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Article THE CHARITIES. ← Page 8 of 12 →
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The Charities.
sion so touching and beautiful as to elicit tears from numbers of the auditory ; this ended Bro . FRANCIS rose to propose the next toast . He regretted that it had not been intrusted to abler hands , but would venture to say that it could be given by no one with greater sincerity ; he alluded to their much respected Chairman , the Provincial Grand Master for the Province in which they were now assembled . ( Prolonged and reiterated cheers . )
The" worthy Brother then entered into an enumeration of the many Masonic qualities of the distinguished Chairman , and of the great advantage which , not only the Province , but the whole united Craft , had derived from his high character and attainments ; he especially instanced the value and importance of the services rendered by that Brother in presiding over the ceremonies of the day , and the perfect and admirable manner in which those ceremonies had been performedand concluded a
, very able address by proposing " health , happiness , and prosperity , to their excellent chairman , Bro . Dobie , Provincial Grand Master for Surrey . " ( Drunk with prolonged and reiterated applause . ) The P . G . M . in responding to the toast , expressed his sincere thanks for the honour that had just been conferred upon him , by his esteemed friend Bro . Francis , and especially to the ladies for their cordial support , as it gave him an assurance that so far the proceedings of the day had
been conducted to their satisfaction . Whilst he regretted that the chair had not been occupied by one more capable than himself , to add by eloquence to the pleasures of the day , he , nevertheless , trusted that by a continuance of the good feeling already evinced , everything would go off so as to entitle us to look back at a future day to the 1 st of August as a pleasant , agreeable , and interesting day of social enjoyment , blended with having performed a charitable and good action ; and with every wish for the health and happiness of all present , the Chairman resumed his seat .
An especial bumper having been demanded and responded to , the Chairman then rose and said , the next toast is one , ladies and gentlemen , in which we are all , more or less , interested , " Charity , " and that word embraces the various Masonic Institutions , to the prosperity of which 1 have now to crave your attention . The first of our Charities is the Girls' School , instituted in 1788 , and ever since well and deservedly supported . You see before you about one half of the number of the daughters of poor and distressed Freemasons—many of them
Orphansat present receiving the benefit of education , and being trained up so as to become useful members of society . Ladies , it is to one of your sex that we , the Freemasons , owe a deep debt of gratitude ; it is to that lady , standing there , ( Mrs . Crook ) that the meed of praise is due , for her unceasing care and attention , for a period of fifty years , in the management of this Institution , that has mainly contributed to bring it to the present state of , I may say , perfection ; and long may that lady be spared
to watch over those committed to her care . The next of our charities is the School for Boys , a sample of whom you have before you . I must mention to you , that , as Freemasonry is spread over the whole world , and is open to every religion , so is this school open to receive boys of Freemasons , no matter what their reli gious creed may be . The last of our charities is the one in which the Asylum we have this day consecrated forms a part , for we afford relief to the aged and distressed Freemasons and their widows , in the shape of annuities , and also an Asylum to reside in during the declining years of their sojourn in this world .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Charities.
sion so touching and beautiful as to elicit tears from numbers of the auditory ; this ended Bro . FRANCIS rose to propose the next toast . He regretted that it had not been intrusted to abler hands , but would venture to say that it could be given by no one with greater sincerity ; he alluded to their much respected Chairman , the Provincial Grand Master for the Province in which they were now assembled . ( Prolonged and reiterated cheers . )
The" worthy Brother then entered into an enumeration of the many Masonic qualities of the distinguished Chairman , and of the great advantage which , not only the Province , but the whole united Craft , had derived from his high character and attainments ; he especially instanced the value and importance of the services rendered by that Brother in presiding over the ceremonies of the day , and the perfect and admirable manner in which those ceremonies had been performedand concluded a
, very able address by proposing " health , happiness , and prosperity , to their excellent chairman , Bro . Dobie , Provincial Grand Master for Surrey . " ( Drunk with prolonged and reiterated applause . ) The P . G . M . in responding to the toast , expressed his sincere thanks for the honour that had just been conferred upon him , by his esteemed friend Bro . Francis , and especially to the ladies for their cordial support , as it gave him an assurance that so far the proceedings of the day had
been conducted to their satisfaction . Whilst he regretted that the chair had not been occupied by one more capable than himself , to add by eloquence to the pleasures of the day , he , nevertheless , trusted that by a continuance of the good feeling already evinced , everything would go off so as to entitle us to look back at a future day to the 1 st of August as a pleasant , agreeable , and interesting day of social enjoyment , blended with having performed a charitable and good action ; and with every wish for the health and happiness of all present , the Chairman resumed his seat .
An especial bumper having been demanded and responded to , the Chairman then rose and said , the next toast is one , ladies and gentlemen , in which we are all , more or less , interested , " Charity , " and that word embraces the various Masonic Institutions , to the prosperity of which 1 have now to crave your attention . The first of our Charities is the Girls' School , instituted in 1788 , and ever since well and deservedly supported . You see before you about one half of the number of the daughters of poor and distressed Freemasons—many of them
Orphansat present receiving the benefit of education , and being trained up so as to become useful members of society . Ladies , it is to one of your sex that we , the Freemasons , owe a deep debt of gratitude ; it is to that lady , standing there , ( Mrs . Crook ) that the meed of praise is due , for her unceasing care and attention , for a period of fifty years , in the management of this Institution , that has mainly contributed to bring it to the present state of , I may say , perfection ; and long may that lady be spared
to watch over those committed to her care . The next of our charities is the School for Boys , a sample of whom you have before you . I must mention to you , that , as Freemasonry is spread over the whole world , and is open to every religion , so is this school open to receive boys of Freemasons , no matter what their reli gious creed may be . The last of our charities is the one in which the Asylum we have this day consecrated forms a part , for we afford relief to the aged and distressed Freemasons and their widows , in the shape of annuities , and also an Asylum to reside in during the declining years of their sojourn in this world .