Current Events.

Leonards , some time Lord Chancellor , first of Ireland , then of England , passed from among us . This week a third eminent man , Professor Sir Sterndale Bennett , has been added to the list . A graceful tribute to the memory of the first of these worthies will be found in the pages of the

current number of Macmillan . Lord St . Leonards had reached the ripe age of 94 , and will be remembered as probably the profoundest lawyer of his day . In one sense , perhaps , the death of Sir Sterndale Bennett is the greatest loss of all , for in him we lose our greatest classical

composer , the friend and pup il of Mendelssohn . It will be very , very long before the gap thus created in the musical world can be refilled ; it may , indeed , be never . The funeral

takes place to-day at Westminster Abbey , and there his last resting place will be , appropriately , with the great in literature , in science , and in statecraft , both of the past and present ages .

There is little to add . The party leaders have held their official banquets . The South Wales strike is in full vigour . The usual number of deputations have waited upon sundry of the Ministers . Abroad , the French Assembly , by a majority of 200 , have accepted a Republic

virtually , if not definitively . In Spain , the Carlists appear to be getting the worst of it . According to the latest advices , the Alphonsist Army is within a few miles of Estella , the chief position of Don Carlos . But we must not forget that had all the Madrid telegrams of the last

year or two proved true , the Carlist forces must have been renewed and annihilated at least half-a-dozen times . It matters little , perhaps , to England whether Spain is ruled by a Don Carlos or a Don Alphonso . Certainly , the latter

who is supposed to be a Constitutional , King , or , at all events , his ministers on his behalf , have a happy knack of putting their foot down somewhat heavily on Protestants and Freemasons . In the United States , the action of the

Federal Authorities in Louisana appears to be universally condemned . It is long since there was so much excitement in the land of the Stars aud Stripes . However , sufficit diei sua vexatio .

The Agricultural Returns for 1874 , issued by the Board of Trade , contain some interesting , and , at the same time , somewhat remarkable facts , first , as to the reclaiming of waste land , and secondly , as to the conversion of arable into pasture land . England and Scotland have alone

reclaimed 1 , 311 , 000 acres between them—of which 970 , 000 fell to the share of the former—within the last six years . The conversion of arable into pasture land seems to meet a national desideratum . The effect is , of course , to increase our live stock by as much as we reduce our corn supply .

The meat-eating community in these islands has increased so enormously that during the past few years the supply has not been equal to the demand , and consequently the price of meat has risen about 40 per cent . The butcher ' s bill is the bete-noir of every small household . Now it is far

easier to import corn than meat , for the former keeps well . Between 1868 and 1874 , over a million acres of arable land were converted into pasture in England , Scotland , and Wales . Reckoning an acre to each bullock , it requires little arithmetic to compute that such a conversion would

find grazing for a million head of cattle . We imagine that if cattle-rearing and dairy produce became more generally developed in this country , the consequent loss in the corn supply might fairly be left to importations from France , Russia , and America—countries eminently productive of grain .

The Right Worshipful Robert John Bagshaw , Provincial Grand Master for Essex , has appointed Bro . Matthew Edward Clark , of London , to be his Deputy P . G . M . This appointment has been vacant since the death of Bro . Andrew Meggy in January 1873 .

A correspondent in the province of Gloucestershire writes to us , suggesting that the Masons of London and its environs should contribute towards the fund now being raised for the restoration of St . Paul ' s Cathedral . The

suggestion is a good one , and certainly merits the attention of our Metropolitan brethren , especially as the architect of that magnificent temple—Sir Christopher

Wrenwas a distinguished member of our Order , and ruled it foi many years as Grand Master . As evidence of what om provincial brethren have done towards the restoration OJ

Current Events.

adornment of provincial churches , our correspondent has forwarded an account of the sum contributed in 1873 , by the Gloucestershire Lodges towards the erection of the Reredos of Gloucester Cathedral . The amount collected

was somewhat in excess of £ 1 , 068 , including £ 200 from Prov . Grand Lodge , £ 102 7 s Gd from Lodge No . 592 ( Cotteswold ) and £ 331 7 s from Lodge No . 899 ( Royal Gloucestershire ) .

In a former number we alluded to the unpunctuality of the local trains on the Great Northern Railway , and suggested that an improvement might be looked for when the new line between Pinsbury Park and Broad Street was opened . Whether it is to be attributed to this

circumstance or not , we are glad to hear that , lately , the evil complained of has nearly disappeared , so far as the morning trains are concerned . There appears to be great irregularity , however , in the evening traffic , which the new line does not seem to have remedied .

The Masonic Ball at the Corn Exchange , Coventry , sui' < passed in magnificence almost anything of the kind which has been seen in Coventry for many a year . The room had been specially decorated by a committee of Freemasons , and the manner in which the work was carried out was

fully recognised by the visitors . The plan of decoration adopted was that of a capacious drawing room , every niche around the room being draped with crimson damask , over which hung some magnificient pictures , kindly lent by Mr . Ralph Smyth , of High Street . The spaces in the

corridors were also hung with crimson of a similar material , and white muslin curtains , and in the centre of each space was a beautiful plant . The orchestra , on this occasion , was perhaps the coup d ' coil of the whole scene . It was draped with crimson damask curtains , tho head

piece being fringed with a deep white lace or muslin , and at the foot was placed a number of plants and flowers . Similar plants were to be seen at conspicuous points around the room , the intervals being filled in with couches and furniture . Yiewed from either end , the large room

presented a scene of simple magnificence , without a touch of the gaudy being discernible in anypart . The ball commenced at nine o ' clock ; and towards ten the company began to a . Trive in large numbers . By midnight most of the elite of Coventry had assembled . The success which attended the efforts of the committee was well merited . The musical '

arrangements were carried out under the superintendence of Mr . George Buckingham , bandmaster to the volunteers , whose talented quadrille band gave great satisfaction . The decorations were superintended by Mr . Ralph Smyth . The refreshments were controlled by Mr . Thomas Ilift ' e , Drapers '

Hall . The following is the programme of the dances : — Quadrille , valse , lancers , galop , valse , quadrille , schottische , galop , lancers , valse , quadrille , galop , valse , lancers , valse , quadrille , polka , galop , valse , lancers , galop , valse , galop . The number present was estimated at 300 .

_ The lock-out in South Wales has , so far , resulted in no disturbance , with the exception of a mischievous propensity displayed by some of the idlers to lift the brakes of the waggons , causing them to run down the inclines and smash either themselves , or any obstacle they may meet in their

course . The police seem to be on the alert , however , and we may expect to hear no more of this kind of amusement . A considerable number of the miners appear to have found employment with the non-associated masters . Thus , in the Rhondda Valley , out of 10 , 000 men usually employed ,

2 , 000 have found work . Even where the miners are idle there are no signs of distress at present . They are said to have laid up a little store for a " rainy clay , " and can hold out for some time yet . AVe hope this is correct , for the sake of their wives and families .

According to a writer in In Monde Muronniune—tho Grand Lodge of Indiana , U . S ., included in 1818 , five Lodges . Between 1818 and 1839 , thirty-six new Lodges were constituted , and in 1854 , there were 164 Lodges . Prom its foundation , this Grand Lod ge has granted

Constitutions to 545 Lodges , of which about one-sixth have died out . The increase in the number of Masons has been still more rapid . In 1850 , there were 112 Lodges , with an average of twenty-eight members per Lodge ; in 1860 , 269 , with au average of thirty . sis ; iu 1870 , 421 , with au