Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Festival Of The Royal Masonic Benenolent Institution.
receiving £ 26 per annum on the books . The aggregate amount paid them in the year was , £ 2 , 600 . The permanent annual income for the male annuitants at the present time is from Grand Lodge , £ 5 00 ; Grand Chapter , £ 100 ; dividends on funded property , £ 688 10 s . ; together , , £ 1 , 288 10 s . The
residue of the income , including the working expenses of this branch of the institution , is made up from annnual subscriptions and two-thirds of the donations ; the other third has to be invested . There are twenty-one approved male candidates on the list for the next election . There are a great many
distressed brethren who are anxious to be elected whose cases are found to be fit for assistance ; but the amount of our funds will not admit of their being relieved . As to the Freemasons' Widows ' Fund , it was established under the sanction of the late Most Worshipful Grand Master , the Right
Hon . the Earl of Zetland , in 18 49 , since which period 128 widows of our aged brethren have been recipients of relief from the fund , to whom have been paid , to December last , £ 15 , 538 10 s . After the election in May last , there were 69 female annuitants each receiving £ 25 per annum , £ 1 , 738
10 s . in the aggregate ; in addition to which , there are seven widows entitled for three years to half their deceased husbands' annuities , unless elected ¦ annuitants in the meantime . The permanent annual income for the widows at the present time is , from Grand Lodge , £ 300 ; Grand Chapter , £ 50 ;
dividends on funded property , £ 403 10 s . ; making together , £ 753 i ° s . The residue of the income , including the working expenses of this branch of the institution , is made up from annual subscriptions and two-thirds of the donations ; the other third has to be invested . Mark this point again . There
are twenty approved female candidates on the list for the next election . There is an asylum at Croydon attached to the institution capable of affording accommodation for 34 inmates , each of whom has two rooms . At present there are 32 occupants . The other annuitants , male and female , are
permitted to reside where they please . The whole of the building has been paid for , and there is a sustentation fund of £ 1 , 000 stock , the interest of which is applied to the repairs of the edifice , so that the subscriptions for annuities are not applied for the purpose of maintaining the building . I think that
is a most gratifying account ; but while there arc so many poor and distressed brethren and widows of deceased brethren claiming your assistance , you see there is a very strong reason for continued efforts and increased exertions for the adequate support of this charity . I wish its advocacy was in
belter hands than mine ; but I trust to your Masonic feeling to do what is requisite , knowing that while you are thankful to the Almighty for giving you the means of living in comfort yourselves , you will do your best to assist your poorer brethren . ( Cheers . )
Bro . FARNFIELD , jun ., here read the Stewards ' lists , which the C HAIRMAN afterwards announced represented a total of subscriptions to the amount of £ 3 ) 377 I 0 S - '> fourteen lists , however , still left outstanding . ( Applause . ) The Rev . C . J . MARTVN , G . C .: Right
Worshipful Sir , to use the very common and hackneyed phrase , an honour and pleasure now devolve upon me , but to use a phrase well understood among us , the W . M ., brethren , has entrusted me with his gavel , and therefore you know the nature of the toast I am about to propose . If it had not been
that we are assembled to celebrate the establishment of a particular institution , it would have been the toast of the evening—it is " The Health of Bro . Samuel Tomkins , Grand Treasurer and our Chairman . " ( Hear , hear . ) Brethren , you have shown me by the plaudits with which you have received
his name the honour and estimation in which you hold him , even if it had not been already signified by the fact that the office he now holds he has held for nineteen years—a servitude such as falls to the lotpfvcry few , and which relieves mcof saying a great deal in his praise . I am certain on the present
occasion it must be a source of great gratification to him to find he has presided over so large and influential a meeting , when the amount subscribed is £ 3 , 377 , with fourteen lists to come it . Any man might well be proud to be in the position of Bro . Tomkins this night , because no one knows better
than he that unless the funds arc forthcoming , the affairs of these institutions could not go on at all . It is to me , and to many members of the Craft who take an interest in these charities , a source of regret that they are not better and more widely supported . I am sorry to find from a THE
FREEMASON that therc | arc four-fifths of the Masons who do not subscribe to the charities at all . That is a disgrace to our order which we ought each of us to try to wipe off . The other day , at a meeting of the Boys' and Girls' Schools , a request was
made to the Craft lo use their utmost endeavours to induce the brethren throughout the country to increase the funds of these institutions by becoming subscribers . You all know that it is the drop of water that wears away the stone ; and so if each
Festival Of The Royal Masonic Benenolent Institution.
one of us would put his shoulder to the wheel and try to make these charities wider known and better appreciated—would try to show the brethren among whom he is thrown how excellent they are , instead of the £ 3 , 377 , in which we rejoice to-night , our lists at these festivals would be three times that
amount . Now , brethren , I beg to propose to you with all kindness , heartiness , and good feeling , the health of our Grand Treasurer' and President this evening , Bro . Tomkins . It is very seldom that we find a brother come forward at such short notice to take the chair . We , of course , hoped to see the
Provincial Grand Master for Middlesex here ; but failing him , I am certain there is no one we would rather see in this chair than our Bro . Tomkins . ( Cheers . ) The CHAIRMAN : Brethren , I thank you cordially for the kindness with which you have
responded to this toast . I assure you it is a great pleasure to preside at these festivals . It is a great pleasure to find this great charity flourish . It is a pleasure to find these brethren take such an interest in it ; and it is also a great pleasure to find that when we meet brethren will tell us some truths
which to all brethren may not be acceptable . I am suret hat many brethren have not promoted the success of the charities as they ought to have done , and I hope they will kindly weigh and consider and bring into practical operation the thoughtful suggestions that have been made by the Grand Chaplain . We
all have but one object ; we desire that Masonry may rise and flourish ; and we know it cannot flourish unless the charities are heartily supported . ( Hear , hear . ) The CHAIRMAN : The next toast I have to give you is " Prosperity to the other Masonic Charities . "
They are all closely and nearly allied . We wish this charity to prosper ; we wish equally that the other charities may prosper . Great success has attended them of late years ; and I trust that their success this year will not be less than on recent occasions . The Boys' School Festival is to be held
on the 8 th of March . I am not able to tell you when the Girls' School Festival is to be held . His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales , Past Grand Master , will preside , but he has not yet named the day . I hope as many brethren as possible will attend on both occasions , and that we shall have
the pleasure of finding the pecuniary result of each festival will be large . Bro . BINCKES : Bro . Chairman , it is a somewhat curious and singular coincidence that in commending this toast to the reception of our friends there should be some circumstances of doubt with
reference to the festivals of both institutions whose success has been so heartily wished . The Girls ' School , fortunately , have the most illustrious Chairman to preside at their festival , but the date at which it is to be held is left open for His Royal Highness to fix . The date of the Boys' School
Festival is fixed for the Sth of March , but we have no chairman at present . What we are to do I do not know . Two or three illustrious brethren have been asked , but they arc unable to take the chair aad here we are within five weeks of the festival , and I am not able to say who will preside at it .
11 ns is of itself a matter of anxiety , and causes one some little uneasiness . But , brethren , bear with me one moment when I say that other circumstances press on ihe Boys' School even more than the want of the name of a chairman . I cannot but feel that with the rival attractions which the sister
institution presents this year , the amount of interest felt in the Boys' School must of necessity suffer some depreciation ; but I do hope that our kind friends will not forsake us altogether , but will come forward in goodly numbers to our relief—if not'in such large numbers as in days gone by , yet still in such
array as will enable us to conduct the business of that great institution ina properand suitable manner . The next point 1 have to bring before you is this , that while the Aged Freemasons' Institution , whose festival we celebrate this evening , has a large funded property of £ 35 , , and supposing your
contributions in any one year fall short of their annual wants , they can sell stock— ( " No . no " )—they could if they had no other resource to supply their annual wants . The Girls' School with £ 28 , 000 could do thesamejbut if wc , the Boys' School , suffer this year on account of a falling off in voluntary
contributions , we have not this sum , we have not a shilling of stock we can sell , and therefore I must ask our friends not to forget that peculiar position in which we are placed this year . Wc have a fewer number of Stewards than ever we have had before ; and I cannot at the present moment sec how to provide
the money required for our annual maintenance . Therefore , 1 think that if ever there was a moment when I was placed in a position to justify the making of a strong and earnest appeal to the liberality of our friends that moment is now ; and
I cannot help feeling that on account of that large amount of money which has recently been subscribed in this country for the relief of the distress which prevails abroad , we , along with other institutions at home , must suffer . But I do hope that our
Festival Of The Royal Masonic Benenolent Institution.
Masonic brotherhood will take care that their own charities do not fail of success , no matter how great is the distress in foreign countries . It would be a great shame—if I might use the term—if our own household should lack support in distress when support is given to suffering abroad ; but the relief
of which ought not to interfere with the legitimate support of our home institutions . You must bear with me in this , because I feel myself responsible in a measure for providing the maintenance and education of 128 of your sons . Ifwefailin doing that , you would immediately and naturally say ,
Who is to blame r You would lay it to me , and say it was from your trust to the position I hold that you in former years supported me ; and I hope , therefore , that you will rally round us on the 8 th of March very numerously , and rally round us a little more numerously on account of the difficult
position in which we are placed . Our Bro . Farnfield I congratulate on his success . I thank your Chairman very much for the way in which he has spoken of this and the sister school , for which Bro . Patten will speak presently . I thank you for the whole of the executive for your support of our
institution—for the large and generous assistance you have given us in the past . I assure you my faith is not shaken in our present success ; and I have undoubted faith in what the future of that great institution will bring forth . No matter what may be said by a few isolated members in the outer
world , every shilling we spend is carefully laid out ; the institution ' s concerns are narrowly watched ; your contributions are most gratefully received ; and I pledge you my word every shilling you contribute is most faithfully applied . ( Hear , hear , and great applause . )
Bro . PATTEN .- Brother Chairman and brethren , I beg to thank you most sincerely for the very kind manner in which you have drank success to the Girls' School . It is true that I have not the same claim upon you as Bro . Binckes has for the Boys ' School ; therefore I shall not detain you . I thank
the Craft for the support they have given the Girls ' School hitherto , and I hope they will continue it The Prince of Wales has kindly consented to take the chair on a Wednesday in May next . The day is not fixed , because His Royal Highness has to fix the day for himself . I see around me many of my
kind friends who have served the office of Steward for the Girls' School for some years past , and I do hope I shall receive their names as Stewards for the next festival . My letters went out to all the lodges on the first of this month , and I hope a large number of them will be returned with the
name of a brother willing to act as Steward under His Royal Highness the Chairman . I do not know that I have much more to say to you . You have done me great service while I have been Secretary to the Girls' School . I trust that as long as I hold that position you will support me , and if you
do you will perform your duty to the Craft . ( Cheers . ) The CHAIRMAN : I am sorry that at this hour of the evening there are so few brethren present to listen to and honour the toast that I am instructed to propose— " The Health of the Ladies . " I can
assure them that we fully appreciate their presence , and are extremely pleased to see them at our Masonic festivals . Their powerful and valuable influence should be a means of inviting us to the performance of good works ; and I will therefore propose their health , and I shall call on Bro .
Spiers to respond to it . Bro . R . J . SPIERS , P . G . D .: Brethren , I am called upon to respond to this toast , than which there is not one that entails a more acceptable duty . We are all much indebted to them , and speaking in their name , I may say that although
this toast comes to you at a very late period of the evening , I believe that it is not any want of gallantry that has caused this , but a desire to hear a toast which I hope will keep you quiet ; at all events , will detain you here , because it is one of the best toasts of the evening . Brethren , you have
not at present admitted to the privileges of Freemasonry the sex for whom I have now the honour to respond , but I think the time is not very far distant , because wc see here in London that ladies are honoured by receiving a greater number of votes for our School Board than any of the gentlemen .
In the place from which I come , the city of Oxford , we also have elected at the head of the poll a lad y , the sister of one of our most eminent professors ; and considering , what wc do , the influence the sex ought to have upon us in contributing to that blessed work of charity , on behalf of which we have
this day met , I am sure they are glad of the opportunity of coining forward to help you by every means in their power . Although they have deserted us now , at all events I feel assured that their best feelings are with us , and that we . may always
depend on that dear sex to help us on in that good work we are engaged in ; and whether as wives , sweethearts , sisters , or daughters , we may ever rely on them to render service to this excellent Craft . ( Cheers . )
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Festival Of The Royal Masonic Benenolent Institution.
receiving £ 26 per annum on the books . The aggregate amount paid them in the year was , £ 2 , 600 . The permanent annual income for the male annuitants at the present time is from Grand Lodge , £ 5 00 ; Grand Chapter , £ 100 ; dividends on funded property , £ 688 10 s . ; together , , £ 1 , 288 10 s . The
residue of the income , including the working expenses of this branch of the institution , is made up from annnual subscriptions and two-thirds of the donations ; the other third has to be invested . There are twenty-one approved male candidates on the list for the next election . There are a great many
distressed brethren who are anxious to be elected whose cases are found to be fit for assistance ; but the amount of our funds will not admit of their being relieved . As to the Freemasons' Widows ' Fund , it was established under the sanction of the late Most Worshipful Grand Master , the Right
Hon . the Earl of Zetland , in 18 49 , since which period 128 widows of our aged brethren have been recipients of relief from the fund , to whom have been paid , to December last , £ 15 , 538 10 s . After the election in May last , there were 69 female annuitants each receiving £ 25 per annum , £ 1 , 738
10 s . in the aggregate ; in addition to which , there are seven widows entitled for three years to half their deceased husbands' annuities , unless elected ¦ annuitants in the meantime . The permanent annual income for the widows at the present time is , from Grand Lodge , £ 300 ; Grand Chapter , £ 50 ;
dividends on funded property , £ 403 10 s . ; making together , £ 753 i ° s . The residue of the income , including the working expenses of this branch of the institution , is made up from annual subscriptions and two-thirds of the donations ; the other third has to be invested . Mark this point again . There
are twenty approved female candidates on the list for the next election . There is an asylum at Croydon attached to the institution capable of affording accommodation for 34 inmates , each of whom has two rooms . At present there are 32 occupants . The other annuitants , male and female , are
permitted to reside where they please . The whole of the building has been paid for , and there is a sustentation fund of £ 1 , 000 stock , the interest of which is applied to the repairs of the edifice , so that the subscriptions for annuities are not applied for the purpose of maintaining the building . I think that
is a most gratifying account ; but while there arc so many poor and distressed brethren and widows of deceased brethren claiming your assistance , you see there is a very strong reason for continued efforts and increased exertions for the adequate support of this charity . I wish its advocacy was in
belter hands than mine ; but I trust to your Masonic feeling to do what is requisite , knowing that while you are thankful to the Almighty for giving you the means of living in comfort yourselves , you will do your best to assist your poorer brethren . ( Cheers . )
Bro . FARNFIELD , jun ., here read the Stewards ' lists , which the C HAIRMAN afterwards announced represented a total of subscriptions to the amount of £ 3 ) 377 I 0 S - '> fourteen lists , however , still left outstanding . ( Applause . ) The Rev . C . J . MARTVN , G . C .: Right
Worshipful Sir , to use the very common and hackneyed phrase , an honour and pleasure now devolve upon me , but to use a phrase well understood among us , the W . M ., brethren , has entrusted me with his gavel , and therefore you know the nature of the toast I am about to propose . If it had not been
that we are assembled to celebrate the establishment of a particular institution , it would have been the toast of the evening—it is " The Health of Bro . Samuel Tomkins , Grand Treasurer and our Chairman . " ( Hear , hear . ) Brethren , you have shown me by the plaudits with which you have received
his name the honour and estimation in which you hold him , even if it had not been already signified by the fact that the office he now holds he has held for nineteen years—a servitude such as falls to the lotpfvcry few , and which relieves mcof saying a great deal in his praise . I am certain on the present
occasion it must be a source of great gratification to him to find he has presided over so large and influential a meeting , when the amount subscribed is £ 3 , 377 , with fourteen lists to come it . Any man might well be proud to be in the position of Bro . Tomkins this night , because no one knows better
than he that unless the funds arc forthcoming , the affairs of these institutions could not go on at all . It is to me , and to many members of the Craft who take an interest in these charities , a source of regret that they are not better and more widely supported . I am sorry to find from a THE
FREEMASON that therc | arc four-fifths of the Masons who do not subscribe to the charities at all . That is a disgrace to our order which we ought each of us to try to wipe off . The other day , at a meeting of the Boys' and Girls' Schools , a request was
made to the Craft lo use their utmost endeavours to induce the brethren throughout the country to increase the funds of these institutions by becoming subscribers . You all know that it is the drop of water that wears away the stone ; and so if each
Festival Of The Royal Masonic Benenolent Institution.
one of us would put his shoulder to the wheel and try to make these charities wider known and better appreciated—would try to show the brethren among whom he is thrown how excellent they are , instead of the £ 3 , 377 , in which we rejoice to-night , our lists at these festivals would be three times that
amount . Now , brethren , I beg to propose to you with all kindness , heartiness , and good feeling , the health of our Grand Treasurer' and President this evening , Bro . Tomkins . It is very seldom that we find a brother come forward at such short notice to take the chair . We , of course , hoped to see the
Provincial Grand Master for Middlesex here ; but failing him , I am certain there is no one we would rather see in this chair than our Bro . Tomkins . ( Cheers . ) The CHAIRMAN : Brethren , I thank you cordially for the kindness with which you have
responded to this toast . I assure you it is a great pleasure to preside at these festivals . It is a great pleasure to find this great charity flourish . It is a pleasure to find these brethren take such an interest in it ; and it is also a great pleasure to find that when we meet brethren will tell us some truths
which to all brethren may not be acceptable . I am suret hat many brethren have not promoted the success of the charities as they ought to have done , and I hope they will kindly weigh and consider and bring into practical operation the thoughtful suggestions that have been made by the Grand Chaplain . We
all have but one object ; we desire that Masonry may rise and flourish ; and we know it cannot flourish unless the charities are heartily supported . ( Hear , hear . ) The CHAIRMAN : The next toast I have to give you is " Prosperity to the other Masonic Charities . "
They are all closely and nearly allied . We wish this charity to prosper ; we wish equally that the other charities may prosper . Great success has attended them of late years ; and I trust that their success this year will not be less than on recent occasions . The Boys' School Festival is to be held
on the 8 th of March . I am not able to tell you when the Girls' School Festival is to be held . His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales , Past Grand Master , will preside , but he has not yet named the day . I hope as many brethren as possible will attend on both occasions , and that we shall have
the pleasure of finding the pecuniary result of each festival will be large . Bro . BINCKES : Bro . Chairman , it is a somewhat curious and singular coincidence that in commending this toast to the reception of our friends there should be some circumstances of doubt with
reference to the festivals of both institutions whose success has been so heartily wished . The Girls ' School , fortunately , have the most illustrious Chairman to preside at their festival , but the date at which it is to be held is left open for His Royal Highness to fix . The date of the Boys' School
Festival is fixed for the Sth of March , but we have no chairman at present . What we are to do I do not know . Two or three illustrious brethren have been asked , but they arc unable to take the chair aad here we are within five weeks of the festival , and I am not able to say who will preside at it .
11 ns is of itself a matter of anxiety , and causes one some little uneasiness . But , brethren , bear with me one moment when I say that other circumstances press on ihe Boys' School even more than the want of the name of a chairman . I cannot but feel that with the rival attractions which the sister
institution presents this year , the amount of interest felt in the Boys' School must of necessity suffer some depreciation ; but I do hope that our kind friends will not forsake us altogether , but will come forward in goodly numbers to our relief—if not'in such large numbers as in days gone by , yet still in such
array as will enable us to conduct the business of that great institution ina properand suitable manner . The next point 1 have to bring before you is this , that while the Aged Freemasons' Institution , whose festival we celebrate this evening , has a large funded property of £ 35 , , and supposing your
contributions in any one year fall short of their annual wants , they can sell stock— ( " No . no " )—they could if they had no other resource to supply their annual wants . The Girls' School with £ 28 , 000 could do thesamejbut if wc , the Boys' School , suffer this year on account of a falling off in voluntary
contributions , we have not this sum , we have not a shilling of stock we can sell , and therefore I must ask our friends not to forget that peculiar position in which we are placed this year . Wc have a fewer number of Stewards than ever we have had before ; and I cannot at the present moment sec how to provide
the money required for our annual maintenance . Therefore , 1 think that if ever there was a moment when I was placed in a position to justify the making of a strong and earnest appeal to the liberality of our friends that moment is now ; and
I cannot help feeling that on account of that large amount of money which has recently been subscribed in this country for the relief of the distress which prevails abroad , we , along with other institutions at home , must suffer . But I do hope that our
Festival Of The Royal Masonic Benenolent Institution.
Masonic brotherhood will take care that their own charities do not fail of success , no matter how great is the distress in foreign countries . It would be a great shame—if I might use the term—if our own household should lack support in distress when support is given to suffering abroad ; but the relief
of which ought not to interfere with the legitimate support of our home institutions . You must bear with me in this , because I feel myself responsible in a measure for providing the maintenance and education of 128 of your sons . Ifwefailin doing that , you would immediately and naturally say ,
Who is to blame r You would lay it to me , and say it was from your trust to the position I hold that you in former years supported me ; and I hope , therefore , that you will rally round us on the 8 th of March very numerously , and rally round us a little more numerously on account of the difficult
position in which we are placed . Our Bro . Farnfield I congratulate on his success . I thank your Chairman very much for the way in which he has spoken of this and the sister school , for which Bro . Patten will speak presently . I thank you for the whole of the executive for your support of our
institution—for the large and generous assistance you have given us in the past . I assure you my faith is not shaken in our present success ; and I have undoubted faith in what the future of that great institution will bring forth . No matter what may be said by a few isolated members in the outer
world , every shilling we spend is carefully laid out ; the institution ' s concerns are narrowly watched ; your contributions are most gratefully received ; and I pledge you my word every shilling you contribute is most faithfully applied . ( Hear , hear , and great applause . )
Bro . PATTEN .- Brother Chairman and brethren , I beg to thank you most sincerely for the very kind manner in which you have drank success to the Girls' School . It is true that I have not the same claim upon you as Bro . Binckes has for the Boys ' School ; therefore I shall not detain you . I thank
the Craft for the support they have given the Girls ' School hitherto , and I hope they will continue it The Prince of Wales has kindly consented to take the chair on a Wednesday in May next . The day is not fixed , because His Royal Highness has to fix the day for himself . I see around me many of my
kind friends who have served the office of Steward for the Girls' School for some years past , and I do hope I shall receive their names as Stewards for the next festival . My letters went out to all the lodges on the first of this month , and I hope a large number of them will be returned with the
name of a brother willing to act as Steward under His Royal Highness the Chairman . I do not know that I have much more to say to you . You have done me great service while I have been Secretary to the Girls' School . I trust that as long as I hold that position you will support me , and if you
do you will perform your duty to the Craft . ( Cheers . ) The CHAIRMAN : I am sorry that at this hour of the evening there are so few brethren present to listen to and honour the toast that I am instructed to propose— " The Health of the Ladies . " I can
assure them that we fully appreciate their presence , and are extremely pleased to see them at our Masonic festivals . Their powerful and valuable influence should be a means of inviting us to the performance of good works ; and I will therefore propose their health , and I shall call on Bro .
Spiers to respond to it . Bro . R . J . SPIERS , P . G . D .: Brethren , I am called upon to respond to this toast , than which there is not one that entails a more acceptable duty . We are all much indebted to them , and speaking in their name , I may say that although
this toast comes to you at a very late period of the evening , I believe that it is not any want of gallantry that has caused this , but a desire to hear a toast which I hope will keep you quiet ; at all events , will detain you here , because it is one of the best toasts of the evening . Brethren , you have
not at present admitted to the privileges of Freemasonry the sex for whom I have now the honour to respond , but I think the time is not very far distant , because wc see here in London that ladies are honoured by receiving a greater number of votes for our School Board than any of the gentlemen .
In the place from which I come , the city of Oxford , we also have elected at the head of the poll a lad y , the sister of one of our most eminent professors ; and considering , what wc do , the influence the sex ought to have upon us in contributing to that blessed work of charity , on behalf of which we have
this day met , I am sure they are glad of the opportunity of coining forward to help you by every means in their power . Although they have deserted us now , at all events I feel assured that their best feelings are with us , and that we . may always
depend on that dear sex to help us on in that good work we are engaged in ; and whether as wives , sweethearts , sisters , or daughters , we may ever rely on them to render service to this excellent Craft . ( Cheers . )