Contents.

CONTENTS .

LEADERS- PACK Port Elizabeth Masonic Educational Scheme ... ... ... -if ? Ars Quatuor Coronatorum ... ... ... .. *¦ - | 13 Lodge Officers ... ... ... ... ... ... 444 Scotland ... ... — - ¦•• — •••-145 Instruction ... •••••••¦• ¦••••¦ •••445 Secret Monitor ... ... ... ... ... ... 445

M ASONIC N OTESQuarterly Communication of United Grand Lodge of England ... 4 . 17 duarterly Communication of Grand Lodge of Mark Master IV . asons ... 447 Annual Meetingof the Provincial Grand Lodge of Cornwall ... ... 447 Cambridge Masonic Charity Association ... ... ... ... 447 District Grand Chapter of Burmah ... ... ... ... 447

Correspondence ... ... ... ... ... ... 44 S Masonic Notes and Queries ... ... ... ... ... 44 8 Reviews ... •••- •¦•• ••_ . •••... 44 ^ United Grand Lodge of England ( Quarterly Communication ) ... ... 419 Mark Grand Lodge ( Quarterly Communication ) ... ... ... 4 ^ 0 Craft Masonry ... ... ... ... ... ... 45 ' ) The Kumfort Shirt ... ... ... ... ... ... 45- ' Recent Wills ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 45 ' Masonic and General Tidings ... ... ... ... ... 45 :

Port Elizabeth Masonic Educational Scheme.

PORT ELIZABETH MASONIC EDUCATIONAL SCHEME .

We have been favoured with the report for thc year 18 98-99 of this South African Charitable Fund and are gratified to find that though the income and expenditure are not on the same imposing scale as in the previous , or Queen ' s Diamond Jubilee

year , the Charity lias well-maintained its position . In addition to the three children holding Presentations in the Grey Institute , Ihere are 18 who are being educated by the Fund , the amount paid in School Fees being £ 89 . The amount received in

Subscriptions and Donations , inelu ling ' •Alms Box" and grants by tin : lodges and other Masonic bodies , was upwards of , £ 126 , uliich , with the balance brought forward from previous account and a half-year ' s interest on loan , gave a total on the Receipt

side of £ 191 , while the Expenditure , consisting of the School Fees alread y mentioned , between £ 2 and £ \ for Printing , & c , rill ( Wl 5 ° paid into the P . O . Savings Hank * , was close on / " 143 , the balance remaining in hand at the close of the account bcintr

upwards of ^ 4 8 . The Assets at the same date—30 II 1 June lastwere not far short of / " 950 , together with the three Perpetual Presentations to the Grey Institute of the value of £ 200 each .

lhus , the Scheme has a lair am unit of capital , while the Subscriptions and Donations fro . n lodges and individuals more than suliice to meet the expenditure .

The annual meetingof the Subscribers was held on ihe 4 U 1 August , when the Report ol the Committee was adopted , certain iluldren were confirmed in their election to the benefits of the 1 liarity , and other routine business transacted . In the course

, ; i the proceedings , a very pleasing announcement was made . A _' - J . C FRASER , who , we are told , is not a member of the ( raft , having heard of the scheme , and that it held three Scholarshi ps or Presentations in the GREY Institute , made

"" juines of the Secretary and another member of the Committee as to the work done b y it , and spontaneously offered to resent another Presentation in the GREY Institute , to be held

; ill ( l administered by the Charity . It is needless to say , the onerous offer was accepted , and a vote of thanks to the donor "" animousl y passed by the meeting .

In estimating further the excellence of the work done b y " Colonial Charity we must bear in mind that the Masonic ! « dios in Port Elizabeth comprise two Craft lodges ( Nos . 711 ¦ ' "id 86 3 ) , one Royal Arch chapter ( No . 711 ) , one Mark lodge , &» o Kni ght Templar preceptory , and a Rose Croix chapter . Yet » s Educational scheme of theirs provides annually for the

Port Elizabeth Masonic Educational Scheme.

education of 21 children—including the three scholars in the GREY Institute , and besides meeting all its liabilities , has a substantial amount of assets to fall back upon in the event of a rainy day overtaking it . Our Port Elizabeth brethren are to be congratulated on the excellent provision they make for the children of their deceased and indigent members .

Ars Quatuor Coronatorum.*

ARS QUATUOR CORONATORUM . *

The second part of the current year s volume of transactions is full of interesting matter , the most attractive of the numerous contributions being the paper read by Bro . H . P . FITZGERALD MARRIOTT on "The Secret Tribal Societies of

West Africa . " It is evident from Bro . MARRIOTT ' S opening remarks that he has studied the subject very deeply . Not only does he appear to have read most , if not all , of thc accounts

compiled by the best known writers of these Societies , but he has also during his sojourn in West Africa studied the stiDJect yen * carefully and by the inquiries lie made among Europeans and natives seems to speak with a weight and authority , which

materially enhance thc value of his Essay . ft would be presumptuous on our part to offer any minute criticism of such a paper . We realise at the outset that thc subject is one that can be dealt with competently only by those who have

studied the writings of others , and like Bro . MARRIOTT have been at the trouble of verifying or otherwise by personal inquiries and study in thc country itself the theories which such writers have formed . That Secret Societies of various kinds

exist in West Africa is beyond question , and so , too , is il beyond question that these Societies are oftentimes employed as channels of active opposition to the Government . But it seems quite feasible that thev might lie used " as a means of administration

in the hands of European authority . '' He speaks of them as being "in reality tribal institutions , and as such , so lo speak , the storehouse for native knowledge , laws , and customs . " He holds that " the extinction of those innumerable tribal societies not

practising human sacrifices would be very injudicious in the present state of native civilisation . " Thc very ample particulars he furnishes of very many of them—among which are included what seem to be ^ the most

important—justify , in our opinion , the statement that they " undoubtedly contain the religious and social principles of the people , and administer justice , according to native law and custom , and are in many parts

decidedly necessary to the continuance of order and even of the higher moral welfare of the people . " At all events , a study of this paper cannot be otherwise than interesting to Masons , and

if the study is conducted in the generous spirit recommended by Bro . thc Rev . J . W . HORSLEY in the discussion that followed tin : reading of the paper , that study cannot fail to be , as we have more than once said , not only interesting , but also profitable .

Among the Reviews we notice one by Bro . W . J . HUGHAN of Bro . J T . THORP ' "Early History ( 1803-1859 ) of the Kniidils of Malta Lodge , Hinckley , Leicestershire , " and another

by liro . G . W . SPKTII , of Part I . of a German book , entitled " Der Giftigekern , " and which , he explains , when done into English , is " The Poison Germ , or the True Purpose of Freemasonry , " documenlarily proved by Hil . DEBRAND GEKBER ( Father HERMANN