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United Grand Lodge.
, ]„( , < at it in its present position ; and besides p leased ^ cver y reason to hope and believe that there is '"•'' . ' aTperiod of prosperity before us . ( Cheers . ) a ' Tle Acting Grand Master : Brethren , I have an anment to make to you which has been interpolated "To printed paper of agenda , to the effect that in the 1 , 1 of Bro . Llewellyn Evans , whose death you must all T "" e heard of with great sorrow , the Most Worshipful rrmd Master has been pleased to appoint Bro . Havers to . T . ' nn „ rd of General Purposes . ( Applause . )
Bro . John Hervey read the report of the Lodge of Benevolence , in which there were recommendations for the fnllnwinsr grants , which required the confirmation of Grand Lodge : £$ o to a brother of No . 286 ; £$ 0 to the widow of a late brother of No . 29 ; £ 200 to the widow of brother of No . 130 ; £ 200 to a brother of No . 141 ; £ 50
to a brother of INo . 879 ; and £ 100 to tne wiciow ot a brother of No . 13 66 . The report having been ordered to be received and entered on the minutes , the two first grants were carried after having been proposed by Bro . Joshua Nunn and seconded by Bro . Raynham W . Stewart . Bro . John M . Clabon rose to propose the confirmation of the four last grants , and requested to be allowed to make
some observations on the subject . Having reminded thc brethren of the position he held , by the appointment of the Grand Master , of President of the Lodge of Benevolence , he stated how that lodge was composed—of a President , a Senior Vice-President , a Junior Vice-President , members appointed by the Grand Master , and others elected by Grand Lodge . The brethren who were appointed
attended very regularly ; the Masters ot all lodges were entitled to be present , but of these very few attended regularly . Others never attended at all , and some only seldom , during their Mastership . These , ' , therefore , were not acquainted with the principles on which thc lodge acted with regard to the making of grants , and they voted large sums . The principle that the lodge proceeded upon
was this : they divided it into two parts , —first , the distress , and second , thc Masonic claim . On the subject of distress he need not dilate , but still there were subjects connected with it which they considered . They liked to give money in a way and an amount which would enable the brother who applied for relief to recover himself and set himself up in business . They did not like to give
money to go to creditors ; and they did not like to give money to a brother who might be said to be a pauper when he became a Mason . As to the point of Masonic claims , the number of years a brother had been in the Craft was an important question . Then came the question whether a brother had belonged to more lodges than one ; then , to what extent he had assisted the work of the
the Craft in his own lodges , and in lodges of instruction . Another important question was , to what extent a brother had assisted the Masonic Charities * , and a further ** ; important question was whether he had still continued in Masonry up to the time of his application for relief ; if he had left it , and if so , how long ago ; and if he was dead , and the application was made by the widow and children ,
whether to use an ordinary phrase he had " died in harness . " Now , he ventured to say that the Lodge of Benevolence acted on these principles exceedingly well . He was going to ask Grand Lodge to confirm the grants recommended in the report , but he felt a very responsible position in coming and asking this , and he felt bound to tell the brethren what he thought of the cases in which relief to a
large amount was recommended . There were many members on the Lodge of Benevolence who understood its rules exceedingly well , but he ventured to think that if in any case his judgment went counter to theirs , and he considered they were in any case granting too much , it was his duty to come to Grand Lodge to tell them so . Th " first case he had to propose was that of thc widow cC a
brother of Lodge No , 130 , a Past Grand Deacon of the Order , who was 38 years in the Craft , and as it was wellknown what great services that brother had rendered to the Order , no brother would think the grant of £ 200 too much , and he should therefore have much pleasure in recommending the confirmation of the grant . Bro . F . Binckes , P . G . S ., seconded the motion , which was
put and carried unanimously . Bro . Clabon , then proposed the next grant of £ 200 , to a brother of No . 141 , who hail been twenty years' in Masonry , and who , according to the accounts which were given of him to the Lodge of Benevolence , was an excellent working Mason of all thc Masonic Charities . Bro . Joshua Nunn , P . G . S . B ., Senior Vice-President , seconded the motion . -
Bro . F . Binckes also added a few words , after which the grant was confirmed . Bro . Clabon brought up the third case , the grant of £ 5 ° to a brother of No , 879 . He had no doubt in the world it was a case of distress ; but he thought that the Masonic claim was hardly so great as to warrant so large a grant as £ 50 . Thc brother entered Masonry in 1857
ana left it in i 860 . No doubt he left it properly , for the cause assigned was that he could not afford to keep up his subscri ptions . There was 110 statement of his having done much in thc way of working in Masonry , or in the way of assisting the charities , and at the Lodge of Benevolence he ( Bro . Clabon ) expressed his opinion that £ 50 was rather a large grant to make . He would ask Grand Lodge
however to confirm it , for the vote having been taken and the orothcr since then having been in the hope of receiving the grant , it would be wrong to disappoint him . But the brethren should bear in mind that the number of Masons was being added to largely every year . Grand Lodge had only J M'O OO or £ 7000 a year to give away . At last Lodge of
Benevolence they gave away over £ 700 ; and if they went ° n at that rate they would not have enough to meet the Cairns made upon ihcm . ( Hear , hear . ) Bro . Joshua Nunn had much pleasure in seconding the Pjiropositioi-i , and added to Bro . Clabon ' s remarks that if tn « brethren who had only been in Masonry six or seven
United Grand Lodge.
years , and had done nothing for the Order , were to be assisted with such an amount as £ 500 , the Lodge of Benevolence would not be able to do justice to those cases where the brethren had very strong claims on their bounty , by having been a long time in the Craft , and assisted it both in purse and person to the utmost of their ability . Bro . John Havers , P . G . W ., was quite aware that he was
about , as he frequently was , to take the unpopular side when a money grant was asked for ; but no desire to stand well with the brethren would sway him from expressing his opinion . He would do so on this occasion , and would venture to draw attention to the extraordinary fact that they were called upon to vote £ 50 upon the recommendation of the most worthy man in the Craft , who told
them that he quite disapproved of it . He was not going to object to the giving of this poor man the grant : the unfortunate error had been committed of voting it , and it would be an act of inhumanity to disappoint his hopes of receiving it . But let him ( Bro . Havers ) point out this prominent fact in this case . The brother came into Masonry and remained
in it for seven short years , did nothing while he was in it . cither in thc way of " working " or in the way of charity . He then left it for nine years , came before thc Lodge of Benevolence for relief , and they gave him £ 50 . It was impossible , if they granted according to this scale to brethren who had been ten , fifteen , twenty , or thirty years in Masonry , had toiled hard for it during all that time and
" borne thc burden and heat of thc day " that they should have funds sufficient to relieve the distressed . For the sake of the time-honoured institution they represented , he hoped they would be careful in future what grants they made . ( Cheers . ) Bro . Herbert Dicketts said that though the President of the Lodge had told the brethren a great deal about the
composition of thc Lodge of Benevolence he had not told them everything . On the last occasion they had a great number of newly-fledged Masters of lodges ; there were any number of new collars , new aprons , and levels to be seen shining there . And what did these new Masters do ? They " went in " for a large sum of money , and ignored the whole of what had been done by the executive of
Grand Lodge . He had known this state of things to happen on many occasions , and that a great many of the new Masters who attended once did not attend again . They came in , they saw a great many proposals for grants on the paper , they were not guided by those who knew and thoroughly attended to their duties on all occasions , and as soon as some one proposed a £ 50 or £ 100
grant , up went their hands for the large amount , and it was carried . Another brother fully endorsed all that had been said . The Earl of Shrewsbury said he had listened with great interest to the remarks of Bro . Clabon , and he was sure the Acting Grand Master would agree with him ( the noble Earl ) , that as charity was their first duty , they should be
very careful how they administered it . He was not about to move a resolution , but he thought , and felt , that thc executive government , the Board of Benevolence , was greatly hampered by those who came into the house , like the new Masters , as had been described by Bro . Dicketts , and swamped thc votes of the executive , and carried the division . Speaking in a political fashion , he thought a
committee should be appointed to enquire into the working of the Lodge of Benevolence . It seemed very hard to brethren like thc President and Vice-Presidents of the Board , who had taken great pains for many years with these affairs , should be swamped when they did what they thought was rig ht . He attended the lodge once with a case from his own province of Staffordshire , which was
received most kindly . He believed there was nothing like pressing a case yourself . There were other cases brought forward on that occasion , and having succeeded so well with his own case , he rather went in for the other candidates who were brought forward , and they were carried without auy discussion , at all . ( Laughter ) . They should be very careful what they did in the matter , because
charity was thc great principle of thc Order , and they should be cautious in the administration of its funds . ( Cheers . ) A motion was afterwards made to refer the grant back to thc Board , but it was lost , and thc grant was confirmed . Bro . Clabon next proposed the last case on the list , £ 100 to the widow of a brother of No . 1366 , who had
been six and-a-half years 111 Masonry , but in that time had been Master of more than one lodge , had supported all the charities , but was suddenly stricken down with disease of the htart , and left his wife and family unprovided for . Bro . Binckes in strong terms supported the grant , and seconded the motion . He gave a general outline of the
deceased brother ' s career in Freemasonry , and showed that though he had been but six years and three-quarters in the Order , thcy represented a long life of Masonic usefulness . What he would have done for Masonry if he had been spared a few years it was impossible to tell , but having served the Stewardship of the other charities he had consented to be Steward for the next festival of the Boys' School , and had
already got together a list of subscriptions amounting to £ 100 . There was a general feeling in Grand Lodge in favour of this grant , the deceased brother seeming to be known to nearly all the brethren . Some , however , did not appear to agree to the general view of thc usefulness of the brother to the Order if social duties were neglected ; and
Bro . Joshua Nunn asked the brethren , after so many remarks had been made on the great services he had performed for the Craft—What had he done for his wife and family ? Numerous expressions of dissent followed this question , and several brethren got up to inform Grand Lodge what the brother had done , and Bro . John Savage , P . G . D ., made a statement of the brother ' s services to his family . These services could not have been very fruitful , for
United Grand Lodge.
in three weeks after thc brother ' s death , oiv the-petition of the widow a daughter was placed on the list of thc Girls ' School candidates for next election , and came before the General Committee of that institution on the 28 th of January . The motion was carried amidst great cheering . The reports of the Board of General Purposes and of the
Colonial Board given in our last edition were then agreed to , as was also the report of Bro . R . P . Harding , Auditor of Grand Lodge accounts . Bro . J . H . Wynne , P . M . 554 , moved— - 'That this Grand Lodge do order to be given from the Fund of Benevolence the sum of £ 5 to each unsuccessful ' candidatc at the next general election for annuitants in 1875 for old
men and women belonging to thc Craft of i rccmasons . " Bro . George Lambert seconded the motion , and said that if this were done , Grand Lodge would merely be following in the wake of the great metropolitan charities . Bro . J . B . Monckton , President of the Board of General Purposes , in the absence of Grand Registrar , pointed out that it could not be done , as the Book of Constitutions
provided how the Fund of Benevolence was to be applied . Another brother thought that if the motion were carried , it would be likely to encourage a great ninny poor brethren and widows , to put themselves forward as candidates for the sake of getting the £ 5 . Bro . John Havers said ' the Book of Constitutions precluded the motion being carried . The brethren were very
charitable and good , but he was afraid if they adopted Bro . Wynne ' s suggestion , they would be offering a premium to the needy to apply . The Acting G . M ..: I am of opinion that this motion is out of order . Putting aside the general inadvisability—I do not think that is too strong a word—of passing a law which would simply form an inducement to any poor
person who was a Mason in the United Kingdom , to have a try for £ rj . I hold that under the Book of Constitutions , this Grand Lodge ought not , and cannot interfere in the present instance , with , the management of the Fund of Benevolence , according to the statement made by my two brethren on my right hand on the dais ( Bro . Monckton and Bro . Havers ) , and therefore I will not put this motion
to the vote . Bro . John Constable , P . M . 185 , moved "That the sum of ^ 100 be voted from the funds of Grand Lodge towards the fund now being raised for the purpose of endowing the Freemasons' Lifeboat , stationed at North Berwick in
1872 . " Bro . Brackstone Baker seconded thc motion , although he was generally opposed to these promiscious grants . Still , he said , there was a peculiar popularity about lifeboats , and there were scarcely any wrecks took place in which some Freemason was not among the crew or
passengers . Bro . Havers asked Bro . Constable whether it was not the fact that if a lifeboat was presented to the National Lifeboat Institution they did not undertake the cost of keeping it up . He was strongly in favour of lifeboats , but he would like to know this before he voted on thc motion . Bro . Brackstone Baker ' s argument was a good one as to
Freemasons being wrecked if they were all wrecked at North Berwick . ( A laugh , ) It was one thing also to build up a charity and leave our successors to keep it up , and another thing to found and endow a charity . If the present lifeboat in twenty years were worn out , it might be safely left to the generosity of future brethren to build another . He would move that the question be adjourned .
Bro . Constable replied that Bro . Havers was correctly informed that the National Life Boat Institution undertook the cost of all lifeboats presented to them . But societies less known and less popular than Freemasonry supported their own lifeboats , and why should not Freemason ' s . If the Craft was willing to raise £ 1300 , Grand Lodge he thought might grant the other £ 100 .
Bro . F . Binckes moved a rider to Bro . Constable ' s motion— " provided that the sum of £ 1300 , required to furnish the endowment for the lifeboat , be contributed by members ofthe Craft "—thinking that it would stimulate the Craft at large to raise the £ 1300 required . Bro . John Havers observed that having- received from the mover of the resolution a reply to his question , to the
effect that the National Lifeboat Institution took- upon themselves thc whole cost and charge of maintaining lifeboats presented to them , he thought Grand Lodge would be doing a work of supererogation by contributing towards an endowment of the Freemasons' Lifeboat . He would withdraw his motion for adjourning the question , and he hoped that Grand Lodge would negative the resolution .
Bro Constable might , on a future occasion move his resolution , with Bro . Binckes's rider ; but he thought that instead of giving this £ 100 for the purpose named in the motion , they had better subscribe the money to build a new lifeboat .
Bro . Griffiths Smith , W . M . 569 , seconded Bro . Binckes's rider . After a few words from thc Grand Treasurer , the purport of which could not be gathered for the noise created by brethren leaving Grand Lodge , a division was taken , when the motion and rider were lost by 115 against 99 votes . Grand Lodge was then closed formally , and adjourned .
PKESENTATION TO BRO . J . BALL , No . 670 . —On Thursday evening , the 25 th ult ., Bro . Joseph Ball , No . 670 , was presented , at the Adelphi Hotel , Liverpool , with an address and testimonial , in recognition of his services on behalf of Protestant principles , and also in the cause of the ratepayers on several occasions . The testimonial consisted of an elegant silver service and address , valued at £ 200 .
I Bro . Staveley Hill . M . P ., has been appointed Counsel at the Admiralty and Judge Advocate of the Fleet , in the room of Mr . Huddleston .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
United Grand Lodge.
, ]„( , < at it in its present position ; and besides p leased ^ cver y reason to hope and believe that there is '"•'' . ' aTperiod of prosperity before us . ( Cheers . ) a ' Tle Acting Grand Master : Brethren , I have an anment to make to you which has been interpolated "To printed paper of agenda , to the effect that in the 1 , 1 of Bro . Llewellyn Evans , whose death you must all T "" e heard of with great sorrow , the Most Worshipful rrmd Master has been pleased to appoint Bro . Havers to . T . ' nn „ rd of General Purposes . ( Applause . )
Bro . John Hervey read the report of the Lodge of Benevolence , in which there were recommendations for the fnllnwinsr grants , which required the confirmation of Grand Lodge : £$ o to a brother of No . 286 ; £$ 0 to the widow of a late brother of No . 29 ; £ 200 to the widow of brother of No . 130 ; £ 200 to a brother of No . 141 ; £ 50
to a brother of INo . 879 ; and £ 100 to tne wiciow ot a brother of No . 13 66 . The report having been ordered to be received and entered on the minutes , the two first grants were carried after having been proposed by Bro . Joshua Nunn and seconded by Bro . Raynham W . Stewart . Bro . John M . Clabon rose to propose the confirmation of the four last grants , and requested to be allowed to make
some observations on the subject . Having reminded thc brethren of the position he held , by the appointment of the Grand Master , of President of the Lodge of Benevolence , he stated how that lodge was composed—of a President , a Senior Vice-President , a Junior Vice-President , members appointed by the Grand Master , and others elected by Grand Lodge . The brethren who were appointed
attended very regularly ; the Masters ot all lodges were entitled to be present , but of these very few attended regularly . Others never attended at all , and some only seldom , during their Mastership . These , ' , therefore , were not acquainted with the principles on which thc lodge acted with regard to the making of grants , and they voted large sums . The principle that the lodge proceeded upon
was this : they divided it into two parts , —first , the distress , and second , thc Masonic claim . On the subject of distress he need not dilate , but still there were subjects connected with it which they considered . They liked to give money in a way and an amount which would enable the brother who applied for relief to recover himself and set himself up in business . They did not like to give
money to go to creditors ; and they did not like to give money to a brother who might be said to be a pauper when he became a Mason . As to the point of Masonic claims , the number of years a brother had been in the Craft was an important question . Then came the question whether a brother had belonged to more lodges than one ; then , to what extent he had assisted the work of the
the Craft in his own lodges , and in lodges of instruction . Another important question was , to what extent a brother had assisted the Masonic Charities * , and a further ** ; important question was whether he had still continued in Masonry up to the time of his application for relief ; if he had left it , and if so , how long ago ; and if he was dead , and the application was made by the widow and children ,
whether to use an ordinary phrase he had " died in harness . " Now , he ventured to say that the Lodge of Benevolence acted on these principles exceedingly well . He was going to ask Grand Lodge to confirm the grants recommended in the report , but he felt a very responsible position in coming and asking this , and he felt bound to tell the brethren what he thought of the cases in which relief to a
large amount was recommended . There were many members on the Lodge of Benevolence who understood its rules exceedingly well , but he ventured to think that if in any case his judgment went counter to theirs , and he considered they were in any case granting too much , it was his duty to come to Grand Lodge to tell them so . Th " first case he had to propose was that of thc widow cC a
brother of Lodge No , 130 , a Past Grand Deacon of the Order , who was 38 years in the Craft , and as it was wellknown what great services that brother had rendered to the Order , no brother would think the grant of £ 200 too much , and he should therefore have much pleasure in recommending the confirmation of the grant . Bro . F . Binckes , P . G . S ., seconded the motion , which was
put and carried unanimously . Bro . Clabon , then proposed the next grant of £ 200 , to a brother of No . 141 , who hail been twenty years' in Masonry , and who , according to the accounts which were given of him to the Lodge of Benevolence , was an excellent working Mason of all thc Masonic Charities . Bro . Joshua Nunn , P . G . S . B ., Senior Vice-President , seconded the motion . -
Bro . F . Binckes also added a few words , after which the grant was confirmed . Bro . Clabon brought up the third case , the grant of £ 5 ° to a brother of No , 879 . He had no doubt in the world it was a case of distress ; but he thought that the Masonic claim was hardly so great as to warrant so large a grant as £ 50 . Thc brother entered Masonry in 1857
ana left it in i 860 . No doubt he left it properly , for the cause assigned was that he could not afford to keep up his subscri ptions . There was 110 statement of his having done much in thc way of working in Masonry , or in the way of assisting the charities , and at the Lodge of Benevolence he ( Bro . Clabon ) expressed his opinion that £ 50 was rather a large grant to make . He would ask Grand Lodge
however to confirm it , for the vote having been taken and the orothcr since then having been in the hope of receiving the grant , it would be wrong to disappoint him . But the brethren should bear in mind that the number of Masons was being added to largely every year . Grand Lodge had only J M'O OO or £ 7000 a year to give away . At last Lodge of
Benevolence they gave away over £ 700 ; and if they went ° n at that rate they would not have enough to meet the Cairns made upon ihcm . ( Hear , hear . ) Bro . Joshua Nunn had much pleasure in seconding the Pjiropositioi-i , and added to Bro . Clabon ' s remarks that if tn « brethren who had only been in Masonry six or seven
United Grand Lodge.
years , and had done nothing for the Order , were to be assisted with such an amount as £ 500 , the Lodge of Benevolence would not be able to do justice to those cases where the brethren had very strong claims on their bounty , by having been a long time in the Craft , and assisted it both in purse and person to the utmost of their ability . Bro . John Havers , P . G . W ., was quite aware that he was
about , as he frequently was , to take the unpopular side when a money grant was asked for ; but no desire to stand well with the brethren would sway him from expressing his opinion . He would do so on this occasion , and would venture to draw attention to the extraordinary fact that they were called upon to vote £ 50 upon the recommendation of the most worthy man in the Craft , who told
them that he quite disapproved of it . He was not going to object to the giving of this poor man the grant : the unfortunate error had been committed of voting it , and it would be an act of inhumanity to disappoint his hopes of receiving it . But let him ( Bro . Havers ) point out this prominent fact in this case . The brother came into Masonry and remained
in it for seven short years , did nothing while he was in it . cither in thc way of " working " or in the way of charity . He then left it for nine years , came before thc Lodge of Benevolence for relief , and they gave him £ 50 . It was impossible , if they granted according to this scale to brethren who had been ten , fifteen , twenty , or thirty years in Masonry , had toiled hard for it during all that time and
" borne thc burden and heat of thc day " that they should have funds sufficient to relieve the distressed . For the sake of the time-honoured institution they represented , he hoped they would be careful in future what grants they made . ( Cheers . ) Bro . Herbert Dicketts said that though the President of the Lodge had told the brethren a great deal about the
composition of thc Lodge of Benevolence he had not told them everything . On the last occasion they had a great number of newly-fledged Masters of lodges ; there were any number of new collars , new aprons , and levels to be seen shining there . And what did these new Masters do ? They " went in " for a large sum of money , and ignored the whole of what had been done by the executive of
Grand Lodge . He had known this state of things to happen on many occasions , and that a great many of the new Masters who attended once did not attend again . They came in , they saw a great many proposals for grants on the paper , they were not guided by those who knew and thoroughly attended to their duties on all occasions , and as soon as some one proposed a £ 50 or £ 100
grant , up went their hands for the large amount , and it was carried . Another brother fully endorsed all that had been said . The Earl of Shrewsbury said he had listened with great interest to the remarks of Bro . Clabon , and he was sure the Acting Grand Master would agree with him ( the noble Earl ) , that as charity was their first duty , they should be
very careful how they administered it . He was not about to move a resolution , but he thought , and felt , that thc executive government , the Board of Benevolence , was greatly hampered by those who came into the house , like the new Masters , as had been described by Bro . Dicketts , and swamped thc votes of the executive , and carried the division . Speaking in a political fashion , he thought a
committee should be appointed to enquire into the working of the Lodge of Benevolence . It seemed very hard to brethren like thc President and Vice-Presidents of the Board , who had taken great pains for many years with these affairs , should be swamped when they did what they thought was rig ht . He attended the lodge once with a case from his own province of Staffordshire , which was
received most kindly . He believed there was nothing like pressing a case yourself . There were other cases brought forward on that occasion , and having succeeded so well with his own case , he rather went in for the other candidates who were brought forward , and they were carried without auy discussion , at all . ( Laughter ) . They should be very careful what they did in the matter , because
charity was thc great principle of thc Order , and they should be cautious in the administration of its funds . ( Cheers . ) A motion was afterwards made to refer the grant back to thc Board , but it was lost , and thc grant was confirmed . Bro . Clabon next proposed the last case on the list , £ 100 to the widow of a brother of No . 1366 , who had
been six and-a-half years 111 Masonry , but in that time had been Master of more than one lodge , had supported all the charities , but was suddenly stricken down with disease of the htart , and left his wife and family unprovided for . Bro . Binckes in strong terms supported the grant , and seconded the motion . He gave a general outline of the
deceased brother ' s career in Freemasonry , and showed that though he had been but six years and three-quarters in the Order , thcy represented a long life of Masonic usefulness . What he would have done for Masonry if he had been spared a few years it was impossible to tell , but having served the Stewardship of the other charities he had consented to be Steward for the next festival of the Boys' School , and had
already got together a list of subscriptions amounting to £ 100 . There was a general feeling in Grand Lodge in favour of this grant , the deceased brother seeming to be known to nearly all the brethren . Some , however , did not appear to agree to the general view of thc usefulness of the brother to the Order if social duties were neglected ; and
Bro . Joshua Nunn asked the brethren , after so many remarks had been made on the great services he had performed for the Craft—What had he done for his wife and family ? Numerous expressions of dissent followed this question , and several brethren got up to inform Grand Lodge what the brother had done , and Bro . John Savage , P . G . D ., made a statement of the brother ' s services to his family . These services could not have been very fruitful , for
United Grand Lodge.
in three weeks after thc brother ' s death , oiv the-petition of the widow a daughter was placed on the list of thc Girls ' School candidates for next election , and came before the General Committee of that institution on the 28 th of January . The motion was carried amidst great cheering . The reports of the Board of General Purposes and of the
Colonial Board given in our last edition were then agreed to , as was also the report of Bro . R . P . Harding , Auditor of Grand Lodge accounts . Bro . J . H . Wynne , P . M . 554 , moved— - 'That this Grand Lodge do order to be given from the Fund of Benevolence the sum of £ 5 to each unsuccessful ' candidatc at the next general election for annuitants in 1875 for old
men and women belonging to thc Craft of i rccmasons . " Bro . George Lambert seconded the motion , and said that if this were done , Grand Lodge would merely be following in the wake of the great metropolitan charities . Bro . J . B . Monckton , President of the Board of General Purposes , in the absence of Grand Registrar , pointed out that it could not be done , as the Book of Constitutions
provided how the Fund of Benevolence was to be applied . Another brother thought that if the motion were carried , it would be likely to encourage a great ninny poor brethren and widows , to put themselves forward as candidates for the sake of getting the £ 5 . Bro . John Havers said ' the Book of Constitutions precluded the motion being carried . The brethren were very
charitable and good , but he was afraid if they adopted Bro . Wynne ' s suggestion , they would be offering a premium to the needy to apply . The Acting G . M ..: I am of opinion that this motion is out of order . Putting aside the general inadvisability—I do not think that is too strong a word—of passing a law which would simply form an inducement to any poor
person who was a Mason in the United Kingdom , to have a try for £ rj . I hold that under the Book of Constitutions , this Grand Lodge ought not , and cannot interfere in the present instance , with , the management of the Fund of Benevolence , according to the statement made by my two brethren on my right hand on the dais ( Bro . Monckton and Bro . Havers ) , and therefore I will not put this motion
to the vote . Bro . John Constable , P . M . 185 , moved "That the sum of ^ 100 be voted from the funds of Grand Lodge towards the fund now being raised for the purpose of endowing the Freemasons' Lifeboat , stationed at North Berwick in
1872 . " Bro . Brackstone Baker seconded thc motion , although he was generally opposed to these promiscious grants . Still , he said , there was a peculiar popularity about lifeboats , and there were scarcely any wrecks took place in which some Freemason was not among the crew or
passengers . Bro . Havers asked Bro . Constable whether it was not the fact that if a lifeboat was presented to the National Lifeboat Institution they did not undertake the cost of keeping it up . He was strongly in favour of lifeboats , but he would like to know this before he voted on thc motion . Bro . Brackstone Baker ' s argument was a good one as to
Freemasons being wrecked if they were all wrecked at North Berwick . ( A laugh , ) It was one thing also to build up a charity and leave our successors to keep it up , and another thing to found and endow a charity . If the present lifeboat in twenty years were worn out , it might be safely left to the generosity of future brethren to build another . He would move that the question be adjourned .
Bro . Constable replied that Bro . Havers was correctly informed that the National Life Boat Institution undertook the cost of all lifeboats presented to them . But societies less known and less popular than Freemasonry supported their own lifeboats , and why should not Freemason ' s . If the Craft was willing to raise £ 1300 , Grand Lodge he thought might grant the other £ 100 .
Bro . F . Binckes moved a rider to Bro . Constable ' s motion— " provided that the sum of £ 1300 , required to furnish the endowment for the lifeboat , be contributed by members ofthe Craft "—thinking that it would stimulate the Craft at large to raise the £ 1300 required . Bro . John Havers observed that having- received from the mover of the resolution a reply to his question , to the
effect that the National Lifeboat Institution took- upon themselves thc whole cost and charge of maintaining lifeboats presented to them , he thought Grand Lodge would be doing a work of supererogation by contributing towards an endowment of the Freemasons' Lifeboat . He would withdraw his motion for adjourning the question , and he hoped that Grand Lodge would negative the resolution .
Bro Constable might , on a future occasion move his resolution , with Bro . Binckes's rider ; but he thought that instead of giving this £ 100 for the purpose named in the motion , they had better subscribe the money to build a new lifeboat .
Bro . Griffiths Smith , W . M . 569 , seconded Bro . Binckes's rider . After a few words from thc Grand Treasurer , the purport of which could not be gathered for the noise created by brethren leaving Grand Lodge , a division was taken , when the motion and rider were lost by 115 against 99 votes . Grand Lodge was then closed formally , and adjourned .
PKESENTATION TO BRO . J . BALL , No . 670 . —On Thursday evening , the 25 th ult ., Bro . Joseph Ball , No . 670 , was presented , at the Adelphi Hotel , Liverpool , with an address and testimonial , in recognition of his services on behalf of Protestant principles , and also in the cause of the ratepayers on several occasions . The testimonial consisted of an elegant silver service and address , valued at £ 200 .
I Bro . Staveley Hill . M . P ., has been appointed Counsel at the Admiralty and Judge Advocate of the Fleet , in the room of Mr . Huddleston .