Ireland.

those who , for their brethren and companions' sake , wish them j prosperity and seek to do them good . ( Hear , hear , and applause . ) | For this reason you , Most AVorshipfiu Sir , as the Grand Master of | ihe Order , and the most liberal supporter of our institution , have ; been requested upon this occasion to preside and distribute the premiums . And the governors trust that the report , which it is now my duty to read , will satisfy the brethren that the interests of the

orphans have been most carefully attended to—will evoke a greater , wider , and more extended interest than the institution has hitherto enjoyed—and will make those who are unacquainted with the mystic ties that bind us see that Masonry does not consist in antiquated ceremonies , social enjoyments , or decorative jewellery , but in charity ( applause ); and that , while many institutions similar to the present languish and decay in the cold shade of nngenial apathy , our institution prospers beneath the warm support of fraternal

reciprocity . ( Applause . ) The Honorary Secretary then read the annual report , which was as follows : — " The Governors of the Masonic Orphan School desire to record their gratitude to tho Father of the fatherless for the rosperity which that institution has experienced during the year 1 SG 0 , and for the advantages it has conferred upon the orphan daughters of their deceased brethren . In consequence of the increasing number of eligible candidates for admissionand in

, accordance with a resolution to be found in the report for the year 1 S 59 , an addition has been made to the school house , which renders it capable of accommodating forty girls . To accomplish this object the funded property of the institution has been reduced by the sum of £ 900 , but the governors feel convinced that an inspection of the manner in which the enlargement of the school house has been carried out will satisfy every person that the Building Committee have not only exercised a wise discretion and judicious economy , but

have materially contributed to the internal comforts of the institution . The governors expect that each brother of the Masonic Order will , according to his several ability , contribute towards replacing the amount of stock which has been sold out , and thereby secure the permanent stability of the institution . The total income of the school for the past year was £ 1158 8 s . Sd ., and exceeds that of the preceding year by £ 241 4 s . 9 d . ; and although the total expenditure during the same period exceeds that of 1 S 59 by £ 41 15 s . Sd ., yet having regard to the increased number of inmates , the high price of food , and the outlay incurred by the removal of the girls to the country during the alterations , the average expenses for each pupil

are less than they have been for several years . These results , whilst they indicate an increasing interest in the welfare and prosperity of the school , on the part of the Masonic Order , are attributable in some degree to tho active and efficient services . of Bro . Oldham , the Assistant Secretary , to the economic management of Mrs . Noble , and to the careful supervision of the Finance Committee . The wealth , the intelligence , and widespread influence of the Masonic bodtogether with the charitable

y , obligations which Freemasonry imposes , entitles the institution to a far more liberal and extended support than it has hitherto received . The increasing interest which the members of country lodges have evinced , and their consequent claims to participate in the privileges and beneficent objects of the school , rendered some modification of its existing rules expedient . A new code of rules has accordingly been framedwhich have received the sanction of the Grand Lod

, ge , and are appended to tins report . By these rules two important alterations are effected : the first enabling the governors to vote upon election of candidates , according to the amount of their subscriptions ; and the second , dispensing with their personal attendance upon such occasions . At the recent examinations , held under the superintendence of the Education Committee ( whose services the governors gratefully acknowledge ) , the answering of the girls was

such as to elicit the encomiums of the examiners ; while the improvement manifested by them , and the proficiency they had attained , attested the ability and efficiency with which Miss Lloyd and Miss Cuthbert have discharged the duties devolving upon them . AAHiilst it is no small gratification to the governors to ho able to report thus favourably of the literary progress of the girls , they desire to impress upon their brethren that every effort is made to store the minds of the ils with that knowled best calculated to guard

pup ge them against the temptations and snares to which they may hereafter be exposed , and at the same time to train them in those habits of industry and subordination which will enable them to fill with credit to themselves and satisfaction to their employers , any situation , however humble , in which they may be placed . The principal portion of the domestic duties of the establishment is performed by the irlsunder the management of the excellent matronMrs

g , , . Noble , ivbom the governors feel to bo entitled to their utmost confidence , and under tho supervision of the Ladies' Committee , whose exertions and suggestions are most meritorious and valuable . The governors have also to state , that the Ladies' Committee have reported that the progress made by the girls in needlework during the past year is highly creditable , and manifests that the utmost

attention has been made to this important branch of female education , The h-ialth of the girls has been good during the past year ; and although the dangerous malady of scarlatina manifested itself in the school some months ago , the invalid was speedily restored to convalescence , under Divine Providence , by the skill and attention of Dr . Speedy , who still continues to afford his valuable services gratuitously to the institution , and the infection was mercifully prevented from extending its virulent effects to the other inmates . Durin < r the vear 1 S 60 four airls have been

admitted to the school , which now contains twenty-seven inmates . Of these but seven are orphans of brethren of Dublin lodges , whilst of the remainder five are the orphans of brethren bailing from military lodges . Elizabeth Moorhead has been obliged , in consequence of delicacy of health , to relinquish the employment which Bro . Manning had afforded her , and the governors have received her into the school until her health ( which has much improved under the maternal care of Mrs . Noble ) shall

be sufficiently re-established to enable them to provide a more suitable employment for her . The governors are likewise desirous to obtain a situation for Maria Dunn , who was obliged to relinquish the situation which had been provided for her in consequence of its being unsuitable . During the same period but one pupil has left the school , viz ., Hannah AVilhams , who has been apprenticed to the Messrs . Lindsay , of Belfast , and the governors have received satisfactory accounts of her conductas well as of the conduct of the

, other former pupils . Four of tho former inmates of the school have been suitably and respectably married during tho year , and the husband of one of them , although not a Mason , has attested his appreciation of the merits of the institution by becoming a subscriber to its funds . Lydia Lawder , who , in 1 S 59 , was placed at the Training College of tho Home and Colonial School Society , and who , after a searching examination by the Government inspectors ,

obtained the high distinction of a Scholarship , and has since had a first-class certificate awarded to her , she was immediately appointed to a school in tho neighbourhood of London , commencing her career with a salary of £ 55 per annum , and a comfortable residence . In 1860 , Eliza Beatty was admitted to the Military Training-School , and , having creditably passed her examination by the Government inspectors , has been appointed , and entered upon her

duties , as schoolmistress at the Royal Artillery School , AA'Oolwich , at a salary and allowances equivalent to £ 40 per annum . Jane Connolly , who went to Australia in 1855 with a family , in whose employment she still remains , during the past year remitted £ 5 to the D . G . M ., with a request that it should be received as a subscription of £ 1 for each year since she had left the school , and that she should consider it a favour if the governors would permit her to subscribe a similar sum annually , as a small but very inadequate token

of her deep and heartfelt gratitude for the inestimable advantages she had received in the institution . The foregoing instances , whilst they attest the capabilities and desire of the Masonic orphans to avail themselves of the advantages presented to them , reflect back upon the institution some of the credit they are themselves to it . At the last election there were twelve eligible candidates for admission , and but two vacancies . There are , therefore , at present ten and fatherless childrenwho are deeply entitled to the

young , sympathy of every true Mason , appealing for assistance . The governors trust that such a solemn appeal may not be disregarded , and would urge upon every brother , before whom this report shall be laid , that he does no more than fulfil his Masonic duty in supporting and sustaining so charitable and meritorious an institution as the Masonic Orphan School . " The children then sang very sweetly the hymn , " I have a Home

in the Promised Land . " Bro . TOWXSEXD , D . G . M ., said it was his duty , as A ice-President of the Board of Governors , to present to his' Grace the G . M . the pupils of the school who were to receive from his honoured hands the tokens of the approbation of those who had taken upon them , the responsibility of superintending and directing their education . He ( Bro . Townsend ) was one of those who had assumed a part of that responsibility , and lie could speak , from personal experience ,

of the progress tho children had made during the last year . It might be thought singular that , having schooled the children so long in the patient culture and discipline of their retired institution , when they were brought up they should now be brought forward publicly before such a meeting as that . It was not done with any intention of fostering a spirit of vanity in them . Far from it , and he trusted that such would not be the result . They had , in factshrunk from such a displayand had requested that it should

, , not take place . The governors , however , thought it was better it should be so . The love of approbation was imp lanted in the human breast for wise and generous purposes , and they saw no reason why they should not avail themselves of that spirit which would he most likely to prove an incentive to the children to renewed , and , if possible , increased exertions . The children were not to be brought up in the conventual seclusion of a school , but were , as was hoped ,