The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

would very likely prove unprofitable . In these circumstances it was resolved by the Committee that it would be expedient to hold over the Festival till thc year 1854 , and it was suggested that the second Wednesday in February should be selected for the purpose . On being informed of this resolution , M . W . thc Grand Master expressed his cordial approval , and thc day proposed was fixed for the gathering . Indeed , the help to be derived from such a

celebration would appear to have become desirable , as at thc Annual Meeting in May , 1 S 53 , it was found that thc funds would not allow of the election of more than five male Annuitants , thus reducing thc total of the year previous to 53 , while none were elected in respect of the Female Fund , which , as one widow had resigned her annuity , remained at n accordingly . Shortly after this it was resolved to dispense with a House Committee and

instead to have an arrangement by which the members of thc Committee of Management should take it in turn to visit the Asylum , two of their number being told off for the purpose every month . In February , 1 S 54 , thc Festival was held , as arranged . The Grand Master presided , and the Earl of Yarborough , D . G . M ., was present , together with other Grand Officers and brethren to the number of about 200 , thc amount received being £ 1602 14 s ., in of

of which ^ 500 was respect a legacy , duty free , left by the late Bro . Colvillc Brown towards thc Building Fund and paid over by Bro . Charles Brown , executor . Notwithstanding this success , the Committee did not feel justified in recommending that more than six of the approved candidates should be elected on the Male Fund , and as there had been seven deaths during the year , the total number of Male Annuitants was still further

reduced to 52 , while only two Female Annuitants were elected , making a total on this Fund of 13 . However , one advantage followed thc Festival . The amount of Bro . Brown ' s legacy and thc funds already in the hands of thc Building Committee were found to be sufficient to justify thc Committee in proceeding with the completion of the Asylum as originally

designed , more especially as Grand Lodge was generous enough to vote the very handsome donation of , £ 350 towards the expenses . So much expedition was used in carrying on thc works that , at thc meeting of the Committee of Management on the 14 th February , 1855 , the following final Report of thc Building Committee was presented and accepted , and that body was dissolved , its functions having altogether ceased and determined : —

Thc Building Committee of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution for Aged Freemasons and their Widows , at thc termination of their labours , have the pleasure to lay a linal Report before thc General Committee of thc united Charities . The Uuilding Committee commenced their labours on the 20 th day of October , 1 S 47 , and appointed Bro . Henry Faudcl , their Chairman . From that time until thc amalgamation of the Royal Benevolent Annuity Fund , the Widows' Pension , and the

Asylum for thc Aged and Decayed Freemasons , thc Governors and Subscribers of thc latter Charity were the only authorised body to whom the Building Committee reported . After many meetings and at a Special General Meeting subsequently held of thc Governors and Subscribers to thc Asylum , it was resolved to confirm thc union of the Charities , but to have thc Building Committee an independent body . And in that condition the

said Committee have remained until the 19 th January , 1855 , when the said Committee having terminated fheir labours did by their own vote and in accordance with their resolution previously adopted , dissolve themselves and now present to the General Committee of thc Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution for Aged Freemasons and their Widows this their unanimous Report , being their last act as an existing body .

Accompanying this their Report the Committee placed in the custody of thc General Committee thc report of their proceedings , Minute Books , Contracts , Receipts , and every other document connected with thc Building , and thc Title Deeds , Conveyances , and every paper belonging to thc Freehold Building and Land at Croydon on which it stands or therewith connected . It will be seen that the cost of thc Land , Conveyance ,

Building , & c , has amounted to £ 7804 14 s . id ., while the Fund at the disposal of thc Committee resulting from Donations , Subscriptions , Legacies , and thc liberal grantfrom Grand Lodge , amounted to £ 7807 16 s . 7 d ., leaving the Building subject to the debt of £ 294 15 s . The Building Committee having closed their banking account beg to hand the cash balance of £ 3 : s . 6 d . herewith to the General Committee .

Thc Committee visited the Building and Grounds on the 25 th January last , and have to speak in the most favourable manner of thc works recently completed , as well as ot thc former portions , and believe thc interest of thc invested Sustentation Fund will be found sufficient to keep in repair for many years thc Asylum at Croydon . The Building Committee have allowed to be inserted in the southern wall of thc exterior of thc Asylum a small stone tablet wherein to commemorate thc munificent bequests of thc late Bro . Colville Brown and Mrs . Ashley , and respectfuly suggest that a suitable inscription be enrjraven thereon .

Thc Committee wish to record their thanks to Bro . John Whitmore , and to Bro . William Farnfield , who have severally given great assistance to thc Building Committee , and express thc great regret of thc members of the Committee that they have not at their disposal the means of offering to Bros . John Whitmore and William Farnficld some more substantial mark of approbation . Thc Building Committee would have dealt with this subject , but confined the expenditure of thc money placed at their disposal to the object for which it was granted .

To Bro . Samuel W . Daukes , the Architect of the Building , the thanks of the Committee are also due for thc considerate reduction of the charges of commission . Thc Committee have especially to notice thc labours of Bro . George Barrett , for his indefatigable zeal and pescverancc as a member of thc Committee , and for his liberal donations and exertions on behalf of its Fund .

lhe Committee respectfully request an official record of the surrender of the Deeds , Books , and Papers , and of their functions into thc hands of thc General Committee . In conclusion , the Building Committee congratulate thc General Committee and the Craft at large at this happy termination of a labour commenced under peculiar circumstances , conducted for some time with considerable difficulty , but ending in perfect peace and harmony , and trust that this Keystone of thc amalgamation of thc three Charities

may continue a lasting memorial of Brotherly Love and Goodwill to all mankind . ( Signed ) HENRY FAUDEL , Chairman J . LEE STEVENS . WILLIAM L . WEIGHT . Freemasons' Hall , London , GEORGE BARRETT . 14 th February , 1855 . THOMAS TOMDLESON .

As a matter of course , a resolution was unanimously passed to the effect " that the best thanks of the Committee of Management are due and hereb y given to thc Building Committee for their exertions and attention to the

duties confided to them ; " while what little remains to be told in respect o the cost of the Asylum and providing for its sustentation may be disposed of in a few words . In August , 1855 , Grand Chapter very liberally voted £ 50 towards liquidating the balance outstanding , and in thc Annual Report presented in May , 1 S 57 , thc Committee of Management had the

satisfaction of announcing that all liabilities in respect of it had been met , and that the Building was in a perfect slate of repair . In the Report for 186 4 it was announced that thc Sustentation Fund of j £ moo , which , by thc terms of the union of thc Asylum and Annuity Fund , was to be raised in order to maintain the former in a thoroughly habitable condition , was completed , and that

it would be unnecessary , therefore , any longer lo invite special subscriptions and donations towards this object . Hence during the last twenty years the chief care of thc supporters of thc Charity has been directed towards raising thc necessary funds for payment of thc Annuitants ; and onl y very rarely duringthat period has it been found nece . ssar \ - lo incur any considerable out lav ,

as was the case m 1871-2 , when , in consequence of thc Asylum having been allowed to remain . substantiall y as it was erected , between , £ 500 and . £ 600 was expended in putting it in thorough repair . This , however , was done without making any special appeal for the purpose , though lhe customary

investment in Government Stocks was less than the stale of the finances would otherwise have warranted . Again , in 18 77 a large outlay for the same purpose was incurred , but otherwise what little may have to be said will be found of slight importance .

In March , 1855 , a letter was read announcing thai a motion for an additional grant by Grand Lodge of £ 100 per annum to the Widows' Fund , raising thc total income from this source lo , £ 200 , which had been carried in thc December previous , had since been confirmed ; and thanks to this increase , it was found possible in May lo raise the number of widows on

thc Fund from 13 to 17 . But the Male Fund was not equall y prosperous , and though four of thc old men pensioners had died during the year , only two were elected in their stead , the number of this class of beneficiaries being thus still further reduced lo 50 . Indeed , the few years that followed this Annual Festival must be looked upon as constituting its period of greatest

depression , nor at hrst , owing , it may be , to an excess of caution on the part of the authorities , did there seem to be any prospect of obtaining an alleviation of thc difficulties through thc customary means of a Festival . The Committee were anxious that one should be held early in the year 1851 ^ , and the Grand Master was invited , not only unsanction the proposal , but likewise to preside

in person . At thc Committee meeting in October ( 1 S 55 ) , however , a letter was read from his lordship in which he declined to preside , on thc ground that there had been a kind of general understanding amounting almost to an engagement that such celebrations should be held triennially , and further , because if one were held , as proposed , it would seriousl y interfere with thc

other Charities , but especially with thc Boys' School , to which a kind of pledge had been given that special exertions on behalf of its building fund should be made in the coming year . It is not surprising , therefore , that in their Report of May , 1856 , the Committee found themselves under thc necessity of announcing their inability to hold the usual election , though the

number of approved applicants for the benefits of both Funds was very considerable . In fact , even the two vacancies by death which had occurred during thc year on thc Male Fund could not be filled , so that the number of these Annuitants was still further reduced to 4 S , while the Widows remained , as before , 17 . However , there would seem to have been a general

determination to mend matters . In 1856 , Grand Chapter increased its annual grant from , £ 35 to £ 50 , while Grand Lodge voted £ 1000 lo thc Male and £ 500 to thc Female Fund , which amounts , having been most gratefully acknowledged by the Committee , were by them ordered to be immediatel y

invested in thc purchase of Stock . Then steps were taken to revise thc Rules and Regulations of the Institution with a view to thc improvement and fuller development of its objects , and a Special General Meeting was held on thc 28 th March , 1857 , when the Rules as revised were taken into consideration and settled . These combined efforts were so far successful that

m May following the Committee considered they were justified in recommending thc election of four Male and four Female Annuitants , reducing the number on the former to 44 , but increasing that of thc latter to 18 . This was a slight improvement on the year preceding , ttill it may be thought that more should have been done , and no doubt this would have been the case ,

had thc general body of the Craft followed the bright example set them by Grand Lodge and Grand Chapter . But the Committee reported a very appreciable falling off , since May , 1855 , in thc amount of Donations and Annual Subscriptions on the Male Fund from , in round figures , £ 717 in 1855 to £ 595 in 1856 , to ^ 405 in 1877 ; and on thc Female Fund from £ 213 in

1855 , to £ 176 in 18 56 , to £ 152 in 1857 . As to the alterations in thc Laws which were approved , firstl y at the Annual Meeting and afterwards by Grand Lodge , their main features may be briefly stated . In the first place , the Laws of the two branches were amalgamated . Then the independent income which might be held by a Male Annuitant was increased from , £ 20

to £ 25 , and . m the event of a Male Annuitant d ying and leaving behind him a widow , to whom he had been married for not less than ten years previous to his election on the Fund , and who was not less than 55 years of age , the said widow , if approved , became entitled to receive half her husband ' s annuity for a term of three years , and if he had become an inmate of the

Asylum , to continue in residence for the same period . It was also agreed that it should be a direction for the future that the whole of the Annual Subscriptions should be made applicable to the payment of Annuitants , the

onethird part to be no longer invested as under the former rules , while as regards votes polled for unsuccessful candidates—though this alteration had alread y been in force for a short time—all such as had been polled since 1852 were to be carried forward to their credit at the next election . ( 7 V be continued ) .