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Article THE APPROACHING FESTIVAL OF THE R.M.B.I. Page 1 of 2 Article THE APPROACHING FESTIVAL OF THE R.M.B.I. Page 1 of 2 →
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The Approaching Festival Of The R.M.B.I.
THE APPROACHING FESTIVAL OF THE R . M . B . I .
WEDNESDAY next , the 23 rd instant , has been fixed by His Royal Highness the Grand Master for the Anniversary Festival of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution . It will be held , as usual , in tho Great Hall of the Freemasons' Tavern , and Sir Henry Edwards , Bart .,
Prov . Grand Master , and Prov . Grand Superintendent of West Yorkshire , has kindly undertaken to preside . Our Right Worshipful Brother will be supported by , certainly , tho largest Board of Stewards ever known , even in the annals of our Festival History , West Yorkshire alone being
represented by over one hundred and fifty brethren . At this latter fact no one can have the slightest reason to be surprised . It is indisputable in all Masonic circles that West Yorkshire is one of the strongest and most consistent sup . porters of all our Masonic Institutions . We cannot call to
mind a single occasion of late years on which , to use a wellworn expression , it has been " conspicuous by its absence . " On the contrary , its contributions at each successive Festival , whether of the Boys' or Girls' School , or of the Benevolent , have all that character for largeheartedncss and
unbounded liberalit y by which the folk , to say nothing of the brethren , of Yorkshire have always been distinguished . This being the case , we are justified in believing that the gathering of Wednesday next will prove a grand success . When a supreme effort in support of the presidency on
behalf of a particular Institution of an esteemed and respected chief is made by a Province , which can boast of its seventy Lodges more or less , and habitually contributes its hundreds at each and every of the Festivals that is held annually in connection with Freemasonry , we are , we
repeat , fully justified in expecting that results unusuall y brilliant will follow , and we take leave to congratulate Bro . Terry on the prospects that await him next week , when Sir Henry Edwards , with all the eloquence he can command , will plead the caase of the aged and distressed Freemason and his destitute widow .
As our readers are aware , the Benevolent is the youngest of our three Institutions , though it is by no means the least worthy of support . It was established as recently as the year 1842 , by Grand Lodge itself , which set the example of commending it to the favourable consideration
of the Ci-aft generally by voting an annual subvention of £ 400 . There are those , perhaps , who will claim for it a somewhat earlier origin—earlier , that is to say , by just a h \ v years . It is but the other clay that , in certain miscellaneous addenda to our history of the St . Michael ' s Lodo-e
, No . 211 , we drew attention to a circular on behalf of " The Asylum for the Aged and Decayed Freemason . " This circular , which was signed " Robert Field , Secretary , " quoted the testimony of " Grand Lodge of 6 th December
1837 to the effect that this Grand Lodge recommend the contemplated Asylum for the Aged and Decayed Freemasons to the favourable consideration of the Craft . " It fixed the date of the particular Festival for which it was
• raxious to receive tho support of the St . Michael ' s LocW for the 15 th June 1842 , and it added , "For your information I beg to state that the Festivals of this Charit y have been always conducted upon such well-considered princi ples , " & c . & c . Tho Asylum here referred to is the
present Asylum at Croydon , and some years subsequentl y to the year mentioned , was amalgamated with the Benevolent offspring of our Grand Lodge munificence ;
The Approaching Festival Of The R.M.B.I.
and it must bo clear , even to those who are but slightly acquainted with the history of the Institution , that when Secretary Field speaks of the Festivals anterior to 1842 being conducted on certain well-considered principles , the Asylum which was contemplated in 1837 must , at an early date
thereafter , have been established . However , the question of a few years more or less in tho life of an institution which has now developed to such magnificent proportions is of little moment to the general Craft . We are content , therefore , to accept the official statement in our Grand
Lodge Calendar that the Benevolent Institution first saw the light in 1842 , its chief means of support being the aforesaid annual subscription by Grand Lodge of £ 400 . It was then known as the " Royal Masonic Annuity Fund , " and its benefits were extended only to aged and distressed
brethren . The first election took place on the 19 th May 1843 , when 15 out of a list of 16 candidates were elected , one of them being the then Tyler of the St . Michael ' s Lodge . The fixed income of the Charity was further increased in 1847 by an annual grant of £ 100 from Grand
Chapter . In 1849 was established the Widows Fund , Grand Lodge setting the example of support by voting £ 100 per annum , and Grand Chapter following suit with an annual £ 35 . In the same year , the Asylum for the Aged and Decayed Freemason at Croydon was happily
amalgamated with the Benevolent Annuity Fund , and Grand Lodge , with its accustomed liberality , voted the handsome sum of £ 500 towards the fund that was being raised towards putting the building in a thorough state of repair . In 1854 it voted a further £ 350 to the Building
Fund , and in 1855 it increased its annual grant to the Widows' Fund by a second £ 100 . In 1856 Grand Chapter raised its annual subscription from £ 35 to £ 50 , while Grand Lodge voted £ 1000 to the Male Fund and £ 600 to the Widows' Fund . In 1858 the latter still further
enlarged its grants by giving an additional £ 100 to each of the two Funds , making a total annual subvention of £ 800 , namely , to the Male Fund £ 500 , and to the Female Fund £ 300 , while the contribution of Grand Chapter is £ 150 , namely , £ 100 to Male , and £ 50 to Female Fund . Since
then , however , Grand Chapter has at different times voted no less than £ 2500 to the Institution , that is to say—in 1868 £ 500 to each Fund , making £ 1000 ; in 1873 £ 500 ; in 1874 £ 500 ; and in 1880 £ 500 ; while in 1878 it transferred two amounts of £ 500 Consols each , one
to the credit of the Male , and the other to that of the Female Fund . So much for the official support which is extended to the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution , and in return for which it is uuder the necessity of giving so many votes
to the W . Master of every Lodge under the jurisdiction of Grand Lodge , and so many to the Z . of every English Royal Arch Chapter at every election that takes place to each Fund . The extra-official support , however , is in evory way worthy of tho Craft , though , as in the case of our
Schools , it was on a very limited scale in the early years of its existence . Indeed , the Benevolent was unfortunately-circumstanced at the outset of its career , in that it was allowed to hold a Festival in aid of its funds only once in three years . However , there soon followed a justcr
appreciation of tho benefits that were being conferred by it , and the proportionate degree of assistance it stood in need of in order to confer those benefits , and the triennial period was first of all changed into a biennial one , and very shortly after into an annual . We need hardly state that these changes were a decided improvement , and increas-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Approaching Festival Of The R.M.B.I.
THE APPROACHING FESTIVAL OF THE R . M . B . I .
WEDNESDAY next , the 23 rd instant , has been fixed by His Royal Highness the Grand Master for the Anniversary Festival of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution . It will be held , as usual , in tho Great Hall of the Freemasons' Tavern , and Sir Henry Edwards , Bart .,
Prov . Grand Master , and Prov . Grand Superintendent of West Yorkshire , has kindly undertaken to preside . Our Right Worshipful Brother will be supported by , certainly , tho largest Board of Stewards ever known , even in the annals of our Festival History , West Yorkshire alone being
represented by over one hundred and fifty brethren . At this latter fact no one can have the slightest reason to be surprised . It is indisputable in all Masonic circles that West Yorkshire is one of the strongest and most consistent sup . porters of all our Masonic Institutions . We cannot call to
mind a single occasion of late years on which , to use a wellworn expression , it has been " conspicuous by its absence . " On the contrary , its contributions at each successive Festival , whether of the Boys' or Girls' School , or of the Benevolent , have all that character for largeheartedncss and
unbounded liberalit y by which the folk , to say nothing of the brethren , of Yorkshire have always been distinguished . This being the case , we are justified in believing that the gathering of Wednesday next will prove a grand success . When a supreme effort in support of the presidency on
behalf of a particular Institution of an esteemed and respected chief is made by a Province , which can boast of its seventy Lodges more or less , and habitually contributes its hundreds at each and every of the Festivals that is held annually in connection with Freemasonry , we are , we
repeat , fully justified in expecting that results unusuall y brilliant will follow , and we take leave to congratulate Bro . Terry on the prospects that await him next week , when Sir Henry Edwards , with all the eloquence he can command , will plead the caase of the aged and distressed Freemason and his destitute widow .
As our readers are aware , the Benevolent is the youngest of our three Institutions , though it is by no means the least worthy of support . It was established as recently as the year 1842 , by Grand Lodge itself , which set the example of commending it to the favourable consideration
of the Ci-aft generally by voting an annual subvention of £ 400 . There are those , perhaps , who will claim for it a somewhat earlier origin—earlier , that is to say , by just a h \ v years . It is but the other clay that , in certain miscellaneous addenda to our history of the St . Michael ' s Lodo-e
, No . 211 , we drew attention to a circular on behalf of " The Asylum for the Aged and Decayed Freemason . " This circular , which was signed " Robert Field , Secretary , " quoted the testimony of " Grand Lodge of 6 th December
1837 to the effect that this Grand Lodge recommend the contemplated Asylum for the Aged and Decayed Freemasons to the favourable consideration of the Craft . " It fixed the date of the particular Festival for which it was
• raxious to receive tho support of the St . Michael ' s LocW for the 15 th June 1842 , and it added , "For your information I beg to state that the Festivals of this Charit y have been always conducted upon such well-considered princi ples , " & c . & c . Tho Asylum here referred to is the
present Asylum at Croydon , and some years subsequentl y to the year mentioned , was amalgamated with the Benevolent offspring of our Grand Lodge munificence ;
The Approaching Festival Of The R.M.B.I.
and it must bo clear , even to those who are but slightly acquainted with the history of the Institution , that when Secretary Field speaks of the Festivals anterior to 1842 being conducted on certain well-considered principles , the Asylum which was contemplated in 1837 must , at an early date
thereafter , have been established . However , the question of a few years more or less in tho life of an institution which has now developed to such magnificent proportions is of little moment to the general Craft . We are content , therefore , to accept the official statement in our Grand
Lodge Calendar that the Benevolent Institution first saw the light in 1842 , its chief means of support being the aforesaid annual subscription by Grand Lodge of £ 400 . It was then known as the " Royal Masonic Annuity Fund , " and its benefits were extended only to aged and distressed
brethren . The first election took place on the 19 th May 1843 , when 15 out of a list of 16 candidates were elected , one of them being the then Tyler of the St . Michael ' s Lodge . The fixed income of the Charity was further increased in 1847 by an annual grant of £ 100 from Grand
Chapter . In 1849 was established the Widows Fund , Grand Lodge setting the example of support by voting £ 100 per annum , and Grand Chapter following suit with an annual £ 35 . In the same year , the Asylum for the Aged and Decayed Freemason at Croydon was happily
amalgamated with the Benevolent Annuity Fund , and Grand Lodge , with its accustomed liberality , voted the handsome sum of £ 500 towards the fund that was being raised towards putting the building in a thorough state of repair . In 1854 it voted a further £ 350 to the Building
Fund , and in 1855 it increased its annual grant to the Widows' Fund by a second £ 100 . In 1856 Grand Chapter raised its annual subscription from £ 35 to £ 50 , while Grand Lodge voted £ 1000 to the Male Fund and £ 600 to the Widows' Fund . In 1858 the latter still further
enlarged its grants by giving an additional £ 100 to each of the two Funds , making a total annual subvention of £ 800 , namely , to the Male Fund £ 500 , and to the Female Fund £ 300 , while the contribution of Grand Chapter is £ 150 , namely , £ 100 to Male , and £ 50 to Female Fund . Since
then , however , Grand Chapter has at different times voted no less than £ 2500 to the Institution , that is to say—in 1868 £ 500 to each Fund , making £ 1000 ; in 1873 £ 500 ; in 1874 £ 500 ; and in 1880 £ 500 ; while in 1878 it transferred two amounts of £ 500 Consols each , one
to the credit of the Male , and the other to that of the Female Fund . So much for the official support which is extended to the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution , and in return for which it is uuder the necessity of giving so many votes
to the W . Master of every Lodge under the jurisdiction of Grand Lodge , and so many to the Z . of every English Royal Arch Chapter at every election that takes place to each Fund . The extra-official support , however , is in evory way worthy of tho Craft , though , as in the case of our
Schools , it was on a very limited scale in the early years of its existence . Indeed , the Benevolent was unfortunately-circumstanced at the outset of its career , in that it was allowed to hold a Festival in aid of its funds only once in three years . However , there soon followed a justcr
appreciation of tho benefits that were being conferred by it , and the proportionate degree of assistance it stood in need of in order to confer those benefits , and the triennial period was first of all changed into a biennial one , and very shortly after into an annual . We need hardly state that these changes were a decided improvement , and increas-