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Article THE APPROACHING BOYS' SCHOOL FESTIVAL. ← Page 2 of 2 Article ROYAL MASONIC BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION. Page 1 of 1 Article ROYAL MASONIC BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION. Page 1 of 1 Article REVIEW. Page 1 of 1
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The Approaching Boys' School Festival.
we carry our investigations yet a little further we shall find that of the said total of 326 lodges , 12 will have sent Stewards to all six Festivals during the year 18 S 4 and 1885 ; 5 to five Festivals ; 30 to four Festivals ; 37 to three Festivals ; 94 to two Festivals ; and 84 to one Festival ; leaving a balance of no less than 64 lodges , or as nearly as possible a fifth of the whole
number , which will not have had even the shadow of a Steward at any one of the six anniversaries during the two years ending on Wednesday next , when the Boys' School Festival of the current year will have passed into the domain of history . We have no wish tospeak otherwise than tenderly in respect of charitable contributions , the very essence of whose nature is that they should
be given voluntarily . But the English Craft has generously willed that our Institutions shall be what they are , and is even pressing for them to be still further increased , in which case we hold that it is imperatively the duty of each constituent portion of the said English Craft to cheerfully support its share of the general burden . But can this be said of the whole of the 326 lodges , when it can be shown , from the Stewards' lists which have
appeared in the Freemason and the list just issued by Bro . Binckes for Wednesday next , that 47 of them have sent Stewards to more than three of the six Festivals of this year and last , 84 to more than two Festivals , 178 to more than one Festival , and 64 to none whatever ? Let us hope that some of the unrepresented will see their way between now and Wednesday to helping , even a little , to lighten the task which all this time has been so cheerfully undertaken by their represented sister lodges .
As regards the provinces , though there is a decrease in the number of representatives as compared with last year from 156 to 143 , there are 31 that have sent up Stewards . Thus , while only one fourth of the London lodges have volunteered their assistance for Wednesday , three-fourths of the provinces have entered and will be represented severally byone or more
Stewards . If , then , there is the semblance of a hope that the approaching Festival may turn out more productive than present appearances would seem to warrant us in expecting , it looks as if it would result from the strength of the provincial representation ; unless , indeed , the London brethren have made up their minds to counterbalance their numerical shortcomings by extra personal exertions . At best , however , we can only indulge
in conjectures of what will happen next week , though we may at the same time legitimately give expression to the hope that even in the few days that remain some additional brethren will be found ready to volunteer their services and contribute their help towards making—what seems unlikely enough at the moment—the remaining Festival of the current year as conspicuous a success as its two predecessors .
We append a summary of the Board of Stewards as constituted on the eve of going to press . It is as follows : London Stewards , 119 ; Provincial Stewards , 144 ; Outside Stewards , 3 : total , 266 , or short of last year's total of 290 , by 24 .
Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.
ROYAL MASONIC BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION .
The Committee of this Institution held its regular meeting at Freemasons' Hall on Wednesday , the 10 th inst ., Bro . H . B . Marshall , Patron and P . G . Treasurer , presided , and there were present Bros . Daniell , Brett , P . G . P ., F . Adlard , Jabez Hogg , P . G . D ., H . Cox , V . P ., Alexander Forsyth , M D ., T . Cubitt , V . P ., P . G . D ., John Buhner , G . Bolton , V . P ., Charles
Dairy , A . H . Tattershall , Charles Lacey , V . P ., John Newton , V . P ., C . H . Webb , V . P ., John E . Dawson , D . P . G . M . Herts , G . P . Festa , V . P ., Chas . Daniel , V . P ., S . B . Wilson , T . Hastings Miller , V . Patron , Thos . Griffiths , Edgar Bowyer , Patron , P . G . Std . B ., C . F . Hogard , V . P ., W . J . Murlis , Captain Durrant , C . F . Matier , V . P ., C . H . Driver , Louis Stean , and J . Terry ( Secretary ) .
The minutes of the previous meeting having been read and verified , the list of the Committee of Management , nominated by the Grand Master , elected by Grand Lodge and by the subscribers , was read . The deaths of two male and three female annuitants were reported . The Warden ' s report for the past month was read . The names of the successful candidates
elected on the 15 th May last were reported , and cheques were signed for payment of their annuities from the 1 st inst . Receipt of cheque for £ 26 8 s . 6 d . from the John Hervey Memorial Fund was reported . The following brethren were elected on the Finance Committee for the year ensuing , namely , Bros . A . H . Tattershall , W . | J . Murlis , T . W . C . Bush , C . F . Hogard , and J . E . Dawson .
The following brethren were re-elected as the House Committee , namely , Bros . Raynham W . Stewart , J . A . Farnfield , C . J . Perceval , Thomas Cubitt , and Edgar Bowyer . The entertainment of the residents was , as usual , left in the hands of the House Committee .
Bro . WEBB proposed that three widows , being over 80 years of age and having been twice unsuccessful , should , in accordance with Law 37 , be placed on the list of annuitants . Ths proposition was seconded , and , after considerable discussion and explanation from the Secretary as to the circumstances of each , one was
placed on the list . The SECRETARY stated that this was the 21 st anniversary of his election as an officer of the Institution and gave statistics as to the comparative financial positions of the Institution in 1864 and 1885 , which we append as follows : —
18 G 4 18 S 5 . Income Male Fund ... ... ... ... £ 2 , 999 £ 8 , 398 „ Widows' Fund ... ... ... ... 1 , 847 ii > 394 Permanent Income Male Fund ... ... ... 1 , 098 2 , 017 Widows' Fund 563 1 , 575
Invested Capital Male Fund ... .,, ... 16 , 600 39 . 450 „ ,, Widows' Fund ... ... ... 7 , 100 28 , 075 Paid in Annuities Male Fund ... ... ... 1 , 562 6 , 920 „ ,, Widows' Fund ... .., ... 992 6 , 464 Festival , 69 Stewards producing ... ... ... 2 , 37 6 „ 352 » » I 7 » 77 o
Number of Annuitants Male Fund ... ... 80 173 „ „ Widows' Fund ... ... 47 202 Bro . SECRETARY further stated that the only additional expense incurred in the management of the Institution was that of the Clerk , and that in the interval the Annuities had been increased on the Male Fund from
Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.
£ 26 to £ 40 , and on the Female Fund from £ 25 to ^ 32 . On hearing this marvellous exposition of the progress made by the Charity during Bro Terry ' s official connection with it , it was proposed , seconded , and carried by acclamation that a vote of thanks and congratulation on the success of his efforts should be accorded to him , and the hope was most cordial ly ex pressed that his tenure of the office : oi Secretary might be prolonged fQr very many years . A vote of thanks to the Chairman closed the proceedings .
Review.
REVIEW .
THE HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY . Volume IV . B y Bro . R . F . GOULD , P . G . W . Thomas C . Jack , 45 , Ludgate-hill . Fourth Notice . The history of Freemasonry in York , which is contained in the pages 401 — 433 , though alluded to previously in pages 271 —274 , is not the
least important portion of this interesting volume . It seems to be quite clear , from Bro . Gould ' s conclusions , as well as Bro . Hughan ' s and others ' previous enquiries and researches , that there was a pre-1717 Freemasonry in York , as well as a seventeenth century Freemasonry pre-1700 , and that there is no reason to doubt that the Freemasonry of 1705 , & c , is the regular continuation of the York Freemasonry of 1691 and of 1663 .
Whether or no in the six brethren and lodge Warden of 16 91 we have the traces of a Gild may be a matter of question ; but , if it be so , that fact is counterbalanced by the evidence of 1663 , which seems to . point to Speculalive Freemasonry , and accompanied by the symbols of the Hexapla , which is in itself a curious fact , and deserving of much consideration . The Speculative character of York Freemasonry is also clearly manifest , though Bro .
Whitehead may be quite right in assuming that a subsequent and later admission of Operative brethren , without payment of fees , may be a recognition of the original Operative character of the organization . Therels still much haze , however , over the early history of York Freemasonry , and until we light upon the minute book of 1705 , whatever its real character may turn out to be , we can hardly expect to be able to be permitted to speak
decisively on such " moot points . We still hope that it may turn up among the muniments at Freemasons' Hall , and until the contents of the collection of MS . documents be calendered , it is impossible , such are the difficulties of a satisfactory search , to say what is there and what is not . Knowing the use old minute books are put to , the volume may have been used for some other minutes from the reverse end , and therefore the York minutes have
escaped observation . Bro . Bussey , in 1778 , professes to have inspected an original minute book of the Grand Lodge of York , beginning in 1705 and ending in 1734 , and which , if the averment be correct , shows that the terms Grand Master and Grand Lodge were in use in 1705 and downwards , and that the Grand Lodge was specially holden at Bradford at 1713 , and not "twice together at the same house " in " the above period . "
This statement , which there is no reason to doubt , and is probably Preston ' s authority for his assertions as to York Masonry , would point to the existence of a separate minute book of the York Grand Lodge . It is , we think , quite clear that the Roll of lodge meetings and this minute book are not the same ; one is said to begin in 1705 , andj ends in 1734 , the other begins in 1712 , and ends in 1730 . We therefore fully coincide with Bro . Hughan ' s suggestion of a second minute book , and we think we see evidence of the fact even in the roll itself .
• In the first place , we find that the roll only contains the meetings of charterless lodges , or meetings of Freemasons for the purpose of initiation ; that it does not profess to record the meetings of Grand Lodge . Even when the words General Assembly and St . John ' s Day come in , they refer simply as we understand them , toa genera ) meeting of the Masons of York , even if a general meeting of Masons in a private lodge . The rr . inutesof 1725 ,
December 27 th , seem to point to this certain conclusion . You have a meeting at Philemon Marsh ' s , in Petergate , when Leonard Smith , Chas . Howard , and Richard Thompson were " sworn and admitted , " and " acknowledged" members of "this Antient and Hon'ble Society . " And yet you have the fuller acccount , of the same day and date , where the Grand Feast is mentioned , and G . M . and D . G . M . and Wardens and
Treasurer and Clerk . There were then two meetings at different places , the same day , and you probably have an extract from some other minute book put on to the roll . There is nothing on the roll of the meeting at Bradford in 1713 , though there are two meetings of private lodges in York in 1713 , and the general lodge on St . John ' s Day , and we think the careful critic must come to the conclusion , that two synchronous sets of minutes existed ,
one of which is still undiscovered . Every exertion ought to be made to discover , if possible , the whereabouts of the minute book of 1705 . Bro . Gould's suggestion may be correct , that in consequence of the movement in the south of 1717 , the York Masons in 1725 " slided" into the then common and convenient terms of Grand Master and Grand Lodge , but then , in order to assume this theory to be correct , you must also add ,
which at present we are unwilling , for many reasons , to do , that Bussey , writing in 1778 , for some purpose or other , made a deliberate misstatement . There is one remark of Bro . Gould ' s we do not profess to understand , and we [ think it is a little " lapsus pennae . " At p . 275 he states as follows : " Under the dates July 21 , August 10 and 12 , September 6 , and December 1 . 1725 , certain brethren are named as Masters , but which of the three was
really the Master is a point that must be left undecided . " As we said just now , we do not profess to understand the force of this remark . In each of the cases specially cited one brother is distinctly termed Master , or Mr ., and two brethren are termed " Wardens . " There is one exception . At the " adjournment " July 21 , 1725 , Ed . Bell , Esq ., is called Master , and we have the names Chas . Bathurst , John Johnson , John Elsworth , Lewis Wood . B
no mention of " Master" except as regards "Ed . Bell . " We cannot understand the minutes as meaning anything else except what they apparently convey , and which presumption is strengthened by the use of the word " Wardens , " that the brother denominated Master or Mr . was the Master , the President , the Presiding Officer of the meetings . Our able and excellent friend delights in such little " tours de force , " and such amiable Hustrations of a " destructive criticism . " But we forgive him , as there can
be no doubt that his work is destined to be a standard history of Freemasonry , though we still always feel alarmed when we remember that some longforgotten minute book , or some unexpected ev : dence , may turn up any hour , and render more or less in vain , more or less untenable , a great portion of his able , and eloquent , and interesting ] pages . On one or two points he will excuse us for saying we think he somewhat prematurely seeks to clos the discussion .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Approaching Boys' School Festival.
we carry our investigations yet a little further we shall find that of the said total of 326 lodges , 12 will have sent Stewards to all six Festivals during the year 18 S 4 and 1885 ; 5 to five Festivals ; 30 to four Festivals ; 37 to three Festivals ; 94 to two Festivals ; and 84 to one Festival ; leaving a balance of no less than 64 lodges , or as nearly as possible a fifth of the whole
number , which will not have had even the shadow of a Steward at any one of the six anniversaries during the two years ending on Wednesday next , when the Boys' School Festival of the current year will have passed into the domain of history . We have no wish tospeak otherwise than tenderly in respect of charitable contributions , the very essence of whose nature is that they should
be given voluntarily . But the English Craft has generously willed that our Institutions shall be what they are , and is even pressing for them to be still further increased , in which case we hold that it is imperatively the duty of each constituent portion of the said English Craft to cheerfully support its share of the general burden . But can this be said of the whole of the 326 lodges , when it can be shown , from the Stewards' lists which have
appeared in the Freemason and the list just issued by Bro . Binckes for Wednesday next , that 47 of them have sent Stewards to more than three of the six Festivals of this year and last , 84 to more than two Festivals , 178 to more than one Festival , and 64 to none whatever ? Let us hope that some of the unrepresented will see their way between now and Wednesday to helping , even a little , to lighten the task which all this time has been so cheerfully undertaken by their represented sister lodges .
As regards the provinces , though there is a decrease in the number of representatives as compared with last year from 156 to 143 , there are 31 that have sent up Stewards . Thus , while only one fourth of the London lodges have volunteered their assistance for Wednesday , three-fourths of the provinces have entered and will be represented severally byone or more
Stewards . If , then , there is the semblance of a hope that the approaching Festival may turn out more productive than present appearances would seem to warrant us in expecting , it looks as if it would result from the strength of the provincial representation ; unless , indeed , the London brethren have made up their minds to counterbalance their numerical shortcomings by extra personal exertions . At best , however , we can only indulge
in conjectures of what will happen next week , though we may at the same time legitimately give expression to the hope that even in the few days that remain some additional brethren will be found ready to volunteer their services and contribute their help towards making—what seems unlikely enough at the moment—the remaining Festival of the current year as conspicuous a success as its two predecessors .
We append a summary of the Board of Stewards as constituted on the eve of going to press . It is as follows : London Stewards , 119 ; Provincial Stewards , 144 ; Outside Stewards , 3 : total , 266 , or short of last year's total of 290 , by 24 .
Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.
ROYAL MASONIC BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION .
The Committee of this Institution held its regular meeting at Freemasons' Hall on Wednesday , the 10 th inst ., Bro . H . B . Marshall , Patron and P . G . Treasurer , presided , and there were present Bros . Daniell , Brett , P . G . P ., F . Adlard , Jabez Hogg , P . G . D ., H . Cox , V . P ., Alexander Forsyth , M D ., T . Cubitt , V . P ., P . G . D ., John Buhner , G . Bolton , V . P ., Charles
Dairy , A . H . Tattershall , Charles Lacey , V . P ., John Newton , V . P ., C . H . Webb , V . P ., John E . Dawson , D . P . G . M . Herts , G . P . Festa , V . P ., Chas . Daniel , V . P ., S . B . Wilson , T . Hastings Miller , V . Patron , Thos . Griffiths , Edgar Bowyer , Patron , P . G . Std . B ., C . F . Hogard , V . P ., W . J . Murlis , Captain Durrant , C . F . Matier , V . P ., C . H . Driver , Louis Stean , and J . Terry ( Secretary ) .
The minutes of the previous meeting having been read and verified , the list of the Committee of Management , nominated by the Grand Master , elected by Grand Lodge and by the subscribers , was read . The deaths of two male and three female annuitants were reported . The Warden ' s report for the past month was read . The names of the successful candidates
elected on the 15 th May last were reported , and cheques were signed for payment of their annuities from the 1 st inst . Receipt of cheque for £ 26 8 s . 6 d . from the John Hervey Memorial Fund was reported . The following brethren were elected on the Finance Committee for the year ensuing , namely , Bros . A . H . Tattershall , W . | J . Murlis , T . W . C . Bush , C . F . Hogard , and J . E . Dawson .
The following brethren were re-elected as the House Committee , namely , Bros . Raynham W . Stewart , J . A . Farnfield , C . J . Perceval , Thomas Cubitt , and Edgar Bowyer . The entertainment of the residents was , as usual , left in the hands of the House Committee .
Bro . WEBB proposed that three widows , being over 80 years of age and having been twice unsuccessful , should , in accordance with Law 37 , be placed on the list of annuitants . Ths proposition was seconded , and , after considerable discussion and explanation from the Secretary as to the circumstances of each , one was
placed on the list . The SECRETARY stated that this was the 21 st anniversary of his election as an officer of the Institution and gave statistics as to the comparative financial positions of the Institution in 1864 and 1885 , which we append as follows : —
18 G 4 18 S 5 . Income Male Fund ... ... ... ... £ 2 , 999 £ 8 , 398 „ Widows' Fund ... ... ... ... 1 , 847 ii > 394 Permanent Income Male Fund ... ... ... 1 , 098 2 , 017 Widows' Fund 563 1 , 575
Invested Capital Male Fund ... .,, ... 16 , 600 39 . 450 „ ,, Widows' Fund ... ... ... 7 , 100 28 , 075 Paid in Annuities Male Fund ... ... ... 1 , 562 6 , 920 „ ,, Widows' Fund ... .., ... 992 6 , 464 Festival , 69 Stewards producing ... ... ... 2 , 37 6 „ 352 » » I 7 » 77 o
Number of Annuitants Male Fund ... ... 80 173 „ „ Widows' Fund ... ... 47 202 Bro . SECRETARY further stated that the only additional expense incurred in the management of the Institution was that of the Clerk , and that in the interval the Annuities had been increased on the Male Fund from
Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.
£ 26 to £ 40 , and on the Female Fund from £ 25 to ^ 32 . On hearing this marvellous exposition of the progress made by the Charity during Bro Terry ' s official connection with it , it was proposed , seconded , and carried by acclamation that a vote of thanks and congratulation on the success of his efforts should be accorded to him , and the hope was most cordial ly ex pressed that his tenure of the office : oi Secretary might be prolonged fQr very many years . A vote of thanks to the Chairman closed the proceedings .
Review.
REVIEW .
THE HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY . Volume IV . B y Bro . R . F . GOULD , P . G . W . Thomas C . Jack , 45 , Ludgate-hill . Fourth Notice . The history of Freemasonry in York , which is contained in the pages 401 — 433 , though alluded to previously in pages 271 —274 , is not the
least important portion of this interesting volume . It seems to be quite clear , from Bro . Gould ' s conclusions , as well as Bro . Hughan ' s and others ' previous enquiries and researches , that there was a pre-1717 Freemasonry in York , as well as a seventeenth century Freemasonry pre-1700 , and that there is no reason to doubt that the Freemasonry of 1705 , & c , is the regular continuation of the York Freemasonry of 1691 and of 1663 .
Whether or no in the six brethren and lodge Warden of 16 91 we have the traces of a Gild may be a matter of question ; but , if it be so , that fact is counterbalanced by the evidence of 1663 , which seems to . point to Speculalive Freemasonry , and accompanied by the symbols of the Hexapla , which is in itself a curious fact , and deserving of much consideration . The Speculative character of York Freemasonry is also clearly manifest , though Bro .
Whitehead may be quite right in assuming that a subsequent and later admission of Operative brethren , without payment of fees , may be a recognition of the original Operative character of the organization . Therels still much haze , however , over the early history of York Freemasonry , and until we light upon the minute book of 1705 , whatever its real character may turn out to be , we can hardly expect to be able to be permitted to speak
decisively on such " moot points . We still hope that it may turn up among the muniments at Freemasons' Hall , and until the contents of the collection of MS . documents be calendered , it is impossible , such are the difficulties of a satisfactory search , to say what is there and what is not . Knowing the use old minute books are put to , the volume may have been used for some other minutes from the reverse end , and therefore the York minutes have
escaped observation . Bro . Bussey , in 1778 , professes to have inspected an original minute book of the Grand Lodge of York , beginning in 1705 and ending in 1734 , and which , if the averment be correct , shows that the terms Grand Master and Grand Lodge were in use in 1705 and downwards , and that the Grand Lodge was specially holden at Bradford at 1713 , and not "twice together at the same house " in " the above period . "
This statement , which there is no reason to doubt , and is probably Preston ' s authority for his assertions as to York Masonry , would point to the existence of a separate minute book of the York Grand Lodge . It is , we think , quite clear that the Roll of lodge meetings and this minute book are not the same ; one is said to begin in 1705 , andj ends in 1734 , the other begins in 1712 , and ends in 1730 . We therefore fully coincide with Bro . Hughan ' s suggestion of a second minute book , and we think we see evidence of the fact even in the roll itself .
• In the first place , we find that the roll only contains the meetings of charterless lodges , or meetings of Freemasons for the purpose of initiation ; that it does not profess to record the meetings of Grand Lodge . Even when the words General Assembly and St . John ' s Day come in , they refer simply as we understand them , toa genera ) meeting of the Masons of York , even if a general meeting of Masons in a private lodge . The rr . inutesof 1725 ,
December 27 th , seem to point to this certain conclusion . You have a meeting at Philemon Marsh ' s , in Petergate , when Leonard Smith , Chas . Howard , and Richard Thompson were " sworn and admitted , " and " acknowledged" members of "this Antient and Hon'ble Society . " And yet you have the fuller acccount , of the same day and date , where the Grand Feast is mentioned , and G . M . and D . G . M . and Wardens and
Treasurer and Clerk . There were then two meetings at different places , the same day , and you probably have an extract from some other minute book put on to the roll . There is nothing on the roll of the meeting at Bradford in 1713 , though there are two meetings of private lodges in York in 1713 , and the general lodge on St . John ' s Day , and we think the careful critic must come to the conclusion , that two synchronous sets of minutes existed ,
one of which is still undiscovered . Every exertion ought to be made to discover , if possible , the whereabouts of the minute book of 1705 . Bro . Gould's suggestion may be correct , that in consequence of the movement in the south of 1717 , the York Masons in 1725 " slided" into the then common and convenient terms of Grand Master and Grand Lodge , but then , in order to assume this theory to be correct , you must also add ,
which at present we are unwilling , for many reasons , to do , that Bussey , writing in 1778 , for some purpose or other , made a deliberate misstatement . There is one remark of Bro . Gould ' s we do not profess to understand , and we [ think it is a little " lapsus pennae . " At p . 275 he states as follows : " Under the dates July 21 , August 10 and 12 , September 6 , and December 1 . 1725 , certain brethren are named as Masters , but which of the three was
really the Master is a point that must be left undecided . " As we said just now , we do not profess to understand the force of this remark . In each of the cases specially cited one brother is distinctly termed Master , or Mr ., and two brethren are termed " Wardens . " There is one exception . At the " adjournment " July 21 , 1725 , Ed . Bell , Esq ., is called Master , and we have the names Chas . Bathurst , John Johnson , John Elsworth , Lewis Wood . B
no mention of " Master" except as regards "Ed . Bell . " We cannot understand the minutes as meaning anything else except what they apparently convey , and which presumption is strengthened by the use of the word " Wardens , " that the brother denominated Master or Mr . was the Master , the President , the Presiding Officer of the meetings . Our able and excellent friend delights in such little " tours de force , " and such amiable Hustrations of a " destructive criticism . " But we forgive him , as there can
be no doubt that his work is destined to be a standard history of Freemasonry , though we still always feel alarmed when we remember that some longforgotten minute book , or some unexpected ev : dence , may turn up any hour , and render more or less in vain , more or less untenable , a great portion of his able , and eloquent , and interesting ] pages . On one or two points he will excuse us for saying we think he somewhat prematurely seeks to clos the discussion .