Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
United Grand Lodge Of Free And Accepted Masons Of England.
It was agreed that the words should stand " Master of not more than one Lodge at the same time . " Bro . M'MULLEN moved that a former report of the committee of management of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Annuity Fund be taken into consideration . The principal clause to which attention had to be directed , was the suggestion that a hundred pounds additional should be
annually granted to the said fund from the Fund of Benevolence , in quarterly payments of twenty-five pounds each . Such grant was absolutely needed in consequence of the great number of applicants , and the limited means at the disposal of the committee . Fifty-one candidates , all equally deserving , were before the subscribers at the last election , but only a few of them could they grant annuities to , from the amount they had to deal with . It was impossible adequately to describe the distress
and misery the committee found to exist among the candidates ; and whom to reject or recommend they knew not . He therefore urged Grand Lodge for a larger amount of money , as that would enable them considerably to increase the sphere of their actions , and would enable them to relieve many whose petitions , if even brought before the Board of Benevolence , could not receive the same care and the same searching enquiry that the committee of the Annuity Fund invariably adopted .
The Fund of Benevolence could well bear the additional grant ; Masters of Lodges to have additional votes in proportion . The motion being seconded , Bro . PETER THOMSON briefly , but emphatically , moved , as an amendment , that the grant be extended to two hundred pounds . Bro . CRUCEFIX seconded the amendment . The larger—the more
extended the charity , the greater the share of support would it receive from him . He rejoiced at the opportunity thus afforded him of setting himself right with regard to the imputation of opposing this particular charity . He begged Grand Lodge to look at the amount of thankfulness they might ask for , if their hearts were that way inclined , from the new recipients of their bounty . Ten more Masons could be assisted every year—ten more Brethren could be placed in comparative comfort
—by their vote this evening . He pressed upon their best and kindest feelings the consideration of the proposition , and in doing so , he placed himself at a disadvantage at which he might with justice complain , for it was now two years since he had placed upon the paper of notice of motion the proposal that Grand Lodge should grant annually to widows of Freemasons three hundred pounds . He had had the promise of a Grand Master on the throne that his motion should take precedence
, but , one way and another , it had been put off , and he had a good cause of complaint that these money-grants were brought forward before his , as they might be used as arguments hereafter against his motion , which would not be just to him , but , nevertheless , it should not prevent him assisting every charitable project that was brought forward . Bro . JOHN SAVAGE agreed with all that had been said , and all that could be said in favour of the Masonic Benevolent Annuity Fund . He
supposed for the additional second hundred pounds an additional vote would be given to the Masters of Lodges . Rev . Bro . DAKEYNE hoped charity and patronage would not of necessity go hand in hand . Why for ever harp upon that string ? Give —give to the needy , the distressed , and the poor ! He did not want an extra vote ; on the contrary , he wanted to give double , and the charity thus given would be the more real on receiving no patronage for it . He
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
United Grand Lodge Of Free And Accepted Masons Of England.
It was agreed that the words should stand " Master of not more than one Lodge at the same time . " Bro . M'MULLEN moved that a former report of the committee of management of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Annuity Fund be taken into consideration . The principal clause to which attention had to be directed , was the suggestion that a hundred pounds additional should be
annually granted to the said fund from the Fund of Benevolence , in quarterly payments of twenty-five pounds each . Such grant was absolutely needed in consequence of the great number of applicants , and the limited means at the disposal of the committee . Fifty-one candidates , all equally deserving , were before the subscribers at the last election , but only a few of them could they grant annuities to , from the amount they had to deal with . It was impossible adequately to describe the distress
and misery the committee found to exist among the candidates ; and whom to reject or recommend they knew not . He therefore urged Grand Lodge for a larger amount of money , as that would enable them considerably to increase the sphere of their actions , and would enable them to relieve many whose petitions , if even brought before the Board of Benevolence , could not receive the same care and the same searching enquiry that the committee of the Annuity Fund invariably adopted .
The Fund of Benevolence could well bear the additional grant ; Masters of Lodges to have additional votes in proportion . The motion being seconded , Bro . PETER THOMSON briefly , but emphatically , moved , as an amendment , that the grant be extended to two hundred pounds . Bro . CRUCEFIX seconded the amendment . The larger—the more
extended the charity , the greater the share of support would it receive from him . He rejoiced at the opportunity thus afforded him of setting himself right with regard to the imputation of opposing this particular charity . He begged Grand Lodge to look at the amount of thankfulness they might ask for , if their hearts were that way inclined , from the new recipients of their bounty . Ten more Masons could be assisted every year—ten more Brethren could be placed in comparative comfort
—by their vote this evening . He pressed upon their best and kindest feelings the consideration of the proposition , and in doing so , he placed himself at a disadvantage at which he might with justice complain , for it was now two years since he had placed upon the paper of notice of motion the proposal that Grand Lodge should grant annually to widows of Freemasons three hundred pounds . He had had the promise of a Grand Master on the throne that his motion should take precedence
, but , one way and another , it had been put off , and he had a good cause of complaint that these money-grants were brought forward before his , as they might be used as arguments hereafter against his motion , which would not be just to him , but , nevertheless , it should not prevent him assisting every charitable project that was brought forward . Bro . JOHN SAVAGE agreed with all that had been said , and all that could be said in favour of the Masonic Benevolent Annuity Fund . He
supposed for the additional second hundred pounds an additional vote would be given to the Masters of Lodges . Rev . Bro . DAKEYNE hoped charity and patronage would not of necessity go hand in hand . Why for ever harp upon that string ? Give —give to the needy , the distressed , and the poor ! He did not want an extra vote ; on the contrary , he wanted to give double , and the charity thus given would be the more real on receiving no patronage for it . He