Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.

School , the increased donations and subscri p tions of the brethren enabling' the Governors to carry on ( he Institution without anxiety as to the provision of the necessary ways and menus . But the change thus made in the character of the Institution was of such a character that it very soon became manifest that an infusion of new blood into the administration had become necessary , and in 18 ( 51 , Bro .

A . U . Thisclton , who had acquitted himself with singular ability and judgment during the long period of 35 years , retired on a well-earned pension , and was succeeded by Bro . Frederick Binekos , who had already distinguished himself as a reformer of our Schools of the most approved type . The effect of this substitution of Bro . Binckes for Bro . Thisclton was soon apparent , and in 1862 , at the very first

Festival held after the change , the amount of the donations and subscriptions was doubled . In 1863 it was resolved to pull down Lordship House aud erect new premises large enough to accommodate 100 boys , and on the Sth August of that year the first stone was laid by Bro . Algernon Perkins , Past G . Warden . In 1865 the new buildings were inaugurated by the Earl de Grey and Ripon , D . G .

Master , with all possible pomp aad circumstance , the amount raised at thc attendant fete being £ 5000 . Thc following year thc number of boys was increased to 100 , but the changes had cost a large sum of money , to provide which , firstl y , the whole of the invented capital of the Institution was sold out , and then a mortgage of £ 10 , 000 raised on the buildings . But year after year passed , and still thc income

of the Institution , thanks , to thc energy of Bro . Secretary Binckes , was well maintained . In 1869 , the year in which Bro . Cabbell found himself compelled by the state of his health to resign the Treasurership , and was succeeded b y Bro . Algernon Perkins , it was resolved that a supreme effort should be made to pay off thc mortgage , and at the Festival held under the Presidency of thc

Dep . Grand Master a sum of £ 12 , 000 was raised , East Lancashire , under Bro . Stephen Blair , its Prov . G . Mastei' , taking the lead in support of the project with a contribution of £ 3500 , of which 105 U guineas was given by Bro . Stephen Blair himself . In 1870 H . R . H . the Prince of Wales , Past G . Master , did the Institution the honour of presiding at its Festival , and the contributions again reached an

exceptionally high total—close upon £ 10 , 000- the consequence being that the mortgage was cleared off , and thc other liabilities of the Institution substantial ^* reduced in amount , while the number of boys was augmented to 115 . Moreover , while these amazing developments were in progress , thc system of education was greatly extended and improved , while in 1866 a gymnasium and library were

established , and " Speech-Day " instituted . But still the Governors were not satisfied , and in 1872 the Rev . Dr . Barry , Principal of King ' s College , London , was requested to report upon the condition of the School . That gentleman ' s report was in due course presented , and very carefully considered , and it was resolved to give effect to the most material of the recommendations he made . Hence in 1871 a

change of Head Masters was effected , Bro . the Rev . O . G . D . Perrott , M . A ., being chosen to succeed Bro . Furrian , and as by this time there had been a further increase of boys on the establishment to 153 , and the superior limit of age for them to remain at school raised from 15 to 16 years , there can be no question that the character of the School had been vastly improved . At first things worked

satisfactorily , but in time further changes in the Mutational Staff were held to be desirable . The late Bro . Richard Morris , M . A ., LL . D ., took the place of the Rev . Bro . Perrott , and again , and happily for a term of years , the official , educational , and domestic staff found it possible to co-operate harmoniousl y , with the result that the School was improved in tone and character , while the accommodation was enlarged , and the number of boys increased to about 200 , irrespective

of those admitted under perpetual and life presentations or by purchase . In 1881 , however , it was deemed expedient to provide additional accommodation , and it was resolved to purchase certain houses adjacent and convert them into a Preparatory School . A Preparatory School Building Fund was accordingly started , and at the Festival in 1883 , under the Presidency of Viscount Ilolmesdale , Prov . Gr . uid Master of K \ 'iif . the enormous sum of £ 23 , 000 was subscribed , of which s ni . ewlicro about two-thirds was raised for the

Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.

Building Fund . No time was lost in purchasing the proposed additional houses and land and erecting thc new premises , which included a splendid new Hall , in which the whole school might be assembled on such special occasions as '' Speech-day , " when of necessity there would be present some hundreds of visitors . In 1885 tho Memorial "Stone of this Hall was laid by the Baroness

Burdett-Coutts , and as soon as the Preparatory School Buildings were ready for occupation , more boys were received into the School . This may be justly pronounced to have been thc great achievement of Bro . Binckes ' s Secretaryship , and when , in the year 1896 , he completed 25 years' service in that capacity it was determined to raise a fund in ordtr that some suitable recognition might be made of those great

services which he had rendered to the Royal AIasonic Institution for Boys . In 1887 the Festival was celebrated at the Crystal Palace , and the testimonial thus raised was formally presented by Bro . Thomas W . Tew , Prov . G . Master of West Yorkshire , who , when all efforts had failed in obtaining a Chairman for the occasion , generously came forward and offered to preside . In 1888 the Festival was far less

productive than it had been for several years previously , the great diminution in the total of subscrip tions announced being primarily duo to the efforts made by the brethren ou behalf of the Girls ' School , but at the same time , in a minor degree , to a certain sense of dissatisfaction which appears to have spread among the brethren generally that the administration of the Boys' School was not all

that could be desired . How this feeling originated even those most intimately acquainted with the details of its government would have some difficulty in explaining . It is enough that such a feeling existed , just as it had existed in 1876 , when dissensions had arisen some time previously between the educational and domestic authorities . But in that year a vote of confidence in the Executive of the

Institution was carried by an overwhelming majority , and the storm passed over—only for a time , however , and in 1888 , when it became known that an act of indiscipline on the part of one of the boys had been visited with what many held to be too severe a punishment , the storm broke out again with greater violence than ever . This time the opponents of the system were not to be silenced , and it very soon

became manifest ( hat if decided steps were not at once taken to allay the feeling of distrust which had so unaccountably arisen , the best interests of the . Institution , nay , even its very existence , would be seriously imperilled . It . was therefore resolved , at the Quarterl y General Court , on the 27 th . Inly , 1888 , that a Committee- of Investigation should be appointed , with full powers to inquire into and

report upon the management , discipline , and expenditure . of the School . The Chairmanship of this Committee was vested in Bro . F . A . Philbrick , Q . C , Grand Registrar , who was allowed to make choice of his colleagues on the sole condition that one half of them should be selected from among the Provincial supporters of tho Charitv . The brethren invited by the G . Registrar to act with him

were : Bros . John Derb y Allcroft , Past G . Treasurer ; Sir Reginald Hanson , Bart ., P . G . W ., and Samuel Pope , Q . C , Past G . Deacon , representing London , and Bros . John C . Malcolm , Past Prov . G . Reg . West Yorkshire , Ll .-Col . A . Thrale Perkins , P . G . D ., and Robert Wylie , P . G . U ., P . Prov . G . W . West Lancashire , for the Provinces . The Committee entered upon its task in the following

November , and after a protracted and minute enquiry , in the course of which the principal members of the oflicial , Educational , and domestic staffs , with many former pupils and others , were called upon or volunteered to g ive evidence , a report was drawn up and signed by all the members and presented to the Quarterl y General Court of Governors of the 20 th April , 1889 , and as soon as it had been printed and circulated , was considered at a Special Court

convened for the purpose . After a very animated discussion , tho report was adopted , and it was then resolved that a Provisional Committee of Management should bo appointed to administer the affairs of the Institution until such time as an amended system of management could be arranged . This Committee was composed in equal moieties of London and Provincial brethren , being at the least , Life Governors of " the Institution , and the Earl of Euston having been selected as Chairman , with Bro . Philbrick as Vice-Chairman ,

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5T.MARK'SHOSPITAL ForFistulaandotherDiseasesoftheRectum, FOUNDED1835.CITYROAD,LONDON,E.G.ENTIRELY FREE . Over200Patientswaitingtobeadmitted. NearlyHalftheWardsclosedforwantofFunds. AnnualSubscriptionsandDonationsUrgentlyNeeded. Bankers-MARTIN'S BANK , Limited , 68 , Lombard Street , E . C . Treasurer—R . BIDDULPH MARTIN , Esq ., M . P , EDGAR PENMAN , Secretary .