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Article NINETY-EIGHTH FESTIVAL OF THE GIRLS SCHOOL. ← Page 2 of 2 Article NINETY-EIGHTH FESTIVAL OF THE GIRLS SCHOOL. Page 2 of 2
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Ninety-Eighth Festival Of The Girls School.
The toast having been drunk with enthusiasm , was followed by the singing of the National Anthem . " Bro . Gen . BROWNRIGG next proposed the toast of " H . R . H . the Prince of Wales , Grand Patron and President of the Institution ; the Princess of Wales , Grand Patroness ; and the other Members of the Royal Family . " He said : I think it is very fortunate for us that many years ago , by the
general acclamation of Masons , we persuaded the Prince of Wales tobecome Grand Master of the Order . His numerous engagements prevent him frequently joining us ; but whenever he has been present at these Festivals , everyone has been charmed who has come in contact with him . I heard the other day of an American newspaper which suggested that the initiation of the son of his Royal Highness was a hole-and-corner affair ; t ^ at it
ought to have taken place in a larger assembly of Masons . His Royal Hig hness is Master of the Royal Alpha Lodge , and I appeal to you whether it is not perfectly natural that the Prince should desire to initiate his son in the lodge over which he presided . ( Applause . ) I had the privilege of being present at that initiation , and I hope Prince Albert Victor will follow in the footsteps of his Royal father . ( Applause . )
Bro . General BROWNRIGG , in proposing "The Health of the Earl of Carnarvon , Pro Grand Master ; the Earl of Lathom , the Deputy Grand Master ; and the rest of the Grand Officers , Present and Past , " said that the toast was , as a matter of course , given at these meetings , but it was really drinking his own health , but with that modesty which at all times distinguished Freemasons —( laughter)—he could not be spared giving it .
The health of the Pro Grand Master , the Earl of Carnarvon , was one which was always acceptable . He did not know that he need say anything more in reference to this toast , except that he believed that all the Grand Officers tried to do their duty as well as they could . The position was sometimes an anomaly , and one really did not know sometimes what they had lo do but to set a good example to their younger brethren . He
hoped and believed they lived to do that . He was happy to say they had among them that evening a distinguished brother , who would return thanks for this toast , who was a member of Grand Lodge in his capacity of District Grand Master of Victoria , Sir Wm . Clark . He was quite sure Sir William must have been pleased , like all others who came from that and other
colonies , in what he saw here , and the welcome that had been given to the colonial exhibitors at the Exhibition recently opened in London , and in which Victoria held a distinguished portion . He begged the brethren to g ive Sir W . Clark a hearty welcome . The toast having been enthusiastically received ,
Bro . Sir W . CLARK said : Ri ght Worship ful Sir and Brethren , — I feel highly complimented by having my name associated with the names mentioned by the Chairman in this special toast , and also with a number of other brethren scattered all over the world , who try to do their best in Masonry , and for the purposes of the Order , in every shape and manner in which it can be advanced . I , for Victoria , tell you that I shall be very glad
when—and I have no doubt the time is not very far distant—we shall have an Institution like the one the 98 th Festival of which we celebrate to-night , viz ., an Institution for the purpose of educating the girls ( and the boys also ) of Masons . We in Victoria have done our best as far as having a Charitable Fund goes , but as yet we have not been tich enough to endow a Charity like this . But we admire the manner in which these Institutions
are carried out , for we know that the colonies , as well as the mother country , have received the advantages of these Institutions . When I was in England before , the brethren in Victoria wrote to me , and asked me if Lady Clark would take charge of an orphan girl , who had been sent here and educated in your School . I said she would , and we took her , and found her
a well educated and well conducted girl , and she has been a great success in Victoria —( cheers)—so that we are proud of your Institution , and we hope at some future time to have a school in Victoria similar to that which we are here to wish success to to-night . I heartily thank you for the kindness with which you have received my name which has been associated with the toast .
Bro . THOMAS W . TEW , P . G . D ., Prov . G . M . West Yorkshire , who was received with an enthusiastic welcome , next said ; Sir Wm . Clarke , Grand Officers , and Brethren , —The toast which has been placed in the hands of West Yorkshire is one which will commend itself to your cordial sympathies and approbation . The toast which I have the honour to propose to you is that ot " The Chairman of this Festival . " No toast could have been more
appropriate to West Yorkshire , for General Brownrigg has occasionally been a visitor to that province , and we are always proud in our West Yorkshire lodges to greet the Provincial Grand Master of Surrey when he can come among us . It affords the West Yorkshire brethren the greatest pleasure to be here to-night to support General Brownrigg as well as we can as the Chairman of the Ninety-eighth Anniversary Festival of the Royal Masonic
Institution for Girls . I need hardly tell you how gallant a General is our Chairman , how greatly he distinguished himself in the Crimean campaign , and that , for his gallant and distinguished services , her Majesty conferred upon him the Order of Companion of the Bath . ( Hear , hear , and Cheers . ) But to-day we recognise those other and equally , if not more , efficient services to the Craft which he has rendered as Provincial Grand Master of
Surrey . ( Cheers . ) He was made Provincial Grand Master of Surrey in 1871 , and I am informed that at that time they were but nine lodges in his province . To-day his province numbers 31 lodges , and that will show to you the progress Freemasonry has made in Surrey under his able and influential administration of Masonry there . ( Cheers . ) West Yorkshire ,
with five provinces , is proud and delig hted to extend the right hand of fellowship to that gallant province , and to be with it to-day a co-supporter of this grand and noble Institution . It is my privilege to ask you to drink "The Health of General Brownrigg , Provincial Grand Master of Surrey , " and our gallant Chairman to-night . ( Cheers . ) The toast having been most warml y drunk ,
In acknowledging the toast , the CHAIRMAN referred to his visit to West Yorkshire , when he received a welcome almost royal in its character . He remembered the cordiality of the reception given to him by the late lamented Sir Henry Edwards and by all the brethren , and though he was suffering at the time from a severe attack of asthma , he experienced great pleasure in the visit . ( Applause . )
The CHAIRMAN in proposing the toast of the evening " Success to the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls , " said . We are assembled to aid a Charity in which all Masons take so great an interest . It was founded in the reign of George II ., when it had its habitation at a house near Westminster Bridge , rented at £ 35 a year . In 1793 it moved to St . George ' s-in-the-Fields , and in 1851 it was removed to Wandsworth . If , in the inscrutable ways of Providence , Chevalier Ruspini , who instituted the Charity 98 years ago , could have looked down and seen the beautiful building which
Ninety-Eighth Festival Of The Girls School.
now exists for the reception of girls , he would have felt thoroughly rewarded for his exertions . ( Hear , hear . ) Since the foundation of the Institution 1454 girls have been provided for , educated , clothed , and maintained , and there are now 243 girls receiving the benefits of the Institution , as compared with 100 in December 1872 . The great object we now have in view is to increase the comfort of those in the School , and funds are specially required
for the purchase of the adjacent land to the Institution . It is utterly impossible for any one who has not seen the School to form any conception of what it is . There is a neatness , regularity , and perfect discipline connected with it such as I have never seen at any other school , and I have had some experience in looking after schools of different sorts . I have made frequent visits to the School , and had been more charmed on every occasion . The
drill of the girls is the most perfect I have seen in my life . Bro . Richardson asked me to say something to the girls apropos to what I had seen . I told them I had been in the habit of speaking to their fathers , but I had never spoken to a body of Masons' daughters before . I said I had seen in my soldier days the manoeuvres of almost every military nation in the world , but in my life I never saw anything to equal the beauty of their drill . ( Applause . ) I am an old adjutant , and many of you know what the duty of
an adjutant is . I was adjutant of a line regiment tor five years , and adjutant of the Guards for nine years , but I never saw anything so perfect as the wheeling and counter-marching of these girls . I did not tell them that , but what I did tell them was that they were the prettiest battalion I had ever seen in my life . ( Applause . ) We should all support this excellent School , and a very good plan is to put down our children ' s " names as Governors and Life Governors . I have qualified as a Governor the son of my old age , who is this day four weeks old . ( Applause . )
Bro . HORACE BROOKS MARSHALL , Past Grand Treasurer , Treasurer and Vice-President of the Institution , in reply , said : I submit that the Treasurers of Masonic Charitable Institutions are much-to-be-envied individuals . My experience of the duties of the office of Treasurer outside the region of Masonic light is that very frequently the Treasurer is expected to provide , and not to take care of the treasure . ( Hear , hear . ) A very different
state of things exists here , and I submit that it cannot be too often or too widely made known or repeated for the benefit of managers of Charitable Institutions outside Masonry that the sumptuous banquet we have recentl y partaken of is not provided at the cost of the Institution—( hear , hear , and cheers)—but out of the pockets of the brethren , who , in addition , at their own cost , entertain our helpers in this good work , the ladies , in yonder hall :
and it is the custom of the Stewards of this Institution to commemorate the generosity of the brethren on occasions like this b y inviting the children of the School and the staff at the School , at their expense also , to an annual outing at the Crystal Palace . ( Hear , hear , and cheers . ) Very gratefully , on behalf of the Executive Committee , do I acknowledge the
generosity of the brethren in entrusting us with funds sufficient to maintain and educate adequately to fight the battle of life the 243 girls that you have committed to our care , and we look forward to the time when , by a continuance and by an extension of your generosity , we may still further spread the benefits of this invaluable Institution to more children of our deceased or indigent brethren .
Bro . HEDGES then read a Summary of the Returns , amounting to . £ 13 , 029 3 s ., the contribution of £ 902 5 s . from Northumberland being greeted with loud applause . General BROWNRIGG then proposed " The Other Masonic Institutions , and Success to Them . "
Bro . J AMES TERRY , Secretary to the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution , in reply , first congratulated General Brownrigg and the brethren of the Province of Surrey upon the noble effort they had made on behalf of the Girls'School , and upon the success which had . attended their efforts . He remembered , with a great amount of pleasure and gratitude , the position General Brownrigg occupied some four years since when presiding on
behalf of the Benevolent Institution , when the Province of Surrey most nobly supported him with a sum reaching nearly _ £ iooo . But now that province had grown , and , with the growth of the province , and with the growth of the esteem of the lodges of that province for their Provincial Grand Master , there was a corresponding progress in the amount of money sent up , On behalf of the
viz ., more than ^ 1400 . Boys' School and the Benevolent Institution , he had also to congratulate General Brownri gg upon the noble result in the total amount achieved , almost exceeding anything that could have been anticipated . That evening the whisper had gone round that it was £ 12 , 600 , but the other Institutions were glad ¦ ¦ . ¦ . ii . u .. i ,. i .. m u .. ,., I ,... .. I . m M ¦ L 1 that that sum had been exceeded . Bro .
Binckes was away on the business of the Boys' School in the Midland counties , or he would have responded to this toast . On his behalf he ( Bro . Terry ) asked the brethren to be as liberal at the Festival of the Boys ' School and the Festival of the
Benevolent Institution ; and the Girls' School having now passed , the brethren could devote the whole of their attention to the Boys' School , which urgently needed their support . It was only necessary to bring
this fact to the attention of the brethren to enlist their generous support . When the Old People ' s Institution Festival again came round he was quite certain the brethren would be found ranged in support of it .
Bro . J . L . MATHER responded for "The Stewards , " and Bro . EDGAR BOWYER , P . G . Std . Br ., for " The Ladies , " and the brethren adjourned to the Temple , where a concert was given under the direction of Bro .
franklin Clive , the artistes being Miss Margaret Hoare , Miss Effie Clements , Miss Eleanor Roes , Miss Lena Law , Miss Kate Chaplin , Bros . Sidney Tower , W . Coates , Arthur Oswald , Fountain Meen , and las . Kift . J Bro . James Hayho was toast-master of the evening .
The favor worn on the occasion was designed and manufactured b y Bro , George Kenning . It contained the arms of the Chairman on an enamelled shield , surrounded by a quatrefoil band containing ) the name ] of the Institution , and the date of the Festival .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Ninety-Eighth Festival Of The Girls School.
The toast having been drunk with enthusiasm , was followed by the singing of the National Anthem . " Bro . Gen . BROWNRIGG next proposed the toast of " H . R . H . the Prince of Wales , Grand Patron and President of the Institution ; the Princess of Wales , Grand Patroness ; and the other Members of the Royal Family . " He said : I think it is very fortunate for us that many years ago , by the
general acclamation of Masons , we persuaded the Prince of Wales tobecome Grand Master of the Order . His numerous engagements prevent him frequently joining us ; but whenever he has been present at these Festivals , everyone has been charmed who has come in contact with him . I heard the other day of an American newspaper which suggested that the initiation of the son of his Royal Highness was a hole-and-corner affair ; t ^ at it
ought to have taken place in a larger assembly of Masons . His Royal Hig hness is Master of the Royal Alpha Lodge , and I appeal to you whether it is not perfectly natural that the Prince should desire to initiate his son in the lodge over which he presided . ( Applause . ) I had the privilege of being present at that initiation , and I hope Prince Albert Victor will follow in the footsteps of his Royal father . ( Applause . )
Bro . General BROWNRIGG , in proposing "The Health of the Earl of Carnarvon , Pro Grand Master ; the Earl of Lathom , the Deputy Grand Master ; and the rest of the Grand Officers , Present and Past , " said that the toast was , as a matter of course , given at these meetings , but it was really drinking his own health , but with that modesty which at all times distinguished Freemasons —( laughter)—he could not be spared giving it .
The health of the Pro Grand Master , the Earl of Carnarvon , was one which was always acceptable . He did not know that he need say anything more in reference to this toast , except that he believed that all the Grand Officers tried to do their duty as well as they could . The position was sometimes an anomaly , and one really did not know sometimes what they had lo do but to set a good example to their younger brethren . He
hoped and believed they lived to do that . He was happy to say they had among them that evening a distinguished brother , who would return thanks for this toast , who was a member of Grand Lodge in his capacity of District Grand Master of Victoria , Sir Wm . Clark . He was quite sure Sir William must have been pleased , like all others who came from that and other
colonies , in what he saw here , and the welcome that had been given to the colonial exhibitors at the Exhibition recently opened in London , and in which Victoria held a distinguished portion . He begged the brethren to g ive Sir W . Clark a hearty welcome . The toast having been enthusiastically received ,
Bro . Sir W . CLARK said : Ri ght Worship ful Sir and Brethren , — I feel highly complimented by having my name associated with the names mentioned by the Chairman in this special toast , and also with a number of other brethren scattered all over the world , who try to do their best in Masonry , and for the purposes of the Order , in every shape and manner in which it can be advanced . I , for Victoria , tell you that I shall be very glad
when—and I have no doubt the time is not very far distant—we shall have an Institution like the one the 98 th Festival of which we celebrate to-night , viz ., an Institution for the purpose of educating the girls ( and the boys also ) of Masons . We in Victoria have done our best as far as having a Charitable Fund goes , but as yet we have not been tich enough to endow a Charity like this . But we admire the manner in which these Institutions
are carried out , for we know that the colonies , as well as the mother country , have received the advantages of these Institutions . When I was in England before , the brethren in Victoria wrote to me , and asked me if Lady Clark would take charge of an orphan girl , who had been sent here and educated in your School . I said she would , and we took her , and found her
a well educated and well conducted girl , and she has been a great success in Victoria —( cheers)—so that we are proud of your Institution , and we hope at some future time to have a school in Victoria similar to that which we are here to wish success to to-night . I heartily thank you for the kindness with which you have received my name which has been associated with the toast .
Bro . THOMAS W . TEW , P . G . D ., Prov . G . M . West Yorkshire , who was received with an enthusiastic welcome , next said ; Sir Wm . Clarke , Grand Officers , and Brethren , —The toast which has been placed in the hands of West Yorkshire is one which will commend itself to your cordial sympathies and approbation . The toast which I have the honour to propose to you is that ot " The Chairman of this Festival . " No toast could have been more
appropriate to West Yorkshire , for General Brownrigg has occasionally been a visitor to that province , and we are always proud in our West Yorkshire lodges to greet the Provincial Grand Master of Surrey when he can come among us . It affords the West Yorkshire brethren the greatest pleasure to be here to-night to support General Brownrigg as well as we can as the Chairman of the Ninety-eighth Anniversary Festival of the Royal Masonic
Institution for Girls . I need hardly tell you how gallant a General is our Chairman , how greatly he distinguished himself in the Crimean campaign , and that , for his gallant and distinguished services , her Majesty conferred upon him the Order of Companion of the Bath . ( Hear , hear , and Cheers . ) But to-day we recognise those other and equally , if not more , efficient services to the Craft which he has rendered as Provincial Grand Master of
Surrey . ( Cheers . ) He was made Provincial Grand Master of Surrey in 1871 , and I am informed that at that time they were but nine lodges in his province . To-day his province numbers 31 lodges , and that will show to you the progress Freemasonry has made in Surrey under his able and influential administration of Masonry there . ( Cheers . ) West Yorkshire ,
with five provinces , is proud and delig hted to extend the right hand of fellowship to that gallant province , and to be with it to-day a co-supporter of this grand and noble Institution . It is my privilege to ask you to drink "The Health of General Brownrigg , Provincial Grand Master of Surrey , " and our gallant Chairman to-night . ( Cheers . ) The toast having been most warml y drunk ,
In acknowledging the toast , the CHAIRMAN referred to his visit to West Yorkshire , when he received a welcome almost royal in its character . He remembered the cordiality of the reception given to him by the late lamented Sir Henry Edwards and by all the brethren , and though he was suffering at the time from a severe attack of asthma , he experienced great pleasure in the visit . ( Applause . )
The CHAIRMAN in proposing the toast of the evening " Success to the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls , " said . We are assembled to aid a Charity in which all Masons take so great an interest . It was founded in the reign of George II ., when it had its habitation at a house near Westminster Bridge , rented at £ 35 a year . In 1793 it moved to St . George ' s-in-the-Fields , and in 1851 it was removed to Wandsworth . If , in the inscrutable ways of Providence , Chevalier Ruspini , who instituted the Charity 98 years ago , could have looked down and seen the beautiful building which
Ninety-Eighth Festival Of The Girls School.
now exists for the reception of girls , he would have felt thoroughly rewarded for his exertions . ( Hear , hear . ) Since the foundation of the Institution 1454 girls have been provided for , educated , clothed , and maintained , and there are now 243 girls receiving the benefits of the Institution , as compared with 100 in December 1872 . The great object we now have in view is to increase the comfort of those in the School , and funds are specially required
for the purchase of the adjacent land to the Institution . It is utterly impossible for any one who has not seen the School to form any conception of what it is . There is a neatness , regularity , and perfect discipline connected with it such as I have never seen at any other school , and I have had some experience in looking after schools of different sorts . I have made frequent visits to the School , and had been more charmed on every occasion . The
drill of the girls is the most perfect I have seen in my life . Bro . Richardson asked me to say something to the girls apropos to what I had seen . I told them I had been in the habit of speaking to their fathers , but I had never spoken to a body of Masons' daughters before . I said I had seen in my soldier days the manoeuvres of almost every military nation in the world , but in my life I never saw anything to equal the beauty of their drill . ( Applause . ) I am an old adjutant , and many of you know what the duty of
an adjutant is . I was adjutant of a line regiment tor five years , and adjutant of the Guards for nine years , but I never saw anything so perfect as the wheeling and counter-marching of these girls . I did not tell them that , but what I did tell them was that they were the prettiest battalion I had ever seen in my life . ( Applause . ) We should all support this excellent School , and a very good plan is to put down our children ' s " names as Governors and Life Governors . I have qualified as a Governor the son of my old age , who is this day four weeks old . ( Applause . )
Bro . HORACE BROOKS MARSHALL , Past Grand Treasurer , Treasurer and Vice-President of the Institution , in reply , said : I submit that the Treasurers of Masonic Charitable Institutions are much-to-be-envied individuals . My experience of the duties of the office of Treasurer outside the region of Masonic light is that very frequently the Treasurer is expected to provide , and not to take care of the treasure . ( Hear , hear . ) A very different
state of things exists here , and I submit that it cannot be too often or too widely made known or repeated for the benefit of managers of Charitable Institutions outside Masonry that the sumptuous banquet we have recentl y partaken of is not provided at the cost of the Institution—( hear , hear , and cheers)—but out of the pockets of the brethren , who , in addition , at their own cost , entertain our helpers in this good work , the ladies , in yonder hall :
and it is the custom of the Stewards of this Institution to commemorate the generosity of the brethren on occasions like this b y inviting the children of the School and the staff at the School , at their expense also , to an annual outing at the Crystal Palace . ( Hear , hear , and cheers . ) Very gratefully , on behalf of the Executive Committee , do I acknowledge the
generosity of the brethren in entrusting us with funds sufficient to maintain and educate adequately to fight the battle of life the 243 girls that you have committed to our care , and we look forward to the time when , by a continuance and by an extension of your generosity , we may still further spread the benefits of this invaluable Institution to more children of our deceased or indigent brethren .
Bro . HEDGES then read a Summary of the Returns , amounting to . £ 13 , 029 3 s ., the contribution of £ 902 5 s . from Northumberland being greeted with loud applause . General BROWNRIGG then proposed " The Other Masonic Institutions , and Success to Them . "
Bro . J AMES TERRY , Secretary to the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution , in reply , first congratulated General Brownrigg and the brethren of the Province of Surrey upon the noble effort they had made on behalf of the Girls'School , and upon the success which had . attended their efforts . He remembered , with a great amount of pleasure and gratitude , the position General Brownrigg occupied some four years since when presiding on
behalf of the Benevolent Institution , when the Province of Surrey most nobly supported him with a sum reaching nearly _ £ iooo . But now that province had grown , and , with the growth of the province , and with the growth of the esteem of the lodges of that province for their Provincial Grand Master , there was a corresponding progress in the amount of money sent up , On behalf of the
viz ., more than ^ 1400 . Boys' School and the Benevolent Institution , he had also to congratulate General Brownri gg upon the noble result in the total amount achieved , almost exceeding anything that could have been anticipated . That evening the whisper had gone round that it was £ 12 , 600 , but the other Institutions were glad ¦ ¦ . ¦ . ii . u .. i ,. i .. m u .. ,., I ,... .. I . m M ¦ L 1 that that sum had been exceeded . Bro .
Binckes was away on the business of the Boys' School in the Midland counties , or he would have responded to this toast . On his behalf he ( Bro . Terry ) asked the brethren to be as liberal at the Festival of the Boys ' School and the Festival of the
Benevolent Institution ; and the Girls' School having now passed , the brethren could devote the whole of their attention to the Boys' School , which urgently needed their support . It was only necessary to bring
this fact to the attention of the brethren to enlist their generous support . When the Old People ' s Institution Festival again came round he was quite certain the brethren would be found ranged in support of it .
Bro . J . L . MATHER responded for "The Stewards , " and Bro . EDGAR BOWYER , P . G . Std . Br ., for " The Ladies , " and the brethren adjourned to the Temple , where a concert was given under the direction of Bro .
franklin Clive , the artistes being Miss Margaret Hoare , Miss Effie Clements , Miss Eleanor Roes , Miss Lena Law , Miss Kate Chaplin , Bros . Sidney Tower , W . Coates , Arthur Oswald , Fountain Meen , and las . Kift . J Bro . James Hayho was toast-master of the evening .
The favor worn on the occasion was designed and manufactured b y Bro , George Kenning . It contained the arms of the Chairman on an enamelled shield , surrounded by a quatrefoil band containing ) the name ] of the Institution , and the date of the Festival .