History Of The Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.

When , however , in response to the usual advertisement , the several designs , about 30 in number , were sent in , and considered by the Committee , preliminarily to their being exhibited in Freemasons' Hall , and when subse-, quently six of them were chosen , with a view to the ultimate award of the premiums , it was found that in each case the estimated cost of carrying out the design ttery far exceeded the sum intended to be spent . Six other designs of a plainer and less ambitious character were therefore selected ,

and Bros . S . B . Wilson and Joseph Lavender invited to estimate the cost of carrying them severally into execution . The result of these estimates was that the second , like the first , batch of six , was found to cost in each case greatly in excess of the ^ 8000 originally fixed . It was then determined to award the premiums among the six first selected , the highest of £ 70 being adjudged to Mr . Edwin Pearce , of Angell-terrace , Paradise-road , Clapham , whose design it was ultimately proposed to carry out , at a cost not exceeding

£ 15 , 000 , the recommendation of the House Committee to this effect being adopted at a Special General Court , held on the 31 st July , 1863 . On the Sth August the first stone was formally laid by Bro . Algernon Perkins , Past Grand Junior Warden , the M . W . Grand Master having previously given his sanction to the holding of a Special Grand Lodge on the occasion , while the House Committee and the Secretary had charge as Stewards of the festival portion of the programme . Temporary structures having been erected at a cost of £ 350 for the accommodation of the guests , the

proceedings commenced at an early hour of the day with a series of athletic sports tor the boys , to the most successful of whom were awarded prizes in the shape of cricket bats , fishing rods , & c , representing in value an aggregate of £ 5 . The services of three military bands , including that 01 the ist Life Guards , were engaged , and in due course the procession , having been formed , arrived at the site of the stone , and the ceremony of laying it was carried out in accordance with ancient usage , the following copy , in vellum , of the inscription on the brass plate being lodged in the cavity of the stone , namely :

In the name of the GREAT ARCHITECT OF THE UNIVERSE , This Corner-stone of a new Building for the ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION TOR BOYS ( founded in the year 179 S ) , Wherein will be educated , clothed , and . maintained

ONE HUNDRED BOYS , the Sons of Decayed and Deceased Freemasons , was laid with full Masonic Honours by ALGERNON PERKINS , ESQ ., Right Worshipful Past Grand Warden , in the presence of the Officers and Members of thc UNITED GRAND LODGE OF ENGLAND

( specially summoned for the occasion ) and numerous Members of the Craft , on Saturday , Sth of August , A . L . 5 S 63 , A . D . 1 SG 3 , in the 27 th year of the Reign of QUEEN VICTORIA . Patron : Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen . President : The Rt . Hon . the Earl of Zetland , K . T ., M . W . Grand Master .

Following this is a complete list of the Committee and Officers , & c , of the Institution , lhe whole concluding with the appropriate words " Gloria in Excelsis Deo . " The ceremony being concluded , in which , by the way , the pupils of the Girls' and Boys' Schools took a prominent part , the visitors sat down to an elegant banquet , while Bros . Toole and Bedford by their amusing entertainment contributed largely to the pleasure of the day . Lastlythe moneys subscribed by the ladies—in purses ranging from 5 to

, 25 guineas—and brethren were handed in and found to amount to , in round figures , some £ 1500 , effusive votes of thanks being passed to all who had had a share in the day ' s event . The stone having been laid , the erection of the new School proceeded apace , and at length on the 8 th July , 1865 , the inaugural ceremony was held , under the presidency of the Right Hon . the Earl de Grey and Ripon , D . G . Master , in the unavoidable absence , through a domestic

bereavement , of the Grand Master ; the new dming hall being suitably fitted up for the Dedication ceremony . Here addresses were delivered by the Acting Grand Master , Bro . J . S . S . Hopwood , Chairman of the General Committee ( on behalf of Bro . B . B . Cabbell , the Treasurer ) , Bro . the Rev . C . R . Davy , Grand Chap . ; and Bro . the Rev . J . E . Cox , Past Grand Chap . A breakfeast , at which the chair was taken by Earl De Grey and Ripon , followed , after which the Secretary announced that the approximate be set down

result of the Festival must as being about £ 5000 , a most welcome announcement with which to conclude the festive gathering . There would seem to have been some slight drawback from the success of the proceedings , in consequence of the contractor for the collation having made very indifferent arrangements , but , as the Minutes remark , this may have been attributable to the unfinished state of the buildings and especially of the grounds . At all events , this trivial drawback was ephemeral . The

grounds and building were soon brought into an orderly state , and in a very short time it came to be possible to make the substantial addition to the numerical strength of the establishment which had been in contemplation when the new building was undertaken . It will be understood that , in connection withso costly an enterprise as that of erecting an entirely new building which should be large enough to accommodate an increased number of pupils and the increased educational

and domestic staffs which would'necessarily follow , the question of ways and means would seriously occupy the minds of the lixecutive . Happily , the day had passed when the possibility of meeting a very heavy expenditure was likely to be viewed with any approach to misgiving . Weare far from desiring our readers to imagine that the undertaking we have just briefly described was entered upon without a grave sense of the responsibility which was being incurred . But , if we may be permitted to say so , when

thc Boys' Institution resolved on having a School of its own there seems to have been established a strong sense of familiarity between its governing body and the Craft generally . The former appears to have adopted as the guiding principle of its actions that the latter would be ' only too delighted to render whatever pecuniary assistance might be found requisite if only they were taken into the confidence of the Executive . We do not suggest that

the brethren would have sanctioned a reckless course of procedure . But , somehow , a kind of friendly understanding appears almost imperceptibly to have established itself between the Institution and the Craft . The old sense of hesitation \\ 'ould seem" lo have given' place to one of belief that the latter would do what was required towards placing the Charity on a footing worthy of all interested in its success , if onl y the Executive would make it clear , on broad and statesmanlike grounds , what was the line of policy it proposed to adopt . It is only in some such way as this that we can pretend to explain the remarkable change of front whicli occurred during the first decade

History Of The Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.

of Bro . Cabbell ' sTreasurership , when one year a Committee reported dead against a proposal to erect or rent a School building on the ground that it would be too costly , and the very next year another Committee was as dead in favour of the very same proposal . Moreover , the Craft had not only sanctioned and applauded this change of front by liberally providing lhe additional moneys that were required , but they had gone siill further and

most handsomely supported the Governors in the still more costly plans for the extension and improvement of the Institution . In 1850 a School was not to be thought of ; in 1851 k was resolved to buy or build one . In 1857 the original premises at Wood Green were opened for the reception of 25 boys , the remaining 4 . 5 on the establishment being continued under the old system . In 1 S 59 the whole of the establishment was housed at Wood

Green ; and in 1865 the new building , large enough to accommodate 100 boys , was ceremoniously opened for the purposes of the Institution by the Deputy Grand Master of England . These changes necessitated a very large outlay , but the funds were readily forthcoming . The cost of ihe first experiment was met without trenching on the invested funds of lhe Institution to any great extent , but that of the enlarged School could not be dealt with so

summarily In 1864 the whole of the funded property ( £ 13 , 100 Government Stock ) was sold , and the proceeds (; £ i 1 , 540 ) went towards paying for the structure , while a few years later a sum of £ 10 , 000 to be devoted to the same object , was borrowed on mortgage of the property , the rest ot the expense being defrayed out of the current receipts of the Institution . But we need not enter into further particulars on this head . In the Appendix will be found a tabular statement , in which is set forth the whole of the expense

incurred in connection with the new School inaugurated in 1 S 65 , the statement being certified by Bro . S . B . Wilson , the architect of the Institution , as correct to date—Sth January 1871 , the mortgage having by lhat time been paid off , and the Institntion , if not entirely freed from debt , in a fairway of becoming so , thanks to the splendid liberality with which the brethren in the Provinces as well as in London had responded to the appeals of the Executive for assistance in this glorious work .

The other events that occurred during this period arc of the same encouraging character . It is hardly worth while entering into minute details as to the steps taken by the Executive in the fulfilment of their responsibilities . It may be stated in general terms thai in the course pursued by the House and General Committees the spirit of enterprise by which they were actuated was , in all cases , tempered by the exercise of a sound discretion .

In 1 S 62 it was determined to raise the maximum limit of age for the boys in the establishment from 14 lo 15 , while thc year following the new arrangements , by which the Head Master had a residence set apart for his use , rendered it necessary there should be some one placed in chargeof the domestic arrangements of the School , and the services of Miss Hall were engaged as Matron , and thefaclof her still holdingthal position after the lapseoi 21 years

fully establishes the wisdom of the choice lhat was made . As regards the Festivals , they became increasingly productive from the time lhat Bro . Binckes entered upon the office of Secretary . In 1 S 62 Lord Holmesdalein the unavoidable absence of Lord Leigh—took the chair ; the Board of Stewards numbered log brethren , and the sum raised was £ 3650 , the services of Bro . Binckes being promptly recognised by the Committee in a

manner that was at once substantial and gratifying . In 1863 Lord de Grey and Ripon presided , and the proceeds amounted to £ 4670 , his Lordship ' s province being a contributor to the extent of £ 1500 , while olher provinces also rendered valuable assistance . Indeed , in the vote of thanks recorded in the minutes to the Stewards it is distinctly pointed out thai " considerably more than one-half " of the above total was raised by the provincial section

of the Board . So"gratified were the Governors and Subscribers with a re « suit , which at the time was entirely unpredecented , that it was unanimously resolved , on the motion of Bro . ( then Captain ) Creaton , that an honorarium should be annually bestowed on Bro . Binckes , amounting to 5 per cent , on all the proceeds in excess of _ £ " 20 oo . The increased exertions made in respect of the Anniversary gatherings were rendered necessary by the

increased amountof responsibility devolving on the Institution ; but this alone will not suffice to account for the great increase in the amounts raised on these occasions . The Boards of Stewards were organised systematically . Circulars were issued inviting support , and Bro . Binckes travelled the country in all directions in order to obtain the assistance of brethren as

Stewards and the countenance of the country lodges . I his unceasing energy on his part had its reward , and as the years rolled on , itwas found possible not only to maintain , but even to raise still higher , the standard of efficiency which had been fixed for the Boys' School under the new and improved system adopted and carried out by the Committee and Bro . Binckes . (' To be continued . )

INTOLERANCE . —A grave vice always opposed to the true genius and real teaching of Freemasonry . Intolerance is not confined to any one age or sect , and seems to be , alas ! the common heritage of us all alike . As Freemason we should always be above intolerance , and learn to be tolerant in word and deed and thought . F ' reemasonry has often to contend with the intolerance of a pseudo-religionism , which seems to think that oithodoxy and the true faith are best shown forth by cursing and anathematizing those who differ from us—that awful mistake which has led to so much

suffering , sorrow , cruelty , persecution , and bloodshed in the world . 1 he Roman Catholic Church has always been very intolerant against F ' reemasonry , and some minor Protestant sects have followed suit . The Masonic body in England has always boasted of its great teaching of Toleration as the key-note of all its public- professions and practice , as well as of its inner code of ethics ; and we trust

that nothing will ever induce it to become insensible to the ceaseless duty of a kindly and tolerant treatment of all men . There is a tendency in the age to revive intolerance in its most mournful guise , persecution for conscience sake , especially on the part of the Ultramontanes and olher insignificant bodies ; but as Freemasons- we can never allow lhe word Toleration to be erased from our banners . — Kenning ' s Encyclopedia .

THE IONIAN ISLANDS- —Freemasonry seems to have been founded at Corfu by a lodge called " Loge de St . Napoleon , " under the Grand Orient of F ' rance , in 1811 . Another lodge , called " Le Phenix , " under the same authority , is still active , constituted in 1843 . The lodge " Pythagoras , "

under the English Grand Lodge , was constituted together with a Royal Arch Chapter in 1837 . About 1842 a Grand Lodge of Greece was , we understand , set up under a certain Angelo Calichiopulo as Grand Master ; but we believe that it is now absorbed in lhe Grand Lodge of Greece at Athens . —Kenning ' s Encyclopedia .