Province Of Devon Masonic Educational Fund.

PROVINCE OF DEVON MASONIC EDUCATIONAL FUND .

A MOST important meeting of the Devonshire brethren was held on Tuesday of last week , at the Huyshe Masonic Temple , Plymouth , for the purpose of taking into consideration the requisite steps for establishing a Masonic Educational "F und for the Province , which should be supplementary to the great Central Masonic Schools in London ,

Bro- L . P . Metham , the Dep . Prov . G . Master , presided , and among those present were Bros . J . B . Curteis , C . Godtschalk , J . B . Gover , I . Latimer , and representatives of most , if not all , of the Lodges in the county . Bro . Metham , having addressed tho brethren as to the purpose for which

they were assembled , narrated the course of preceding attempts to establish such a fund , and then Bros . Curteis and Godtschalk moved and seconded , respectively , the first resolution : " That in the opinion of this Meeting it is desirable to establish , a fund for the education and

advancement in life of the children of deceased or . distressed Freemasons in this Province . " Bro . Curteis candidly avowed that he had formerly been opposed to the establishment of such a fund , but had since seen reason to change his views , and was now firmly impressed with the belief that such a

fund was , under the circumstances , not only desirable , but essential . Bro . Godtschalk , in his speech , went at considerable length into figures . He pointed out that , as regards the Schools , the voting power of the Province was 430 Votes—nothing was-said of the Votes hold by the

Province for the Benevolent , which must be looked npon as a part of its voting strength—and that supposing 2000 votes were necessary to carry the election of any given candidate , it would take two-and-a-half to three years to accumulate the required number . He illustrated this by

mentioning the arrangements it had been found necessary to make in order to get a recent candidate elected , and he showed how the successful attempt had left the Province indebted to the extent of some GOO votes . Consequently , before they could hope to succeed with a future candidate ,

they must wait for six half-yearly elections , or three years . At the same time they had no less than ten children whom the Province were anxious to assist . These were the circumstances under which it was thought necessary to create snch a fund , so that the local candidates might be assisted

in their education at home , while biding their time for admission into the London Schools , or iu the event of this proving unsuccessful . Other brethren addressed the meeting , and among them Bro . Gover , who pointed out the exact nature of the scheme , which was to educate the child

at the best school in the neighbourhood of his residence , and provide him with clothes , the W . Master of the nearest Lodge being charged with the duty of seeing that the youth attended school , and did not destroy his clothing . The motion was carried unanimously , after which Bro . Rev . "VV .

Whittley moved , and Bro . Latimer seconded , "That a Committee be appointed to carry out the scheme , and that they have power—first , to frame bye-laws ; second , to collect subscriptions and donations ; third , to receive applications for candidates ; and fourth , to call a meeting of

Life Governors and Subscribers within three months , to appoint trustees , and , if practicable , to receive the applications of candidates . " This was unanimously agreed to , and

the Committee were nominated accordingly . Bro . Metham having announced that they already had seven or eight Life Governors , aud at least fifty Subscribers ; and Bro . Gover , that St . John ' s Lodge—whether No . 70 or No . 1247 , both

of Plymouth , was not stated—had contributed £ 100 , and Harmony Lodge—presumably No . 15 G , of Plymouth—had given £ 50 , a vote of thanks to Bro . Metham for presiding was passed with acclamation , and a subscription list opened in the room , to which the majority of those present affixed their names for various amounts .

Such , in substance , is an account of one of the most important Masonic gatherings ever held in tho Province o " Devon . There can be no doubt whatever that , such

scheme was not only desirable , but even necessary . Devo is a largo Province . It boasts forty-seven Lodges , an there is a strong probability that it will always have ; larger number of candidates than it can ever hope to carry , considering the limits of its voting power . If we include its Benevolent Fund Votes and assumo that at each election it

can command GOO Votes , it is obvious that , no matter how deserving a case may be , it cannot rely by its own unaided efforts in securing its success in less than two years ; and meantime , of course , the boy or girl candidate is left to struggle on as best he can , without receiving any of that educational assistance which is so necessarv to his after

progress in life . Either the candidate must wait till the Province itself has recorded the requisite number of Votes , or Votes must be borrowed , as they would be in an extremely urgent case , and those Votes , of course , must be

paid back again , so that for a time corresponding to the number borrowed , the Province must be powerless to assist its own orphans . Another consideration must also have great weight in the establishment of such a scheme . Those borne on the local fund remain at home under the care of

their parents or guardians , and those homo associations which are so dear to young children are not severed as they must be in the case of children educated in the London Masonic Schools . This is a decided advantage , especially on the score of religion , for a child may be brought up to

follow that form of worship which its guardians may profess , whilst at the London Schools religious education must bo as general in its character as possible , so as not to offend the particular scruples of these or those pupils . Thus , a young Jew can attend the synagogue ; the son of a Dissenter , the

neighbouring chapel ; and the son of an Anglican , his parish church . This is certainly a consideration not lightly to be esteemed , and on which in the case of many families very considerable stress is sure to be laid . Again , the Master of the nearest Lodsre will have entrusted to him the

duty of seeing that tho child does benefit by the assistance of the fund , and does not throw away the advantages it derives therefrom . Then the time spent in waiting to be elected into the London School will be profitably employed , instead of being , as it is now , comparatively wasted , or , at all events ,

not turned to such account as it might be , were there the means available for helping the children . Of course , it i 3 not intended that the Local should supersede the Central Institution . On the contrary , it is intended to supplement it by helping both those who wait and succeed ultimately ,

and those who fail altogether in being received into onr Central Schools . Thus , whether we look upon the Fund as contributing to the work of the London Charity , or as

relieving the latter from some portion of the pressure it now has to bear—in short , from whatever point of view we regard the establishment of the proposal , wo cannot but come to the conclusion that it will be a valuable

adjunct to the existing Masonic Educational Institutions , and we trust the Province will support it in the spirit in which it has been taken up by Bros . Metham , Curteis , Godtschalk , and their coadjators . In the course of the discussion especial reference was