Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Asylum For The Worthy Aged And Decayed Freemason.
and from the delays and trouble consequent upon applicants beino- i > niorant of the necessary forms , yet these delays and inconveniences ' are reduced as much as clue caution in the selection of proper objects imperatively requires .
Still a very little reflection will convince all , that such a Board framed onl y for temporary relief , is totall y inefficient in cases where ao-e ancl infirmity require continual support ; and yet it is this very ao-e and infirmity that give the apdlicant so strong a claim upon our Charity . AVho , that has seen old men totter into the Lod ge to receive this 5 ? ., 10 / ., or 20 / ., has not felt that such a sum was too much for their present wants—far too little to be of any permanent service ?
" It is to remedy this anomaly that the Aged Masons' Asylum has been suggested , and it will be seen that it is not so much in the nature of a new Charity , as a modification in part of the Board of Benevolence , which , by removing many of the present applicants , it will leave at liberty to devote its resources , where those resources only can be of use , to cases of temporary assistance . " The object of the proposed Charity is to erecteither in build
_ , one - ing , or as attached cottages , dwellings for AVorthy Aged ancl Decayed I'reemasons , and ( if the funds will permit ) the AVidows of Freemasons to be elected by the Subscribers , in such manner , and after such examination of their character , as may be agreed upon , ancl to pay them a weekly stipend for their support . Proper Officers will be appointed to watch after their comforts and morals , and the Committee will have the power of expelling any one for misconduct .
This is the plan which was suggested three years since , ancl has made such astonishing progress , that at the Grand Lodge in December last , there was not an opposing vote to its adoption . "The Committee have the pleasure to report that the result of the two last years' labours is , that there is now in the hands of Trustees the sum of 1200 / . three per cents ., and in the Treasurer ' s hands 200 / . in cashand they have sufficient grounds for stating that this will at
, sum the next Festival be increased to upwards of 2000 / . It is gratify ing to observe that , during the whole period , the annual subscriptions liave regularl y increased ; and the liberal donations from Provincial Grand and other Lodges , not onl y in England , but in the East and AVest Indies , assure them of the warm support the cause has received wherever it has heen proposed .
"It is , of course , impossible at present to state the amount which would be required to full y carry out the intention of the Subscribers but it is evident that a building or buildings could be commenced at a small sum , which should be capable of being enlarged to any extent * and it is fairly estimated that for 300 £ . or \ ool „ a building could be raised worthy of the cause , which would shelter thirty or forty a" -ed men ; and no man acquainted with Masonry will doubt that the Brethren would furnish annuallsufficient for their
y support . " The Committee do not wish to conceal that our illustrious M . AA ' . G . M ., who has ever been at the head of numerous institutione for Charity , has doubted whether the Craft possesses sufficient resources to carry the plan into effect . It is for us , Brethren , to prove that he has not sufficiently calculated the liberality and perseverance of Masons . It is for us to exert ourselves , ancl by one simultaneous effort to raise such a Sum as will enable the Committee to enter into immediate arrangements for selecting a Plot of Ground , and commencing an Asylum , which
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Asylum For The Worthy Aged And Decayed Freemason.
and from the delays and trouble consequent upon applicants beino- i > niorant of the necessary forms , yet these delays and inconveniences ' are reduced as much as clue caution in the selection of proper objects imperatively requires .
Still a very little reflection will convince all , that such a Board framed onl y for temporary relief , is totall y inefficient in cases where ao-e ancl infirmity require continual support ; and yet it is this very ao-e and infirmity that give the apdlicant so strong a claim upon our Charity . AVho , that has seen old men totter into the Lod ge to receive this 5 ? ., 10 / ., or 20 / ., has not felt that such a sum was too much for their present wants—far too little to be of any permanent service ?
" It is to remedy this anomaly that the Aged Masons' Asylum has been suggested , and it will be seen that it is not so much in the nature of a new Charity , as a modification in part of the Board of Benevolence , which , by removing many of the present applicants , it will leave at liberty to devote its resources , where those resources only can be of use , to cases of temporary assistance . " The object of the proposed Charity is to erecteither in build
_ , one - ing , or as attached cottages , dwellings for AVorthy Aged ancl Decayed I'reemasons , and ( if the funds will permit ) the AVidows of Freemasons to be elected by the Subscribers , in such manner , and after such examination of their character , as may be agreed upon , ancl to pay them a weekly stipend for their support . Proper Officers will be appointed to watch after their comforts and morals , and the Committee will have the power of expelling any one for misconduct .
This is the plan which was suggested three years since , ancl has made such astonishing progress , that at the Grand Lodge in December last , there was not an opposing vote to its adoption . "The Committee have the pleasure to report that the result of the two last years' labours is , that there is now in the hands of Trustees the sum of 1200 / . three per cents ., and in the Treasurer ' s hands 200 / . in cashand they have sufficient grounds for stating that this will at
, sum the next Festival be increased to upwards of 2000 / . It is gratify ing to observe that , during the whole period , the annual subscriptions liave regularl y increased ; and the liberal donations from Provincial Grand and other Lodges , not onl y in England , but in the East and AVest Indies , assure them of the warm support the cause has received wherever it has heen proposed .
"It is , of course , impossible at present to state the amount which would be required to full y carry out the intention of the Subscribers but it is evident that a building or buildings could be commenced at a small sum , which should be capable of being enlarged to any extent * and it is fairly estimated that for 300 £ . or \ ool „ a building could be raised worthy of the cause , which would shelter thirty or forty a" -ed men ; and no man acquainted with Masonry will doubt that the Brethren would furnish annuallsufficient for their
y support . " The Committee do not wish to conceal that our illustrious M . AA ' . G . M ., who has ever been at the head of numerous institutione for Charity , has doubted whether the Craft possesses sufficient resources to carry the plan into effect . It is for us , Brethren , to prove that he has not sufficiently calculated the liberality and perseverance of Masons . It is for us to exert ourselves , ancl by one simultaneous effort to raise such a Sum as will enable the Committee to enter into immediate arrangements for selecting a Plot of Ground , and commencing an Asylum , which