Our Weekly Budget

Patti , Madame Lemmens . Sherrington , Mr . Sautley , Mr . Best ( organ , ) Mr . Williug , who played the organ accompaniments , Mr . Harper ( trumpet , ) and Signor Foli . Over 20 , 000 were present on this occasion . Yesterday the Festival was brought to a close , with Israel in tf yypt .

On Wednesday H . R . H . the Duke of Cambridge presided at the distribution of prizes to the Medical Department of King ' s College , London . The hall was well tilled , and among those present were many ladies . The Principal of the College , the Rev . Canon . Barry , and Professor Beutley

Dean , of the Medical Faculty , were present . When the ceremony was over , His Royal Hig hness delivered an address , congratulating the authorities ou the efficiency of the Department , shortly after which the proceedings terminated with the customary vote of thanks to the Chairman .

Sir John Bennett has at length gained the object of his ambition , and has been formally declared elected as Alderman of the Ward of Cheap , in succession to the late Aiderman Allen . It will be remembered that when the vote took place some short time since , Sir John was declared

to have a majority of one over his opponent , Mr . Waddell , but a scrutiny was demanded by the latter , and at once acquiesced in . The result confirms the election as having fallen legally on Sir John Bennett , to whom , accordingly ,

we offer our felicitations . Our energetic brother , " i ather Time , " maynowlook forward to the day when he will occupy the Civic throne , while Mr . Waddell , who is likewise a Craftsman , will , no doubt , succeed at some future election in wearing the Alder manic Gown .

In France , the Chamber of Deputies has been dissolved , the Senate having acquiesced in the wishes of the President , and voted its dissolution by 150 to 130 votes . A new Chamber will have to be elected . The whole of the

363 Opposition Deputies will offer themselves for re-election , and there appears a general belief that the party oi MM . Simon and Gambetta will secure a victory .

However , the Ministry are able to bring a great deal of pressure to bear in support of their own candidates , and it is possible they may succeed in obtaining a majority ; but the Ministerialists are not a united body , and the Oppositionists

are . Several important events have taken place both in Europe and Asia . "The Russians have crossed the Danube at Galatz , and are marching through the Dobrudscha to Kustendje , where it is expected they will meet with the

first serious opposition from the Turks , into whose plan of campaign it never entered to oppose the passage of the river in this direction . They have , therefore , evacuated the few habitable places in the Dobrudscha as the Russians advanced . Meanwhile , it is evident that preparations are

being made higher up to effect other passages . The mass of the Russian army has been marched westward , the Czar himself , according to the latest accounts we have seen , having gone to Turnu Magarelli , so that even before this meets the eye of our readers , the attempt may have been

made . As the Turks are on the look-out , some tremendous fighting may be anticipated . Elsewhere the operations between the opposing forces has been limited to bombardments between Kalafat and Widdin , and Rustchuk and Giurgevo . The Russians must be very indifferent

marksmen , or else they are indifferent to the claims of that humanity which , they are professing to fi g ht for , and the respect due to this country ; for they have hit the hospital at Widdin more than once , and at Rustchuk , the house of the British Consul , with the Union Jack

flying , has been battered to pieces . The Austro-Hungarian Consulate at the latter place has also been struck . We read also of a protest issued by the Sultan ' s Government against the Russians blowing up unresisting Turkish merchant vessels with torpedoes ,

and elsewhere—notably in Asia—we hear of Russian atrocities . These , of course , are the honourable men of whom so much sympathy was known iu England last autumn . However , might makes right in the eyes of the Czar , so the world can do nothing else but grin and bear these

outrages , committed in the name of religion and humanity . In Asia there has been a severe amount of fighting , and tht Turks , even on their enemy ' s own showing , appear not to have had the worst of it , while , according to their own

statement , they have gained a very considerable victory . not far from the scene of the former battle , where Mehemet Pasha was defeated and slain . At Batoum they claim tt have inflicted heavy losses on the Russians , while tht repeated assaults on the outer works of Kars make not

the sli ghtest impression . We hear little from the Cau

Our Weekly Budget

casus , except that the insurrection is still in force , and that tho Russians have behaved with the grossest inhumanity , burning down villages , brutally using women and children , and sending the men to Siberia . These are , of course , mere statements , and we must guard

ourselves against accepting them as true . But we know that Russia has sent people to Siberia before now , and has slaughtered women and children on previous occasions . The statemeuts , therefore , are not improbable or impossible , aud if , on examination , they turn out to be true , we

trust Mr . Gladstone will make a point of condemning the Russian atrocities as publicly and as vehemently as he did the Bulgarian atrocities of the Turk . We must be just before we are ungenerous . As to the political aspect of the situation , there is no change worth recording . Prince Milan

is not much the better for his visit to the Czar , who seems to have treated him in a very off-hand way . Whether Servia will plunge into war again is not known at present . If she is wise , she will stand aloof . Such a drubbing as she received last autumn from the Turks is enough for half a

century . We hear little of the Roumanians , while as regards Montenegro , in spite of the repeated defeats they have met with at the hands of the Turks , they seem , according to their own account , to have killed more of the enemy than he ever had in the field , and are preparing for

a decisive victory , just when nearly the whole of their country is in the hands of the Turks . We shall not attempt to explain these wonderful contradictions . The fact that Montenegro itself has been invaded by the Turks ,

whereas before it was Turkey which was invaded b y the Montenegrins , is quite enough , whatever it may be in the judgment of others . However , we have sketched the progress of the war thus far , and next week , no doubt , shall have more terrible events to record .

Since the above was written , news has arrived of the passage of the Danube at Sistova , by a portion of the Russian army under the Grand Duke Nicholas in person .

The Paxton Lodge , Wo . 1686 , will be consecrated this day ( Saturday ) , at the Crystal Palace , Sydenham . The ceremony , which will commence at 4 o ' clock , will be performed by Bro . H . E . Frances P . M . P . P . S . G . D Surrey ,

assisted by the Rev . R . J . Simpson P . G . Chap . Bro . J . M . Klenck is the W . M . designate , W . Goddard the S . W ., and C . H . Benham the J . W . We hope to give a report of the proceedings in our next .

The Provincial Grand Lodge of West Yorkshire was to have met on the 4 th July , but it has , we understand , been postponed until Wednesday , the 18 th July , when it will assemble in the Freemasons' New Hall , Sheffield , —as we previously announced .

We are very sorry to hear of the illness of Bro . 0 . F . Matier , whose interest in all matters pertaining to the Craft , and especially in what concerns the Craft Institutions , is familar to our readers . Knowing , as we do , the amount of energy he has displayed in connection with the

recent Festival of the Boys School , we feel that his being laid up this week , of all weeks in the year , must have proved a serious disappointment to him . We offer him the expression of our warmest sympathy , and trust that not many days will elapse ere he is completely restored to his normal state of health .

The Keystone announces that Oriental Lodge , No . 385 , Philadelphia , celebrated its tenth anniversary , by a Masonio re-union , at Morton Hall , 41 Street and Haverford Street . Bro . Charles Summerfiekl W . M . presided , and extended a hearty welcome to the one hundred and sixty brethren who

were present . When the Lodge business was over , tho brethren adjourned to banquet , the hall being very tastefully decorated with flags and emblems , and the tables with magnificent bouquets of flowers . After banquet B 40 . Summerfield gave an interesting sketch of tho history of the Lodge ,

which started with thirty one members , and now numbered > veroue hundred and sixty . Several speeches followed , by Bro . John Field , the first W . M . of the Lodgo , and others . At ntervals , the guests were entertained with a capital selection of vocal an 1 instrumental music . Indeed , the re-union was a great success .