Masonic Hall In New Zealand.

MASONIC HALL IN NEW ZEALAND .

We recorded in our last number an account of the laying the foundation stone of a' Masonic Hall at Timaru , Canterbury , New Zealand . We regret to have to add the following account ( from the Timaru Herald ) , of its being rifled the same

evening : — "D ISGRACEFUL THEFT . —The records of a Police Court show the worst phases of human nature , show to what depths man will go to accomp lish crime , but usually there is a reverse side to the picture so presented , some

reason being generally apparent . Starvation and poverty are at times assigned , but too often drink is found to be the prima causa which has led to the filling of our gaols and reformatories . But for the crime of robbing of the foundation stone of the new Masonic Hall of its

contentsthe robber must have been actuated by the basest of motives . Poverty could hardly be assignable , and only a desire for committing the pettiest of petty thefts could have actuated the very peculiar blackguard who effected the robbery . After the ceremony of laying the stone

on Monday was completed , the workmen placed on the top of the " foundation stone" ( a piece from the Oamaru quarries ) a heavy piece of blue stone in the ordinary course of building . The two stones were found prized out of position , the cavity in the stone underneath the

foundation-stone broken into—a cover of sandstone having been on Monday well cemented in—one of the bottles it contained smashed , the other bottle taken away , and the contents of both bottles stolen . The one bottle which was removed from the old hall contained two copies of

the Timaru Herald , one of 29 th August , 1866 , and one of either the nth or 1 8 th June , 1864 , a copy of the Lyttleton Times , Press , and Oamaru Times , besides a sovereign , half-sovereign , a crown piece , a half-crown , a florin , a shilling piece , sixpence , fourpenny bit , threepenny bit ,

a penny , and a half-penny , the cash in all being £ 2 is . 8 id . The other bottle contained a copy respectively of the Timaru Herald and the South Canterbury Times , a Lyttleton Times , and a parchment setting forth the reasons for the then ceremony . The night was bright moonlight ,

and the thief or thieves must have worked at their rascally task in fear and trembling , the locality facing as it does a much frequented road . That he or they were disturbed is evidenced by a knife being left behind , with which the cement mortar had been picked out . This may eventually tell tales . We sincerely trust that it may , and

that the police may catch the perpetrator of this vile act . The law , unfortunately , does not provide a sufficiently adequate punishment , but still we trust the people will not employ Judge L ynch to adjudicate . A warrant was issued for the apprehension of ' a suspect , ' which has been acted upon , the man taken in custody and committed for trial . "

SUNDERLAND MASONIC PICNIC . —Thc sixth annual picnic of the Freemasons of Sunderland was held on Wednesday week , July 23 rd , at Gilsland . The party , which numbered over 260 , were conveyed by special train , which , after clear-¦ ng the crowded lines of rails between Sunderland

and Newcastle , travelled up the valley of the Tyne , among some of the prettiest scenery in the North of England . A section of the party went en to Corley , and inspected the beautiful grounds

attached to Corley Castle , the old church at Wetheral , which contains one of the finest pieces ° f modern sculpture in England , and other places ° f interest , returning to Gilsland to luncheon and tc * a . At Gilsland a substantial luncheon was

spread for the whole party , the chair being taken b y Bro . W . H . Ciookes , W . M . 13 S 9 , P . G . S ., ( Chairman of the Committee ) . This disposed ( 'h dancing was commenced on the croquet lawn mi d bowling green attached to the Shaws Hotel ,

and kept up with great spirit . Bro . K , ] » mphrey , W . M ., 97 , and Bro . Jas . Davison , W -M-, 97 . officiated as M . C . S . Bro . Jas . 11 Coate s , W . M ., 949 , acted as Secretary to the Committee .

Masonic Hall In New Zealand.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCURSION . —The London and Middlesex Archaeological Society recently made an excursion to Hampton Court . A saloon steamer of the Citizen Company was specially chartered for the occasion , and a numerous freight of ladies and gentlemen embarked from St . Paul ' s or

Westminster during the afternoon . Arrived at the Court , the company repaired to the Great Hall , where a general meeting of the society was held , by permission of Mr . Ayrton , to whom a hearty vote of thanks was subsequently passed . In the course of the introductory

proceedings , sympathetic mention was made of the recent death of the Bishop of Winchester , who is well-known , amongst his other pursuits , to have been partial to archaeology . The Rev . T . Hugo , a vice-president of the society , who had been president of the meeting , then took the

society in tow , and throughout the remainder of the visit acted as a most able and agreeable cicerone . He gave an account of the Manor of Hampton as described in Domesday Book , and , in a few graphic sentences , brought thc history down to the 13 th century , when the widow of

Sir Richard Gray left the estate to the Knights-Hospitallers of St . John . Mr . Hugo entertained his attentive audience with some receipts and expenditure of that remote period . The next stage in the historical narrative was to the 16 th century , when the Order leased the manor to

the famous Cardinal , who died " broken with the cares of state , " at Leicester . Wolsey was at the time of this lease Archbishop ot York , and the popular idea has been that he pulled down the old Manor-house , and constructed the palace pretty much as it now appears . Nobody disputes that he made short work of the old

Manorhouse ; but Mr . Hugo very plausibly argued that the Great Hall , as the visitors behold it in these days , was the work of Henry VIII . Mr . Hugo took his pleased company over the chapel and grounds , dilating with considerable enthusiasm upon the splendid brickwork of the eastern front

the handiwork of Sir C . Wren . Mr . W . J . Rogers , the celebrated wood carver , was present , to testify to the objects to which he was most interested , especially as to the Grinling Gibbons works , which many competent judges think he has fully equalled . A most pleasant day was

spent , and after the heat of the day , and numerous learned disquisitions , the Citizen boat , in the cool of the evening , brought back a highly delighted cargo of excursionists . It should be mentioned that Mr . Waller on tapestry , and Professor Tennant on geological topics , contributed largely to the interest of the visit .

Sheriff Bro . Sir F . Perkins is a candidate for the vacancy caused in the representation of the Ward of Cordwainer , in the Court of Aldermen , by the death of Sir David Salomons .

The Dowager Countess of Carnarvon is lying seriously ill at Pixton Park , Somersetshire , of congestion of the lungs . Her sons , Lord Carnarvon and the Hon . Alan Herbert , are with their mother .

A Memorial of the late Field-Marshal Sir George Pollock , constable of the Tower , has been p laced in Westminster Abbey . His Majesty the Shah of Persia has consented to become patron cf the British Hospital for Diseases of the Skin .

A circular has been issued from the Local Government Board to the various local authorities advising sanitary measures to ( prevent the outbreak or spread of cholera in this country .

IIOI . I . OWAV'S 1 'lI . I . S AND OlNTMEST . D . 'ingC'roUS iMarrhtva . The causes of this weakening disease leirri ^ so varimrs and ibe nature of il . salt . iek bi-in ^ ' so changeable fully accounts for the present high rate of mortality registered diarrhoea . Under Hollovvay ' s treatment the source of this complaint may be in obscurity and the success be still the same , whether the stomach , liver , larerc

or small intestines he the seat of the malady . I lis Pills judiciously taken and hi :. Oh . tment briskly rubbed over the aliU urinal wall : I est . ah . s the excited vessels and 1 emulates each errhij ; ' function , let it spun ; . ; ' whence it may . Both medicaments address themselves diiie'lly (•>produce thc exact balance hi tween sensibility and irritability , between healthy Avul morbid s . ecveUons , between natural a . ud excessive exaction . —Anvr .

Masonic Tidings.

Masonic Tidings .

THE EASTERN STAR . —The advocates of this system have now perfected their organization in such a manner as to insure its permanent existence , so as to more thoroughly accomplish the purposes for which it was established . This union which , after much consideration , has been

effected , is entitled "The Supreme Council of the Order . " It . assumes control of all grades and orders connected with it , and claims jurisdiction co-extensive with the Republic . To extend the knowled ge of this subject to all inquirers ; to form societies of ladies , being the

wives , widows , & c , of Masons , in every community ; to organize Grand Bodies out of their constituent societies , and finally to enlarge the sphere of charity and sociability by securing the countenance and aid of the ladies—these are the aims proposed in the organization of the

Supreme-Council . A committee of three is appointed to draft a constitution , and to appoint Deputies of the Supreme Council in those jurisdictions that have not yet formed chapters of the order . An adjourned meeting of the Supreme Council will be held in the city of New York at an early day

to receive the reports of the committee , and th « first regular meeting for the more perfect organization will be held in New Orieans on the Monday preceding the convocation of thc Grand Encampment of the United States , December , 1874 . —New York Dispatch .

Dr . Albert G . Mnckey , 33 , in his last journalistic enterprise , has failed of that support from the Fraternity to which his great ability and transcendant talents entitle him . In all the walks of Masonry , as an historian , author , commentator and ritualist , he has few peers ; his works

are regarded as text books , and his opinions upon questions of Masonic jurisprudence are universally accepted . He needs no greater monument to his genius and Masonic life than the volumes which will live after him ; then ( if possible ) to be more hi ghly prized than now . Hence it seems passing strange that in this progressive

age , the National Freemason should languish for support and maintenance among the Craft , that the diffusion of esoteric intelligence which it imparts should be interrupted , and that thc Pierian spring for whose water we have so often thirsted , should cease its refreshing tribute . — New York Dispatch .

BIIH . IUAL REVISION . —The New Testament Company of Revisers assembled on Tuesday , the 15 th ult ., in the Jerusalem Chamber , for their thirty-second session . 'The liishop of Gloucester and Bristol presided . The other members present were : —Archbishop of Dublin , the Bishop of St . Andrews , the Dean of Rochester , the

Dean of Westminster , Canon Lightfoot , Archdeacon Lee , thc Prolocutor , Professor Milligan , Professor Moulton , Professor Newth , Professor Roberts , Dr . Brown , Dr . Vance Smith , Dr . Scrivener , Mr . Hurt , and Mr . Humphry . The company proceeded to the revision of the 191 I 1 chapter of the Acts of the Apostles .

Tin-: RESTORATION OF KIRKSTALL ABBEY . — Sir Gilbert Scott , R . A ., has just completed a valuable contribution to archaeological literature in a report to Colonel Akroyd , M . P ., F-S . A . and a committee of gentlemen formed for the purchase and partial restoration of Kirkstall

Abbey , near Leeds . Sir Gilbert ' s services had been called in to make '' a careful survey of the ruins of the abbey church , with a view to forming an opinion as to the practicability an . I cost of bringing it back to a state fitted to its sacred uses . " T'Jio t ' ohl is estimated at ^'^ 4 250 .

The Lord Mayor is to be entertained at a grand banquet at York , as a n ccgnition ol' his hospitality to the mayors of the kingdom at the Mansion House I ' l'O-ntly . The various mayors have

readily fallen in with thc proposal , and it is anticipated that the gal lu ring will be nearly as large as was that at the Mansion I louse , which was notable as u demousttatiuu iu favour of thc great principle of municipal government .