The Boys' School.

THE BOYS' SCHOOL .

LONDON , SATURDAY , AFSIL 13 , 1 S 61 .

A special meeting of the Governors and Subscribers of this school was convened for "Wednesday last , to consider some important alterations in the rules , the notices for which we published in the PBEEMASOB ' S MAGAZINE of Saturday last ; but we regret to say that business

could not be proceeded with , the meeting being brought to a close , we will not say upon a technicality , but upon a miserable quibble , worthy only of a lawyer of the last century , before it was thought necessary that law should sometimes be combined with common sense . By one of

tbe rules of tbe Boys' School , it is provided that , in the absence of the President—tbe M . W . Grand Mastertbe chair at tbe general meetings shall be taken by tbe Treasurer , if present ; and consequently it was so taken on "Wednesday by Bro . B . B . Cabbell , who , after alloiving

the meeting to be duly opened , proceeded to declare it illegal , on tbe ground that sufficient notice of tbe motions to be brought forward bad not been given—and here we take objection to the ruling . In tbe first place , rule 23 says : — " A special general court shall be called

by the Secretary at any time , upon the request in writing of the President , the Treasurer , or one of the Vice Presidents , or any five Governors or Subscribers ; and the time at which such Court is required to be held shall be specified in such request—not being less than ten days from the delivery of the requisition to the Secretary ,

and of which seven days' notice shall be given by advertisements in three at least of the daily newspapers . " This rule was strictly complied with ' ; the requisition for a meeting on "Wednesday , April 10 , was presented to the Secretary on Thursday , March 28 , and was duly

advertised on Tuesday and "Wednesday , April 1 and 2 ; and on the following Saturday , April 6 , notice of the resolutions to be brought forward was given at the meeting of the General Committee , in compliance with the provisions of rule 26 : — "No motion for any new

regulation or law , or the abrogation or alteration of any existing regulation or law , shall le -made at a General Court , unless notice- thereof shall have heen given at a previous General Court or General Committee , nor shall the same become a Law of the Institution until it shall

be confirmed at a subsequent Quarterly General Com * t . " Now , it will be seen that notice was given of the resolutions to be brought forward at the meeting of the 10 th , at a meeting of the General Committee of April 6 th ; but Bro . Cabbell contended that the word previous applied to the giving notice of the meeting to be held ,

and not to the resolutions to be brought forward , though there is nothing in any part of the rules to warrant such a conclusion . He further contended that notice of the business to be brought forward ought to be given in the requisition calling the meeting . We do not mean to argue that it would not be better were it so ; but such is not the law , and no man , be he ever so dignified ,

has a right to stretch the law to meet his own opinions , and that , we contend , Bro . Cabbell has done on the present occasion , in the face of one of the largest and most influential meetings of Governors of the Institution we ever saw . If the law is incomplete , let it be amended ; but whilst it is law , we have a right to

expect that it shall be strictly abided by . The result of the determination of Bro . Cabbell is , that resolutions , which , if allowed to be discussed on Wednesday last , might have been brought forward for confirmation on Monday next , must now stand over until July , as no

resolution , altering a- law , can be confirmed at any other than a Quarterly Court . We shall not encumber our columns by a discussion of an hour and a half , which was all on one side met by direct assertions , without argument from the chair , and whieh maj r be summed up in the words of the

song—, He said he could ; I said he couldn ' t ; Ancl of the two ways , he hacl his ' n . Indeed , according to Bro . Cabbeli's ruling , it would be impossible to have any alterations of rules considered at a special meeting at all , as supposing notices

were handed into the chairman at any meeting of the Committee for a special meeting on any given day , he Avould refuse to receive it , as he knew nothing of any meeting to be held on that day ; and should- the notices be given without mentioning a day , they would

be taken only for the Quarterly General Court , and then it would not be competent for any brother to call a special Court to consider them , and if time would not allow their consideration at the Quarterly Court they inust either become dropped notices or be brought

before an adjourned meeting . But the most curious part of the whole proceedings was an offer of Bro . Cabbell to assist in rendering what he contended to be an illegality legal by the committal of a further illegality , proposing that every facility

should be given for discussing motions given for a meeting of the 10 th at the Quarterly Meeting on the 15 th , and that a special Court might be called to confirm any resolutions then passed , and that in lace of a law which states distinctly that they can only be confirmed by a , Quarterly Court—alleging that it would be a more

pardonable infraction of the law than that whieh he stated had been attempted that day . A pretty doctrine truly for a lawyer and a purist ! The resolutions have been defeated for the present ; they cannot now be legally confirmed before July , and the brethren who gave notice of

them will bide their time , and take care that due notice be given to the governors and subscribers of the institution ofthe period at which they will be brought forward . The truth is that , though probably there is no brother in the Craft better adapted for the office of Treasurer , oe

whose name for that office would command more general respect than that of Bro . Cabbell , there is no one so little adapted for a chairman , his views being of the narrowest and his obstinacy the most unbending .