The School Elections.

THE SCHOOL ELECTIONS .

The great hall in Freemasons'Tavern presented an animated scene on Friday and Saturday of last week when the Spring School Flections were held , that for the

ROVAL MASONIC INSTITITION FOR GIRLS taking place at the Quarterly General Court on Saturday , the 20 th instant , when , from an approved list of 41 candidates , 22 were chosen by ballot for admission . Success was pretty equally divided between London and the Provinces , though the proportion of Successful to Unsuccessful in the case of the former was considerably greater than in that of the latter . A London

g irl had the good fortune to head the poll with 3652 votes , of which 1391 ) were brought forward and the remainder obtained at this ballot , while the Cornish candidate , who started with 1560 in hand , obtained such further support as placed her next on the list with 3553 votes . The girl from Sussex won a vacancy at her first attempt with 3210 votes , and so did the Wiltshire g irl who took fourth place with 315 S votes , while of the next two

applicants , who both hailed from London , No . 5 , who was a new candidate , obtained 3070 votes , and No . 6 , who had been on the list since April of-last year and had 1 S 94 votes to her credit at starting , increased her total to 3064 votes . No . 7 from Shropshire , who brought forward 1654 votes from October last , polled in all 3057 , and No . 8 , a new case from Surrey , 3053 votes , while No . 9 , from Hertfordshire , received 3020 votes , of which all but 119 were polled at this election . A

new candidate from London was placed next in order with 2970 votes , and the second Shropshire candidate—only two votes behind—stood next with 2968 ; while No . 12 , with 2301 votes from two previous attempts , and having claims on London , Essex , and Lincolnshire , increased her poll by 6 32 to 2933 votes . No . 13 , from Kent and London , was returned with 2911 votes , and No . 14 ( London ) with 2910 votes , of which 2470 were obtained at her three

previous attempts . Another old London candidate , who started with 2048 votes , wasplaced 15 th , with 2902 ; whilethenext in order , who came from London , and v / as a . debutante , was fortunate enough to win a place with 2840 votes . London likewise furnished the next successful girl , who brought forward 1279 votes , from last October , and raised her total to 2 Sio , while No . iS , who had both Norfolk and West Yorkshire to back up her claims , received 2801 votes . The

Nottinghamshire girl received 2757 votes , and the girl from the Fastern Division of South Wales 275 1 , of which 249 were obtained in October last . The two remaining vacancies fell to a new London candidate and an Essex girl , whose name had been before the electors at two previous eleclions , and who had 2328 votes to start with , the total polled by the former being 2718 votes , and by the latter 262 S votes . The 19 unsuccessful candidates

were headed bv four girls , who narrowly missed election , the votes polled for them being 2586 ( Cheshire ) , 253 S ( East Lancashire ) , 2536 ( London ) , and 2466 ( Middlesex ) , respectively . Of these the London girl had no less than 105 ( 1 to the good when the poll was opened , so that it needed only a little more exertion on the part of her supporters to have made her election sure . Of the remaining 15 there were three who obtained 1492 , 1262 , and 1046 votes

respectively , and there was one who received 504 votes but the rest had little or no support , there being only two of them who scored upwards of 200 . However , the whole 19 will be eligible for admission after the next election , and it is not difficult to foresee that sundry amongst them , but more especially those who were so close on winning vacancies on this occasion , are nearly certain to win places at the election in October next . There is one thing most gratifying about this result , that the two last cases , that is , the

children who had this only chance of being admiitted into the School were returned , in the one case at the top of the poll , and in the other at No . 7 . With reference to the votes brought forward and those issued for this election , there were 18 , 577 of the former , and 6 9 , 088 of the latter , giving a total of 87 , 665 votes . Of the fresh votes issued , 62 , 855 were passed by the Scrutineers , there being 6233 which were not used , or—in a few casesrejected . The election of 23 from a reduced list of 45 candidates into the

ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR BOYS took place at the Quarterly General Court on Friday , the 19 th instant , the place of honour at the head of the poll being secured by a son of the late Bro . C . H . DALLAS , P . Dist . G . Master of Japan , with 3098 votes , it being the only chance the boy had of obtaining admission into the School , as he would have exceeded the maximum limit of age before another election

became due . A Kentish boy followed close at his heels , the number of votes polled for him at this his first attempt being 303 S . One of two boys from Surrey was also well placed with 3018 , while the candidate who hailed originally from New South Wales , but was in a position to claim support from the Provinces of Somersetshire and Hants and the Isle of Wight , scored : if 05 , of which 107 were brought forward from October last . This lad ' s name

would have been removed from the list had he failed on this occasion . The next boy , who stood fifth on the poll with 2970 votes , hailed from Berkshire , and was in the same position as those who won the first and fourth places , while No . 6 ,. who derived his claims from the Fastern Division of South Wales , and had already 1521 votes to his credit , received

such additional support as raised his total to 2970 . A second candidate fro m Kent , who started with 324 votes to the good , finished seventh with 2959 , an ( l was followed by the > highest 1 . ondon candidate who added 1308 votes to his previous credit of 1641 votes , making his final total -919 . The West Yorkshire lad was only 40 votes behind , and came out

The School Elections.

ninth with 2901 ) , while the 10 th place was won by the third Kentish youngster with 28 S 5 votes , of which 1252 were the result of the exertions made in his behalf at the election in October , 1 S 94 . Thus far it will be seen that the Provinces had it all their own way , there being only one London out of the first 10 on the poll . However , the next two vacancies fell to the Metropolis , the boy at No . 1 1 raising the total of 2401 from last October to .. 'Sv > . and

No . 1 J , a new case , obtaining off hand . 771 voles . No . 13 , with claims on Durham and London , brought forward 7 I 11 votes , and obtaining further support to the tune of i <) i . | , increased his total to 2702 , while No . 14 , who failed in October last to win more than 105 votes , was only two behind No . 13 , his tolal at the close of the ballot being 2700 . No . 15 was the only West Lancashire lad on the list—though the Province had a part interest in two

other candidates—and scored 266 5 votes , No . M > from West . Lancashire and Cheshire , and No . 17 from ( heshire and West Lancashire being both of Ihem close up wiih . 1633 and 261 .: votes respectively . One of four candidates from Essex , who began with 512 , secured the iKih place with 2606 votes , No . KJ , from East Lancashire and West Yorkshire being next with 2575 , and No . 20 , from London , who had 1006 voles to the good from two previous

attempts , made up his poll to 2537 . A Northumberland boy , who obtained 2491 votes , a second Essex candidate with 2314 votes , of which all but 73 were polled at this election , and the lad from Cumberland and Westmoreland , with 2190 votes , secured the three remaining vacancies . Of the 22 Unsuccessful Candidates—who will remain on the list and have their votes carried forward to the next election—there were two , from London and Essex ,

who polled 2140 and 2094 votes respectively ; two , from London and South America , of whom the former polled 191 ) 5 , and the latter 11 ) 51 ) votes ; and two who obtained over 1500 votes , namely , the candidate irom Gloucestershire and London , who increased his voles from 1004 to 1591 , and a London boy , who obtained 1540 votes . The next two were also London candidates , of whom ihe former , with S 60 in hand , reached a total of

1397 , while the other received 1373 votes . Then followed two more London boys , who were unsuccessful last year , one of them obtaining 990 votes , of which 354 were brought forward , and the other SG 8 votes , of which 415 were brought forward . The lad who stood 34 th on the list , scored 743 , and then came a London and Essex boy with 660 votes , and a Surrey boy with 57 S votes . The remaining nine have votes to the good ranging from 372—in the case of the Norths and Hunts

candidatedown to 12 , obtained by him of Bermuda , of which 9 were brought forward , and 3 polled at this election . Thus it will be seen that London succeeded in carrying the election of only four out of its 15 candidates , and only one of the four in which she had a joint interest with some of the Provinces , another of the latter class , who had claims on Kent and Gibraltar as well as on London , having been withdrawn after the list had been compiled . Of the 28

Provincial boys , the very large proportion of tSwere elected , Essex carrying two out of four , Kent three , and Surrey one of two . But the most gratifying feature in the Returns is that the wholeof the four In st cases have succeeded in winning vacancies , while a fifth , hailing from Warwickshire , was withdrawn for presentation , so that he likewise will be received into the

Institution . As regards the votes brought forward or available for use , there were 14 , 844 of the lormer , and 74 , 229 of the latter , making up a total of 8 9 , 073 . Of the votes issued , 6 S , o 85 were polled for the successful and unsuccessful candidates , and 111 for the two who were withdrawn , so that 6033 were not used or in a small number of instances were rejected by the Scrutineers on the ground of informality .

Grand Festival Of The United Grand Lodge Of England.

GRAND FESTIVAL OF THE UNITED GRAND LODGE OF ENGLAND .

The Annual Grand Festival of English Freemasons was held on Wednesday , at Freemasons' Hall . Grand Lodge was opened at five o ' clock p . m ., there being some (> oo brethren present , by the R . W . Deputy Gran ! Master , the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe , Provincial Grand Master for

Cornwall . Bros . Rear-Admiral Markham , District Grand Master of Malta , acted as Deputy Grand Master ; Sir Charles Warren , District Grand Master Eastern Archipelago , as Past Grand Master ; Sir Francis Beilby Alston , K . C . M . G ., Past Grand Warden ( i . s » , as S . G . W ; and Sir J . B . Monckton , P . G . W ., as J . G . W .

Grand Lodge having been opened , the minutes of the March meeting of Grand Lodge so far as related to the election of M . W . G . M ., and Grand Treasurer , were read by Grand Secretary and confirmed . The Earl of MOUNT EDGCI-MIIF . said that his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales , the Most Worshipful Grand Master , would now be proclaimed , and he was sure the brethren would receive it with that loyalty and fraternal cordiality with which they had always received it .

Bro . Sir AI . MERT W . WOODS ( Garter ) , G . D . C , then proclaimed the Most Worshipful Grand Master . The Karl of MOINT EDGCIMHI : next said that he had to announce that the M . W . G . M . had been pleased to appoint the Earl of Lathom , M . W . Pro G . M . He regretted , however , that Lord l . athom ' s absence that day was caused by his being obliged to go to some warmer climate to recover his health on account of his recent illness ; he was now on his way home .

Sir AI . IIP . KT W . WOODS then proclaimed the Earl of Lathom , M . W , Pro Grand Master . The Earl of Moi'NT Food , ' » IUE next said : I have now to announce