Masonic And General Tidings.

MASONIC AND GENERAL TIDINGS .

The Council of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys will hold its regular monthly meeting at Freemasons' Hall to-morrow ( Saturday ) afternoon , at 3 p . m . The M . W . Frater Dr . W . Wynn Westcott , IX ° , Supreme Magus of En . land , has conferred the VII Ith Grade Honoris Causa upon Frater Dr . Hill Drury , Celebrant of the York College .

Her Majesty ' s ship Phaeton sailed from Malta tor Alexandria on Saturday last , having on board Bro . Rear-Admiral Markham , who succeeds Rear-Admiral Lord Walter Kerr as second in command of the Mediterranean squadron .

We are glad to hear that the Baroness Burdett-Coutts , who has been staying at Hastings for the purpose of recruiting her strength after her recent attack of illness , has returned to her house in Stratton-street , Piccadilly , much improved in health .

Bro . George Augustus Sala presided at the annual dinner of the London District of the Institute of Journalists , which was held at the Criterion Restaurant on Saturday evening last , among the principal guests being Bro . Lord Mayor Kvans , Bro . Sir Edward Clarke , Q . C , M . P ., and others .

The exhibition of the Royal Society of British Artists is now open in Suffolk-street , the number of paintings being about 600 , supplemented by a few pieces of sculpture . There is , perhaps , too great an abundance of landscape , but the excess is in some measure atoned for by the number and character of the figure pictures of cabinet dimensions .

Monday was the eighth anniversary of the death of the Duke of Albany , and in memory of the sad event the Duchess of Albany visited Windsor Castle and was present at the service held in the Albert Chapel , where lie the remains of the late Duke . The Dean of Windsor officiated , and among those present was Bro . Sir R . Collins .

Bro . Lord Halsbury ( Lord Chancellor ) , and Bros . Lord George Hamilton , Sir Michael Hicks-Beach , Bart ., and W . L . Jackson attended the Cabinet Council held at the Foreign Office on Saturday last . The Duke of Rutland , who is Minister in attendance on her Majesty at Hj eres , and Bro . Lord Ashbourne ( Lord Chancellor of Ireland ) were the only absentees .

The children's fancy dress ball which was to have been held in January for the purpose of endowing a cot in the Victoria Hospital , Chelsea , but was postponed in consequence of the death of the Duke of Clarence and Avondale , has been arranged to take place in Princes' Hall on Thursday , the 21 st inst . The cot will be named after the late Duke .

The portrait of the Hon . Mrs . Aldworth , as advertised in the Freemason , is photographed from a miniature in possession of the old lodge at Cork , and is well done . The memoir that accompanies it is also most interesting , and , as the cabinet is being sold on behalf of the Centenary Bazaar in aid of the " Masonic Female Orphan Schools , " Dublin , for one shilling , the sale should be considerable . Some very good prices were realised at Messrs . Christie ' s sale of pictures on Saturday last , 670 guineas beinir paid

for "Aqua Benita , " by J . Philip , R . A . ; 530 guineas for " Old Holland , " by Clarkson Stanfield , R . A . ; O 30 guineas for "The Nearest Way in Summer Time , " by T . Creswick , R . A ., and R . Ansdale , R . A . ; and 900 guineas for a watercolour drawing of "Bolton Abbey , " by P . de . Vint . " After Vespers , " by Bro . Sir F . Leighton , P . R . A ., fetched 585 guineas , and "A River Scene , " by T . S . Cooper , R . A ., 3 S 0 guineas .

Most of the Metropolitan \ olunteer Corps have made their arrangements for Easter . The London Rifle Brigade will take up their quarters at Winchester , and there will be a considerable force assembled at Dover , including a company of mounted infantry furnished by the Oueen ' s

Westminster and the Inns of . Court , _ nda detaenment of the Cyclist Rifle Corps , consisting of about 50 men , under Col . Savile . Most of the regiments going out of town will leave on the Thursday evening before Good Friday , in order to earn as much as possible of the extra grant allowed under the regulations .

Lord Sheffield ' s English team fared indifferently in their first two matches with teams representative of the whole of the Australian colonies , being defeated on both occasions by the Colonials . But in a third match which was concluded on Monday , the Englishmen proved victorious in one innings by 230 runs , the scores being , Lord Sheffield ' s team—joy :

Australia , ist innings , 100 ; 2 nd innings , iCg . Nine out of the English team got into double figures , Mr . A . E . Stoddart scoring 134 ; Dr . W . G . Grace , 5 S ; Maurice Read , 57 ; Peel , 83 ; Briggs , 30 , ; Mr . McGregor , 31 ; and Attewell , not out , 43 . Among the Australians , Bruce , 5 and 39 ; R . McLeod , 2 oj and 30 ; and J . J . Lyons , 23 and , in ; were the most successful .

The Loan Exhibition ol Pictures at the Guildhall , which was opened on Monday afternoon , and will remain on view during the whole of the present season , illustrates the whole history of painting from the days of the Van Jiycks , in the 12 th century , to the present time . The collection includes two gems by Jan van Eyck , a portrait by Albert Diirer , which is a masterpiece of its kind , and works by

rranz Hals , the Teniers , father and son , Gerard Dow , Caspar Netscher , Jan Steen , and other members of the Dutch school . Our great English painters , also , with the exception of Wilkie and Mulready , are well represented , and as many of the works are exhibited for the first time , the exhibition will doubtless be one of the chief art attractions of the present season .

KfSH ! FISH ! I- -I . SU ! TheCo . Oi'KKA-nvic f ' tsii Sueri . v Co ., LTD ., are now sending out cheap IIASKKTS of FISH or OVSTF . KS , carriage paid , to any part of the Kingdom , from 2 s . 6 d . each and upwards , direct from the landing stage . Address orders and remittances to the ( do-Operative Fish Supply Co ., Ltd ., Pontoon , Grimsby , or to Billingsgate Buildings , London , E . C , as may be must convenient . Try our London House for their celebrated Bloaters , Findon Haddocks , Kippers , & c .

Masonic And General Tidings.

The installation of Bro . Wm . Shurmur as W . M . of the Highbury Lodge by Bro . C . F . Hogard took place at the Cock Tavern , Highbury , yesterday ( Thursday ) . A report will appear in our next . The Marquis of Dufferin and Ava will be installed as Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports in the month of June , the last occasion on which the ceremony was performed in full being when Lord Palmerston was installed .

We are very pleased to be in a position to announce that Bro . Edmund Yates , after a severe illness , which has lasted for quite four months , is now fully restored to health , and has resumed his accustomed duties at the offices of the World .

Bro . Dr . B . W . Richardson will deliver his Friday evening discourse on " The Physiology of Dreams , " on the 29 th inst ., in place of Dr . William Huggins , who will give his lecture on "The New Star in Auriga , " on the 13 th of May .

A quarterly court of the Governors of the Foundling Hospital was held on Wednesday , when Bro . Robert Grey was unanimously elected to the office of Treasurer , rendered vacant by the death of Mr . G . B . Gregory . The court was very numerously attended .

Mr . Harry Furniss , who has been suffering from the effects of overwork , is much better , and has been ordered by his medical adviser to take a sea voyage . He left England by the Teutonic on the 30 th ult . for the United States , and will be absent about six weeks .

Bro . Dr . Wynn Westcott has been elected by the Vestry of St . Mary , Islington , to succeed the late Dr . Maymott Tidy as Medical Officer of Health , pro tem ., ol the parish . Owing to the provisions of the Public Health Acts , a permanent appointment cannot be made for some months .

The Duchess of Edinburgh , accompanied by the Princesses Victoria and Marie , arrived in London from Devonport early on Monday morning , and in the course of a few hours left Charing Cross for Darmstadt , where her only son , Prince Alfred of Edinburgh , has been lying ill since the funeral of the Grand Duke of Hesse .

His Majesty , Leopold II ., King of the Belgians , opened an Exhibition of British Art-Photography at the Cercle Artistiqtte , Brussels , on Saturday afternoon last . His Majesty was accompanied by his nephew , Prince Albert , and several of the Ministers together with a large number of the British residents in the Belgian capital were present .

Her Majesty s first-class cruiser Crescent was floated out of dock at Portsmouth on Wednesday , the ceremony of naming the vessel being very gracefully performed by Lady Elizabeth Meade , eldest daughter of Admiral the Earl of Clanwilliam , Commander-in-Chief at Portsmouth , whose recent severe attack of influenza prevented him from being present at the ceremony . The Crescent is a ship of 7700 tons , its engines are of 12 , 000 horse-power , and its complement of ofiicers and men will be about 545 .

Madame Waddington , wife of the French Ambassador , opened a sale of work at the Town Hall , Kensington , on Tuesday , in aid ofthe mission to the French in London and Great Britain , in connection with the unendowed French Reformed Evangelical Church in Bayswater . The sale remained open on Wednesday and Thursday , and having had the advantage of Royal and other patronage , we trust the result will prove beneficial to the mission interested .

The W . M . of The Abbey ( Westminster ) Lodge , No . 2030 , Bro . C . C . Piper , together with the Secretary , Bro . Shand , had an interview with the Grand Secretary , Bro . Letchworth , on the subject of a dispensation to lay the foundation-stones in Westminster of the Public Free Library and Public Baths with Masonic ceremony . The Grand Secretary , with great courtesy , explained thit there were insuperable difficulties , and that he could hold out no hope of the sanction of the M . W . G . M .

The Chairman and Committee of the Freeman's Orphan Schools gave a dinner at the Albion Tavern , Aldersgatestreet , on Monday evening , the principal guests including Bro . Lord Mayor Evans , the Lady Mayoress , the Sheriffs , Bro . Sir John B . Monckton , Alderman Ritchie , & c . The day selected happened to be the 38 th anniversary of

the foundation of the institution , which is situated at Brixton , and which in the course of its existence has educated and maintained some 800 girls and boys , at a cost of about £ 157 , 000 . In the course of the evening the Chairman presented his predecessor in oflice , Bro . Loveridge , with his portrait , in recognition of his valuable services to the charity during his term of ollice .

The promise of spring not only brings us the usual catalogues from seed growers , florists , and nurserymen , but renders their study something more seasonable and appropriate than during the past month or two of hard frosts and dreary skies . Bro . J . K . King's catalogue came to us from his noted seed farm at Cuggeshall , Essex , many weeks ago

but it needed an effort to imagine thit with such wintry surroundings we should need any use for it for an indefinite time . But we can only say with regard to this catalogue that for comprehensiveness and careful arrangement it is equal to anything we have seen . The firm is one of the oldest in the country , and its reputation is a guarantee that all they promise will be performed .

As differences of opinion have arisen as to whether the standards of weight and measure deposited in the wall of the staircase leading to the Committee Rooms of the House of Commons exactly correspond with the standard . now in use , a party of inspection consisting of the Right Hon . the Speaker , Bro . Sir Michael Hicks-Beach , Bart ., M . P .,

President of the Board of Trade , the Hon . VV . Carrington , representing the Lord Chamberlain's Department , and other officials will to-morrmv ( Saturday ) visit the House of Commons for the purpose of testing them . They will afterwards be again imbedded in the wall , where they were deposited in 1 S 53 , and whence they have only once been removed for the purpose of being tested—namely in 1 S 70 .

HULLOWAV s Ptl . i . s AS-n Ol \ TMKST .-Duriui ; piercing ; winds and execs , ivc variations of temperature everyone is more or less liab . c to internal anil external disea-a .. Throat , ch . st , liv ,-r , bowels , kidneys , and skin all sutldr m some de cree , and may he relieved hy rubbill _ in this Ointment , aided by proper doses ol the . 'ills , for administering which full directions . accompany each boin truth who masters

x ; , anyone thoroughly Holloway ' s " instructions " will , in remedying disease , exchange the labour of an hour for the profit of a lifetime . All bronchial , pulmonary , and ihroat disorders require that the Ointment should be thoroughly well rubbed upon the skin twice a day with great regularity , considerable briskness , and much persistence .

Masonic And General Tidings.

Bro . Samuel Rideal has been admitted to the Livery f the Fanmakers' Company . The Walthamstow Lodge of Instruction , No . 2192 , wj [| in future hold their meetings at the Chequers Hotel , Hi gVistreet , Walthamstow .

Bro . J . Leach Barrett , P . M . ot the Eclectic Lod ge No . 1201 , was , on Monday last , installed as First Princi pal of the Eclectic Chapter , held at Freemasons' Hall . Bro . the Duke and Duchess of Fife will leave Cape Martin before the present week is over , on a visit to Italy and will return to England at the end of the month . '

Intimation has been received by the Town Clerk of Belfast that the Government has decided to recommend her Majesty to grant the style and title of Lord Mayor to the Chief Magistrate of that city . The Princess Louise ( Marchioness of Lome ) has very graciously consented to open the new Convalescent Home which has been established at Broadstairs in connection witli the Victoria Hospital for Children , Chelsea . The ceremony will take place some time during the month of May .

The meeting for the election of candidates and other business of the Clock and Watch Makers' Asylum will be held at the Horological Institute , 35 , Northampton-square , on Monday , the nth inst . Bro . Lieut .-Col . Geo . Lambert is one of the Patrons , and Bro . 'T . Baxter the Chairman of

this deserving Charity . Bro . H . J . Restomjee , the head of the well-known mercantile house in Kurrachee , announces that he has taken his three sons into partnership , and the firm will henceforth be known as H . J . Restomjee and Co . We wish the firm under its new designation as much success as it has hitherto

achieved . The biennial festival dinner in support of the Hampstead Home Hospital and Nursing Institute , Parliament Hill-road , was held at the Hotel Metropole on Tuesday evening , under the presidency of Mr . E . Brodie Hoare , M . P ., who was well supported by Dr . Heath Strange , founder of the Charity , and others . The subscriptions amounted to £ 1050 .

Rehearsals for "The Magistrate are now in active preparation at Terry's Theatre , under the personal superintendence of Mr . A . W . Pinero , and , according to present arrangements , the production will take place on Wednesday evening , the 13 th inst ., in which case matinees will be given on the Saturday following Good Friday and on Easter Monday . The first night promises to be a very brilliant affair , and the applications for seats for that and the folloiving evenings are already very heavy .

As will be seen by our advertisement columns , Bro . James Stevens' new work , "The Evolution of Symbolic Alasonry , " is to be ready for issue on the 21 st inst . Bro . Stevens informs us of his intention to close the subscription list for the first edition ( now nearly complete ) on the nth , in order to prepare his appendix of subscribers . U p to and inclusive of that date , he can receive particulars of names ,

addresses and Masonic rank , of brethren desirous of subscribing and remitting to him at Evelyn , Catford , S . K ., thirteen pence per copy . The Electric Exhibition at the Crystal Palace still maintains its attractions . It gives a very fair idea of the present position of the industry and shows what rapid progress has been made since the last exhibition in the same building 10 years ago . Not many firms then in

existence are at this year's show , but among the few are Messrs . Woodhouse and Rawson , of 88 , Queen Victoria-street , who have greatly extended the field of their operations and are now well known all over the world . Their stall is numbered 103 , and occupies a prominent position in the north nave , near the orchestra . A very ingenious mechanical arrangement in which the initials of the firm are shown alternately in red and blue coloured lamps renders their exhibit specially noticeable .

In aid of the Building Society Sufferers' Relief Fund the brethren of Portsmouth have arranged to give a ball in the Town Hall on the igth instant ( Easter Tuesday ) . The lodges of the district have taken thc matter up very cordially , and have agreed to bear all the initial expenses , so that the entire proceeds may be handed over to the fund . A General Committee has been formed , with Bros . li . S .

Main , P . P . G . D . C , and J . Howarth , W . M . 177 G , as Hon . Secretaries , and consisting of Provincial Grand and lodge ofiicers throughout the Province of Hampshire and thc Isle of Wight . The first meeting of the Committee was held at the Freemasons' Hall , Commercial-road , on Thursday , the 24 th ult ., and was well attended . Many matters in connection with the preliminary arrangements were discussed , and tickets were issued to those present for disposal . I here __ .... _ < . _ w . > uw ••% , _ . *_ . .-jjuv-j n _ t nii / ai . pi-L . ov . ii _ ivii viMJ *« - *_ - •- t ~ lor

is already a considerable demand for tickets , the price which has been fixed at 5 s . for gentlemen , and 3 s . Od . lot ladies . The Committee determined to engage the Koyal Marine Light Infantry band for the ball , which promises W be a great success and a brilliant spectacle , the Provincial Grand Master , Bro . W . W . B . Beach , M . P ., having gran « a dispensation to brethren to wear Masonic clothing , besides giving permission for the ball to be held under the bannerol the Provincial Grand Lodge of Hampshire and the Isle <" Wight .

Bro . Brickwell , the well-known business manager at Terry ' s Theatre , has devised an ingenious plan , which ne believes will be a perfect check to the receipts of a theatre , but the working of the system will require that a programme should be presented gratis to the public . 1 he l " * is thus described : The programme has attached to it ' * perforated slips . When you pay your money at the IW- * ^ - — -- — . _« - — - _ - _•_ £ _ . _ . ¦¦ - ¦ w _ . »« t _« i __ | ' _ -J- jruwi i * m \* 9 ' - ~ j _ lirtC . sip

office you receive a programme with the perforated attached . One of these is retained by the box-office clci * > the other is detached by the checktaker . What is left is i " ordinary programme , and this , as it bears the " '' d | . j , the seat and the date , is of additional value as a rec The great beauty uf Bro . Brickwell s plan is that it is ™' advantage first of all of the audience , because it ^ jV , , lliat 1 'l'erV On * iviil ire . : _ n . M ,.. nnitrw . nr > hl . llll . f . ££ ' . SCCOU J

, because every member of the audience will take gouu ( j { to get a programme , and so the most perfect chec _ " . house will be established . The audience , in fact , c ^ itself . Bro . Uriel-well ' s ticket programme oug hl l - ai especially valuable to touring in inigers and enteri ¦ e _ who cannot carry round their own checktakers , an p | e . . quently often find themselves puzzling over the P ? J 5 jz . ing problem of a night ' s receipts in inverse ratio to of the audience .