The Qualifications For Masonic Representatives.

Committee who filled the chair on Thursday . In the few pregnant sentences in which Bro . Gregory proposed a vote of thanks to Major Creaton for his presidency over the meeting ,

and in the cordial endorsement those words received from Bro . Parkinson , might be traced an earnest wish to acknowledge the qualities which were , unluckily , proved to be wanting on a former occasion . As the House Committee

and the General Committee have but one wish and aim—the peimanent good of the Charity , there ought to be no difficulty in arriving at an

harmonious understanding ; and for our part , we trust it will not be necessary to have many such "ordeals by combat" as was fought out honestly and energetically last Thursday .

Royal Masonic Institution For Girls.

ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR GIRLS .

SPECIAL QUARTERLY COURT AND GENERAL COMMITTEE . There were the old signs of unusual and abnormal interest in the discussion on the

Secretaryship of the Masonic Girls School on Thursday . After Bro . Fatten ' s pension had been settled unanimously , the meeting waited till half past twelve , when it was constituted a General

Committee , and the report of the House Committee was read . At the reading of the first clause , describing as a qualification for the Secretaryship

that every Candidate must be a Master Mason . Bro . J . C . Parkinson , P . M . i 8 r , V . P ., rose and said : —Brother Chairman—Before the motion for

the adoption of the report is put to the meeting , I wish to say a few words respecting it . First I must congratulate our House Committee upon having achieved what thev declared a fortnight

ago to be impossible [; and upon being safely delivered of a Report , after a labour of only fourteen days ( laughter ) . We thought it was only their modest } ' which asked timidly for a little further

delay ( hear , hear ) , and their happy and conscious smiles this morning prove that we knew tlic constitution of our House Committee better than it did itself—that * our

prognosis was correct , and that it would have been cruel kindness , after they had undergone ten months' gestation , to have further prolonged the pangs of parturition . ( Loud laughter . )

On examining their offspring wc may congratulate them , moderately , upon its proportions . If it is not quite so strong and perfect as we could wish , we must remember that its parents

are all officially related , and that its defects are attributable to what agriculturists call " breeding in and in . " ( Laughter . A mixed parentage , an infusion of other

thought into their deliberations , would have produced a more vigorous child , but , like many other distinguished people , they were bent on keeping all the dignities in the family ,

and the result is that we have a well-featured and well-meaning , but not an altogether strong Report . Referring to its various heads , it is pleasant to find so much wc can agree with , and so

little that is absolutely bad , and I am sure that if the House Committee will submittn our guidance , we shall effect permanent improvement in the stamina of their child . ( Hear , hear . )

I beg topropose , therefore , that no candidate shall be eligible for this Secretaryship who is not a Mason of seven years' standing , ( Oh ! oh ! , ) , and to thus remedy an omission on the part of the

Royal Masonic Institution For Girls.

House Committee , which I confess fills me with dismay . ( A laugh ) . There is no word in their report as to the Masonic standing of the brother we may appoint to the Secretaryship . Are we to

understand that there is no restriction here ? Would a non-mason be eligible ? or what is pretty much the same thing , a brother who has been initiated , passed , and raised for the sole purpose of becoming

qualified for this vacancy ? ( Bro . Rucker protested against any such interpretation . ) The House ] Committee cannot mean us to understand this . ( No , no . ) But if it is not to be an outsider , and not to be

a mush room Mason of yesterday , why have they not met this part of the question openly , and told us the shortest time a man should , in their judgment , have been a Mason , what is the

narrowest limit of Masonic experience which fits a brother for the dischaige of duties which more than any other call for a minute knowledge of our customs and traditions , our sympathies

and tastes ? We may judge somewhat by analogy . The iaie Secretary , Bro . Patten , was a Past Master in the year 1833 , and had been an active zealous Mason for many many years before , had

been made a Grand Officer , and had devoted himself actively to the Charities for a generation before he became a candidate for the office he filled so well . Before him was Bro . Crewe , whose

pleasant social talents , zeal , knowledge , and wide connection among the brethren were his title of elig ibility . The Boys' School furnishes similar examples . Bro . Binckes , long before he ever

dreamt of applying for the post of Secretary , was known far and wide as a zealous Mason and accomplished worker ; while as a member of Grand Lodge he was one of the acknowledged

leaders of a strong party with whom I seldom acted , and of whose policy I did not always approve , but who undoubtedly infused great intellectual vigour into our debates . ( Mear , hear . ) I well

remember mat at the first Quarterly Communication after Bro . Binckes was elected Secretary , his appointment made a sensible difference in our proproceedings for he withdrew an important motion

which stood in his name , not thinking it consistent with his new position to take any longer his accustomed part in our discussions . Before Bro . Binckes , was Bro . Thistleton , who was Secretary

to the Lodge of Antiquity , who came of a Masonic family , and who had as ] may say been born , bred , and dandled into Masonry . ( Laughter . ) Hisgodfather was the Duke of Sussex ,

and he was christened Augustus Union after the Grand Master and the Act of Union of the two Grand Lodges of England . ( Laughter . ) These men were all , in their several ways , powers

in the Craft before they applied for the Secretaryship we have now to fill ( hear , hear ) , and the advantages accruing to the Charities have been very great

They spoke with the authority of Masonic experience and knowledge to the inexperienced and ignorant , and they set examples , in their own persons , of a life ' s -devotion to the interests of

Masonry , quite irrespective of the posts they occupied . Let me illustrate this b y a fragment of personal experience , which has greatly affected my Masonic action , and which is the direct cause

of my being here to-day . Twelve years ago , a certain lodge had fallen into decay . The Secretary had hypothecated its funds , the Treasurer was threatened with legal proceedings by its cre-

Royal Masonic Institution For Girls.

ditors , its members had dropped oft " , its meetings were not held , dry rot had'taken possession of it ; and advice was taken as to the best means of giving up the warrant . Instead of

doinpso , we put a man of rare accomplishments into the chair . He had not been a Mason very long , but his popul arity filled the lodge on his installation night , and we had a most

successful gathering , memorable to me for one incident . We had a visit from the then Secretary of the Girls' School , Bro . Crewe , who made a speech without being asked to do so , and who

obtained a Steward for this Charity . He told us , in his quiet way , of the good the Institution had done , and warned us solemnly of the obligation we were under to look at the serious as well

as the joyous side of Masonry . We had never heard of the Masonic Charities , we did ' nt quite understand him , and we thought it rather a tax , but we knew that the man

addressing us was " high up" in the Order we had just entered , and we did not presume to do aught but listen with respect . My friend , the Master , did ' nt like it , though he did ' nt interfere : and

when I asked him afterwards wh y he did ' nt stop that inopportune appeal for charity his reply was that it was only the respect he felt bound to pay to a Mason , as distinguished and

experienced as the strange brother appeared to be , that prevented his exercising his authority to put off' the appeal for this Institution to a more convenient season .

Brethren , , before the next meeting of the lodge , my friend , in the hey-day of early manhood , prosperous , courted , witty , and beloved , was smitten down when on a visit of professional inspection

for the Government , and wc had to mourn over his ' grave . In a few months more two of his children were inmates of this School . ( Hear hear . ) The lesson I have described to you has never left

me ; and I now wish to enforce the princi ple of securing a Secretary who shall be able to speak with all the authority of Masonic experience to the brethren . I beg therefore to

propose , that no candidate be eligible for this appointment , who is not a Mason of seven years ' standing .

Bro . Gregory , P . G . D ., seconded the amendment in an eloquent speech , and was satisfied that the principle of securing experience and knowledge was so sound , that it must meet

with the approval of all supporters of the Charity . Bro . Joseph Smith objected that the course proposed by Bro . Parkinson would cut out

a particular candidate ; and a most animated discussion followed , in which Bro . John Savage . P . G . D ., Bro . Dr . Ramsay , Bro . Raynham Stewart , and many other brethren took part .

Eventually Bro . Parkinson offered to alter his proposed limit of Masonic standing to three years ; and this was carried amid great cheering , and b y an overwhelming majority .

Bro . Gregory proposed and carried resolutions , making the salary of the Secretaryship , £ 300 per annum , instead of dh ^ o ; [ and retaining the clerkship , which it had been proposed to abolish .

Bro . Raynham Stewart proposed that the election of a Secretary should be fixed for the 5 th December , instead of the 28 th November , as was agreed at the last meeting ; and Bro . J . C . Par-