Contents.

CONTENTS .

L EADERSProposed Removal of the Boys' School ... ... ... ... 497 Freemasonry in Canada ... ... ... ... ... 49 S Ars Ouatuor Coronatorum ... ... ... ... ... 49 S The Scottish Constitutions ... ... ... ... ... 499

Consecration of the Cestrian Conclave , No . 154 , Birkenhead ... ... 499 Provincial Grand Chapter of Durham ... ... ... ... 500 Outing of the Royal Kent Preceptory , No . 20 , of Knights Templar ... 500 Consecration of the Victoria Regina Lodge , No . 176 , Ireland ... ... 501 Red Cross of Rome and Constantine ... ... ... ... 501 Crait Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... 501 M ASONIC

NOTESProvincial Grand Chapter of Leicestershire and Rutland ... ... 503 Miss Davis ' s Pension ... ... ... ... ... 503 Correspondence ... ... ... ... ... ... 504 Craft Masonry ... .., ... ... ... ... 504 Royal Arch ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 507 Lodges and Chapter of Instruction ... ... ... ,,. 507 Masonic and General Tidings ... .,. ... ... ... 50 S

Proposed Removal Of The Boys' School.

PROPOSED REMOVAL OF THE BOYS' SCHOOL .

While we are unable to agree with the main points raised by " D . P . G . M . and Past G . O . " in the letter of his we published last week on the " Removal of the Boys' School "—the tenour of our previous articles on the subject will have made this very clear—we are well pleased that he should have written so

straightforwardly . He will not concern himself about so petty a side issue " as to whther the opponents of the scheme ought to have come forward at an earlier period . " He discusses

seriously the Special Report of the Board of Management , admitting " as to a good deal which is contained" in it , that "there is probably no difference of opinion . " " The site and

surroundings of the School , " he very candidly allows , " are not such as would now be selected for the erection of a new school , and the space is insufficient for games on the grand (?) scale which is

now considered essential to the education of youth . " But though he readily concedes all this , he does not consider it b y any means follows that new Schools should be erected

elsewhere . His opinion is that the present is a favourable opportunit y for seeing whether we cannot " do better for our children by some different arrangement—ex . gra ., by grants in aid of education and ck thing outside the walls of an ' Institution . ' "

But "D . P . G . M . and Past G . O . ' s" letter , though admirable in tone and for its candour , contains more than one statement to which exception . may properly be taken . Thus in his third paragraph , our correspondent thus expresses himself : "

Grant-> "g all this "—namely , that " a good deal " of what the Board of Management ' s report contains about the site and surroundings ° ' the School is just and reasonable— " is it not the very time wn

necessary that we should expend another £ 100 , 000 in the erection of nciv Schools ; or , seeing the altered circumstances in which we now live , cannot we do better for our children by some different arr angements ? "—such as we have alread y noted . In the first clause

of his question , "D . P . G . M . and Past G . O . " has fallen into a vcry serious error . It is undoubtedl y true that from first to ast i during the 40 years that have elapsed since Lordship 0 use and the grounds in which it stood—some 10 acres in

fint- -were purchased , a sum of £ 100 , 000 has been expended 11 l » e premises at Wood Green . But in this sum is included lat has been spent year by year not only in the purchase of H & c , and the erection of buildings , but also upon their ai tttenance , alteration , repairs , & c . According to a report issued

Proposed Removal Of The Boys' School.

in the spring of 188 S—the year in which began the troubles that led to the supersession of the old system of management by the present Board of Management , the " Total Cost of Estate , " inclusive of £ 9013 expended in the purchase of

freehold land , was £ 94 , 650 , and there is . little doubt that this has since been increased to the sum stated by our brother . We cannot say off-hand what portion of this has been spent on land and building , but we do not think we shall bo "really

understating the amount if we place it at between £ 50 , 000 and £ 00 . 000 , nor would this large outlay have been necessary had it not been for the rapid increase in the number of boys on the establishment' from 10 in 18 5 7 , when the

first batch of 25 boarders was received into Lordshi p House , as an experiment , to 279 in the present year . The nucleus of the existing premises was commenced in 186 3 and opened in 1 S 65 for the accommodation of 100 boys . In the course of the

20 years that followed , this number was more than doubled , and room was made for the additional 115 by enlarging the building , the purchase of Kent Mouse , & c . Then came the erection of the Preparatory School and New Hall consequent

upon the successful Festival of 188 3 . Had the whole of the present buildings been erected , and the existing freehold purchased at one time , the cost would doubtless have been considerably less . But the value of the Estate is estimated in the

annual statement of accounts , & c , at £ 30 , 000 , and il only this sum is cleared by the sale of it , there will be that much in hand towards the purchase of another site and the erection of new School buildings .

Again , in the fourth and fifth paragraphs , the position he * takes up in reference to the question whether we are to carry on the Institution under existing conditions or revert to the old system of " out-educating" the boys as in the days prior to

1 S 56 is decidedly weak . True , the Board of Management , as he points out in the paragraph on p . 3 of their report , say , they " can only answer this contention , " & c , but we do not interpret the word " only" in the sense in which

Intakes it , and for this reason , that in two other passages in their report they give two other reasons , as he himself is careful to point out . One of the Board's objections to " outeducating" the boys is , as quoted by "D . P . G . M . and Past

G . O . " in his sixth paragraph , that " there can be but slight supervision over such boys or over the grant : n aid . " The second will be found in our correspondent ' s seventh paragraph , that "in no case has it been known that preference has been

expressed for out-education , a convincing proof that they fully appreciate the advantages of the public school life given therein . " These are undoubtedly strong reasons against any return to the system prevailing before the purchase of the site at Wood

Green , and we arc therefore justified in disputing his literal interpretation of the word " only" in the paragraph he quotes from the Board ' s report . In short , the Board holds that there are three reasons , not one only , against reverting to the system

of " out-educating "—( 1 ) That the question was settled in 1 S 51 ; ( 2 ) that there can be no proper supervision when the boys are " out-educated" ; and ( 3 ) that in no case do the parents or guardians of the successful candidates exhibit any preference for

" out-education . ' To these we are able to add a fourth , which ought not to be without its due weight with the Subscribers , namely , that from the very foundation of the Institution , it was intended to house the children as well as clothe and educate them , and the onl y reason why this intention was not acted upon