Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Our Masonic Charities. Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.
matters of all detail our aim shall be to give our lads as good an education as possible , using the terms in its largest sense . Thus considered , the play hours and the home life of the school are as important as its times of study ; and the building
and its rules and arrangements are eminently -calculated to carry out the committee ' s views . "An institution for and educating the sons of
indigent Freemasons dates from 1798 , but up to the year 1857 the boys Avere clothed and sent to schools in the neighbourhood of their several homes . In the latter year tAventy-five boys Avere taken into a temporary house at Wood-green . In 1859 the committee were able to accommodate
seventy boys , and in 1862 the present magnificient erection Avas commenced . Its noble frontage strikes the visitor first . Standing well back from the road and on a spacious laAvn , it looks Avhat it is , a collegiate institution upon Avhich no money
has been spared . Old trees wave their branches before it , and lend the dignity of age to Avhat is essentially neAV , and the brilliant show of floAvers in the garden of the head-master ' s house close by is relieved by the bright verdure ofthe close cropped
grass of the school . The garden , you learn , Avas attached to the old mansion Avhich was purchased and pulled doAvn to make way for the stately pile before you . This consists of a central block of three stories , with a large oriel and a hi gh roof with dormer Avindows . To this are added two
wings , one containing the dining-hall , and the other the school-rooms and library . There are also handsome toAvers , a deep porch lit by a stained glass window , and Avithin the entrance a graceful group or statuary the last two items being gifts
c 'But the boys themselves are the best ornaments , and after we have traversed corridors one hundred and forty feet long , noted the exquisite cleanliness , mathematical order , and extreme airiness of the bedrooms , visited the kitchen , sculleries ,
and laundries , all fitted with the best mechanical contrivances for saving labour , Ave ask to be introduced to the young people for whom all these preparations are made . They are at cricket in one of the fields belonging to the school , for it
should be mentioned that a farm is attached to it and that it stands on land which has been advantageously bought , and by means of which its advantages of situation can be maintained intact . Some of them are , however , staying late in school , and as we pass by their desks to the library be "
yond , the names of the pupils who have distinguished themselves emblazoned on the Avail ( one of the prizes given is for having gained the good opinion of schoolfelloAvs , and is conferred by a ballot , in which all take part ); pass , too , the
"largest black-board in Europe , " with diagrams still left on it : the intelligence that a boy Avho had just left " obtained the star in four subjects out of five at the Cambridge middle-class examinations '' —they all seem to speak of systematic and efficient
instruction . Indeed , the course includes a sound English education , Avith Latin , French , and German , mathematics in every shape , and drawing . There are four masters in all , besides a drill-instructor , and a teacher of drawing , and 104 boys
are clothed , educated , and provided for , from the age of six years and a half ( the minimum ) to fifteen . The building , which is really a model of what a school ought to be , has cost £ 40 , 000 , and the domestic and educational expenditure on the boys
amounts to £ 36 12 s . 2 f d . per head , or including office expenses , rates and taxes , and all extras , to £ 46 15 s . Id .
The infirmary , the swimming-bath , the gymnasium , the library Avell stocked with handsome books and philosophical instruments , and the right of entry to which is a kind of reward for discreet behaviour , all speak volumes as to the thoughtful
care of the school committee . The infirmary , which was empty at our visit , is completely isolated—strong doors and separate staircases shutting it off effectually from the rest of the house . The plunge-bath holds 6 , 500 gallons of water , and is
under cover , is lined with white tiles , and has separate dressing closets , while the gymnasium is second only to the splendid one at King ' s-cross , belonging to the German Society . We are
introduced to the boys here . Clambering up poles hanging by the hands from ladders and over wel ^ stuffed and protective mattresses , vaulting on dumb horses , SAvinging on ropes , practising a mild kind of trapeze , performing great feats Avith rings
and handles , and all laughing and shouting at once , they make the vast chamber ring again . Nothing is wanting for gymnastics , and nothing is left untried . There is plenty of noise , and abundance of enjoyment . The gymnasium Avas built for its
present purpose , and Avhen its active denizens recover breath , they are hearty in its praise * They are fine , gentlemanlike lads , dressed in Avell made suits of good broadcloth , and with nothing
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Our Masonic Charities. Royal Masonic Institution For Boys.
matters of all detail our aim shall be to give our lads as good an education as possible , using the terms in its largest sense . Thus considered , the play hours and the home life of the school are as important as its times of study ; and the building
and its rules and arrangements are eminently -calculated to carry out the committee ' s views . "An institution for and educating the sons of
indigent Freemasons dates from 1798 , but up to the year 1857 the boys Avere clothed and sent to schools in the neighbourhood of their several homes . In the latter year tAventy-five boys Avere taken into a temporary house at Wood-green . In 1859 the committee were able to accommodate
seventy boys , and in 1862 the present magnificient erection Avas commenced . Its noble frontage strikes the visitor first . Standing well back from the road and on a spacious laAvn , it looks Avhat it is , a collegiate institution upon Avhich no money
has been spared . Old trees wave their branches before it , and lend the dignity of age to Avhat is essentially neAV , and the brilliant show of floAvers in the garden of the head-master ' s house close by is relieved by the bright verdure ofthe close cropped
grass of the school . The garden , you learn , Avas attached to the old mansion Avhich was purchased and pulled doAvn to make way for the stately pile before you . This consists of a central block of three stories , with a large oriel and a hi gh roof with dormer Avindows . To this are added two
wings , one containing the dining-hall , and the other the school-rooms and library . There are also handsome toAvers , a deep porch lit by a stained glass window , and Avithin the entrance a graceful group or statuary the last two items being gifts
c 'But the boys themselves are the best ornaments , and after we have traversed corridors one hundred and forty feet long , noted the exquisite cleanliness , mathematical order , and extreme airiness of the bedrooms , visited the kitchen , sculleries ,
and laundries , all fitted with the best mechanical contrivances for saving labour , Ave ask to be introduced to the young people for whom all these preparations are made . They are at cricket in one of the fields belonging to the school , for it
should be mentioned that a farm is attached to it and that it stands on land which has been advantageously bought , and by means of which its advantages of situation can be maintained intact . Some of them are , however , staying late in school , and as we pass by their desks to the library be "
yond , the names of the pupils who have distinguished themselves emblazoned on the Avail ( one of the prizes given is for having gained the good opinion of schoolfelloAvs , and is conferred by a ballot , in which all take part ); pass , too , the
"largest black-board in Europe , " with diagrams still left on it : the intelligence that a boy Avho had just left " obtained the star in four subjects out of five at the Cambridge middle-class examinations '' —they all seem to speak of systematic and efficient
instruction . Indeed , the course includes a sound English education , Avith Latin , French , and German , mathematics in every shape , and drawing . There are four masters in all , besides a drill-instructor , and a teacher of drawing , and 104 boys
are clothed , educated , and provided for , from the age of six years and a half ( the minimum ) to fifteen . The building , which is really a model of what a school ought to be , has cost £ 40 , 000 , and the domestic and educational expenditure on the boys
amounts to £ 36 12 s . 2 f d . per head , or including office expenses , rates and taxes , and all extras , to £ 46 15 s . Id .
The infirmary , the swimming-bath , the gymnasium , the library Avell stocked with handsome books and philosophical instruments , and the right of entry to which is a kind of reward for discreet behaviour , all speak volumes as to the thoughtful
care of the school committee . The infirmary , which was empty at our visit , is completely isolated—strong doors and separate staircases shutting it off effectually from the rest of the house . The plunge-bath holds 6 , 500 gallons of water , and is
under cover , is lined with white tiles , and has separate dressing closets , while the gymnasium is second only to the splendid one at King ' s-cross , belonging to the German Society . We are
introduced to the boys here . Clambering up poles hanging by the hands from ladders and over wel ^ stuffed and protective mattresses , vaulting on dumb horses , SAvinging on ropes , practising a mild kind of trapeze , performing great feats Avith rings
and handles , and all laughing and shouting at once , they make the vast chamber ring again . Nothing is wanting for gymnastics , and nothing is left untried . There is plenty of noise , and abundance of enjoyment . The gymnasium Avas built for its
present purpose , and Avhen its active denizens recover breath , they are hearty in its praise * They are fine , gentlemanlike lads , dressed in Avell made suits of good broadcloth , and with nothing