Indignation

it should be presided over by one chosen from the body of the meeting , having an acquaintance with the functions of chairmanship , and not in any way connected with the late House Committee or the Staff of the Institution . And we venture to submit that whilst there should be no

hesitation or timidity in " speaking out , " each speaker should take care to embody what ho has to say in one speech , and not expect that lie should have other opportunity for addressing the meeting . Interruptions , interrogations , contradictions , asseverations and threats are

very objectionable features in debate , and rather retard than assist the objects of those who use them . It may be taken for granted that , under a good and efficient chairman , a calm deliberation and impartial summing up will result in the adoption of measures which will

amply provide for the removal of the present difficulty , and the salvation and future success of the School . What those measures may be it is absolutely impossible to forecast , but we may be assured that , if the body of intelligent

men who attend will keep their heads cool , however much their minds may be filled with indignation , the present blot upon the ' scutcheon of the Boyal Masonic Institution for Boys will soon be wiped away .

Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.

ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR BOYS .

The General Committee of the above Institution met in the Board Room at Freemasons'Hall . London , on Saturday last , the 1 st inst . The attendance of Life Governors was greatly in excess of the capacity of the place of meeting , and the confusion which prevailed throughout the entire proceedings was increased in consequence . From the commencement it became evident that a stormy meeting

was in prospect , and that it proved to be stormy was not by any means the fault of the large majority who had the interests of the institution more at heart than any jiersonal benefits or advantages . Most unwisely an attempt was made , on the part of those implicated by the report of the Committee of Investigation , to control the choice of a chairman , and after a well-respected name had been

proposed from the body of the meeting , an official of the institution—highly esteemed , and against whom not even a whisper in connection with the present scandal has been heard—was nominated for that position . The former was , however , chosen , and once for all it may here be said that the most numerous portion of the assembly had ample occasion for surprise in respect of his several

rulings . Silence was maintained during the reading of the minutes of the previous meeting , at which the nominations of candidates for election as House and Audit Committees were made , but when the same were put for confirmation the storm began , and did not in the least subside until the meeting broke up . The minutes were not confirmed , nevertheless the endeavours to force an election were

unmistakable , and were supported by the chairman up to the very moment the hour for taking the ballot had expired , when , with apparent regret , he announced that no election had taken , or could now * , take place . To attempt a lucid report of the several speeches during this ' bad hour " of Masonic work is out of the question , for the babel of voices and general uproar were such as to entirely

preclude the possibilitj * of correctly noting what was said , and even presumed decisions were misapprehended . It is sufficient to say that protests were numerous ; that if an election of members of either committee had been effected , legal proceedings would have been commenced , one brother stating his readiness to put down a hundred guineas towards a fund for that purpose ; that tho rules

for the governance of tho institution were continually quoted as laws which bound the subscribers to the charity even against their own inherent power to make , alter , and revise such rules whenever necessity might compel , or circumstances render revision absolutel y imperative ; that the institution has not now any House or Audit Committee , but remains for the present in charge of the official

staff until the General Committee may please to elect tlie future management ; tli . it an adjournment of the General Committee was resolved , but whether to the 15 th or 2 ' .. > th inst . does not appear certain in the minds of the brethren , and that the meeting broke up in dire confusion without the customary vote of thanks to its chairman .

AT a large and influential Meeting on Monday of a , Committee formed to secure the Election of New Candida es on the House Committee , it was resolved that the various legal points arising from the present state of affairs on the non-election of the Committee at the above meeting be submitted for the consideration of an eminent Queen " s Counsel , whose opinion it is hoped will be in hand in time to guide those who have the true reform of tlie Institution at heart .

ROYAL ARTHUR LODGE OF INSTRUCTION—No . 1 . ' ?( ' 0 . —Held at Prince of Wales' Hotel , on Thursday , May Mth , 188 ' . ) . Presentliro . Wade . W . M .: Shelly . S . W . ; * Holmes . J . W . ; Bond , S . D . ; Mages . P . M ., J . D . : Jollilfe , I . G . : G . King . P . M ., P . Z ., Preceptor ; W . II . AVingfield , P . M ., hon . sec . ; Bro . Britten . Initiation rehearsed , Bro . Britten candidate . Passing rehearsed . Bro . P . M . Magce candidate . Lodge closed down and a cordial vote of thanks

was unanimously passed to Bro . King , the preceptor , and W . H . Wing-field , sec , for the great benefit the lodge of instruction had derived at their hands , and that the same be entered on the minutes . The brethren having briefly responded , the lodge was closed in due form , and the meeting adjourned until the first Thursday in September ( the 5 th ) when the ceremony of installation will be rehearsed .

Review.

REVIEW .

Ars Quatuor Coronatorum . Vol . 11 . Part I . —This , the first of three numbers to be issued this year of the Transactions of Lodge Quatuor Coronati , No . 207 ( 1 , for LSSit , has just come to hand , and more than preserves the reputation which the Lodge has already acquired . The page is no longer divided into two columns , a matter on which the editor is to be congratulated , and the amount

of matter offered to the members , no less than 81 pages , is unusually large . A detailed financial report and balance-sheet for 1888 affords the members and associates not only information respecting the use to which every penny of their subscriptions has been , applied , but shows that absolutely nothing , out of a total

expenditure or . C > 00 odd , has been devoted to purposes foreign to Masonic Literature or the maintenance of the Lodge , except a trifling- entry of XI 15 s . ( "id . for waiters and petty expenses . No hole can possibly be picked in the accounts except to suggest that the Lodge is running matters very fine and giving the members more for their half-guineea subscription than is quite prudent .

The present number contains two pieces de rcsixtanrc : —a paper by the W . M . Bro . AV . Simpson , . // , / ., MJt . A . S ., the well-known artist and traveller , on the " Worship of Death : " and one by Bro . W . H . Rylands , P . G . St ., W . M . Antiquity . No . 2 , on the " Companionate . " The first paper is profusely illustrated , many of the sketches being from originals bv the W . M . himself , and is a monument of

wellarranged data , apt quotation , and logical deduction . The argument is that the great majority of religious fabric ? , including the Ark of the Covenant and the Temple itself , are more or less directly connected with a certain reverence universally accorded to relics , and that the one grand idea . " through death to life . " has pervaded all religions and forms of worship . That such an argument should

be vigorously contested is only natural , and accordingly , we find the discussion on the paper more than usually extended . Our space forbids us to deal with the pros and cons of the matter , neither , when we find such competent authorities ranged on the one side and . the other , do we feel inclined to enter into the arena without very careful preparation .

Bro . Rylands' paper is highly instructive . He takes up the . wellknown legends of the French Compagnonnage ( so similar in many points to those of the Craft ) and essays to demonstrate when , where and how they arose . The subsequent discussion was chiefly confined to himself and Bro . Speth , and is a very pretty display of nice fence over a fine point of difference .

The four pages devoted to Notes and Queries are interesting reading , and afford an opportunity for the preservation of many little matters which every Mason must come across in his reading . We are also much pleased with the honest yet fraternal manner in which all recent Masonic publications are reviewed , and a few pages of notes on current events of general interest complete this very excellent number .

The Provincial Grand Lodge of Middlesex will this year be held at the Town Hall , Twickenham , on Saturday , the 20 th June . at 3 o ' clock , under the presidency of R . W . Bro . Colonel Sir Francis Burdett , Dart ., P . G . S . W .. Provincial Grand Master of Middlesex . STAR CHAPTER OV IXSTRUCTIOX—No . 1275 . —On Friday , 31 st ult .. at the Stirling Castle , Camberwell . Present : Comps . F . Hilton .

P . Z . 1275 , preceptor : T . Grummant . P . Z ., M . E . Z . ; G . L . Moore , Z . Hi !) . II . ; Jackson . J . ; C . H . Stone . S . E . ; C . Woods , A . S .. 1275 , S . N . Wingham . P . S . ; Towers , A . S . ; Addington , Z ., 1275 ; Neeld , P . Z . and Geo . Powell , P . Z .. Z ., 1185 . The ceremony of exaltation was rehearsed , Comp . Addington , candidate . Comp . Moore was elected M . E . Z . for the first Friday in September . Tho preceptor ably

answered certain questions on the ritual . A discussion on other matters followed . On the motion of Comps . Neeld , P . Z ., Woods , and Wingham , Comp . Hilton , P . Z ., preceptor , was heartily congratulated on the proud position of the Chapter . The name of Comp . Stone , S . E .. was coupled with this congratulation . The

Companions heard with deep regret of the serious illnesss of Comp . Cowley , P . Z ., one of the founders of this Chapter , unanimously passed a vote of sympathy with him in his sufferings , and expressed earnest wishes that he might speedily be fully restored to health , so that they might again be cheered by his presence .

RAVEXSBOURXE LODGE OF IXSTRUCTIOX—No . 1001 . —The last business meeting of the session was held at the George Inn , Catford , S . E ., on the 2 !) th inst . Present : Bros . J . Joyce . W . M . ; J . Shelton . S . W . ; G . A . Pickering , J . AV . ; D . O . Scott , S . D . ; J . T . Axford , J . D . ; J . Clark , I . G . ; Dr . H . Visger ; H . Shaw , P . M ., preceptor ; C . Atkins , sec . ; James Stevens , P . M . : C . Blanchard

Walter Smith ; Noyes ; P . McCarthy , P . M . ; G . AVilliams , and others . The ceremony of passing having been rehearsed . Lodge was opened in third degree , and the brethren saluted the East individually . The third and second degree lodges were closed in due order . Bro . Shelton was elected to open the new session after the vacation , and after a brief address by the preceptor the lodge

was closed , and adjourned to the first AA ednesday in October . The annual festival was held on the following evening at the same place and was well attended , the AV . M . of the Mother Lodge , Bro . J . Ingoldby , occupying the position of president , and AV . Bro . James Stevens , P . M ., that of vice-president . The evening was devoted to social enjoyment , and what few toasts were given were introduced

and responded to with commendable brevity . Songs and recitations were not only numerous but more than usually well rendered , and the entire proceedings were of such an enjoyable character as to make the closing hours of the session such as will be well remembered until tho brethren again meet for Masonic labour . In

addition to the above-named , there were present Bros . Theo . AV . Williams , J . Hostombe , W . Jones , Hardy Smith , Walter Martin , P . M ., Geo . Scudder , P . M ., J . Peters , II . T . Bonner , A . Norris , W . M .-No . ]' . I ' . I 7 , ifcc . Bro . Atkinson very ably conducted the musical portion of this thoroughly satisfactory entertainment .