Country Lodge Rooms.

mate intiueuce for good on an extensiA'C scale . The Ty ler told me there AA'ere many good Masons iu the place , but that they Avere not subscribers . Likely enough , 1 " thought , as I put my apron in my pocket and came sadly awa ) ' . Pardon the length of this letter and the A'ery insufficient Avay in which it denounces the great retarding circumstance connected with provincial Masonry . Yours very fraternally , March Silt , 1859 . J . 0 . E .

The Masonic Schools.

THE MASONIC SCHOOLS .

10 THE EDITOR 01 " THE FBEiaUSONS MAGAZINE AXD MASONIC MIRROR . DEAR SIR AXD BROTHER , —Much occupation has prevented my taking earlier notice of a letter signed , "A Life Governor , " in the Freemason ' s Magazine of Itith February last . The privilege of placing a child in the Girls' School , may be acquired for a much smaller sum than that named by a "Lite Governor . " By the 70 th law ofthe institution it is enacted , that : —

" Any person may place an eligible child in tlie institution upon the payment of one hundred guineas in one sum , subject to the rules and regulations' of the school , but no right of voting or other privilege shall be alloAvecl for such payment . " No such law yet exists for the Boys' School . Until the building is enlarged to a sufficient size to admit all the boys Avilling to enter , such a law could not be brought into operation Avithout disorganizing all the domestic arrangements . When that enlargement is effected ( and it is hoped the

liberality of the Craft at the approaching festival Avill enable this most urgently needed Avork to be brought to a speedy conclusion ) , the question of establishing sonic such law . may be fairly brought forward , and discussed upon its OAVU merits . I cannot think , hoAvever , that our provincial brethren contemplate acting on the principle that the Masonic schools are only to be supported by any province for the sake ofthe benefit AA'hich such province may derive

therefrom . I . own to [ having been much pained by one sentence in "A Life Governor's" letter . He says , "Where there are duties to perform , there ought also to be certain rights ; and it is rather too much to expect of the provinces , that the paying of contributions alone should be stimulant sufficient to preserve their interest in these institutions unabated . " Tbe rig hts ivhich every Lodge and every individual acquire , from donations and subscriptions , arc precisely the same lor all contributorsAvherever resident ; no special

, rights or privileges being reserved for the London brethren . The quotation just given , Avould seem to imply that the provinces had not heretofore contributed to the schools as much as they might have done , because they bave not had equivalent advantages . Now tlie lists of both institutions shoiv that of the amount annually contributed only about one sixth is derived from the provinces ; Avhilst of tbe children in both institutions those from the provinces form the majority . This -will shew the erroneousness of

the inference dcduciblc from the above quotation—that the provinces do not derive their fair share of the advantages of the schools . But , as I have already said , I cannot believe that this question of direct benefit to be derived from subscribing , is to be the moving principle by which provincial brethren will be guided iu increasing their contributions . Both institutions