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Article PROVINCIAL. ← Page 21 of 27 →
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Provincial.
Masons . The R . AV . gentleman said , " Brethren , I scarcely know how sufficiently to express my gratitude to the Supreme Grand Architect of the Universe , for having , in his great mercy , raised me from the bed of sickness , perhaps of death , and thus permitted me to be here present amongst you this day . Sincere and heartfelt pleasure does it indeed give me to meet you all again , and may the Most High grant that we may long livein all brotherly loveto exercise those many and various Masonic
, , virtues which it is the pride and boast of our Order to support ancl uphold . My lengthened illness has necessarily prevented me from attending , so closely , to the business of our Order , during the past year , as I otherwise should have done . I have not been able to go to London since November last , ancl consequently am unacquainted with the minutia ; of the proceedings of Grand Lodge during that period . I am , however , very sorry to findfrom a public report which I have receivedthat
, , although the ' funds of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Annuity Institution continue slowly to increase , ' yet they fall very short of relieving the great number of worthy applicants , whose names are annually returned to this excellent Charity . I trust the Brethren will take an earl y opportunity of reading the last report published in May , ancl issued in June . 'There were fifty-one candidates on the 2 lst of May , whose united averaged seventy —thirty-nine of these were
unsucages years cessful for want of funds . ' Our Grand Master , Lord Zetland , patronized a public dinner at Freemasons' Hall on the 9 th of June , which was holden for the purpose of raising additional funds ; what the result has been I have not yet heard , but I do most sincerely trust and hope that some important step has been taken to augment the funds of this most
important charity . But there is , Brethren , a fault nearer home , a fault among ourselves , to which I cannot , I will not , shut my eyes : the fault to which I allude is this—a private Lodge has a candidate for the charity ; the AV . M . and Officers naturally strain every nerve to secure his election ; numbers of Brethren , at this time , become subscribers to the charity , for the purpose of voting for their distressed friend and Brother ; they are lucky enough to succeed , and their candidate gains an annuity : what then happens ? most of these Brethrenwho have subscribed for
, this one year , forget to renew their subscriptions on the next , and thus unhandsomely abandon the Society which has relieved the distresses of their unfortunate Brother . Is this fair ? Is this honest ? Is this worth y a Mason ? AA'ith one voice we must all say " no ! " The subscription for a single vote is but small , five shillings , asum which scarcely any Brother would miss from his person ; ancl yet were every Brother to give this small aid , the funds of the Society would increase to such an amount , as
would be sufficient to relieve all and every worthy applicant . Lay this to heart , my Brethren . Charity is the basis of our Order ; and what I ivould ask can be greater charity than to supply the wants of the aged , the poor , and the distressed ? aye more , it must be remembered that many of these have seen better days , have like ourselves been blessed by the good things of this world , till on a sudden , by some unforeseen accident of life , they have been deprived of all those blessings which they hacl before enjoyed . Subscribethenmy Brethren—subscribeI say
, , , , to the Royal Masonic Benevolent Annuity Fund ; let it never be said that the Freemasons of Dorset have , at times , subscribed largely for particular objects , and have afterwards withdrawn : let not this hightoned province writhe under such a charge . Let our Brethren in London see what Dorset can do , will do , has done , ancl will continue to do ; ancl
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Provincial.
Masons . The R . AV . gentleman said , " Brethren , I scarcely know how sufficiently to express my gratitude to the Supreme Grand Architect of the Universe , for having , in his great mercy , raised me from the bed of sickness , perhaps of death , and thus permitted me to be here present amongst you this day . Sincere and heartfelt pleasure does it indeed give me to meet you all again , and may the Most High grant that we may long livein all brotherly loveto exercise those many and various Masonic
, , virtues which it is the pride and boast of our Order to support ancl uphold . My lengthened illness has necessarily prevented me from attending , so closely , to the business of our Order , during the past year , as I otherwise should have done . I have not been able to go to London since November last , ancl consequently am unacquainted with the minutia ; of the proceedings of Grand Lodge during that period . I am , however , very sorry to findfrom a public report which I have receivedthat
, , although the ' funds of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Annuity Institution continue slowly to increase , ' yet they fall very short of relieving the great number of worthy applicants , whose names are annually returned to this excellent Charity . I trust the Brethren will take an earl y opportunity of reading the last report published in May , ancl issued in June . 'There were fifty-one candidates on the 2 lst of May , whose united averaged seventy —thirty-nine of these were
unsucages years cessful for want of funds . ' Our Grand Master , Lord Zetland , patronized a public dinner at Freemasons' Hall on the 9 th of June , which was holden for the purpose of raising additional funds ; what the result has been I have not yet heard , but I do most sincerely trust and hope that some important step has been taken to augment the funds of this most
important charity . But there is , Brethren , a fault nearer home , a fault among ourselves , to which I cannot , I will not , shut my eyes : the fault to which I allude is this—a private Lodge has a candidate for the charity ; the AV . M . and Officers naturally strain every nerve to secure his election ; numbers of Brethren , at this time , become subscribers to the charity , for the purpose of voting for their distressed friend and Brother ; they are lucky enough to succeed , and their candidate gains an annuity : what then happens ? most of these Brethrenwho have subscribed for
, this one year , forget to renew their subscriptions on the next , and thus unhandsomely abandon the Society which has relieved the distresses of their unfortunate Brother . Is this fair ? Is this honest ? Is this worth y a Mason ? AA'ith one voice we must all say " no ! " The subscription for a single vote is but small , five shillings , asum which scarcely any Brother would miss from his person ; ancl yet were every Brother to give this small aid , the funds of the Society would increase to such an amount , as
would be sufficient to relieve all and every worthy applicant . Lay this to heart , my Brethren . Charity is the basis of our Order ; and what I ivould ask can be greater charity than to supply the wants of the aged , the poor , and the distressed ? aye more , it must be remembered that many of these have seen better days , have like ourselves been blessed by the good things of this world , till on a sudden , by some unforeseen accident of life , they have been deprived of all those blessings which they hacl before enjoyed . Subscribethenmy Brethren—subscribeI say
, , , , to the Royal Masonic Benevolent Annuity Fund ; let it never be said that the Freemasons of Dorset have , at times , subscribed largely for particular objects , and have afterwards withdrawn : let not this hightoned province writhe under such a charge . Let our Brethren in London see what Dorset can do , will do , has done , ancl will continue to do ; ancl