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Article ¦ I; THE I MKSOMC MIRKOII. ; ← Page 8 of 11 →
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¦ I; The I Mksomc Mirkoii. ;
may mention no ^ v , in passing , that I may well congratulate you and the officers whom you have presiding over the management of . this Institution , that before coming here to embrace the honour of presiding over you to-day , I took an opportunity this morning of paying a visit to the Institution , and I felt that I was selecting , perhaps somewhat- unfairly , the least favourable time for so doing , because I was perfectly aware that the inmates of it were preparing for this
evening s scene , and I knew also the anxiety of the officers , and how high the young hearts of the young girls would be beating with like anxiety in anticipation of the reception you would give them this evening . I anticipated , therefore , at any rate , to find some confusion in the place but I saw no such thing . I found the school not only orderly , but looking in a condition that I can honestly say I never saw a school in before . I found the rooms of the Institution in a condition
of which any of us might well be proud ; and I left the school ' with , the impression under which I entered it ; I found it as I expected to find it—a model Institution . I need scarcely appeal to you , therefore , in support of such an Institution as this peculiar charity- —a charity not simply for those who demand at our hands our charitable assistance , hut a charity extended to the children of our Brethren who , having known life in its better , brighter , and more prosperouse days , have fallen from prosperity , and who have found in this Institution a refuge for them . There is no father who hears me—no Brother who listens to what I say—hut must feel
deeply the value of such an Institution as this : wherein , if poverty unfortunately overtakes him , he is enabled to obtain for his child a good and virtuous education ; wherein he shall find a refuge for that child , as a reward , as it were , of his own charity to his own Breth ren when fortune smiled on him * and who , like the good Chevalier Ruspini , may have his children and his grandchildren reaping the benefits which must inevitably accrue from a well-devised sys tern of instruction . Brethren , you know we do not admit ladies into the mysteries of our Craft ( laughter ) , but still I must say , in justice to that Craft , that there are none in
this wide world who value more the brightness which an alliance with the fair sex gives to the domestic fireside than do Masons ; and there are none who devote themselves more sincerely to the grateful task of training up Masons' daughters in the paths of virtue and in the ways of truth—teaching them in their youth to revere that Creator who will always care for them in their onward career through life . And let us ourselves remember that , inasmuch as we do good to one of these little ones , we so do our duty to the Great Master above . I will not , on this occasion , detain you longer . I thank you in the name of these children most
heartily for the reception you have given them ; and I may say I will undertake to promise , in their name , that gratitude which they ought to feel towards the generous benefactors they now see around them . I trust that the funds of the ensuing year will keep pace with those of the past , and that we may be able to boast , at the end of another year , in saying that there has been no application for the admission of a Mason ' s daughter into this Institution that has not been readily
and speedily responded to . With these observations I commit these children to your charge , and commend this excellent Institution to your generous bounty . " In conclusion the noble lord proposed , as the next toast , " Prosperity to the Royal Freemasons' School for Female Children , " which was received enthusiastically , the speech having been continually interrupted by the loud cheering of the Brethren , the ladies in the gallery testifying their satisfaction Lbv the waving of handkerchiefs .
The children who had gained the prizes during the year were then severally presented to the B . W . Chairman by the Secretary , Bro . Francis Crew . The first child so presented , a very intelligent and ladylike-looking girl , was Louisa Dudley , to receive the good-conduct medal . In placing it round her neck , the noble lord said : — - "I have the greatest satisfaction in presenting to you this medal , which is Stated "to me by the Secretary of your school to be the reward earned by your general good conduct ; and it gives me the greatest pleasure to hear from that
Secretary , also , that that conduct has been such aa not merely to warrant me in presenting it to you in the name of the Craft , but also to justify the expectation that you will be an example through life of what the Freemasons' Female School
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
¦ I; The I Mksomc Mirkoii. ;
may mention no ^ v , in passing , that I may well congratulate you and the officers whom you have presiding over the management of . this Institution , that before coming here to embrace the honour of presiding over you to-day , I took an opportunity this morning of paying a visit to the Institution , and I felt that I was selecting , perhaps somewhat- unfairly , the least favourable time for so doing , because I was perfectly aware that the inmates of it were preparing for this
evening s scene , and I knew also the anxiety of the officers , and how high the young hearts of the young girls would be beating with like anxiety in anticipation of the reception you would give them this evening . I anticipated , therefore , at any rate , to find some confusion in the place but I saw no such thing . I found the school not only orderly , but looking in a condition that I can honestly say I never saw a school in before . I found the rooms of the Institution in a condition
of which any of us might well be proud ; and I left the school ' with , the impression under which I entered it ; I found it as I expected to find it—a model Institution . I need scarcely appeal to you , therefore , in support of such an Institution as this peculiar charity- —a charity not simply for those who demand at our hands our charitable assistance , hut a charity extended to the children of our Brethren who , having known life in its better , brighter , and more prosperouse days , have fallen from prosperity , and who have found in this Institution a refuge for them . There is no father who hears me—no Brother who listens to what I say—hut must feel
deeply the value of such an Institution as this : wherein , if poverty unfortunately overtakes him , he is enabled to obtain for his child a good and virtuous education ; wherein he shall find a refuge for that child , as a reward , as it were , of his own charity to his own Breth ren when fortune smiled on him * and who , like the good Chevalier Ruspini , may have his children and his grandchildren reaping the benefits which must inevitably accrue from a well-devised sys tern of instruction . Brethren , you know we do not admit ladies into the mysteries of our Craft ( laughter ) , but still I must say , in justice to that Craft , that there are none in
this wide world who value more the brightness which an alliance with the fair sex gives to the domestic fireside than do Masons ; and there are none who devote themselves more sincerely to the grateful task of training up Masons' daughters in the paths of virtue and in the ways of truth—teaching them in their youth to revere that Creator who will always care for them in their onward career through life . And let us ourselves remember that , inasmuch as we do good to one of these little ones , we so do our duty to the Great Master above . I will not , on this occasion , detain you longer . I thank you in the name of these children most
heartily for the reception you have given them ; and I may say I will undertake to promise , in their name , that gratitude which they ought to feel towards the generous benefactors they now see around them . I trust that the funds of the ensuing year will keep pace with those of the past , and that we may be able to boast , at the end of another year , in saying that there has been no application for the admission of a Mason ' s daughter into this Institution that has not been readily
and speedily responded to . With these observations I commit these children to your charge , and commend this excellent Institution to your generous bounty . " In conclusion the noble lord proposed , as the next toast , " Prosperity to the Royal Freemasons' School for Female Children , " which was received enthusiastically , the speech having been continually interrupted by the loud cheering of the Brethren , the ladies in the gallery testifying their satisfaction Lbv the waving of handkerchiefs .
The children who had gained the prizes during the year were then severally presented to the B . W . Chairman by the Secretary , Bro . Francis Crew . The first child so presented , a very intelligent and ladylike-looking girl , was Louisa Dudley , to receive the good-conduct medal . In placing it round her neck , the noble lord said : — - "I have the greatest satisfaction in presenting to you this medal , which is Stated "to me by the Secretary of your school to be the reward earned by your general good conduct ; and it gives me the greatest pleasure to hear from that
Secretary , also , that that conduct has been such aa not merely to warrant me in presenting it to you in the name of the Craft , but also to justify the expectation that you will be an example through life of what the Freemasons' Female School