Our Weekly Budget.

terrible accident to the French ironclad Magenta , which took fire while lying at anchor in the harbour of Toulouse . No lives were lost , and as the magazines were partially flooded , the explosion of the magazines , when it did take

place , caused comparatively little damage to the town . What with the losses of the Captain and the Vanguard , and the destruction of the Magenta , ironclad ships of war seem to be verv costly affairs .

Consecration Of A New Lodge At Morecambe, Lancaster.

CONSECRATION OF A NEW LODGE AT MORECAMBE , LANCASTER .

ON Tuesday , the 26 th nit ., the B . W . Prov . G . M . Et . Hon . Lord Skelmersdale D . G . M . of England , consecrated , with all the Masonic ceremonies , the Morecambe Lodge of Freo and Accepted Masons . Halfpast twelve -was the honr fixed for the ceremony , and , for the convenience of the Lancaster brethren , a special train started from the Green Ayre station at twelve o'clock , and of which about sixty took advantage . On arriving at Morecambe , the brethren at once repaired to

the North Western Hotel , where , for the present , the Lodge will hold its meetings , and after a short delay arrayed themselves in their Masonic clothing and assembled in the Lodge room . Craft Lodge was opened by Bro . Wylie Prov . P . G . S . D . ( who subsequently acted as Grand Director of Ceremonies during the consecration ) , and this having been intimated , the E . W . Prov . G . M . shortly afterwards

entered the Lodge room , preceeded by his Grand Officers and the Worshipful Master designate , namely Bros . Charles Fryer ( Mayor of Preston } Prov . G . S . W ., tho Eev . J . W . Morgan Prov . G . C ., W . M . Deeley Prov . G . J . W ., Thomas Armstrong Prov . G . W . T ., H . S . Alpass Prov . G . Sec , Eeuben Pearson Prov . P . G . R ., W . Joseph Sly Prov . G . Purs ., and Dr . John Daniel Mooro P . G . S . B . of England , a

processional march being played by Bro . Skeafe Prov . G . D ., whilst the Grand Master took his seat in the Master ' s Chair . The Grand Master then appointed Bro . Fryer to take the S . W . 's chair , Bros . Deeley J . W ., John C . Bradshaw I . P . M . 1051 S . D ., William Hall P . M . 281 J . D ., and John Gibson P . M . and Treas . 950 I . G . Immediately on the Grand Master having taken his seat , the Grand Director of Ceremonies

called upon the brethern to salute the Grand Master , which was done in true Masonic style . The ceremony of consecration was then commenced by the Grand Chaplain reading a portion of Holy Writ and offering up prayer , after which an ode was sung . The Provincial Grand Secretary then read the petition and also the warrant of constitution , which latter was attested by the sign manual of H . E . H . the

Prince of Wales the Grand Master of England . Tho ceremonial of consecration , as prescribed by tho ritual of the Craft , was then duly performed , the elements of consecration ( the cornucopia , wine , oil , and salt ) beiug carried three times ronnd tho Lodge , amid solemn music , by four Provincial Grand Officors , and afterwards the censers in like manner by the Chaplain . On the conclusion of the ceremony

the Grand Master proceeded to instal tho Worshipful Master designate ( Bro . J . D . Moore ) into the chair of the Lodge , thoso members of the Craft who have not attained to the degreo of Past Masters boing first requested to retire , aud tho ceremony fchou proceeded according to tile rites of the Craft ; on its conclusion tho members were readmitted , ond proceeded to offer their congratulations to tho

Worshipful Master elect . The Worshi pful Master then proceeded to invest his officors as follow : —Bros . William Duff S . W ., Thomas Longmirc J . W ., William Longmiro Sec , William Aspden S . D ., Henry Hartley jun . J . D ., James Shaw I . G ., E . Airey l . P . M . 281 , at the request of the Worshipful Master consented to occupy the chair of I . P . M . Two candidates were proposed for admission , aud the Grand

Director having called for the usual voto of thanks , which wero given in a manner peculiar to the Craft . Tho Lodge was duly closed . The Grand Master went through tho ceremony of consecration with considerable ability and impressiveness , whilst Bro . Wylie discharged the duties of Grand Director of Ceremonies in a manner no less creditable to the Craft than to himself . The musical portion of the

ceremony was ably rendered by a quartet of voices , under the direction of Bro . Skeafe , who presided at the harmonium . The pedestals for the Grand Master , Senior and Junior Wardens were beautiful specimens of workmanship , and manufactured from designs furnished by the Worshipful Master designate . Tho brethren then adjourned to the Lodge room of the hotel , where

a banquet had been prepared in celebration of the opening of the Lodge , and a very attractive menu vas provided by Bro . Hartley . Dr . Moc re , the Worshipful 2 laster , pre uded , and was supported on the right 1 > 3 the Eight Hon . L < rd Skelim rsdale , the Eev . J . W . Morgan . Bros . Alpass , Skeafe , & c , s ml on the eft by the Mayor of Preston , Bros . Leeley , Armstrong , roc , the co upany numbering about sixty .

On the -emoval of the clotl , the usual toasts followed , the chairman successively proposing the ,: Queen" a ad " The Prince of Wales , " in the twcfold capacity of hjir to the throne and Grand Master ot England , which were recdved with enthusiasm . The W . M . then gave " [ 'ho health of the E . W . Prov . G . M . Lord Skclmcvsdalc , Deputy Grand Master of England , ' referring to the honour which had been

conferrrd upon them in haiinghis lorlship to open the Lodge , and alluded to the high positioi and the interest which he took in the Craft ; the toast was recci / cd withfreat enthusiasism , and on his lordship rising to respoud , 1 e was ra eived with a perfect ovation . On the applause subsiding , his lordship expressed the pleasure he had in attending to consecrate the Loc-ge , more especially as it was

in his ( wn province . It wn 3 his earnest wish to do his duty so far as he jonld , and he hoped that iu r ' uturc years they would see the Lodge one of the best in the province . Freemasonry was on the increase throughout the kingdom , and the impetus given to it by the appointment of H . E . H . the Prince of Wales to the position of Grand master had not ceased , and ho hoped never would cease idnriog 0 j s

Consecration Of A New Lodge At Morecambe, Lancaster.

reign . He ( Lord Skelmersdale ) hoped that so long as he continued to ocenpy the high position in which His Eoyal Highness had placed him he should never be found wanting in fulfilling its duties . ( Applause . ) The Worshipful Master then proposed tho health of tho "Provincial Grand Officers , " which was acknowledged by the Mayor of

Preston . The Worshipful Master next proposed tho "Visiting Provincial Grand Officers , " which was responded to by Bros . Holmes , Talbot and Tattersall , of the Cumberland and Westmorland Grand Lodge . The Mayor of Preston , in highly eulogistic terms , proposed the health of tho Worshipful Master , and alluded to the eminence ho had

attained in tho Craft as a Grand Lodgo Officer , and augured a prosperous future for the Lodge under the auspices of one so well acquainted with the Craft as Bro . Dr- Moore . Tho toast was drunk in a bumper . The Worshipful Mastf " , in responding , said it was the fourth time he had filled the office of Worshipful Master , therefore , it could not be supposed he coveted the honour particularly . Ho

saw they had the nucleus of a good Lodge , and he did not see why it should not be so ; he thought , with a little practice , in a short time they would bo second to none in tho province . He was glad the Lodge had been consecrated with so much dclat , and he felt it a honour to hide the collar of the Grand Lodge beneath the humble blue ribbon of the Master of tho Lodge ; he felt prouder of the blue

ribbon than of tho purple and gold of the Grand Lodge . ( Applause . ) " Success to the other Officers of the Morecambe Lodge " was then given , and responded to by Bros . Duff and T . Longmire . The health of the " Immediate Past Master " was next given by tho Worshipful Master , who alluded to the services rendered the Craft by Bro . Airey , and that he felt less diffidence in accepting the office of

Master , knowing that , when his professional duties called him away , ho could leave the interests of the Lodge in the hands of a worthy coadjutor . Bro . Airey , in acknowledging the compliment , expressed his grati » fication at a Masonic Lodge being opened in Morecambe , a consumma * tion which he had been working for for some time . " Success to the

Lancashire Lodges was next given , and responded to by Bros . T . Atkinson 281 , and F . G . Dale 1351 . " Masonry in general—success to it" followed , and was acknowledged by Bro . J . Atkinson 281 . " Members of Grand Arch " was responded to by Bro . Johnson 413 . The last toast on the list was " To distressed Masons , " which was proposed by Bro . J . Watson Tyler 281 . During tho banquet several

glees were sung under tho direction of Bro . Skeafe , and songs were also given by several of the members present . The arrangements for the consecration and banquet—which devolved mainly upon Bros . Dr . Moore and Airey—were very complote , aud being efficiently carried out , the proceedings passed off with the greatest cordiality and harmony .

COACHING DAYS . —Since the 15 th September 1830 , wheu | the first railway in England was opened between Liverpool and Manchester , we have passed through a transition era in tho history of travelling and locomotion . The neatly-appointed four-horse coaches , timed to do their nine or ten miles an hour , had superseded those various methods of communication that , in various centnries , had been adopted

by Englishmen on their travels—whether they wero the trains of horses in Chaucer ' s day ; or the horses by post , as when Taylor , the watei ' - poet , made his " Penniless Pilgrimage ; " or the carriers and packhorses that Milton ' s old Hobson passed into a proverb ; or the machines and stage-waggons of Stow ' s day ; or thatprimitivo coach that Parson Adams ontwalkcd , and in which lloderick ltandom and Strap made

their journey to London , at the rate of four miles an hour , exclusive of stoppages ; until we arrive at the more recent date , 2 nd August 1784 , when the first mail-coach went from London to Bath , and inaugurated that admirable coaching era in which the very perfection of traveling seems to be attained , but the ruin of which was foreshadowed by the wondrous " Car of Miracle " in Southcy ' s " Curse of Kehima . "

The old order of things is changed ; tho English coachman , so graphically drawn by Washington Irving in 1820 , is as extinct as the dodo or the Charlie ; the coaches are superseded by other " coaches" of a very different pattern ; and as Mr . Eeynardson , the author of " Down the Eoad , " says , " The tea-kettle , with its steam , has taken the place of the four bright bays ; the grimy engine-driver and stoker have

taken the place of the coachman ; and the guard or conductor , in his blue coat and foreign-looking hat , has taken the place of the guard in red , with his glazed hat and cockade ; and the loug mellow horn of former days is now replaced by a shrill , aud certainly not to be called mellow , whistle . " It is true that four-horse coacl es still exist here and there in certain districts , though chiefly in t le touring season ;

and the advertisements that appear of them in th ;; end of our "Bradshaw" are sufficiently suggestive of the change th ; it has come over our modes of travelling . Loudon , too , in certain months , still seiids forth its well-appointpd four-horse coaches to convey pas ; engers to 1 irighton , Tunbridge , Dorking , and other favourite spots ; lut the coaches that went up aud "down the road" at certain fixed wnrs on eery day throughout the year are no longer to be met witl . Mr . Be-mardson

makes the suggestion that "a real old mail and a i oal old sta ; e-coach , with its piles of luggage and all other etceteras , should , bef < re every recollection of them is gone , have a place , fully ec nipped for she road , asin times of old , in the British Museum . It would : iotbea bac thought for some enterprising Down the road' to set the thing on bot , and thus hand down to posterity what would be a wonderto beh jldwben tho generation to come travel by electricity instead of steam . "—Leisure Hour .

CI . UB HOUSE PLATISG CAKDS . —llogul Quality , pickc I Is 3 d per pack , Ms per dozen packs . Do . seconds Is per nack . Us per dozen pac : s . Tf by post 1-ld per pack extra . Cards for Piquet . Be ' ssiqnn . Ecarte " , Ac , Mogul Quality lud pei pack , 93 per dozen packs . —Londos : W . W . MorgaHf S 7 Burljicaii , E . C