THE BUILDER May, 1925

Masonic Benevolence Between 1717 and 1813

By W.BRO. MAURICE BEACHCROFT, M.A., O.B.E., P.G.D. (England),
Patron and Secretary of the Royal Masonic Institute for Girls,
England

The beginnings of Masonic benevolence are, like most beginnings,
involved in much obscurity. The early days of modern Speculative
Freemasonry would appear to have been characterized - rather by
good fellowship and conviviality than by any exercise of charity,
although the idea of some special bond of "brotherhood" between the
members dates back as far as the words go.

There is a fine phrase in the last section of the "Ancient
Charges," as we know them today, enjoining a Mason to "cultivate
Brotherly Love, the foundation and copestone, the cement and glory
of this Ancient Fraternity." This is an obvious expression of some
higher ideal than that of mere good fellowship; and it is
interesting to find it appearing for the first time in Anderson's
Constitutions of 1723.

GENERAL FUND OF CHARITY RECOMMENDED TO GRAND LODGE

Such a nobler spirit was abroad just then; if indeed we are not
tracing the working of one individual influence, at work behind the
scenes; for, in the year 1724, we find these higher ideals taking
a form and practical expression of their own.

On Nov. 21 in that year, Grand Lodge was petitioned for relief by
the first Grand Master of the Order, Bro. Anthony Sayer, who had
fallen upon evil times; and, at the same meeting, the Earl of
Dalkeith, who was then "Immediate" Past Grand Master, recommended
that a monthly collection, for the purpose of providing a relief
fund, should be made in each lodge, "according to the quality and
number of the said lodge, and put into a joynt stock."

The fund was known thereafter as the "Generall Bank of Charity,"
and, on March 17, 1725, a committee was appointed to consider the
best means of regulating it.

In November of that year this committee reported, and, among other
suggestions, advised that contributions should be voluntary and
should be paid quarterly.

They recommended that no more than 3 pounds should be given to any
brother without the consent of Grand Lodge; that such sums should
be disbursed by a standing committee of seven, and that a
treasurer, nominated by the Grand Master, and approved by Grand
Lodge, should be appointed in due course.

It was not until June 24, 1727, that the committee and treasurer
were appointed, and there is a touch of sorry humor in a minute of
March 27, 1729, to the effect that "the Deputy Grand Master rose up
and acquainted the brethren that, although he had been appointed
treasurer of the charity two years before, he was extremely
concerned that, in so long a time, he had not received one shilling
from the lodges or from any brother."

However, in November, 1729, the first list of contributions appears
on the minutes, and, in December of the same year, a motion was
duly carried that every newly constituted lodge should contribute
two guineas to the fund.

At that meeting a very respectable list of contributions was
received; and thenceforth the fund took on a more permanent and
settled aspect.

CHARITY IS DISPERSED BY KNOWLEDGE

In April, 1730, the "Infirmary at Westminster" offered to take care
of "any poor brother, who might happen to be disabled, by broken
limbs, etc., from following his employment, which often happens
amongst working Masons"; and it was thereupon decided that five
guineas be paid annually to the Infirmary by the treasurer.

At this Grand Lodge Bro. Anthony Sayer put forward a further
petition for relief; and, after some discussion as to the amount,
a sum of 15 pounds was voted to him. Later, the committee was
strengthened by the addition of twelve "Masters of Lodges," and was
authorized to give relief, without recourse to Grand Lodge, up to
an amount of 5 pounds; while, in 1732, the number of Masters on the
committee was increased to twenty, in addition to all Past Grand
Officers.

I have lingered over these early days, because they saw the laying
of those foundations, upon which, in after years, so noble a
superstructure was to be raised; but it is necessary to pass
rapidly over a long period, which saw no change, save the slow
growth of the fund and slight alterations in the detail of its
administration. It is, however, worth while recording the petition,
on Dec. 12, 1739, of one "Thomas Crudeli, a prisoner in the
Inquisition in Florence on account of Masonry," which was warmly
recommended by Lord Raymond, then Grand Master, and which resulted
in a grant of 21 pounds being authorized for the relief of the
petitioner.

R.M.I. FOR GIRLS IS FOUNDED

By slow degrees, through the passing years, it must have become
evident to the more thoughtful brethren that even the "Generall
Bank of Charity" was not fully realizing the high ideals of their
profession.

Their benevolence extended only to themselves; and it may well have
seemed to some of them that Brotherly Love, which they had
expressed to be the "Foundation and Copestone" of their Fraternity,
should have led at least to some care and help for the fatherless
children of a departed brother, if not to the relief of his widow
or other dependents.

It was to be many years before the widow's claims were recognized,
but in the year 1788 a determined effort began, with the object of
providing maintenance and education for the orphaned daughters of
a Mason.

In the language of the earliest known list of subscribers (March,
1788), the object of the promoters of this scheme was "to preserve
the female offspring of indigent Freemasons from the dangers and
misfortunes to which their distressed situation may expose them,"
and, on March 25, 1788, there was founded the institution now known
as the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls.

It was at first called "The Royal Cumberland Freemasons' School,"
by permission of the original Patron, H.R.H., the Duke of
Cumberland, K. G., who was at that time Grand Master of the
"Moderns"; H.R.H. the Duchess of Cumberland being the original
Patroness.

The Chevalier Bartholomew Ruspini, Grand Sword Bearer of England
from 1792 until his death in 1813, a famous surgeon dentist of his
day, and a prominent figure in Masonic and philanthropic circles in
London, was the originator of the scheme and the moving spirit in
all the preliminary negotiations.

In addition to possessing a large number of influential friends, he
enjoyed the patronage of Royalty, and was thus able to achieve a
task which, at that time, might well have seemed impossible of
accomplishment.

In the very year in which the scheme was inaugurated, the funds
were collected, a printed list of subscribers was issued, premises
were actually taken furnished, and, at a Quarterly Court held on
Jan. 8, 1789--so far had the efficient organization of the school
progressed--the treasurer announced that the fifteen children
approved in the preceding November had been conducted to the school
and delivered into the charge of the Matron.

Many quite exceptional difficulties were met by the founder and his
enthusiastic helpers--such as the objection of their Royal
Patroness to the first premises taken for the purpose of housing
the children--with which there is no need to concern ourselves in
detail; but, had there been no such unusual episodes, the success
of the effort made could hardly have been more remarkable.

ITS EARLY DIFFICULTIES

Our early brethren had set themselves to find subscribers towards
an entirely new conception, to overcome the prejudice which
undoubtedly existed at that time--however foolish it may seem to us
now--against using Masonic funds for the advantage of the female
sex; to raise what, for those days, was a very considerable sum of
money; to appoint committees, treasurer, secretary, collector and
matron, and to devise and promulgate an organization for the
charity and a code of rules for the school itself.

They had to accomplish all these things without any real precedent
to guide them, and in the face of an opposition which was by no
means to be despised. And yet, in the short space of eleven months,
their success was not only complete in every particular, but, as
time has abundantly proved, it was laid four-square upon a
permanent foundation of careful forethought, that has lasted to our
own time.

Among the earliest benefactors of the Institution may be mentioned
the Lodge of Antiquity, No. 2, the Shakespear Lodge, No. 99, and
the Caledonian Lodge, No. 134; while, among the individual brethren
of that time who supported Bro. Ruspini in the struggling days of
the infant charity, are to be found names famous in the history of
the Craft, foremost of whom are Brothers Dunckerley, James
Heseltine, Galloway, and Forsteen.

At the Quarterly Court on Jan. 12, 1792, a committee of five was
appointed to prepare a memorial to the Grand Lodge "to solicit
their interference on behalf of this Institution, and to request
that they will pass a law that all candidates for Masonry, at the
time of their initiation, shall pay five shillings, to be applied
to the separate use of this charity."

This proposal appears to have been favorably received by Grand
Lodge, although it was not at first adopted as a general law, owing
to doubts of the power of Grand Lodge to "impose a tax" for the
benefit of an independent institution. In later years, however, we
find it in full force; and the annual subscription of 150 pounds
now paid to the Institution by Grand Lodge is a composition of this
ancient levy.

The first home of the Institution was in Somers Place East on the
North Side of Euston Road, and close to the present site of St.
Pancras Station. In 1795, having outgrown these premises, the
Institution was moved to St. George's Fields, a lease being
obtained from the corporation of the City of London, and premises
erected on land described in the minute book as "on the north side
of the High Road leading from the obelisk to Westminster Bridge
Road."

The number of children was increased to thirty, and in 1802 to
sixty, at which figure it remained until the year 1816, which falls
outside the scope of this article.

On Dec. 14, 1813, Bro. Ruspini, the founder, passed away at the age
of eighty-three, having enjoyed, to the end of his long life, the
respect and affection of all around him. Some years after his
death, two of his own grandchildren were educated in the school
which he had founded.


THE R.M.I. FOR BOYS FOUNDED

Before this time, however, in 1798, ten years after the foundation
of the Girls' School, a number of brethren belonging to the
"Ancient" or "Atholl" Constitution had inaugurated a scheme for the
education of the sons of Masons, which is now known as the Royal
Masonic Institution for Boys.

The minute books for the first fourteen years of this Institution's
life have been lost, and only the simplest outline of its early
history can now be traced, while little is known of the actual
personality of the founders.

The first foundation, in 1798, appears, however, to have been due
to the efforts of brethren belonging to the United Mariners' Lodge,
No. 23, under the "Ancient" Constitution. The actual originator of
the idea being Bro. William Burwood, the treasurer of the lodge.

Among the other members and supporters was Bro. Columbine Daniel,
a well known Mason of the day, who, however, was shortly
afterwards, in 1801, "excluded" by the Ancient Grand Lodge for
alleged Masonic irregularities. We know nothing more of this
dispute, and, indeed, are concerned only to note that Bro. Daniel's
practical charity was not to be so easily quenched. He was, as it
happened, also a member of the Royal Naval Lodge, No. 57, which
held a warrant from the "Modern" Grand Lodge, and, having enlisted
their support, founded in 1808 a "Boys' Charity," very much on the
lines of Bro. Burwood's scheme of 1798.

The Chevalier Ruspini, Institutor (as he preferred to be called) of
the Girls' School, appears as one of the trustees of the funds.

Meanwhile, in 1805, Bro. Burwood had become bankrupt, and, on the
proposal of Bro. Robert Leslie, Grand Secretary, the "Ancient"
Grand Lodge appears to have taken the charity founded in 1798 under
its protection. At all events, the contributions of Grand Lodge
thereto, up to the year 1813, amounted to over 1270 pounds, which,
at that time, was regarded as a very large sum of money.

In 1816 Bro. Daniel was restored to his Masonic rights and
privileges; and in 1817 the two Boys' Schemes were happily
amalgamated.

Both schemes had, from the first, been devised upon an
"educational" basis, for there was no residential school, and the
charity possessed none until 1865.

Indeed, having regard to the disasters which befell the two
courageous founders, it is remarkable only that they were able to
persist in their beneficent efforts and to achieve so great a
measure of success.

The actual start had been made with six boys in 1798, which number
was increased to thirty-six in 1810, the jubilee year of King
George III. There were, in that year, thirty-four subscribing
lodges; while in 1812 there were fifty boys receiving grants and
twenty more on the waiting list.

The "Ancient" Grand Lodge had, in the latter year, authorized a
levy of 5/- from every London lodge and 2/6 from every Provincial
Lodge upon the registration of each newly-made Mason, as had
already been done in the case of the Girls' School; and this levy
was continued after the Union in 1813, until, as already mentioned,
it was finally commuted by the fixed annual grant of 150 pounds,
which is still paid by Grand Lodge to each of the senior Masonic
Institutions.

At this point we reach the end of the period under review; and,
remarkable as were these beginnings, we may yet perhaps wonder at
the far greater harvests that, from those early sowings, have been
gathered in our own day.

LATER DEVELOPMENTS IN "THE MASONIC CHARITIES"

Nobody, in 1813, could have foreseen the successive removals and
enlargements of the Girls' School, culminating, so far, in the
building of their beautiful home at Clapham and the opening of the
Junior School at Weybridge, which is today undergoing very
extensive alteration and enlargement.

More than a hundred years were to elapse before the opening of the
magnificent Boys' Schools at Bushey, whose extension, by the
addition of a great Junior School for smaller boys, is now
commencing; and even the first of the great advances after the
Union, the, foundation of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution,
with its brotherly care for old Masons or their widows, and its
fine building at Croydon, did not take place for over thirty years.

Most recently of all has come the Freemasons' Hospital and Nursing
Home, the youngest of all Masonic charities, founded in 1919.

Today the Fund of Benevolence, which has taken the place of the
"Generall Bank of Charity," and is directly controlled by Grand
Lodge, administers relief to the extent of over 30,000 pounds a
year; while the three great Institutions are educating considerably
more than 2000 girls and boys, nearly 10,000 children having passed
through their hands since their foundation. Their schools are among
the finest in the country.

The Benevolent Institution, for its part, is assisting with its
grants some 1600 old Masons or widows in the evening of their days.

The contributions of the English Craft to these three in recent
years has amounted to an average of over 300,000 pounds a year.

So firmly were the foundations laid; so truly have the builders
labored; that we may look back very proudly to the early days of
Masonic charity; and may look forward also, with a firm but humble
confidence, to the days which are yet to come.

Our ancient brethren of the Mystic tie were builders--Masons in all
ages have been builders--and we will not be worthy of our glorious
traditions unless we are builders attempting to reconstruct out of
the bewilderment of confusion of today a higher civilization of
tomorrow, which shall be a structure of symmetry and strength
characterized by stability, utility and beauty, whose fabric shall
be fashioned through law, labor and love.
--Frederick S. Selmood, P.G.M., Alberta.

