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CONTENTS . PAGE , LEADERThe Board of Management of R . M . I . B . and the Critics ... ... Goi Provincial Grand Lodge of Bedfordshire ... ... ... ... G 03 Provincial Grand Lodge of South Wales ( E . D . ) ... ... ... 603 Provincial Grand Lodge of Cumberland and Westmorland ... ... C 03 Consecration of the Fforest Lodge , No . 2606 ... ... ... ... G 03

Allied Masonic Degrees—Grand Council ... ... ... ... 604 Ladies'Night of the Alfred Lodge , No . 306 , Leeds . .. ... ... G 04 Fifth Annual Supper of the Blackheath Lodge of Instruction , No . 1320 ... 604 Royal Masonic Girls' School , Ireland ... ... ... ... 605 Mark Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... 605 Lodges and Chapter of Instruction ... ... ... ... ... G 05 MASONIC NOTESRemoval of the Boys' School ... ... ... ... ... G 07

Consecration of the Fforest Lodge , No . 2 G 06 , & c , Sic . ... ... 607 Correspondence ... ... ... .., ... ... G 08 Reviews ... ... ... ... ... ... ... foS Ladies' Night of the Royal Commemoration Lodge , No . 1585 ... ... 60 S Craft Masonry ... .,, ... ... ... ... 60 S Royal Arch Masonry ... ... .,. ... ... ... 612 Knights Templar ... ... ... ... ... ... 612 Masonic and . General Tidings ... ... ... ... ... 614

To Correspondents.

To Correspondents .

lhe following reports are duly to hand and will appear in our next issue : Fellowship Lodge , No . 2535 ; Royal Kensington Lodge , No . 1627 s Waverley Lodge , No . 1322 ; Duke of Athol Lodge , No . 210 ; Bushey HaU Lodge , No . 2323 ; Quatuor Coronati Lodge , No . 2076 ; Strong Man Lodge , No . 45 , * Alliance Lodge , No . 1827 ; Unity Chapter , No . 1151 ; Annual Supper of the Prosperity Lodge of Instruction , No . 65 ; and Annual Festival of the Kirby Lodge of Instruction , No . 263 .

The Board Of Management Of R.M.I.B. And The Critics.

THE BOARD OF MANAGEMENT OF R . M . I . B . AND THE CRITICS .

In certain Notes which appeared in our issue of the 24 th ult . we commented at some length on the antagonism which it is the pleasure of some brethren to imagine exists between town and country in connection with our Central Charitable

Institutions . We expressed our ignorance as to the origin of this opinion , and * at the same time , we took the opportunity of pointing out that , as regards our Boys' School , at all events , the

tendency for some years past has been "to place town and country on as nearly as possible the same footing as regards its administration . " We remarked that when the present Board of Management was established , it was derided that it should be

composed , " in equal moieties , of London and Provincial brethren . " We fuither remarked that , notwithstanding this arrangement in favour of an absolute equality between London and the Provinces in the government of the School , the feeling

still existed that the latter were not always fairly dealt with , and we naturally inquired why there should ahvaj-s be "this jealousy between the two sections of those who support the School , and are equally interested in the maintenance of its

prosperity . " We said that it could not matter whether a proposal that was calculated to benefit the Institution emanated , in the first instance , from town or country , as both would benefit equall y from its adoption ; or . that , if it did matter , then it was

material only to this extent—that if the proposal emanated from the Provinces , then to the Provinces belonged the credit of orig inating it ; while if it emanated from London , then to ' -ondon belonged the credit . It is to be regretted that 1

U -ese remarks have not exercised the influence we flatter ourselves they are entitled to with one of our " ¦ ore frequent correspondents on this vexed question of removln g the Boys' School from its present to another siteand that in of

, ^ letter his which we published last week , "D . P . G . M . and G . O . " should be still harping upon this one string , that the rovinces have not been sufficiently consulted in this matter ;

i"ai : the meetings at which this and similar questions are decided ar e held in London ; and that " it is impossible for the brethren a distance—those to whom the question is the most important

The Board Of Management Of R.M.I.B. And The Critics.

—to attend , except at an expense which is prohibitory ; " that " a large number of brethren in thc more distant Provinces hold a strong view that a vote so obtained is not in any way morally binding upon them ; " and that while for the present there is

" simply a decided movement in favour of strengthening the local Charities , " we may , "by a little judiciously-applied abuse , succeed in enlarging that feeling to one of direct hostility to the existing Committee . " We are prepared to show the respect to which they are justly entitled to the opinions of a brother who

is evidently , from the signature he appends to his letters , a Mason both of local and general distinction ; and as we have made a point in all our articles of supporting our opinions by

arguments rather than by " judiciously-applied abuse , " we shall proceed to show how numerous are the fallacies which our correspondent has managed to compress within the narrow limits of a single letter of some half-a-dozen paragraphs :

Let us deal first of all with the following passage in his fifth paragraph : " It is true that lodges and brethren—of whom the writer is one—have endeavoured to emphasise the fact that , if the scheme of the Committee wa * s carried into effect contrary to the views of a number of the Subscribers in the Provinces , it

would undoubtedly induce considerable additional support to the local Charitable funds , to the probable detriment oi the Central Charities , unless reasonable means were shown by lhe Committee for allowing the Provincial brethren to express their views . " One of the inferences we are invited to draw from this

passage is that if " a number of Subscribers in the Provinces" object to this or any other proposal which the Central Committee , in the exercise of their judgment , consider will prove beneficial to the Institution they have been elected to administer ,

such proposal must not be carried into effect until reasonable means have been afforded them for expressing their views . But what would be the good of affording these facilities when it is known that this " number of Subscribers in the

Provinces " have already made known their objections to the proposal which is in question ? Or , are we to infer that the Committee—that is , the Board of Management—must never adopt any proposal which they consider necessary or expedient for the better administration of the School , unless , or until , it commands

the unanimous approval of the " Subscribers in the Provinces ?'' We do not expect that every Subscriber to a Charity will agree with every other Subscriber as to the wisdom or expediency of the measures which the governing body may adopt ; but we do expect , nay more , we have the right to expect , that when a

Committee or Board of Management has been elected by the general body of Subscribers , and when that Committee or Board is known to be composed in equal moieties of London and Provincial brethren , that is to say , of the two sections into which the general body of supporters is divided—in that case , we sav ,

we have the right to expect that the measures which may be adopted by the Committee or Board in the fulfilment of their duty , for the government of that Charity , shall , when they have been sanctioned and approved by the general body in Quarterly

Court assembled—that is , by the supreme legal authority which has a voice in the matter—be accepted without further question by individual Subscribers , whatever their private opinions on the proposal may be . Otherwise , the government of the Charity will be au impossible task .

There is yet another inference we are justified in drawing from the extraordinary proposition laid down in the passage we have quoted ; or , perhaps , rather we should say , the above inference is capable of being expressed in a somewhat