The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

maintenance , education , and clothing of the daughters of Freemasons ; the former supported by the Craft in general , the Schools by individual subscriptions with some public aid . Of the two latter Charities little need be said . They have obtained the patronage and support their excellence so fairly deserves , and it is confidently hoped that any new Charity will aid rather than interrupt their well-earned prosperity . this Board

Of the Board of Benevolence it is necessary to say a few words . By sums of money , varying in amount , are given to deserving Masons upon the production of proper certificates and sufficient evidence of the applicant ' s character and wants . It is one of the laws of this Board that no Mason can be relieved more than once in a year , and it is rare to relieve any one more than twice in his life . It is evident that , for temporary relief in cases of urgent distress , this Board is calculated to be of essential service ; for , although inconvenience is occasionally felt from its meeting only at stated periods and from the delays and trouble consequent upon

applicants being ignorant of the necessary forms , yet these delays and inconveniences are reduced as much as due caution in the selection of proper objects imperatively requires . Still a very little reflection will convince all that such a Board , framed only for temporary relief , is totally inefficient in cases where age and infirmity require continual support , and yet it is this very age and infirmity that give the applicant so strong a claim upon our Charity . YVho that has seen old men totter into the lodge to receive too much for wants

their £ 5 , £ 10 , and £ 20 has not felt that such a sum was theirpresent , and 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 erect , either in one building , or as attached cottages , dwellings for worthy Aged and Decayed Freemasons and ( if the funds will permtt ) the YVidows of Freemasons , to be elected by thc subscribers in such manner and after such examination of their character as may be agreed upon , and to pay them a weekly stipend for their support . Proper oilicers will be appointed to watch after their

comfort and morals , and the Committee will have the power of expelling anyone for misconduct . 'I his is the plan which was suggested three years since , and 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 ' labour is that there is now in the hands of the Trustees the sum of £ 1200 Three per cents ., and in the Treasurer ' s hands £ 200 in cash , and they have sufficient grounds for stating that this sum will at the next festival be increased to upwards of £ 2000 . It is gratifying to observe that , during the whole period , the annual subscriptions have regularl y increased , and the liberal donations from Provincial Grand and other lodges , not only in England but in the East and West Indies , assure them of the warm support the cause has received wherever it has been proposed .

It is , of course , impossible at present to state the amount which would be required to fully carry out the intention of the subscribers ; but it is evident that a building or buildings could be commenced at a small sum , whicli should be capable of being enlarged to any extent , and it is fairly estimated that for £ 3000 or £ 4000 a building could be raised worthy of the cause , wliich would shelter 30 or 40 aged men ; and no man acquainted with Masonry will doubt that the brethren would furnish annually sufficient for their support .

The Committee do not wish to conceal that our Illustrious Grand Master , who has ever bcen at the head of numerous institutions for charity , has doubted whether the Craft possesses sufficient resources to carry the plan into effect . It is for us , brethren , to prove that hc has not sufficiently calculated the liberality and perseverance of Masons . It is for us to exert ourselves and by one simultaneous effort to raise such a sum as will enable the Committee to enter into immediate , arrangements for selecting a plot of cround . and commencimr an Asvlum which , increasing from year to year , shall prove an

ornament to our Order , at once the boast of the rich and the solace of the poor . Encouraged by and acting on these considerations , the Committee earnestly entreat of you , Worshipful Sir , to bring- under the consideration of your lodge " the Asylum for the worthy Aged and Decayed Freemason , " and they make this appeal to its members with the confidence the unanimous recommendation of Grand Lodge cannot fail to give

them , hoping that either as a lodge or as individual members , you will come forward and aid them in an undertaking , the successful carrying out of which will remove from the Alasonic body something ot a disgrace , and thus entitle j-ourselves to the consolation that you have aided in a work * the benefits of which will cause your name and Masonry to be blessed hereafter among those who , in their day , have discharged their duty like good and faithful servants .

The Committee further request , YVorshipful Sir , that you will cause this circular to be read in open lodge and that you will yourself personally aid them in their efforts to attain so desirable an object as the erection and endowment of an Ark of Refuge for the worthy Aged and Decayed Freemason . It will be readily admitted that the foregoing explanatory statement could scarcely have been made clearer or more concise , and that it was admirably calculated to attract towards thc proposed Asylum the active interest and

support of the brethren in the provinces . It is also satisfactory to note that the prediction as to the funds of the Institution being increased by the proceeds of the festival to be held in June to upwards of ^ 2000 was fulfilled to the letter . The festival took place at Freemasons' Tavern on the 20 th of the month named , under the presidency of Bro . Alderman Thomas Wood , a Past Master of the Tuscan Lodge , No . 14 , and the total of subscriptions announced , including the current receipts by the Treasurer since the previous

meeting , as well as a contribution by the Bank of England Lodgeof £ 100 invested under certain conditions in thc Savings' Bank , exceeded £ 806 . On this occasion the practice of reading an address , written especially by some brother in aid of the Asylum , was adopted , the author of the lines , which were spoken by Bro . Geo . Bennett , of the Theatre Royal , Covent Garden , being Bro . John F . Smith , of the Bank of England Lodge , who likewise composed the following glee , which was set to music by Bro . Hawes :

THE THREE TASKS . Though , brothers , we have built our shrine * And rear'd the Altar ' s cubic stone , Graved on its front—the mystic sign—Known to our ancient Craft alone : Not yet our crowning work begun , The Mason ' s labour is not done .

Though Charity hath found a pilot Where breathes her orphan children ' s prayer , YVhose grateful hearts , whose happy smile , Reward our deeds , and bless our care : Not yet our crowning work begun ,

The Mason ' s labour is not done . When we have reared a home + for those YVho of their plenty freely gave , YVhom Poverty , at life ' s late close , Hath left no shelter but the grave :

Then may we boast a race well run , Then will our crowning work be done . At the meeting of the Sub-Committee on the nth July , honoraria of ^ " 15 each were voted to the Secretaries , Bros . Farnfield and Pitt—the latter of whom at the same lime tendered his resignation , which was accepted—" as a complimentary acknowledgment of their services in behalf of the Asylum

The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

from its formation in June , 1835 , " while a sum of £ 10 ios ., was voted to Bro . Begbie for his services as Collector . Itwasalso resolved that from and after the meeting to be held on the Sth August the Secretary should be paid for thc full performance of the duties of his office an annual stipend of £ 20 . But the most important resolution passed at this meeting was one providing that

for the future the conduct of the Asylum should be placed in the hands of the Trustees , the Treasurer , the Secretary , and a Committee of 21 to be elected annually at the general meeting in August , or , as subsequentl y altered , in July , and that of this Committee five brethren should be chosen amongst themselves to be Auditors .

At the general meeting of subscribers on the said Sth August , the Auditors' statement of account to the 20 th November , 1837 , showed a balance in the hands of the bankers and Treasurer of only a fraction short of . £ 500 , the incidental disbursements having been slightly in excess of £ 50 , and a sum of ^ 92 2 s . 6 d . having been expended in the purchase of a further

^ 100 Three percent . Consols , raising the total Government Stock to the credit of the Asylum to £ 1200 . The resolutions passed by the Sub-Committee were confirmed on this occasion . Bro . Alderman Thomas Wood was unanimously elected a Trustee in the place of Bro . George Henekey , deceased ; thc

officers and committee for the ensuing year were elected as usual * and the Treasurer was empowered to purchase a further £ 500 Stock out of the moneys in his and the bankers' hands , the purchase being made forthwith and announced at the Sub-Committee ' s meeting in September . .

In October , initiatory steps were taken to increase by other means than annual festivals and circular addresses the funds of the intended Institution , and a Sub-Committee consisting of Bros . Bell , Crucefix , Stevens , and Turner was appointed for the purpose of ascertaining the probable benefits that would arise from a concert or concert and ball together . In the result it

was determined that a ball should be given and a Board of Stewards having been formed for the purpose , it was resolved that the proceeds should be divided equally among the three Masonic Charities—the Committee of the proposed Asj'Ium having taken upon themselves to include their own Institution , though as yet only in embryo , in such designation . The proposal

did not find favour with the Grand Master , but the Committee persevered in their design . The ball was held at Freemasons' Tavern , on the nth of January , 1 S 39 , under the patronage of Aldermen Johnson and T . Wood , Sheriffs , with the result that a profit of £ 75 was made , one third part of

which was severally allocated to the Girls School , the Boys School , and thc Asylum , the first two recipients experiencing some difficulty in wording their respective acknowledgments so as to satisfy the self-respect of the Ball Committee .

At a special general meeting of the subscribers , held at Radley's Hotel on the 22 nd December , 1 S 38 , under the presidency of Bro . Crucefix , measures were adopted for thc purpose of giving effect to a resolution passed at the meeting of the Sub-Committee on the 12 th of the same month , to the effect " That , under the circumstances in which the Institution is now placed ,

it is deemed advisable that some decisive step should be taken to prove its utility , and that the Charity should immediately commence by granting annuities to worthy Aged and Decayed Freemasons . " The Chairman having addressed the meeting on the urgent necessity there was for giving effect to

some such resolution , and having stated he had been in communication with the provinces and with lodges in London , whose unanimous opinion it appeared to be " that the erection of the Asylum should on no account be abandoned , " resolutions were

passed—( 1 ) " To lay apart the subscriptions already received , and such as may accrue , until the sum of £ 2000 has accumulated , which , with the interest thereon and the additions hereafter mentioned , shall be held sacred as a fund for the erection and endowment of the Asylum . "

( 2 )* * ' That an amount at least equal to the interest on thc sum invested shall be applied out of the current collections of the year by way of annuities amongst destitute and deserving brethren in London and the provinces . " ( 3 ) " That the remainder of such collections shallbe added to the Asylum Fund . "

( 4 ) " That when the Asylum shall be erected , the existing annuitants shall be held to be qualified candidates for admission , having the option , however , to retain their annuities or enter the Asylum . " lt was also resolved " that the Committee of the Asylum be requested to suggest the proper qualifications , and prepare such regulations , as may be

necessary to carry out the objects of the preceding resolution , and report thereon to a special general meeting . " And the determination having once been adopted that it was necessary to demonstrate forthwith the practical utility of the intended Charity , it followed almost as a matter of course that , at so opportune a moment , occasion should be taken to place on record the

thanks of the subscribers to the brother who had so well and worthily laboured , in season and out of season , in the teeth of strenuous opposition , and unmoved by circumstances calculated to excite feelings of the utmost despondency , to ensure the success of the contemplated Charity . Hence the following resolution may be looked upon as most appropriate ,

namely" I hat , taking a retrospect of the extraordinary efforts of Robert Thomas Crucefix , Esq ,, M . D ., the Treasurer , generally in aid of the princip les of FYeemasonry , and more especially as a strenuous and untiring supporter of this Institution—his patience and forbearance under the annoyances to which in the latter capacity hc has bcen unnecessarily subjected—his

fortitude under all difficulties , and his persevering determination to carry out the object with which his and their warmest feelings are identified , the heartfelt thanks of this meeting be given to him , not as a commensurate return ,

for as such they would be inadequate , but as a simple and honest expression of gratitude and esteem . " At the meeting of the General Committee on the 9 th January , 1839 , and at successive adjourned meetings , on the 18 th and 24 th of the same n _ o _ th _