Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

chair be long , happy , and prosperous , and may we live to see Masonry flourish more ancl more under your banner , so that in time to come you may be handed down as one of the greatest worthies of the Craft , a man who has followed others who have brought Masonry by their acts

and conduct to its present dignified and proud position . ( Great cheering . ) The Chairman : Brethren and Dr . Cox , I thank you most heartily for the extremely kind way in which you have proposetl and received this toast . I only hope that I deserve , and that I may in the

future deserve , all tlio encomiums that Bro . Cox has passed upon me . I can assure you , brethren , that it svill be my endeavour to da so ; and that it is a very great pleasure to me to be here this night I can also assure you . I have once before , as Bro . Cox has reminded you , presided in this

hall . I then had the satisfaction of hearing that the largest sum was then collected that had ever been collected for the charity . I only hope that the same may be the case to-night . [ shall then have no reason to repent having come here , an 1 I only hope that if it is so , the sum may go on

increasing from year to year , and that in some future year a long way hence I may be again called upon to double it . ( Hear hear . ) Before sitting down , I will propose the next toast ; it is "The Health of the Present and Past Officers . " I give it you with all heartiness , and I couple

with it the name of Bro . Martyn , Past Grand Chaplain . Bro . the Rev . C . J . Martyn , P . G . C : My lords , ladies and brethren , it is at all times a most pleasing duty to be asked to return thanks for tha toast of the Present and Past Grand Officers of

England , but onthe present occasion I must say it affords me a great deal of pleasure to be called upon to respond to this toast , inasmuch as I see so large an assembly of brethren present whom I am exceedingly glad to thank . For , brethren , I believe that this Institution which we have met

to advance the cause of to-day is one deserving of our most hearty and warm support . At the same time it is most pleasing to return thanks for the Grand Officers to-day , for it is the first time since Lord Skelmersdale was appointed Deputy G . M . that he has presided at our

festivals . A better appointment could not have been made by the Prince of Wales . I myself , as havingwatched the career of Lord Skelmersdale—for he was first initiated now more years ago than he and I care to remember—and say it really is a most p leasing thing to see him in the position he

now occupies ; and I know he will most ably and nobly fulfil the duties of his high office ; and I can assure you on the part of all the officers , and the Craft , that he will find wherever he leads we will follow him , for he has a most devoted band of followers among the Freemasons of England . ( Hear : hear . )

Ihe Chairman : Brethren , I now have to propose to you the toast of the evening , "S access to the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution for Aged Freemasons and the Widows of Freemasons . " ( Cheers . ) I think I can say without any one contradicting me that during my

Masonic career I have steadily upheld the Masonic charities ( Hear hear ) , and that in advocating them I plead with the voice of one who acts up to what he preaches . I can only say that I am deeply gratified to-day to see so large an assembly of 'Stewards and brethren meeting here to

help the excellent Institution whose festival we are celebrating this day . I thank all most heartily . This long list of Stewards is most gratifying to me , as it must be to the Secretary and Governors of the . Institution . But , without being invidious , may I especially thank the brethren from West

Lancashire . I thank them from my heart . They have done credit to the province ; and I can do no more than thank them again and again . But , brethren , when I look back to the annals of this Institution and see that in the year 1847 the subscriptions at festivals amounted to some hundreds , and when 1 think—a little bird has

whispered in my ear , that we may count by thousands where we counted by hundreds then—I think , brethren , it shows that our great brotherhood is increasing in the works it professes to uphold , that the work of charity is gaining ground in this country ; Long may it continue to do so , long may we find at each of these annual festivals that the subscriptions increase and increase , and i i 1

Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

that instead of , as I believe to have been ihe case heretofore , when about— -what shall I say—one in live or one in six of the brethren throughout the country upheld them , let us see them all do it , one and all ; then we shall have grand institutions , well supported , without any begging lists . And that is what I should like to see . I

should like to see out * three great Institutions supported voluntarily ([ do not s . iy they are not so now ) , but without' bagging lists , let them come forward at once ; announce a year beforehand what the } promise to bring up ; and then we shall not hear anything about " the

Secretaries coming begging here and begging there ; they are always bothering us . " ( I have heard it , brethren . ) Let us have the subscriptions well announced beforehand ; let it be an annual thing , a well understood thing , that the sum subscribed one year shall not be diminished the

next year ; then I think we shall fairly say we uphold the Masonic charities . ( Hear , hear . ) I give you " Success to the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution for Aged Freemasons and fche Widows of Freemasons . " The toast was enthusiastically received .

Bro . S . Leiih Tomkins , P . G . D ., replied . He was sorry to say that the Grand Treasurer had been confined to the house for several days with a severe cold ; but it was a very great trouble to him that he was not able to be present at this festival . He had long been the Treasurer of the

Institution , live-and-twenty years , and all the while he had watched with pride and satisfaction the great progress the Benevolent Institution had made . He ( Uro . S . L . Tomkins ) remembered himself , twenty years ago , a list of Stewards and subscriptions , and the former amounted to

twenty or twenty-five , and the latter , which were considered very good indeed , to itjijoo or sQiGoo . But last year the subscriptions came up to over itSyooo , and the stewards were about 200 . The object of the officers of the Institution was to do all they could for the relief of the

suffering old members of the Craft , and the brethren would be pleased to know that at a meeting of the committee held on Tuesday last it was lesolved to take on ten additional widows —making no widows receiving annuities , 130

men also receiving annuities , ami alsj sixteen widows receiving half the annuities of their late husbands . This , he thought , was very gratifying , and that the brethren woultl all agree lhat it was their bounden duty and warmest pleasure to do their utmost to make the Institution live antl

' prosper . Bro . Terry then read the following list of subscriptions : — £ s . d . Leicestershire—Clement Stretton ... 109 16 o Norfolk—H . C . Barwell 26 16 6

Norths . & Hunts . —Robt . II . Grilhu 121 00 Northumberland—Lieut .-Col . Addison Putter ... 1 r-2 10 o Oxford—Fredk . P . Morrell „ Cooper Smith

Rev . J . A . Lloyd ... .. 8 ; 15 o S . Wales ( E . Div . )—Edw . J . Morris 250 o o Wiltshire—Hy . C . Toombs ... 20 r 6 6 G . Lodge Punjab—Geo . Davies ... 1000 Gd . Stewards' Lodge—Edwin March 60 o o LODGE

1 F . J . Hartridge ... ... 10 00 2 Rev . A . F . A . Woodford ... 31 10 4 A . C . Veley 19 o o 5 J . Cory Havers 3 6 70 7 L . A . Crowley ... ... ... 28 o o 8 E . M . Morgan ... ... 1700 9 \ V . R . Marsh ... ... ... 61 o o

10 Rev . J . N . Palmer ... ... 49 12 o it Chas . Watson ... ... ... 31 10 o ia Robt . Coombs ... ... 33 10 o 14 A . J . Bristow ... ... ... 10 o o 18 J . C . Chaplin 17 o o 21 John Knight Stead ... ... 50 00 22 Geo . Phythian ... ... . 32 $ o 23 Frederick Kent ... .. 25 5 o 25 ( Chap . ) Joseph Last 12 10 o 27 John Green ... .. . ... 79 10 o 28 VV . Lane ... ... ... 50 13 o 29 John E . Middleton 10 o o 30 Joseph Harling .. ... 31 50 33 Wm . Thos . Sugg 33 12 o 54 C . M . Jones 15 o 53 John Bingemann 79 15 o

Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

LoDGli . ¦ £ S . tl . 57 John Thompson ... ... 25 00 Henry Preston ... ... 21 00 6 5 Edgar Bowyer ... ... no 8 6 66 Rob . Gallard . . 80 19 o 73 Charles Rayden ... ... 36 10 77 Chas . Andrews ... ... 172 00 87 Chas . Hull ... ... ... 6100 90 J . Dan McDougall ... ... 28 12 o

toi John Flack ... ., .. 36 15 o 102 Col . Jas . Duff " . 8 15 o 107 G . S . Woodwark ... .. 2 5 10 o roS Raynham W . Stewart ... 30 o o t 20 Thomas Jowitt ... ... 6 ** 50 142 f . Lewis Thomas ... ... 160 o o 144 Geo . Allen ... ... ... 57 18 o i ± < Gen . Purkess ... ... ... 1 a a n

147 J . j . Hutchings ... ... 33 *; o 1-51 John M . Levick ... ... 37 o o 156 Henry Dubosc , sen . ... ... 10 o o 174 VV . T . Wells 100 o o 174 ( Chap . ) E . C . Mather .. 31 j o 176 John Brocket Sorrell ... ... 36 [ 4 o 176 ( Chap . ) P . A . Nairne ... 20 7 o 177 Geo . Everett ... ... ... 36 o o 177 ( Chap . ) W . M . Foxcroft ... 43 96

179 VV . H'ighes ... ... ... 35 o o 180 VV . Smithett 42 9 6 VV . C . Parsons ... ... 112 00 181 F . E . Wilkinson ... ... 1- ; 13 o 1 S 9 J . Edward Curteis ... ... 112 10 o 192 Francis Fellowes ... ... 61 50 19 8 H . C . Lambert ... ... 2- 500 228 Fohn While ... ... ... 7 fi o o

256 Chas . Birch ... 47 4 6 259 Alfred Cooper ... ... ... 115 00 263 W . R . Morton ... ... 19 o o 309 H . G . Cawte ... ... ... 33 5 o 31-5 Jas . Eborall ... ... ... 106 o o 319 S . S . Pearce ... ... ... 42 : 6 321 Capt . J . W . Arrowsmith ... 47 7 o * 342 S . R . Ellis 5 8 <\ o

I . L . Coulton ... ... ... 70 o o 382 Benj . H . Swallow ... ... 50 o . o E . C . Woodward ... ... 12 o o 403 Hy . Campkin ... ... 41 3 o 416 John Lees ... ... ... 21 JJO 435 K . H . Stammwitz ... .. 39 o o 446 Capt . A . T . Perkins 66 6 o 452 II . E . Frances ... ... 27 io o si 1 Geo . Read ... ... ... 96 12 o

, ' , 49 I " . Tyrrell Leith ... ... r * o o 657 Wm . Hy . Stevens ... ... 54 o o 733 Thos . W . Allen ... ... 34 12 o j 66 John Pringle ... ... ... 26 o o 778 E . B . Webb 51 5 o 807 Geo . Baxter ... ... ... 26 o o 813 John Ross Gallant ... ... 100 o o

861 W . W . Lowles 35 o o 865 Wm . Johnson ... ... 22 o o 869 A . C . Wylie ... ... ... 20 o o 901 Edw . Salisbury ... ... 2 j o o 903 G . F . Lancaster ... ... 35 o o 907 Saml . H . P . Moore ... ... 36 10 o

99 6 H . Smart ... ... ... 33 o 1000 A . Lucking ... ... ... 42 10 o 1008 W . II . Lucia ... ... ... . 57 ' o o 1036 Josh . Reade ... ... ... 12 12 o 1056 Joseph Morton ... ... 74 1 t o 1096 Thos . Ayling ... ... ... 32 * o o

1158 Goban Macdonald 4 S 15 o 1193 Geo . F . Loftus J . B . Graven Browne ... 3 6 10 o i'Cj 6 Jonathan Pearson ... ... 30 00 i 2 Qi Wm . Hy . Barber ... ... 25 o o 1206 Dick Baker ... ... ... 10 o o

1208 H . M . Baker 13 8 o o 122 4 Rev . C . J . Martyn ... ... 20 o o 1232 Charles Hy . Scales ... ... 6 10 o 1257 J . J . Lowenthal ... ... 62 4 6 1259 Edwd . Jex 71 10 O 1278 Geo , Ward Verry ... ... 154 10 o

1307 Chas . Rushworth Own Donation ... .,, jo o o 1327 W . Gilbert ... 10 5 o 134 8 John Palmer , V . P . ... ... 133 12 o 1366 Chas . G . Hill 11 J o o 1383 J . M . P . Montagu , (

Province of Dorset ) ... ... 222 o o 1 . 38 5 Jas . and Wm . Cutbush ... 31 j ° 1395 Harry W . Charrington ... 16 10 ¦ 1421 Chas . Lacy ... ... ,,, 56 5 1423 E . H . Thiellay 25 j