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Article THE ANNIVERSARY FESTIVAL OF THE R.M.B.I. Page 1 of 2 Article THE ANNIVERSARY FESTIVAL OF THE R.M.B.I. Page 1 of 2 →
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The Anniversary Festival Of The R.M.B.I.
THE ANNIVERSARY FESTIVAL OF THE R . M . B . I .
rpHE Festival for the current year of t'ho Benevolent X Institution is now among the events that aro past , and after onr remarks of last week in anticipation of the probable result , onr readers will exhibit no sense of surprise when we tell them thafc with so large and influential a Province as "West Yorkshire to lead the way , and so
splendid a following on tho part of the Metropolis and the other Provinces , the success of this particular Anniversary is unprecedented in the annals of Freemasonry , even the grand achievement of Bro . Binckes , in the summer of last year , having been surpassed . The number of Stewards fell
very little short of 400 , the Metropolis being represented by 124 , West Yorkshire by 176 , and twenty-eight other Provinces by 95 . The total amount , as announced on Thursday morning as £ 14 , 160 , was increased by supplementary contributions received in the course of that day to
£ 14 , 262 ; and it is quite in accordance with the experience of past years that the actual sum realised will be even greater still . Thus the year 1881 has opened' most auspiciously for our Institutions , and if the two Schools do no
more than repeat their achievements of last year , we shall be in a position to give an account of Masonic Benevolence in excess of any it has been thus far our privilege to record .
Time does not permit of our giving the customary analytical sketch of tbe great event . We mnst , therefore , content ourselves with a few remarks pertinent to the occasion , and to the Institution in whose honour the Festival was held . After our article of last week , but little
need be said in respect of the Charit y itself . We pointed out then that the Benevolent is the youngest of our three Institutions , one of its Funds having been established by Grand Lodge in 1842 , and the other in 1849 . There was nothing in the nature of what was done at the outset that
could possibly have induced the idea that , within the space of forty years , from such small beginnings there should have grown up so magnificent an Asylum as is our Benevolent , which places beyond the reach of want considerably over 300 old brethren , or widows of deceased brethren ,
bestowing upon the former a life annuity of £ 40 , and upon the majority of the latter one of £ 32 , the small additional number of female beneficiaries receiving each the half of her husband ' s grant . That it would be possible to do so much without making a special call upon the Craft
must be obvious when we point out that the permanent income of the Institution from all sources is slightly in excess of £ 2600 , while the permanent expenditure is about five times that amount . There was , too , on the present occasion , an additional incentive to the
brethren to give increased help . In May next , twenty vacancies , on the two Funds together , will have to be filled , and there are , as nearly as possible , one hundred approved candidates , who will compete for those vacancies , and of whom , unless the authorities in the meantime make
arrangements for an increase in tlie number of annuitants , some eighty decayed old men and women will necessarily be left out in the cold , to endure , as best they can , their present
straitened circumstances for at least another year , if not , indeed , for an indefinite period of time . Thus , for the result we have announced above we are under a deep debt ° f gratitude to , in the first place , the Province of West Yorkshire and its popular chief , Sir Henry Edwards , who
The Anniversary Festival Of The R.M.B.I.
presided at the Festival , and , in the next , to tho two hundred and moro Stewards who represented tho Metropolis and twenty-eight other Provinces . They together have done , as a Board of Stewards , what no other Board has over done before . Brilliant as have the previous
successes of Bro . Terry on behalf of this Institution , and of Bro . Binckes in aid of " Our Boys , " as well as of Bro . Hedges at the two Festivals that have been held during his Secretaryship for " Our Girls , " the Anniversary which is now past has proved to be moro brilliant still . It may
appear to be iteration , worthy even of the epithet which is usuallyassociatedwith theword , on our parttomention again this fact within so short a space , bnt it is hardly possible to speak in terms too laudatory of such a result as that of Wednesday . Especially gratifying must it be to Sir Henry
Edwards , Right Worshipful Provincial Grand Master of Yorkshire , to find that his acceptance of the chairmanship was so splendidly backed up , firstly , by his native Province , and then by the rest of English Masonry . It is , as we have remarked in connection with almost every Festival
that has taken place since the beginning of the year 1875 , no slight responsibility which is undertaken by the Brother who consents to preside at such a gathering .
This responsibility , of course , is greatly lessened when he has at his back so large a Province , and one so consistent in its support of our Institutions as West Yorkshire . It is still further lessened when the Provinces evinced so resolute
a determination to render their share of help ou so large a scale . But none the less is it an arduous task to preside over a large assembly for a special purpose ; and Sir Henry Edwards is to be congratulated that on the occasion of his appearance for the first time as Chairman at the
Benevolent Festival , he should have secured a larger total than has ever been secured before , and over 70 per cent , as much as was contributed on the occasion of his Chairmanship , in 1876 , at the Girls' Festival , when the late Bro . Little announced a total of £ 8214 . West Yorkshire must also be
congratulated on the magnificence of its achievement . When , on the occasion just referred to , its Chief presided at the Girls ' Festival , the Province was represented by six-and-thirty Stewards , including the Chairman , and the total of its contributions was close on £ 708 . None will deny this
was a most satisfactory result even for so large a Province , but on the present occasion it mustered no less than 176 Stewards , and the total of its contributions reached the grand sum of £ 3500 . It is true that East Lancashire on two occasions has exceeded this figure , once in 1869 , when
it seconded the efforts of its then P . G . M ., the late Bro . Stephen Blah ' , on behalf of the Boys' School , and contributed £ 3885 ; and again in 1879 , when Bro . Nicholas Le Gendre Starkie was its Chairman at the Benevolent , and it supported him to the extent , as announced , of £ 3542 .
But the trifling difference is immaterial . Both Provinces have distinguished themselves , just as West Lancashire , Warwickshire , and other Provinces have done , whenever the duty of supporting their several rulers has devolved upon them . The other Provinces , too , must not have
their deeds passed over without notice , the twenty-eight which were represented contributing among them very little short of as much as was given by West Yorkshire , while London , with its strong array of representatives ,
gave over £ 6300 . Especially do we single out little Herts , which contributes , thongh at a long interval , the second largest amount among the Pi * ovinces , and Bro . Buss , the worthy Assistant Grand Secretary , who , as regards the total of his list , heads the roll of the Metropolitan Stewards .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Anniversary Festival Of The R.M.B.I.
THE ANNIVERSARY FESTIVAL OF THE R . M . B . I .
rpHE Festival for the current year of t'ho Benevolent X Institution is now among the events that aro past , and after onr remarks of last week in anticipation of the probable result , onr readers will exhibit no sense of surprise when we tell them thafc with so large and influential a Province as "West Yorkshire to lead the way , and so
splendid a following on tho part of the Metropolis and the other Provinces , the success of this particular Anniversary is unprecedented in the annals of Freemasonry , even the grand achievement of Bro . Binckes , in the summer of last year , having been surpassed . The number of Stewards fell
very little short of 400 , the Metropolis being represented by 124 , West Yorkshire by 176 , and twenty-eight other Provinces by 95 . The total amount , as announced on Thursday morning as £ 14 , 160 , was increased by supplementary contributions received in the course of that day to
£ 14 , 262 ; and it is quite in accordance with the experience of past years that the actual sum realised will be even greater still . Thus the year 1881 has opened' most auspiciously for our Institutions , and if the two Schools do no
more than repeat their achievements of last year , we shall be in a position to give an account of Masonic Benevolence in excess of any it has been thus far our privilege to record .
Time does not permit of our giving the customary analytical sketch of tbe great event . We mnst , therefore , content ourselves with a few remarks pertinent to the occasion , and to the Institution in whose honour the Festival was held . After our article of last week , but little
need be said in respect of the Charit y itself . We pointed out then that the Benevolent is the youngest of our three Institutions , one of its Funds having been established by Grand Lodge in 1842 , and the other in 1849 . There was nothing in the nature of what was done at the outset that
could possibly have induced the idea that , within the space of forty years , from such small beginnings there should have grown up so magnificent an Asylum as is our Benevolent , which places beyond the reach of want considerably over 300 old brethren , or widows of deceased brethren ,
bestowing upon the former a life annuity of £ 40 , and upon the majority of the latter one of £ 32 , the small additional number of female beneficiaries receiving each the half of her husband ' s grant . That it would be possible to do so much without making a special call upon the Craft
must be obvious when we point out that the permanent income of the Institution from all sources is slightly in excess of £ 2600 , while the permanent expenditure is about five times that amount . There was , too , on the present occasion , an additional incentive to the
brethren to give increased help . In May next , twenty vacancies , on the two Funds together , will have to be filled , and there are , as nearly as possible , one hundred approved candidates , who will compete for those vacancies , and of whom , unless the authorities in the meantime make
arrangements for an increase in tlie number of annuitants , some eighty decayed old men and women will necessarily be left out in the cold , to endure , as best they can , their present
straitened circumstances for at least another year , if not , indeed , for an indefinite period of time . Thus , for the result we have announced above we are under a deep debt ° f gratitude to , in the first place , the Province of West Yorkshire and its popular chief , Sir Henry Edwards , who
The Anniversary Festival Of The R.M.B.I.
presided at the Festival , and , in the next , to tho two hundred and moro Stewards who represented tho Metropolis and twenty-eight other Provinces . They together have done , as a Board of Stewards , what no other Board has over done before . Brilliant as have the previous
successes of Bro . Terry on behalf of this Institution , and of Bro . Binckes in aid of " Our Boys , " as well as of Bro . Hedges at the two Festivals that have been held during his Secretaryship for " Our Girls , " the Anniversary which is now past has proved to be moro brilliant still . It may
appear to be iteration , worthy even of the epithet which is usuallyassociatedwith theword , on our parttomention again this fact within so short a space , bnt it is hardly possible to speak in terms too laudatory of such a result as that of Wednesday . Especially gratifying must it be to Sir Henry
Edwards , Right Worshipful Provincial Grand Master of Yorkshire , to find that his acceptance of the chairmanship was so splendidly backed up , firstly , by his native Province , and then by the rest of English Masonry . It is , as we have remarked in connection with almost every Festival
that has taken place since the beginning of the year 1875 , no slight responsibility which is undertaken by the Brother who consents to preside at such a gathering .
This responsibility , of course , is greatly lessened when he has at his back so large a Province , and one so consistent in its support of our Institutions as West Yorkshire . It is still further lessened when the Provinces evinced so resolute
a determination to render their share of help ou so large a scale . But none the less is it an arduous task to preside over a large assembly for a special purpose ; and Sir Henry Edwards is to be congratulated that on the occasion of his appearance for the first time as Chairman at the
Benevolent Festival , he should have secured a larger total than has ever been secured before , and over 70 per cent , as much as was contributed on the occasion of his Chairmanship , in 1876 , at the Girls' Festival , when the late Bro . Little announced a total of £ 8214 . West Yorkshire must also be
congratulated on the magnificence of its achievement . When , on the occasion just referred to , its Chief presided at the Girls ' Festival , the Province was represented by six-and-thirty Stewards , including the Chairman , and the total of its contributions was close on £ 708 . None will deny this
was a most satisfactory result even for so large a Province , but on the present occasion it mustered no less than 176 Stewards , and the total of its contributions reached the grand sum of £ 3500 . It is true that East Lancashire on two occasions has exceeded this figure , once in 1869 , when
it seconded the efforts of its then P . G . M ., the late Bro . Stephen Blah ' , on behalf of the Boys' School , and contributed £ 3885 ; and again in 1879 , when Bro . Nicholas Le Gendre Starkie was its Chairman at the Benevolent , and it supported him to the extent , as announced , of £ 3542 .
But the trifling difference is immaterial . Both Provinces have distinguished themselves , just as West Lancashire , Warwickshire , and other Provinces have done , whenever the duty of supporting their several rulers has devolved upon them . The other Provinces , too , must not have
their deeds passed over without notice , the twenty-eight which were represented contributing among them very little short of as much as was given by West Yorkshire , while London , with its strong array of representatives ,
gave over £ 6300 . Especially do we single out little Herts , which contributes , thongh at a long interval , the second largest amount among the Pi * ovinces , and Bro . Buss , the worthy Assistant Grand Secretary , who , as regards the total of his list , heads the roll of the Metropolitan Stewards .