Port Elizabeth Educational Fund.

PORT ELIZABETH EDUCATIONAL FUND .

It is very evident from the reports and comments we are from time to time called upon to publish in reference to the Craft in South Africa that Free-masonry has established a firm foothold in that extensive portion of her Majesty ' s dominions .

There were , at the time the Grand Lodge Calendar for the current year was issued , five District Ci . Lodges comprising between So and 90 lodges and live or si x others scattered about Mashonaland and other parts which arc not included in an )* District

¦ organisation ; and the most gratifying news is constantly reaching us ofthe manner in which thc duties of the Craft are being carried out , and more particularly of the generous support which is always forthcoming whenever any scheme of benevolence is

brought to the notice of the brethren . It was but the other day that we published an account in our columns of thc splendid effort made by the lodges and brethren in the Transvaal when founding an Educational Fund as a memorial of tbe

Queen ' s Diamond Jubilee , while those in the Eastern Division of South Africa have resolved on marking the same auspicious event by organising a District Grand Lodge Benevolent Fund . The scheme to which we are desirous of calling * attention on this occasion— " The

Port Elizabeth Masonic Education Scheme—is of a less ambitious nature simply because the section of the Craft which has established it and has been loyally promoting its interests forthe hist dozen years is restricted in numbers . The Masonic bodies

located in Port Elizabeth comprise two Craft lodges , a Mark lodge , a Royal . Arch and a Rose Croix chapter , and a Preceptory of the Order of the Temple , but during the past year they have subscribed money enough to provide for the education of 15

children and at the same time have increased their invested capital b y £ 150 . The year opened on the ist July , 18 9 6 , with a balance in hand oi over £ So , and between then and the 30 th June of the current year there was received in donations ancl

subscriptions from individual members and Masonic bodies upwards of . £ 170 , together with £ 21 being interest at 6 per cent , on amount advanced by way of loan to one of the Craft lodges . The only expense incurred in managing

the Scheme was £ 2 iSs . 6 d . for Printing and Bank Exchange , and at the close of the year there remained in hand a balance of close upon £ 40 . The Assets belonging ( o the Scheme or Fund on the 30 th June last consisted of over £ 250 in the Post Office

Saving ' s Bank , £ 350 on loan , as already mentioned , and the cash in hand at close of the account , together with three Perpetual Scholarships in the Grey Institute . Considering that the efforts which have resulted thus successfully must have been

made principally by the members of the two Craft Lodges—of which no doubt the greater number of the Royal Arch , Mark , and other Masons are members—there is every reason to congratulate our Port Elizabeth brethren on the extent

as well as the excellence of the work they have been able to accomplish . To have been in a position lo increase their capital by one-third after providing for the Education of 15 children speaks well both for the ability of the Committee of

Management and the generosity ol the brethren . Vet the Committee is of opinion that more might and should be done b y individual members . True , these have had many calls marie upon them during the year in behalf of the Jubilee District

Grand Lodge Benevolent I ' und , and for other purposes ; but tho Committee in their report express it as their opinion lhat more members might subscribe individually , and they trusl lhat more money will be forthcoming during ( he present year , if only to mark

thegreatevenl which hasbeen celebrated so universally throughout the British Empire . As for the success ol the system of education , the Committee report lhat one of the children passed his Matriculation Examination , and that ( he accounts as to the

conduct and progress of the others was in every case satisfactory . There is reason to hope , therefore , that everything will go on satisfactorily , and we trust that in future years it will be our privilege to write in terms as justly complimentary of the Port Elizabeth Education Fund .

The Lodge Of Research*

THE LODGE OF RESEARCH *

This lodge , which was founded in 1892 , is fashioned ou thc lines of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge , No . 2076 . It has an Inner Circle , the members of which constitute ( he lodge proper , and an Outer or Correspondence Circle , whose members , for the modest

annual subscription of live shillings , are entitled to pretty much the same privileges as ( he Correspondence members of Lodge Quatuor Coronati . Its transactions , too , are published annually , and cacli successive issue has contained sundry papers read

before the members at the stated meetings , some of which are chiefly of local interest , while thc majority of them will be read with pleasure by thc genera ! body of the Craft . Thus , at the fourth installation , on the 28 th September , 180 = *; , after the W . M . elect

—Bro . S . S . PARTRIDGE , D . P . G . M . —had been installed , and appointed and invested his oflicers , Bro . J . T . TlIORP , Secretary —to whose courtesy we arc indebted for a copy of the Transactions — read an exceedingly interesting paper , entitled

"Distinguished Leicestershire Freemasons of the 17 th and 18 th Centuries . " The roll of worthies is a long one , and includes , in addition to several members of the family of which Earl FERRERS , Prov . Grand Master and Grand Superintendent of Leicestershire ,

is the present head , thc " Sir WILLIAM WILSON KNIGHT , " who is mentioned in El . I . \ s ASHMOLE ' S Diary as having bcen initiated at a lodge held at Masons' llall , London , on thc nth March , 1682 , at which Asn . MOLE was the senior Fellow present ; JOHN

CAMIMVSU ., fourth Earl of Loudoun ; Grand Master of England , 1 7 . 3 6-7 ; Sir THOMAS FOWKE ; Lord RAXCUFEE ; the Rev . WlI . l . IAM PETERS—the only brother who ever held thc office of Grand Portrait Painter—who was the lirst Deputy Prov . Grand

Master of Leicestershire ; and the Earl of MoiRA , Acting Grand Master , afterwards Marquis of HASTINGS , who resided at Donington Park .. At the next two meetings , held on the 23 rd November , 18 9 6 , and 25 th January , 1 S 97 , respectively , papers

of general interest were read , Bro . ( J . W . BAIN , P . M . 949 , furnishing one on " Masonic Literature , " at the former , and Bro . L . STAINES one on " CAGLIOSTRO , the Masonic Impostor , " at the latter . On the 22 nd March last , Bro . G . NEIGHBOUR presented

a brief sketrh of "Freemasonry in thc 17 th ( Leicestershire ) Regiment oi Foot , " while at thc meeting on the 24 th May , the brethren were treated to a lecture by the S . D . —Bro . the Rev . II . S . HIGGS , B . A ., P . P . G . Chap . —on "Masonry

—Operative and Speculative —which he had been incited to compile through reading an article in a London daily paper on Bro . EDVV . CONDER , jtin . ' s , Book "Thc Hole Crafte and Fellowship of Masons . " Summaries , more or less ample , are

given of all these papers , so that the reader finds himself in a position to form a tolerably fair opinion of their general tenour . But the value of this year ' s " Transactions " is very materially enhanced by the two histories which Bro . TiiORl has been at

the pains of compiling , one of them being " Extracts from the Fifty Years' Record oi the John of Gaunt Lodge , Leicester , No . 523 ( formerly 7 66 ) , " which was read at the Jubilee Festival on the 21 st May , 18 9 6 ; while the other is entitled "Annals of

the Chapter of Fortitude , No . 279 , Leicester , 179 6-18 9 6 , " which was specially compiled for the Centenary Meeting of the Chapter on tly ; 5 th February , 1 S 97 . The compilation of these- histories or annals reflects the greatest credit on Bro . THORI" , who is evidently

one of the chief supporters of the Lodge of Research , as he is undoubtedly one of tbe ablest and most industrious writers on Masonic historical subjects , which have a special claim upon the notice of our Leicestershire brethren . We must not close this

brief review without expressing our satisfaction with the manner in which Bro . TlIORP has discharged his duties as Editor of these Transactions . They contain just the material ,

neatly and methodically arranged , which will serve to give the reader a clear insight as lo what passed al ( he different meetings , without unnecesary delail .

Tin ; KING OP SMM and suite paid a visit on Monday to the City , and were entertained at luncheon by the Master and Wardens of the Mercers' Company at their hall in Cheapside . Among those present to meet his Majesty were the Earl of Selborne , Sir Julian Paunceforte , Hro . Maj .-Gi .-n . Sir Charles Warren , Bro . the Hon . Sir Stafford Northcote , Bart ., M . I . ; Sir Ernest Satow , and Sir Charles Crosthwaitc . The present Master of the Company , Sir C . Clement ! Smith was formerly Governor of the Straits Settlements , and in that capacity was frequently brought in contact with his Majesty .

* TIIR LODGE OK RF . KP . AKCH , NO . 2 . 129 , Leicester . Transactions for the year iSifi- ? . Printed by Hro . John Gibbons , King-street , Leicester .