History Of The Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.

places of residence . The first of these is worth quoting in full , not so much on account of the sums the lodges contributed as because it will be a source of satisfaction to the members of those among them which are still on the roll of Grand Lodge to be able to speak of their predecessors as having lent a helping hand in establishing this important Charity . The list is as follows : United Mariners , No . 23 , King ' s Arms , Green Bank , St . Geoige ' s , voluntary £ 10 10 o

And , per annum 220 Lodge No . 31 , King ' s Arms , Burr-street , voluntary 5 5 o And , per annum 1 1 o Lodge No . 195 , Hole-in-the-Wall , Fleet-street , voluntary 1010 o Lodge No . 192 , per annum 220 „ 10 , do . 1 1 o „ Si , do . 1 1 o

. „ 25 S , do . 1 1 o „ 245 , do . 1 1 o „ 3 » do . 220 ,, 37 , do . 220 „ 234 , do . 1 1 o

Of the above lodges , No . 3 is present St . George's and Corner Stone , No . 5—or , to be more precise , a part of it—the Corner Stone of " Modern " origin having united with No . 5 in 1 843 ; No . 10 is now Royal Athelstan , No . 19 ; No . 23 , retaining the same title , No . 30 ; No . 31 , present Mount Moriah , No . 34 ; No . 81 , present Mount Lebanon , No . 73 ; No . 192 , located at the time at Woolwich , now Faith Lodge , No . 141 ; No . 195 , now Lodge of Prudent Brethren , No . 145 ; No . 244 , now Lodge of Tranquillity ,

No . 185 ; No . 245 , now Industry Lodge , No . 1 S 6 ; and No . 258 , now the Lion and Lamb Lodge , No . 192 . Thus of the eleven enumerated by Bro . Cole in 1801 as " contributing lodges , " ten are still on the roll , and these without an exception are loyal supporters of the Institution which their predecessors of more than So years since had a hand in maintaining . The number of boys amounts to 30 , the year 1799 being entered in the margin against both No . 1 and No . 13 , though whether in the former case

it is a misprint for 179 S it . is of course impossible to say . The meeting at which it was resolved to establish the Charity is stated to have been held on the 3 rd July , 1798 , and no doubt some time must have elapsed ere the necessary arrangements were completed for electing the children , clothing them , and sending them to school , so that , though the scheme was formulated in 1798 , the actual operations may not have commenced till the following year . However , the matter is of little moment . When in May , 18 . 01 , Bro . Cole

published his " Illustrations , he knew of 30 uhildrcn who had been received into the Charity , and of those , 19 appear to have been elected in 1799 , eight in 1800 , and three to date in 1801 . Of the 30 one boy , standing No . 3 , is noted as having been "taken out by his father from a favourable turn of circumstances , " while No . 6 appears to have been dismissed on the ground of having " absented himself from school , November , 1799 . " The list of Schoolmasters includes nine names , one hailing from Fitzroy-squareand one

from Little Wild-street , while another is described as " Master of St . Sepulchre ' s School , " No . 4 as of " Red Cross-street , Cri pp legate , " No . 5 of " S p italfields School , " and the remaining four of Wapping , Poplar , Rotherhithc , and Bermondsey respectively . Among these Masters were distributed 24 children , of whom six were in charge of the Rev . Mr . Free ,

Osborn-strcet , New Cut , Wapping ; four with Mr . O'Brien , of Churchstreet , Dcptford ; and four with Mr . Barry , of Red Cross-street . The four still unaccounted for out of the full number of 30 had doubtless completed their several terms of study and left , as from the rules we have given , there does not appear to have been any maximum limit of age for the reception of children , though none were allowed to remain after 14 .

For the above particulars as well as for the statement that in the year 1801 the Duke of Atholl as Grand Master was graciously pleased to extend his patronage to the infant Charity , then designated "The Masonic Charity for Clothing and Educating the Sons of Indigent Freemasons , " we arc indebted to our worthy Bro . Cole . Our next source of indebtedness is the minutes of the Atholl Grand Lodge and the printed Transactions or Proceedings of its different Communications , with the Grand Treasurer ' s

Statements of Account , and latterly those of Bro . Robert Lcshc , G . S ., I rcasurer of the Boys' Institution , appended thereto . The Minutes are consecutive , but the printed Particulars unfortunately are not . Still the two sources of information have enabled us to supply enough to furnish a tolerably clear , if not a perfectly continuous , story of the interval between 1 S 01 , when Bro . Cole published his account of the Charity for the express purpose of assisting its funds , and laruary 1812 , when the School Records begin .

The first extract is from the minutes of the Stewards' Lodge , under date the 16 th of March , 1803 , from which it appears that " Upon motion made by the R . W . D . Grand Master , it was ordered unanimously that it be recommended to the Grand Lodge at their next meeting to grant 10 fuineas to the Fund of Charity for Clothing and Educating the Sons of ndigent Freemasons , and that the same be paid to the Treasurer of the said Institution if the Grand Lodge should think fit . " _ The minutes were confirmed and the recommendation was acted upon , as in the Statement of

Account of Grand Treasurer , Win . Comerford Clarkson , appended to the Proceedings of Grand Lodge held on 1 st June following , occurs the entry : " First contribution to the Masonic Charity , for Clothing and Educating the Sons of Ancient Freemasons , £ 10 10 s . There _ is also for this year a balloting paper fortunately extant , of which mention has already been made , and in which it is announced that a " Quarterly General Meeting of the Governors will be held on Friday , the 1 st July , at the King ' s Arms , . Green Bank , Wapping—the headquarters of the United Mariners Lodge , for the audit of Accounts and the election of Four Children out of a list of

Twelve Candidates . " In the Grand Lodge Proceedings of the 7 th March , iSo 4 , is to be found an acknowledgment of Sundry contributions received ( by the Secretary ) to the Fund of Charity instituted for Maintaining , Clothing , and Educating the Sons of Indigent F ' reemasons , " namely : —

1503 . Sept . 7 th . Cash from Lodge 230 , at the Salutation , Woolwich , annual £ 1 1 o Oct . Cash from Lodge 322 , in the 7 th Regiment , at Fort William , Calcutta 9 9 o 1504 . Jan . Cash from the Marine Lodge , 323 , Calcutta ... 520 From the minutes of the Stewards' Lodge held on the 20 th June , 1804 , it

appears that a second subscription of 10 guineas was paid to the Charity , by order of the Grand Lodge , while , incidentally , we learn of two other events which occurred in conaection with the Charity in the course of the same year , and one of which is especially interesting , as it must have had some effect in bringing about the establishment of the " Modern" Boys' Charity . In the first published statement of account , still remaining to us—quarter to end of June , 1806—by Bro . Leslie , as Treasurer of the Charity , a sum of •£ 11 17 s . 6 d . is entered as having been received "for Tickets Royal Circus

History Of The Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.

Benefit , 1 S 04 , to date , per ace , " and there is a similar entry of £ 2 4 s . received in respect of the same benefit in the next Quarterly Statement of Account for quarter to September , 1 S 06 . We alsoTearn from an entry in the minute books of the Institution , bearing date the 1 st April , 1816 , that some time during 1 S 04 Bro . F . C . Daniel was excluded from all his lights and privileges as a Life Governor of the Charity ; for the entry in

question is to the effect that it was unanimousl y agreed , on the motion of Bro . Isaac Lindo , duly seconded , that the resolution passed in 1804 be rescinded , and Bro . F . C . Daniel be invited to resume his position as well as his rights and privileges as a Life Governor . \ VC have no means of learning what particular offence Bro . F . C . Daniel had been guilty of that he should have been subjected to such an extreme penalty as that of exclusion

from his rights as contributor to a Charitable Institution . However , there is no difficulty in accounting for such action against him . In iSo ' i Bro . Daniel had been expelled from "Ancient" Masonry by resolution of the Atholl Grand Lodge , and a circular letter had been addressed by Grand Secretary Leslie to all the lodges in England , Scotland , Ireland , and America , for the purpose of cautioning the brethren against certain certificates

purporting to be issued by " Lodge 57 , Royal Naval Lodge of Independence , Wapping , " and said to be " fabricated by an expelled Mason , intended to pass and impose upon our ancient Order , particularly in America . " It was on a charge brought against him by Bro . Daniel that Bro . Thomas Harper , Dcp . Grand Master of the "Ancients , " and a Patron of their Boys' Charity , was expelled from " Modern " Masonry in 1803 , while in his famous address

lo the Duke of Atholl on the subject of a union between the two fraternities , published in 1804 , Bro . Daniel made what cannot be designated as otherwise than a most offensive attack on the personal character of Bro . Harper in his private as well as in his Masonic capacity . In such circumstances the extreme severity of the treatment meted out to Bro . Daniel by the Committee and Governors of the Boys' Institution will surprise no one .

This represents the sum and substance of what we have been able to discover in connection with the years 1802-3-4 , while as regards 1 S 05 we have been hardly more fortunate , the one gleam of light we have secured being the following excerpt from the miuutes of the meeting held for the Audit of the Grand Lodge accounts on 3 rd January , 1 S 05 , namely : "Pursuant lo notice . It was recommended by the Grand Secretary to the consideration

of this meeting the establishing a Charity for the Clothing and Educating the Children of Indigent Freemasons—the revenues of which Charity to be collected . and disbursed without any charge being made on account thereof —the business to be conducted at ihe Stewards' Lodge and under the orders thereof and upon their usual nights of meeting and under the immediate direction of Grand Lodge—the funds of this Charity , however , to be kept

separate and distinct from the general fund of Charity of and belonging to the Grand Lodge . After some time spent in consideration of the subject , and upon hearing several of the R . W . and VV . Brothers present , the further consideration thereof was adjourned . " It may be stated at once that there is nothing in the minutes of the Grand or Stewards' Lodge to show that the question was ever again considered formally . But undoubtedly sonic kind

of resolution must have been determined upon , as the printed Proceedings of Grand Lodge on 4 th June , 1 S 06 , contain , after Grand Treasurer ' s statement of account for the quarter , a similar statement in respect of the Boys ' Charity by its Treasurer , Bro . Robert Leslie . It is headed " Robert Leslie in account with the Masonic Institution for Clothing and Educating the sons of Indigent Freemasons , " and the first items on the respective sides of the accountareonthe" Dr . "side : " 1806 , April 4 . Tocash rcccivcdper Particular

to date , £ 112 us . ; and on the " Cr . " side : " 1806 , April 4 . By cash paid and expended to date per Particular , £ 137 i 8 s . iod . " The " Particulars " here referred to are similar statements tor previous quarters , carried forward quarter by quarter , the year terminating with the end of June , but as the Proceedings for 1805 and the first quarter of 1806 are wanting , it is not in our power to decide if the sums so brought forward cover the whole or onlv a part of the preceding nine months . ( To be continued ) .

The Pope And The Freemasons.

THE POPE AND THE FREEMASONS .

Within a century and a half the Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons has been honoured with various forms of notice by his Holiness the Pope and other Roman Catholic dignataries , and had the Bulls and Inter * diets of that powerful ecclesiastical body the potent influence that many supposed , our Society would have ceased to exist long ere this . There is no need for us to enter on any defence of our beloved institution , for never has

its prosperity been so assured as during the present decade , and if the character and high position of many of its exalted members in this country and abroad are not sufficient in the eyes of some to justify its existence , we quite despair of offering anything that would satisfy them . We have no secret aims , and if what is known publicly of the Craft fails to prove the loyalty and law abiding character of its members , we can onlv sav nothinr /

else by way of evidence could possibly avail . It is well , however , to hear what the " Press " has to say on the subject , and , as a rule , we have no reason to complain of the tone , either editorially or generally , in which our Society is alluded to . The Pall Mall Gazette of the 23 rd inst . has an article , entitled " The Papal View of Freemasonry " by Mr . F . C . Burnand ( presumably the Editor of Punch ) , which emphaticall y endorses the cosmopolitan basis of the F ' raternity ; but , at the same time ,

expresses what must be conceded is an important fact—that any Masonic Society " which dispenses with a belief in the Great Architect of the Universe as being no longer an essential qualification of membership , ceases ' ipso facto ' to be a true Masonic body . " The writer observes : " No Catholic can honestly belong to a secret society ; " and yet many belong to our Fratcrnity . It is not for us to reconcile their religious position with their obligations as Freemasons .

The Western Morning News of Plymouth , often valuable in a Masonic point of view for its excellent reports of meetings , considers that in " England Freemasons must regard the Pope's encyclical with a good deal of amusement , " and after all we think this is the true light in which to treat all such effusions . " Nothing can be more innocent " ( says the Editor ) " than the objects of the Body of which the Prince of Wales is the head . " There cannot however be " Roman Catholic Freemasons , " as such , but members

of that religion arc as eligible to join the English Craft as those of any other Body . The Evening Standard , it appears , would " never dream of associating Freemasonry with any worse than the use and abuse of the latch-key . " Now , to many not familiar with the present slate of the Craft , this is quite a natural suggestion , but we venture to suggest that the key to the secret why so many of the great and good of the land "delight in our mysteries " must be sought for elsewhere than in the convivial elements of the society .