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Article THE BENEVOLENT FESTIVAL. Page 1 of 2 Article THE BENEVOLENT FESTIVAL. Page 1 of 2 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Benevolent Festival.
THE BENEVOLENT FESTIVAL .
LAST week we were enabled to make the pleasing ¦ announcement that the executive of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution for Aged Freemasons and Widows of Freemasons had been successful in securing the services of the Provincial Grand Master
of Surrey , Colonel Gerard Noel Money , C . B ., as Chairman for next year's Anniversary Festival , and in now tendering our congratulations to the Institution on the prospects of the coming celebration , we take the opportunitv of addressing a few words to the
Craft y in general as to the work of this estimable Charity , and the claims it has upon the sympathy of the English Brotherhood . # We have always been opposed to making any invidious comparisons between the three Charitable
Institutions of _ English Freemasonry , and there is really no necessity for anything of the sort , as each performs a special work , essentially its own , and all seek to fulfil their particular mission without interfering
with the others , or giving any cause for jealousy or complaint . We may even go further in this direction —as has been done on many previous occasions—and argue that each of the Institutions in turn helps the others , as the recurring seasons bring the claims of the
different Funds more prominently under the notice of the Craft ; and we are convinced the same satisfactory kind of arrangement will continue so long as these three Institutions exist in association with Freemasonry . There is one * Doint . however , that gives a special
interest to the work of the Benevolent Institution , which , dealing with the misfortunes of the aged , seems to specially remind a Brother of his own future . True , the Girls' or the Boys' School mav offer the
possibility of a future home for one ' s children , but even that sentiment has no effect in comparison with the feeling that in later years it may be necessary to personally look to the Benevolent Institution for comfort
and sustenance . Although we are averse to urging support for the Institutions of Freemasonry on the off chance that in years to come they may repay the gift , this personal feeling must have considerable weight , and should be the means of securing
for the Benevolent Institution a regular flow of supporters , apart from the body of workers who give their services and their means from other and equally worthy motives . Then there is the feeling that in supporting the
Benevolent Institution we are providing more particularly for those we have around ns at the momentthe very men who , in their turn , have kept up Freemasonry and its Institutions in the past , and although there is considerable satisfaction in the feeling that
one is assisting in the education and maintenance of the children of an old friend , this is exceeded by the gratification associated with the assistance of that friend himself when , in his time of need , assistance is
The Benevolent Festival.
asked for from his former fellow workers . On these grounds , then , the Benevolent Institution claims and receives special support at the hands of Freemasonry , and that there is necessity for this special support a
very brief examination of the facts of the case will prove . After the last election of the Institution there were 194 Brethren and 241 Widows receiving the full
allowance of £ 40 and £ 32 respectively , besides 24 Widows each entitled to half her late husband's annuity , the whole involving an annual outlay of £ 15 , 952 on annuities alone , and qnite apart from all expenses of management and
collection , or the other outlay incidental to that work . Against this large expenditure the Institution has a merely nominal permanent income to rely upon , so that the generosity of the Craft has to be appealed to year by year for the bulk of the
sum required . It is only necessary to reier to the past , and the splendid progress made by the Institution , to recognise how faithfully the Freemasons under the English Jurisdiction have performed this
part of their duty , and that they will continue to do so we have every reason to expect . But as year by year the season comes round for making the annual appeal one cannot help a feeling of anxiety as to whether the next and succeeding Festivals will
produce enough to meet the calls made on the Institution , and this must necessarily be associated with a feeling of wonder that the Craft should be able to do so much year after year . It would almost seem that an inexhaustible supply has been tapped , and all that is necessary is to draw upon it for current
requirements . But this is by no means the caseactive and energetic work is necessary , and new fields of operation must be continually found , or the result must be one of disaster .
It is to provide the band of workers needed for this task that annual appeals are made to the Freemasons ' of England to take up Stewardships on behalf of the Charities , and in adding our persuasion to that of
the Committee and general Officials of the Benevolent Institution we know we are urging a good cause , one that will well repay any trouble spent on its behalf , in the satisfaction of knowing that some one in less fortunate circumstances than ourselves is being
provided for as the result of our efforts . The Benevolent Institution possesses , in this respect , a feature entirely its own , compared with the two Educational Charities of the Order . In the case of the Benevolent
Institution it is evident that every donor can know what is actually done with his money , in a different sense to what is possible with regard to either the Girls' or the Boys' Schools . In the one case we see an annual payment , or to be more exact , a quarterly one ,
handed over to the several annuitants in hard cash , and there is no sentiment or faddism introduced into the question of how that money should be spent . Each recipient is old enough to take care of him or herself , as the case may be , and there is an end of the matter
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Benevolent Festival.
THE BENEVOLENT FESTIVAL .
LAST week we were enabled to make the pleasing ¦ announcement that the executive of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution for Aged Freemasons and Widows of Freemasons had been successful in securing the services of the Provincial Grand Master
of Surrey , Colonel Gerard Noel Money , C . B ., as Chairman for next year's Anniversary Festival , and in now tendering our congratulations to the Institution on the prospects of the coming celebration , we take the opportunitv of addressing a few words to the
Craft y in general as to the work of this estimable Charity , and the claims it has upon the sympathy of the English Brotherhood . # We have always been opposed to making any invidious comparisons between the three Charitable
Institutions of _ English Freemasonry , and there is really no necessity for anything of the sort , as each performs a special work , essentially its own , and all seek to fulfil their particular mission without interfering
with the others , or giving any cause for jealousy or complaint . We may even go further in this direction —as has been done on many previous occasions—and argue that each of the Institutions in turn helps the others , as the recurring seasons bring the claims of the
different Funds more prominently under the notice of the Craft ; and we are convinced the same satisfactory kind of arrangement will continue so long as these three Institutions exist in association with Freemasonry . There is one * Doint . however , that gives a special
interest to the work of the Benevolent Institution , which , dealing with the misfortunes of the aged , seems to specially remind a Brother of his own future . True , the Girls' or the Boys' School mav offer the
possibility of a future home for one ' s children , but even that sentiment has no effect in comparison with the feeling that in later years it may be necessary to personally look to the Benevolent Institution for comfort
and sustenance . Although we are averse to urging support for the Institutions of Freemasonry on the off chance that in years to come they may repay the gift , this personal feeling must have considerable weight , and should be the means of securing
for the Benevolent Institution a regular flow of supporters , apart from the body of workers who give their services and their means from other and equally worthy motives . Then there is the feeling that in supporting the
Benevolent Institution we are providing more particularly for those we have around ns at the momentthe very men who , in their turn , have kept up Freemasonry and its Institutions in the past , and although there is considerable satisfaction in the feeling that
one is assisting in the education and maintenance of the children of an old friend , this is exceeded by the gratification associated with the assistance of that friend himself when , in his time of need , assistance is
The Benevolent Festival.
asked for from his former fellow workers . On these grounds , then , the Benevolent Institution claims and receives special support at the hands of Freemasonry , and that there is necessity for this special support a
very brief examination of the facts of the case will prove . After the last election of the Institution there were 194 Brethren and 241 Widows receiving the full
allowance of £ 40 and £ 32 respectively , besides 24 Widows each entitled to half her late husband's annuity , the whole involving an annual outlay of £ 15 , 952 on annuities alone , and qnite apart from all expenses of management and
collection , or the other outlay incidental to that work . Against this large expenditure the Institution has a merely nominal permanent income to rely upon , so that the generosity of the Craft has to be appealed to year by year for the bulk of the
sum required . It is only necessary to reier to the past , and the splendid progress made by the Institution , to recognise how faithfully the Freemasons under the English Jurisdiction have performed this
part of their duty , and that they will continue to do so we have every reason to expect . But as year by year the season comes round for making the annual appeal one cannot help a feeling of anxiety as to whether the next and succeeding Festivals will
produce enough to meet the calls made on the Institution , and this must necessarily be associated with a feeling of wonder that the Craft should be able to do so much year after year . It would almost seem that an inexhaustible supply has been tapped , and all that is necessary is to draw upon it for current
requirements . But this is by no means the caseactive and energetic work is necessary , and new fields of operation must be continually found , or the result must be one of disaster .
It is to provide the band of workers needed for this task that annual appeals are made to the Freemasons ' of England to take up Stewardships on behalf of the Charities , and in adding our persuasion to that of
the Committee and general Officials of the Benevolent Institution we know we are urging a good cause , one that will well repay any trouble spent on its behalf , in the satisfaction of knowing that some one in less fortunate circumstances than ourselves is being
provided for as the result of our efforts . The Benevolent Institution possesses , in this respect , a feature entirely its own , compared with the two Educational Charities of the Order . In the case of the Benevolent
Institution it is evident that every donor can know what is actually done with his money , in a different sense to what is possible with regard to either the Girls' or the Boys' Schools . In the one case we see an annual payment , or to be more exact , a quarterly one ,
handed over to the several annuitants in hard cash , and there is no sentiment or faddism introduced into the question of how that money should be spent . Each recipient is old enough to take care of him or herself , as the case may be , and there is an end of the matter