Our Weekly Budget

sent oat on tho sledging expeditions , and it added that the ships had a full supply of this antiscorbutic , and that Sir George Nares did nofc give proper orders for provisioning his sledge parties , or have sound reasons for

departing from the instructions addressed to him through the Admiralty by the Director General of the Navy Medical Department . This is a serious censure on the conduct of the gallant officer in command of the lato

expedition . News of three fatal disasters at sea have been received this week . On Monday , tho Consetfc arrived at Sunderland , bringing with her three survivors of the crew of the brig Leonie , of Whitstable , which had been run into by

her , in Robin Hood's Bay . The master and five of the crew perished , but the mate and two others were saved . Every effort was made to rescue more lives , but unsuccessfully . On Sunday , a collision occurred off the Skerries between the schooner Ann Alice , and the steamer

Armenian , the former sinking almost immediately . All the crew , however , were saved , with the exception of the mate . In a third case , the captain of the barque Hva , in a fit of drunkenness , had shot a boy , and fired at the mate and others of the crew , but when the latter attempted to secure

him , he jumped overboard and was drowned . The Mansion House Fund , for the relief of the widows and children by the wreck of so many smacks , & c , in the North Sea , had

already reached £ 1 , 300 on Monday , but as the number of lives lost is greater than was at first supposed , a very large sum will be required . We trust the necessary funds will be forthcoming .

An alarming gas explosion occurred on Wednesday at Brighton , by which property of the estimated value of £ 3 , 000 was destroyed . A steam roller was rolling a Macadam road , and is believed to have caused the fracture of a gas pipe . The gas found its way into an under-ground

kitchen of a lodging-house , and in due time came in contact with the fire and caused the accident . The partition walls were blown down and other property in the neighbourhood damaged to the extent we have stated , but fortunately no lives were lost .

The question of peace and war ia still undetermined . Russia appears to think she cannot retreat with honour from the advanced position she elected to take up towards the end of last year , and Turkey seems stubbornly bent on resenting any interference with her sovereign independence .

What reply will be made by our cabinet to the circular note of Russia is not yet decided , but an attempt is being made by Russia to induce the other Great Powers to join in a Collective Note to the Porte , calling upon it to execute the promised reforms within a stated time . Of

course all sorts bf rumours are abroad , but the public is as much in the dark as ever . General Ignatiefi has visited Paris for the purpose of taking counsel with the French Government , and Count Schouvaloff , the Russian Ambassador , in

London , crossed over in order to meet his Excellency , Ifc is now said the British Cabinet has agreed to the proposal of Russia , and that the General will at once visit the Court of St . James ' s . Whatever

difficulties have arisen , ifc is no fault of our Ministers that a peaceful solution of the question was not arrived at long since . The negotiations between Turkey

and Montenegro proceed but slowly , the demands of the latter State being exhorbitant . In Germany the path ot the Imperial Chancellor , Prince Bismarck , appears to be none of the smoothest . Some of his measures seem to

have provoked a considerable amount of opposition in the Imperial Parliament . Iudeed , a proposition for increasing the salary of the German Ambassador in London was rejected by 157 to 147 . Other foreign news is of no great interest .

Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

ROYAL MASONIC BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION .

THE regular committee meeting was held on the 14 th inst ., at Freemasons' Hall , Great Queen-street , W . C . and was numerously attended . Bro . Colonel Creaton V . P ., occupied the chair . The Secretary , Bro . Terry , read thi

minutes of the meeting of the 14 fch February , and of tht House Committee , which were duly confirmed . The grant of £ 100 to the widow of the late Collector ( Bro . Lane ) was unanimously confirmed . The death was announced oi

Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

two male and one female annuitants . The question of electing a Collector , in the place of the late Bro . Line was then discussed , and the report of the committee appointed " to inquire into the duties and emoluments of the future Collector " was read . It was therein recommended thafc the

Collector to be appointed shall be a Master Mason not exceeding the age of 40 years ; that his duties be to collect all subscriptions and donations announced by the annual Stewards , which shall remain unpaid after the regular settling day following the Festival . He shall attend at the

offices when required by the Secretary , keep an alphabetical list of the subscribers , donors , & c , to the Institution , aud give security for £ 500 . His remuneration to be 4 per

cent , npon all amounts actually received by him . The whole of these recommendations received attention , and after some discussion were carried , excepting the question of commission , which was increased to 5 per cent . There were nine candidates—viz ., Bros . Ayling , S . Bragg , W . H . Hubbard , Geo . Knill , James A . Milne , W . J . Murlis , W . J . Nash , Robinson , and W . H . Snelling . Out of these onl y three were eligible in accordance with the above resolutions —viz ., Bros . Knill , Milne , and Snelling , and from this

number Bro . Knill was eventually selected , the vote being unanimous in his favour . . He acknowledged , in feeling terms , his gratitude , aud promised to use his best endeavours to promote the interests of the Institution , and he hoped to do so to the entire satisfaction of the Craft . Bro . R . W

Stewart proposed that the annual gathering of the Stewards be held at Croydon as usual , on a day to be fixed hereafter . A vote of thanks to the chairman concluded the proceedings .

The Masonic Jeivel , for February , publishes a long and very valuable letter from Bro . John Carlowitz , in which he furnishes a tabular statement showing the total amount

expended annuall y , by the different Grand Bodies , in printing and publishing reports of their several proceedings . This , it seems , reaches the sum of dollars 52 , 325 65 c , and Bro . Carlowitz considers it not unreasonable to

suppose that " the large mass of miscellaneous printing annuall y needed in the offices of the various Grand Officers , " must swell the total to dollars 60 , 000 . Taking this fact for his text , Bro . Carlowitz advocates the establishment of a National Grand Lodge , and with it that of a

National Grand Lodge Library ; or , if this should nofc prove feasible , a General or National Masonic Printing House , where the annals of every Grand Masonic body , and all Masonic literature , " now out ; of print , and for which , at present , fabulous prices are asked and paid , "

should be published . In such case , Bro . Carlowitz thinks that , in due time , every Lodge could become possessed of a complete library of proceedings , as well as reprints of old magazines and literary works . He further points out that if each Mason in the United States contributed a

quarter dollar , the sum of dollars 142 , 550 would be raised , or if _ a dollar each , over dollars 570 , 000 . If this sum were invested in the names of the different Grand Masters and their successors , as Trustees of the Fund , there would be an annual income arising from ifc of little short of

dollars 29 , 000—reckoning the interest at 5 per cent . Without entering further into particulars , we may state that the idea , whence the scheme has originated , is a worth y and a generous one . We are , ourselves , constantly urging all Craftsmen to take a deeper interest in Masonic

literature . We must not , however , be led astray by our enthusiasm . We confess we do not see how such a scheme could be carried out ; in fact , Bro . Carlowitz , in the early part of his letter , declares that " Fifty-three Grand Lodges will have fifty-three different opinions , " and in a sentence

afterwards , he says , " Some States have invited the Grand Masters of other Jurisdictions to come and compare work ; but I have not read that any one has ever complied with this request ; " and he asks very pointedly , " Why is this so ? " We think we can answer the question without

much difficulty . With all our boasted enthusiasm and fraternal feeling , we Masons of different existing jurisdictions are as jealous of each other as possible ; as much so , in fact , as the great military powers of Europe ,

who never weary of preaching about the lion and the lamb lying down together in peace , yet each of them must play the lion . In Masonry , the idea of a uniform ritual is not only a very beautiful , but a very proper one likewise ,