Page 41 - Amo Amass A-muse is some of the fruit of a lifetimes love of Freemasonry - the Lodge of Nine Muses No. 235

Amo Amass A-Muse - Lodge of the Nine Muses 41

Thus, among first formal appointments of Officers of the Institution, in May
1788, of the five trustees, the only appointee from the Prince of Wales Lodge had
been initiated barely 5 months previous while the Chairman, Lord MacDonald,
who was one of our members, had joined us five years before and was known for his
liberality. Ruspini himself was the Treasurer and of the eighteen members of the first
house committee, six were members of the Prince of Wales’s Lodge whilst three,
at least, were members of the Nine Muses or Rural Friendship. Of the Finance
Committee of thirteen members, formed the next year, one was a member of the
Prince of Wales’s Lodge whilst four were members of the Nine Muses. These figures
are taken from a publication by Maurice Beachcroft who was Secretary of the
Institution from 1920 to 1947, called “Committees of the Institution 1788-1948.”
and the Histories of the two Lodges.
After about 1823 our support in this way discontinued except for Thomas
Harper who remained on one or other of the Boards regularly, until 1830. However
in 1841 we can claim the membership of Francis Crew who was its Secretary
until 1861, and now we have the privilege of the membership of two of its recent
Secretaries in Dennis Haines and Bert Huckle. May this happy sequence once
begun be continued for many years to come, and may we never be lagging in the
special support that we give to “The Girls”

P.J.D. October 1979.