An Old Certificate.

AN OLD CERTIFICATE .

[ COPY . ] LODGE OF KNARESBROUGH . We the Master Wardens & Secretary Do hereby Certify that our Worthy Brother Christopher Brotherton is a regular made free and accepted Master Mason and that he has upon all occasions behaved himself with Candour ,

Integrity , and Honour as becomes a member of our Antient and Honourable Society . And we do further certify that he may be received into any assembly or Lodge of free and accepted Masons on the face of the whole earth .

Given under our hands the fifteenth day of April 1771 and of Masonry 5771 . Wm . Bateson , W . M . Fras . Bedford , S . Cowling Ackroyd , S . W . John Clarke , J . W .

The foregoing is a copy of a certificate which , by the courtesy of Bro . the Hon . W . T . Orde-Powlett , P . G . W . England , Deputy Prov . G . M . North and East Yorks , I am enabled to publish . It has a seal in red wax , which , however , is much broken , the square and compasses only being visible . The lodge which

issued this certificate was one of the few chartered by the Grand Lodge of all England at York on 30 th October , 1769 , and met at the Crown Inn , Knaresborough . It was working down to the year 1777 , and perhaps later , but no records are extant to show how or when it ceased its activity .

As in 1785 the " Moderns" warranted a lodge in the same town , known as the " Newtonian Lodge / ' it may be fairly inferred that the older lodge was not then in existence . INO . LANE .

Festival Of The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

FESTIVAL OF THE ROYAL MASONIC BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION .

The Annual Festival of this Institution was held on Wednesday evening at Freemasons ' . Tavern , and , in spite of the constant lugubrious forebodings which the Secretary , Bro . Terry , has for some time past indulged in , it was an eminent success . The chair was taken by Bro . Earl Amherst , P . G . M . Kent , who was supported by Bros . Lord Dungarvan , P . G . M . designate for Somerset ; Dr . Strong , hon . surgeon of the Institution ; J . A . Farnfield , Treas . ; H . B . Marshall , P . G . T . ; A . Barfield , P . G . T . ; E . Terry , P . G . T . ; J . S . Hastes , D . P . G . M . Kent ; H . Smith , D . P . G . M . West Yorkshire ; W . F . Smithson , G . D . ; & c , & c .

Over 300 brethren sat down to dinner , which was well provided b y Messrs Spiers and Pond , and at its conclusion Bro . Morley , who was Toastmaster , called on the brethren for silence for the Chairman , and the toast list was commenced . Bro . Earl AMHERST , in proposing " The Queen , " said , let me ask you to be upstanding and drink the health of her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen , the Patroness of our Order .

The toast having been drunk , was followed by the band playing a verse of the National Anthem . Bro . Earl AMHERST then said that " The Health of H . R . H . the Prince of Wales , M . W . Grand Master of Freemasons , " was always received with the greatest enthusiasm among Freemasons . The services his Royal Highness had always

rendered to the Craft made it unnecessary for him to offer any remarks , further than this , that since the Prince of Wales had been Grand Master the Craft had made great strides , and it would be ungrateful if at such a meeting as that the brethren did not also recognise the name of her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales , who had always shown great interest in all good work in England , and not the less in the work of the Masonic Craft .

Bro . Earl AMHERST , when that toast had been duly honoured , proposed "The Earl of Lathom , Dep . Grand Master , and the Grand Officers , Present and Past , " and observed that there was now omitted a toast which had always been well received , that of " The Pro Grand Master , the Earl of Carnarvon , " his lordship having died during the last year . None of the brethren who remembered the services the late Earl of Carnarvon rendered to the Craft could help feeling that a gap was

now left in the Order . But there were other brethren still among them who had done good service to the Craft , and the brethren would not be satisfied if they did not drink to their good health . They all knew the excellent work which the Grand Officers had done and were doing , and on all occasions when Masons met together they recognised those services . The present occasion would not be an

exception . With that toast he would couple the name of Lord Dungarvan , the Provincial Grand Master designate of Somerset , who , he trusted , would take his place on many of those occasions in the future . Lord Dungarvan had come that evening to honour the Festival , and he hoped his lordship would carry away with him pleasant memories of that , his first appearance at the Masonic Charitable Festival .

Bro . Lord DUNGARVAN , after the toast had been honoured , said the position he was in was one which he certainly was very proud of , because probably he was one of the youngest Grand Officers , and that was an unusual occurrence at a great Masonic Festival . It was with great pleasure he responded to the toast , because the Right Worshipful Chairman had alluded to a very great Mason , the late Earl of Carnarvon , and that noble earl he ( Lord Dungarvan ) had the honour to succeed in

the Provincial Grand Mastership of Somerset . It was a most responsible position to be the successor to one whom this great country could so ill afford to lose . The Grand Officers took a lively interest in the benevolent objects of Freemasonry , and he was keenly alive to that great principle . It was an additional pleasure to respond to that toast , because Lord Amherst was a Past Provincial Grand Officer of the province of which he ( Lord Dungarvan ) will be shortly installed as the

Grand Master . Lord Amherst had alluded to the circumstance that he ( Lord Dungarvan ) would one day occupy the chair at those Festivals . He could onl y say that if that honour was offered to him he would be delighted to take advantage of it , and if that should ever occur he hoped he would do his duty in the position , more especially to his Province of Somerset , which he hoped would support him as well as the Province of Kent had supported their Provincial Grand Master that evening .

Bro . Earl AMHERST next proposed the toast "Success to the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution for Aged Freemasons and Widows of Freemasons . " Hitherto the toasts of the evening had been despatched with some celerity , but he was afraid he must now intrude himself a little longer on the notice of the brethren , as the Institution which caused the brethren ' s attendance that evening

deserved some more lengthened _ observations , and he trusted that what he mi ght say would commend itself to their thoughtful consideration . The Masonic Institutions stood in a peculiar position , a different position to other charitable institutions , because at the festivals of Charities which were not Masonic the lists went round when the dinner was completed , and the Chairman might hope by appealing to his hearers to reduce some lingering guinea from the corner of some pocket

Festival Of The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

where it had hitherto seemed forgotten . But at the Masonic Festivals the Chair , man was in this position—that the Stewards had alread y done their work , and he was afraid had done it so effectually that if a guinea was found there it was a great discovery . Let them hope that the most worthy Secretary , Bro . Terry would be satisfied when he announced the lists would show that the result of the Stewards' efforts had not been in vain , and that the sum which had been obtained would be worthy of the occasion

which had called them together . He would be wrong in dismissing that toast without giving the brethren some little detail of the work of the Charity on whose behalf they were assembled . He need not go into the past history of the Institution—a long recitation of the past of the Charity would be somewhat of a mistake . Their task was with the present , although the Institution had done agreat work in the past . As regarded the present needs of the Institution , he found by the figures which the excellent Secretary had put in his hands , that on the old men ' s

fund the annual income was ^ 2030 , and without any charges for the establishment or maintenance , there was a yearly deficit on the old men's fund alone of ^ 7240 . That was a large sum , but the brethren must remember that they were now giving annuities to 181 males of . £ 40 each . That was a very large expenditure , and if the annual deficit had to be made up on those occasions , the brethren must remember the deficit was not caused by the management and those who had charge of the Charit y , but by the large claims on the Charity and the small amount of the income .

Take the female side of the Institution . They had 230 widows , each receiving ^ 32 a year . That entailed an expense of £ 7360 a year . And there were in addition widows receiving half of their late husband ' s annuities to the amount of ^ 480 a year . The two amounted to ^ 7 840 a year . As against that they had the permanent sources of income , and the grants from Grand Lodge and Grand Chapter , and the dividends from the funded property , . £ 1634 , left a deficit on the female side of . £ 6200 per annum , or a deficit on the two funds of something like ^ 13 , 000 a year .

That had to be made up by the liberality of the Craft . That was a serious matter . But the Craft hitherto had never failed to make up the amount of the difference between the income on which the Charity could rely and the amount which was required to meet the demands made on the Institution . All the cases which sought to be put on the list were carefully examined by the Committee , and they were certified to be worthy . There were on the list a larger number than could possibly be elected . That being so , it behoved the brethren to strain every

nerve to support such a deserving Chanty . The brethren must remember that those on behalf of whom he pleaded had been once in reputable circumstances , many of them had come among the brethren and been at those Festivals , and now through old age and no fault of their own were now in want of relief . There might be widows for whom he was pleading whose late husbands sat at those Festivals and subscribed their money to the Charit y liberally , some of them perhaps had taken their part as Stewards , and in

their career had recommended the cause all Freemasons had at heart . Masonry was not a great benefit society . He had always insisted on those occasions that Freemasonry never was and was never intended to be a great benefit society . In its Institutions it was carrying out the hi ghest principles of the Order ; it was carrying out the cause which had banded Masons together—the endeavour to alleviate the wants and sufferings of those who had given their lifetime to the Order and were worthy members of the Craft . He could wish that

at the close of that Festival a considerable addition might be made to the funded property of the Institution so that the calls on the brethren annually would be less . But the respected Secretary , Bro . Terry , had mentioned that the Craft in England had never failed in their liberality , and it was to be hoped that the income might be made up to such a sum as to be able to meet all the demands which might grow up . He hoped that sufficient funds would be available so that the Committee might never have to deny those who wanted assistance . The

brethren would not , he was sure , have been present that night in such large numbers if they had not been sure that the Charity was well worthy of their support . He did not hope that any word of his could extract any more from their pockets ; as he had said , the Stewards had left him in the peculiar position of not being able to get another guinea from their pockets . But if that was the case , the efforts of the Stewards had not been in vain . They might have to support the other Charities of theJOrder , to educate the boys and the girls of those who had fallen into distress ; but even though they had to support those ,

" Let them the tender office long engage , And smooth the pillow of declining age . " He trusted that the Craft would show it was not unworthy of them as men and as Masons . He was sure that the brethren would not refuse to drink in the heartiest way the toast which he now proposed . Bro . J . A . FARNEIELD , Treasurer of the Institution , in reply to the toast , said that it was with somewhat of mixed feelings they had approached that Festival ,

because they knew that next year the jubilee of the Institution would take place , and they feared that many of the brethren would hold back from being Stewards this year , in order to come forward next year , and raise so large a sum as to obtain a fund to which the Chairman had so properly alluded . Fortunately , however , Lord Amherst came forward as Chairman , and he had been nobly supported by the Kentish brethren . It would not do for him to anticipate anything that Bro . Terry might have to say as to the lists , but one thing he might say—that he believed , from what Bro . Terry had told him , that they were at all events free from

care for the present year , and that the deficiency to which the Chairman had alluded of some ^ 14 , 000 or . £ 15 , 000 would he made up that ni ght . The Chairman had said that some of the brethren who were seeking the annuity mi ght have sat at that table in wealth and affluence , and had been reduced to penury . They had a widow on the Charity whose husband came from India with three-quarters of a million of money , and lost it in speculation , and the widow was glad to take the annuity of £ 32 . Bearing that in mind , it was well for all to put their hands in their pockets and do what they could for the Institution . Bro . TERRY then read the following STEWARDS' LISTS .

LONDON . UNATTACHED . £ s . d . Bro . Stanley J . Attenborough 10 10 o „ Asher Barfield 10 10 o „ Sir Lionel E . Darell , Bart . „ Thos . R . Daniell 10 10 o „ The Earl of Euston ,, lohn L . Mather 10 10 0

„ William Pierpoint „ Edward Terry „ William Webber ... 21 o o „ J . Morrison McLeod ... 3 G 15 o „ W . S . Harvey 10 10 o „ George Stagg 10 10 o „ Robert Grey 10 10 o Capt . C . j . Knightley ... 10 10 o

„ ,, Thomas G . Bullen ... 12 12 o „ Horace B . Marshall , sen . 15 15 o „ Horace B . Marshall , jun . 10 10 o „ F . J . Hubbard 57 15 o ,, John H . Lane ... ... 10 10 o „ E . E . Wendt 35 14 o „ James Stephens 31 10 o

Festival Of The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

£ s . d-Bro . I ' rancis Shelton 10 10 0 „ W . G . Thompson ... 11 n 0 „ R . Loveland Loveland ... 5 5 0 „ Augustus Harris 10 10 0 „ John Jones ... ... 15 15 0 ,, Uep . lns .-Gen . B . Ninnis 10 10 0 „ Henry V . Clements „ Frank Jackson

,, i . L ,. Kose „ W . Belchamber 21 o 0 Mrs . Charles Lambert 5 5 ° Miss Francisca Lambert ... 5 5 ° Lodge 1 Bro . J . C . Dimsdale ... 33 12 0 2 „ C . E . Keyser ... 89 5 ° L . of 1 .

3 „ James Wilson ... 22 5 ° Lodge 4 „ A . J . Venn , M . D .... 15 15 ° 5 „ William T . Bloxam 30 a ° S „ S . W . Mellush ... 23 1 <» Chapter 9 Comp . Lewis H . Harvey So 17 °