

1 he minutes of last meeting were read , but before they had been put for confimation Bro . DILLEY rose and asked that the minutes might be read of the meeting at which the last £ 100 was added to the Secretaty's salary . Bro . WOODFORD rose to order , and said , that Bro . Dilley ' s application should be deferred until consideration of the motion , of which the Chairman had given formal notice .

1 ne minutes were then confirmed and the ordinary business proceeded With . Bro . TERRY reported that since their last meeting of the Committee there had been four deaths among the annuitants , viz : Bros . Crowley , Douglas , Greenwood , and Roberts , who had received from the Institution sums amounting in the aggregate to ; £ Su 8 .

There had also occurred a reduction of one in the list of approved applicants waiting election in consequence of the death of Bro . John Sugars , one of their number . The Warden ' s report upon the condition of the Institution was read

from which il appeared thai some damage had been done to the roof by the storm a fortnight since , but that this had now been repaired . The report also referred to the recent visit of the Stewards to the Institution , at which the band from the Boys' School had done much to enhance the pleasure of the company .

Bro . PERCEVAL proposed a vote of thanks to the House Committee of the Boys' School for permitting the band to attend , which vote was seconded by Bro . Edgar Bowyer and carried unanimously . The usual authority was voted to the Chairman to sign cheques , of which a list was submitted to the meeting .

A draft of the report of the Committee of Management of the proceedings of the past year was read and adopted for presentation to the Annual General Meeting on the 10 th inst .

lhe Secretary then retired , and the Chairman proposed the motion , due notice of which had been given , viz : " That considering the increase of work in the office , the Secretary ' s salary be increased £ \ w per annum , from the 1 st March , 18 S 2 . "

Bros . Dilley , Woodford , Brett , Perceval , Stewart , and others ,. addressed the meeting , and the question was fully considered and the resolution passed by an overwhelming majority .

Bro . C . J . PERCEVAL proposed in pursuance of notice of motion : " That £ 25 be granted to Mrs . Farwell the widow of the kite Bro . Harwell , in con - sideration of her services for some years in acting as nurse to the sick residents in their Institution .

Bro . PERCEVAL explained that Mrs . Farwell having been married less than three years since the lime of her husband ' s death , was thereby disqualified by the rules froni receiving the ordinary benefits of the Institution ,

which she would now be compelled to leave . She had done good service as a nurse at the Institution . The grant of £ 25 was thereupon made , and Bro Terry returned thanks on behalf of the grantee . A vote of thanks to the Chairman closed the proceedings .

NAMES OF LODGES . —From the earliest development of the purely speculative element , our lodges have been known b y various names , though principally for a long period by that of the " place of entertainment " where they met . Down to 1738 that is undoubtedly so , as there is only one lodge in the lists not called b y the house or sign where they assembled , and thai is " The Stewards' Lodge . " Towards the

middle and end of the last century the lodges began to atsume the names of the virtues , the graces , the muses , and of persons . As far as is known , the operative lodges were really guilds , probabl y with a patron saint ; and it may be doubtful when the first lod ge was named after an ideal excellence , or quality , or person , rather than a material fact . In the Pocket Companion of 1736 we find " The Union Lodge , No . S , " and

" lhe French Lodge , No . 20 ; " but the great bulk are still called by the sign of the house where they meet . And even in Cole ' s List of 1763 the distinguishing names are very few indeed . We shall not be wrong in saying , then , that our present system of lod ge nomenclature does not date beyond the end of last century , or the beginning of this . One remark has , however , to be made : so great was the carelessness of Masonic scribes in the last century , that very often names were given to lodges which thev even anneared loo unconcerned to nnip . Tl , < . ( " : •> ,-. < , < ,-,, < ,., Co „„ -, t i - ¦!! VUlllKUIS 111

. ^ . " - ------ . ., VI to have unproved upon our plan by adding the name of a virtue or a person to the name of the house where they met . Wc do not think it needful here to lay down any law as to names of lodges , as such must be left to the tastes of the brethren ; and on the whole , as far as Anglo-Saxon and German Masonry arc concerned , we find little cause for exception . — Kenning ' s Cyclopadia of Freemasonry .