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THEMASONICQUARTETTE. BROS . BURGESS PERRY , ARTHUR THOMAS , EDWIN MOSS amlGEURGK MUSGRAVE undertake tue Musical arrangements of the Ceremonies and Banquets . For Terms : —Address , BRO . E . MOSS , 147 Aldersgate Street , E .. C

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NOTICE . — BACK NUMBERS . Brethren who desire to complete their sets of the FREEMASON ' CHRONICLE , should make early application for Back Numbers . At present all are in print , but of some we have only a few copies left . Cases for binding the several volumes can be had at the Office , 67 Barbican .

Our Weekly Budget

OUR WEEKLY BUDGET

NOT much in the way of business has been done this week in the House of Lords . The Duke of Richmond and Gordon on behalf of the Government introduced a Burials Bill , which received a first reading , and Lord Dorchester asked a question of onr Foreign Secretary as to the compulsory return from Khiva , of Captain Burnaby ,

an officer in the Royal Horse Guards , who has narrated his experiences of his " Bide to Khiva , " in a most enjoyable volume , and in the course of it explains by what mishap he was forced to give up his journey home through Central Asia , and return by the same route he had taken on his

journey out . In the Commons some progress has been made , but nofc in proportion to the amount ol talkee-talkee which is considered necessary . A Treasury and Exchequer Bills having passed its second reading on Thursday of last week , on the following evening a resolution proposed by

Mr . Clare S . Head for the establishment of County Boards was accepted by the Government after a very full debate . On Monday , after several delays interposed by different members , the House went into Committee of Supply on the Navy Estimates , and the number of men and boys for the

service of the year was voted . On Tuesday , a motion was brought forward by Mr . Chamberlain , one of the members for Birmingham , having for object the regulation of the sale of intoxicating liquors , according to what is known as the Gothenburg scheme , but the honourable member was

defeated by a majority of more than two to one . The greater part of Wednesday afternoon was occupied in considering whether an Intoxicating Liquors' Bill for Scotland should receive a second reading . In the result the Bill was rejected by the very considerable majority of 253 to 90 .

On Monday , the Queen held a levee at Buckingham Palace . The Prince of Wales , attended by Lord Suffield and others of his suite , the Princess Beatrice , Prince Christian , and Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar were present . A very larcje number of presentations was made and the

attendance ; in the general nnd diplomatic circles was great . On Wednesday , Her Majesty held a Drawing Room , when the Prince of Wales , the Princesses Louise ( Marchioness of Lome ) and Beatrice , Prince Christian , and the Duke of Teck were present . Several ladies wero presented , and the

attendance otherwise was on a large scale . On both these occasions , the Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arras under their Captain , the Earl of Shrewsbury and Talbot , and the Ytonien of the Guard under Captain Lord Skelmersdale were on duty . The morning of the latter day , Her Majesty

and the Princess Beatrice visited the Zoological Gardens , Regent ' s Park , and inspected the collection of animals brought from India by the Prince of Wales . Mr . A . Bartlett ,

the superintendent , conducted Her Majesty over the establishment . The Prince of Wales left Melton Mowbray on his return to Marlborough House on Friday night , having had , during the clay , an exciting day ' s sport with the Quorn .

Our Weekly Budget

On Saturday evening , the Prince and Princess with their two boys , tho Princes Albert Victor and George , honoured the Opera Comique with a visit . On Sunday , they attended divine service iu the Royal Chapel , St . James ' s . The Oxford crew reached their quarters at Putney on

Monday . Since then they have been closely engaged in the usual practice , and as the day of the race more nearly approaches , the public excitement becomes greater . They are a heaviercrew than their rivals from the Cam , the average weight per man being 12 st 5 lbs , against an average of

12 st 0 | lbs . Both crews appear to possess certain points of weakness and of strength , and a critic in one of our daily contemporaries rules that the case is which of the two will be most hampered by their weaknesses . However , as we said last week , we shall be prepared to solve this

question for the benefit of our readers about noon next Saturday , or probably a little earlier . It only remains to add the expression of our good wishes for fine weather , both for

the sake of those who will test their powers , and tho thousands and thousands who will lino the banks of the river between Putney and Mortlake to witness the struggle .

It will bo in the recollection of our readers , that amongst the many banquets which occurred during the Lord Mayoralty of Alderman Cotton , none was so highly appreciated as thafc which he gave in honour of the dramatic profession , and the authors and writers connected

therewith . On Friday last a complimentary return banquet was given to the worthy Alderman and Mrs . Cotton . The veteran Mr . Benjamin Webster occupied the chair , and there were present about 200 guests , amongst whom were Alderman Sir R . W . Garden , Mr . F . B . Chatterton , Mr .

and Mrs . Alfred Wigan , Mr . and Mrs . J . L . Toole , Messrs . A . and E . Swanborough , and W . Creswick , E . Righton , J . Douglas , H . Neville , A . Halliday , E . L . Blanchard , and Miss Ada Cavendish . After the usual loyal toasts , that of the guests of the occasion was proposed , amid the heartiest

applause . Alderman Cotton ' s response was a thoroughly good after-dinner speech , such as is nofc often spoken on these occasions , and was right worthily received by hia 180 or 190 hosts . . Subsequently it devolved upon him to

propose the health of the Chairman , and this too , was most cordially responded to by all present . The toast of " the Ladies " was acknowledged by Mr . Alfred Wigan , shortlyafter which the company dispersed .

A notable man of the day has passed from amongst us , Mr . George Odger , one , who , though in the humblest sphere of life , yet exercised a considerable amount of influence on the working classes of this country . Mr . Odger was a man of unquestionable ability , and those to whose well-being he

had devoted so much of bis time , labour , and energy , resolved to show their respect for his memory by giving him a kind of public funeral . Measures were accordingly taken to this end , and on the appointed day a vast concourse of people assembled to witness the progress of the funeral

cortege from Bloomsbury to the Brompton cemetery . Professors Beesley and Fawcett , M . P ., were amongst those who accompanied the procession , and the former delivered a funeral oration at the grave . The latter also addressed

those present on the virtues of the deceased . In thus showing their respect for the great services of one of their leaders , the working classes of London have done themselves much honour .

The cattle plague is extending—in London , at least . A few days since it made its appearance on the premises of a dairyman at Stepney , where there were no less than 130 cows . Those who were found , on examination , to be suffering from incipient rinderpest were immediately isolated ,

but others were subsequently attacked , and at length it became necessary to slaughter the whole of the stock , which were in fine condition , and in the care of which all possible precautions had been taken b y their owner , Mr . Alexander . With the experience of the terrible outbreak of 1865-6 , this

wholesale slaughter is the only way to prevent the spread of the disease to other parts of London and the provinces ; but none the less serious is the loss to their owner , with whose misfortune we sympathise most fully , and all the more fully that it was through no absence of precautionary measures that his stock have fallen victims to this dreadful

scourge . The report of the Committee appointed to inquire into the outbreak of scurvy in the crows of the Arctic Expedition has been submitted to the First Lord of the Admiralty . The Committee have found that the outbreak was due to the fact that limejuiee was not supplied to the men