Our Weekly Budget.

and City Police Orphanage came off on "Wednesday , at the Alexandra Palace , and proved a grand success . The bands of several divisions of the Force were in attendance , and performed their part of the programme very admirably . There were also athletic sports , nnder the management of

some of the leading members , bub the greatest , novelty in the day ' s proceedings was the performance of the " Metropolitan Police Minstrels , " who were most enthusiastically and deservedly applauded . Mr . Frederick Archer gave several recitals on the grand organ , and there was an

excellent concert under the personal direction of Mr . Weist Hill . Other amusements , including a balloon ascent , were g iven , and the day concluded with a grand display of fireworks . We hope the funds of so admirable an institution will be benefited largely by the fete .

There has been a Home Rule convention at Dublin , and great appears to have been the uproar thereat . Mr . I . Butt , M . P ., who presided , had a trying part to play , but he did his best to fulfil it well . He is not to blame if the

success attending his efforts was not more pronounced . There seems to have been a fair amount of free scrimmaging in the body of the room where the meeting was held . A Mr . Doran , too , earned for himself a fair share of distinction . We cannot , however , congratulate him on the

part he played . He disappeared from the platform , to which he had fought his way , in a somewhat summary manner , while the would-be seconder of the motion he proposed was ejected with great violence . The following evening , at the dinner given to the Council of the Home

Rule Confederation , under the presidency of Mr . Butt , a detective was found to be in the room , and his presence gave rise to a little scene , which happily terminated with nothing more than an explosion of wrath on the part of the Home Rulers , the chairman , Mr . Butt , expressing his

indignation in very strong terms . We cannot say these meetings of the Home Rulers impress ns very favourably . At the same it evinced a great error of judgment on the

part of some of the authorities in sending a police officer to watch the proceedings at a private banquet . It is a great pity a little of the energy displayed on these occasions cannot be turned to some better purpose .

Matters have assumed a somewhat threatening aspect in Dahomey . The potentate who presides over the destinies of this unenlightened state seems in no wise terrified by the blockade which our squadron has established off

Whydah . On the contrary , we have rumours of a threatened massacre of the Europeans , who , it seems , are being watched night and day , „ and have already had all communication cut off between themselves and European ships stationed off the coast .

The married life of Mr . Sidney Collins , " artist in colouring black eyes , " is not a very happy one , if we may judge from certain disclosures recently made at the Marlboroughstreet Police Court . Mr . Collins summoned his wife for an assault , and from the evidence he gave , the lady appears to

have conducted herself towards him with the greatest violence . She frequently assaulted him , and the poor man went in daily fear of life . A lodger corroborated the husband's statement , and the officer who arrested Mrs . Collins , found her lying on the bed only half dressed , and

drunk . The lady , who had already spent the half of her twenty years of married life in the House of Detention , was ordered to find two sureties in the sum of £ 10 each to keep the peace for the next six months . For so long at all events Mr . Collins will be able to pursue his calling without fear of being beaten by his better half .

Several sad accidents have latteily occurred from drowning , and in more than one case gallant efforts have been made to save the lives of the persons in peril . On Tuesday , a passenger by one of the Citizen steamers fell overboard opposite the old Deer Park , Richmond . A gentleman .

living in the neighbourhood , happened to be on the towingpath , and without divesting himself of any of his clothes , gallantly jumped into the water , and held the man up just long enough for a waterman to pull off to their assistance . The two were saved , but in a very exhausted condition .

It is difficult to make out how the war in the East is going on . On the one hand , we hear the Turks art ' gradually approaching closer and closer to Alexinatz , where the chief Servian force is assembled . On the other

we read of Turkish attacks being everywhere repulsed , and that the Servians have regained possession of places they had previously evacuated . We incline to a beliei that the former is tbe correct version , though it is quite possible the Turks may have withdrawn their troops from

Our Weekly Budget.

certain of the positions they had captured . Meanwhile the war of words as to the atrocities committed by tbe Turkish irregular soldiery is pursued with unabated vigour , and , as we have already said , the venerable Earl Russell has publicly declared against our friends and allies of tho

years 1853-1856 . Every day , too , we hear more about Russian intervention . Much may be expected of the present Czar , and that he will make every reasonable sacrifice in the interests of peace ; but it is urged in more than one quarter that the excitement of his people will not

be much longer restrained . Then we read of an angry feeling having sprung up between Russia and Germany ; then of a secret Convention between Russia , Austria , and Germany . That the crisis is not past ia evident ; and

" what next ? " is the question in everybody ' s mouth . We see no reason why the general peace of Europe should bo disturbed , if the Great Powers are really sincere in their desire to maintain peace ; and if Turkey gains any substantial success over Servia in the course of the next

fewdays , we may possibly hear that the beginning of the end is nigh at hand , and that Turkey and her vassals are once again on amicable terms . If , however , the Servians are able to prolong their resistance for any lengthened period

of time , it is on the cards that the situation may become very critical indeed . Let us hope for the best , and that a fair way of escaping the difficulties which seem to threaton us may yet be found .

Order Of St. Lawrence.

ORDER OF ST . LAWRENCE .

The London Lodge of this Order was held at 2 Red Lion Square , on Saturday , the 19 th instant . Bro . Hyde Pullen was elected and installed W . M . for the ensuing year . Bro . George Robins was initiated in ancient form . Captain N . G . Philips , Major Barlow , S . Rosenthal , F . Matier were

present , together with Bros . F . Binckes , Dibdin and Spencer . This degree is a relic of our old travelling operative brethren , which has survived in Lancashire and the North of England . Its ritual is uncouth and quaint , and in times

when journeymen Masons travelled in search of employment , it must have been of considerable practical value . Relics of ceremonies of similar utility survive to this day in Germany . When the " Handwerlcsbursch " enters a Bavarian inn room , and , facing the company , strikes his

fist upon the table , calling " Topp , proving himself proficient in the Burschen catechism , he is received into equality and fraternity , which make him feel at once at home . The degree of St . Lawrence goes somewhat beyond this . It is a curious remnant of the old operative series ,

to which belonged the " Ark , Mark , Link and Wrestle , known to Dr . Oliver ' s father , and heard of by himself in youth . Like the old legend of Charles Martel ' s instructor having served at the building of King Solomon ' s Temple , its historical connexion with its patron St . Lawrence is nob

immediately obvious . There is every probability of its having originated whilst the Order was still under the patronage of Romish Ecclesiastics in the times when the "Four Crowned Martyrs" and "Holy Church " were still catchwords in" an Order , ever in this country conspicuous for its loyalty to the powers that be .

The Freemasons of the Apollo University Lodge , Oxford , with the sanction of Prince Leopold , the Provincial Grand Master , are raising a subscription for the widow of

the late Mr . Henry Kiugsley , who is stated to have been ieffc totally unprovided for . Subscriptions will be received by Mr . J . E . C . Bodley , Danebank House , Congleton , Cheshire .

We extract the following from the Woodbndge Be * porter : — We understand that there is preparing for publication a volume oi tales , poems , and Masonic papers , by Emra Holmes , with a memoir of the author , by George Markham Tweddell , Fellow of the Eoyal

Society of Northern Antiquarians , Copenhagen , & c , & c . Brc . Holmes is well known to many of our readers , and wo heartily wish him success . Bro . Ilolmes has long been popular as a lecturer and reader . He has , for several years past , been favourably known as a contributor to the Metropolitan and Provincial press ; but his tales ,

poems , and Masonic papers are so scattered through a variety of magazines and newspapers , that many of his admirers have expressed a wish to seo a collection of them published in a neat and handy volume . To meet this desire , a selection of the beat of these coutri . buttons , is now about to be offered to the public .