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^SeeSsS^ SATURDAY , OCTOBER 31 , 1896 .

Masonic Notes.

Masonic Notes .

It is to be regretted that a paper professing to be representative of' English Masonic opinion should have so far forgotten what is due lo Masonry , to Journalism , and to itself , as to charge the management if one of our great central Institutions with the per-1 'etration of a "job . " The passage in which this c large was made was contained in a leading article

l "' at appeared in the said paper on the 17 th inst ., and ' 'id as follows : "A few years hem , e the Craft may have occasion to regret the ' job ' that is now being Perpetrated at their expense . " It is almost needless to ¦» dd that the body against which this alleged charge is ¦ 'id is , as the context shows , the Board of Management of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys .

Masonic Notes.

Now brethren may differ with this Board of Management as to the wisdom of the course they are pursuing They may doubt the advisability of removing the School from Wood Green , they may question the suitability of the property which it is proposed to

purchase at Bushey , and the reasonableness of the price it has been agreed to pay for if . But we venture to think we ure not arrogating to ourselves any undue measure of authorilv when we affirm that however

widely they may dissent from the course which the Board has adopted , there is not an English Mason in London , the Provinces , or abroad who believes that the Board is capable of lending itself to the perpetration of anything in the nature of a " job . "

We all admire and respect the constituent members of this Board for the distinctions they have won in Masonry , for the generous support they have given to all our Institutions , and for the services they are ungrudgingly rendering as the administrators of this

particular Institution of the Boys' School ; and we all repudiate the idea that in the policy they are desirous of carrying out , they are prompted by any other motive than that of serving the School to the utmost of their ability , and promoting and safeguarding the best interests of Masonry .

* * * That our readers may know who and what manner of men they are against whom this charge of perpetrating a " job" is laid , we mention the following , who , with other members , constitute the Board of

Management of our Boys' School . First of all , there is Bro . Richard Eve , Past Grand Treasurer , and Patron and one of the Trustees of the Institution , who is Chairman of the Board , while Bro . George Everett , Past Grand Treasurer , and a Vice-Patron , and Bro . W .

F . Smithson , P . G . D ., and a Vice-President and Hon . Vice-Patron , are the Vice-Chairmen . Among the London members are Bros . Stanley J . Attenborough , Vice-Patron and Hon . Solicitor ; George E . Fairchild , A . G . DC . Vice-Patron ; John Glass , Vice-President ;

Joseph D . Langton , D . G . D . C , Life Governor ; W . A . Scurrah , G . Std . Br ., Vice-Patron ; A . C . Spaull , P . G . Std . Br ., Vice-President ; James Stephens , Vice-Patron ; and J . J . Thomas , Vice-President . The Provincial members include Bros . W . H . Bailey , Grand

Treasurer , Vice-Patron ; Harry Bevir , Prov . Grand Secretary Wilts , Life Governor ; Richard Clowes , P . G . Std . Br ., Vice-President ; Major John E . Le Feuvre , J . P ., P . G D ., D . P . G . M , Hants and the Isle of Wight , Vice-President ; Major O . Papworth , Prov .

Grand Secretary Cambridgeshire , Vice-President ; William Russell , J . P ., Prov . Grand Treasurer Kent , Life Governor ; and R . V . Vassar-Smith , J . P ., P . G . D ., D . P . G . M . Gloucestershire . To t ' . vesc must be added Bro . C . E . Keyser , J . P ., P . G . D ., who , as Treasurer , is cx-ojjicio a memb er of the Board .

There are one or two points in Bro . Whytehead s letter of last week lo which it is desirable to call attention . Firstly , as regards the sum— . £ 13 , 000—proposed to be paid for the new site at Bushey , it is undoubtedly large , and Bro . Whytehead's contention

as to the price for which good land can be had may be correct . But there arc nuny other points which have had to be considered in making the purchase . It may not greatly matter whether the School is located in " Middlesex , Essex , Kent , Surrey ,

Hampshire , Berks , Bucks , or Hertford . " But if a site can be obtained which is in the country and , at the same time , within easy reach of " . the Great Babylon" and is likewise accessible from all parts of the country , such a consideration has undoubtedly carried its due weight with

the Board in the selection they have made . We were given to understand at the Quarterly General Court on the 9 th instant the Board had selected this from a number of sites , and we presume that price was not the only consideration to which they attached importance .

* » * If we assume that Bro . Whytehead is correct in his opinion " that a magnificent estate could be bought for our purpose within reasonabledistanceof London for ^ , " 25 an acre at the outside , " still it would not be much good

buying such an estate unless it happened to be within reasonable distance" of a station on some principal line of railway , and with something like decent roads to traverse between School and station . The proposed

site al Bushey is within a mile of Bushey Station , and there are good roads bordering the estate on all sides . There will , therefore , be no difficulty on the part of the boys , the masters , the Board , and visitors , in going to and fro .

Masonic Notes.

Again , as wc remarked in our Note of last week , if the price is excessive , there are compensating advantages in the " sewers " which have been constructed along two of the roads bordering the estate and the water and gas mains which have already been carried close up to the boundary . There would not be much

economy in buying an estate for . d . 3000 or ^ 4000 and then having to spend several thousands in laying down sewers and gas and water mains . But is the price paid so excessive considering the healthiness of the site , its accessibility from all parts of the country ,

and the fact of there being sewers and mains already laid down ? The estate at Wood Green , which comprises some 14 acres , cost £ 9000 ; here wc have 66—or , we believe the correct figure is nearly 6 S—acres , and the price to be paid for it is ^ 13 , 000 .

* * * As for the idea that 10 or 15 years hence Bushey will be over-run with bricks and mortar as Wood Green is now , we think the probability is too remote to beworthy of serious consideration . Moreover , with 68 ' acres , or thereabouts , the Institution can never be cramped for room as it is at Wood Green with 14

acres . There will always be ample space for the School buildings , and for purposes of recreation , even if the estate should at any time be surrounded with houses ; and that is not very likely to happen with ' residential estates in nearly every direction round the property . » * *

It is some eight years since any addition was made totheroll of lodges in Devonshire , the last lodge that was consecrated being the Western District United Service ' Lodge , No . 2258 , Stonehouse , which was consecrated in 1888 , while the last new lodge which was established on new ground was the Ashburton Lodge , No . 218 9 ,

Ashburton , which was warranted in 1886 . It was , therefore , to have been expected that the attendance of brethren would be a full one at the special meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Devonshire , which was held at the Anthony Assembly Rooms , Buckfastleigh , on the 13 th instant , when Trinity Lodge , No . 2 S 9 S , was

consecrated by the Provincial Grand Master , Bro . the Hon . Sir Stafford Northcote , M . P . The new lodge starts apparently under very good auspices , and we trust the anticipations expressed at the me-tingthat it will prove " a credit to the Province and a worthy gain to thp ranks of Freemasonry "—will be verified .

Certainly , if the advice so carefully tendered by the Dep . G . Master of the Province at the inauguration of the new lodge is followed , these anticipations as to its success cannot fail to be realised . Bro . Davie , in the first place , urged upon the founders not to be in too great a hurry to increase their numbers . It is not , as

he justly said , the quantity of the members , " but " their quality , " which constitutes the strength of a lodge . Wc often hear it said when a new Master has been installed in office , that he hoped he should have plenty of work to do during the year of his Mastership ; that is , of course , that he should have many candidates to initiate , pass , and raise . The wish is

very natural , and provided the candidates are fit and proper persons to be made Masons , there is no one who will not endorse the wish . But as Bro . Davie pointed out , all persons are not " fit and proper " to be received into our ranks , and the lodge which is not cautious in the election of its members must not be surprised if its future does not run as smoothly as could be desired .

* Again , there is , as Brc . Davie remarked , the danger that Freemasonry may degenerate into a well-organ , ised Charitable Society . People nowadays hear a great deal about our splendid Charitable Institutions , and the idea not unnaturally occurs to many that it

must be a grand thing to become a Mason , and then you , your widow , or your children will be provided . for . This is the danger against which Bro . Davie warned his hearers when he said there was " danger of people joining their Order for its material benefits . "

The benevolence of Masons is very great , but it cannot be loo often or too strongly pointed out that the mere payment of entrance fees and annual subscriptions does not , as in the ordinary benefit society , constitute a claim on the part of its members on the funds of the Order .

* There is also another point to which Bro . Davie did quite right in referring , namely , the tendency in sonic quarters " to carry the Order outside its sphere and to interfere as a body with the individual freedom and convictions of the brethren , " Masonry , as he said , is