Masonic And General Tidings

MASONIC AND GENERAL TIDINGS

The Committee of Management of the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution will hold their next monthly meeting at Freemasons' Hall on Wednesday next , the Sth instant , at 4 p . m . The regular monthly meeting of the Council ( General

Committee ) of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys will be held at Freemasons' Hall to-morrow ( Saturday ) afternoon at 3 p . m . On account of failing health , Bro . the Rev . J . Jackson Wray has resigned the pastorate of the Whitfield Tabernacle , Tottenham Court-road .

Bro . the Duke and the Duchess of Abereorn embarked on Friday , the 27 th ult ., at Dartmouth , on board the Roslin Castle for an excursion to Teneriffe . We are glad to hear that Bro . the Archbishop of York , vvho had been suffering from a severe cold , has sufficiently recovered to be able to resume his official work-, which is just now very onerous .

lt has been officially intimated to the Mayor of Derby that her Majesty will visit that town on Thursday , the 21 st May , for the purpose of laying the foundation-stone of the new Derbyshire Infirmary , vvhich is about to be erected at a cost of , £ 74 , 000 . Bro . Fred J . Homiman , of Wormwood-street , has just erected at Shrewsbury , entirely at his own cost , a handsome cabman's shelter . The inaugural ceremony took place on Monday , the 23 rd ult ., when the Mayor of the borough formally opened the shelter .

Saturday last vvas the seventh anniversary of the death of the Duke of Albany , the sad event occurring at Cannes on the 28 th March , 1 SS 4 . The Queen and the Duchess of Albany inspected the various memorials to the late Prince on the day in question .

The funeral of the late Lord Albert Charles Seymour , brother of Bro . the Marquis of Hertford , took place on Saturday last , the remains being interred in the parish churchyard of Arrow , near Alcester . Bro . the Marquis of Hertford vvas one of the mourners .

Bro . ex-Sheriff Harris has loaned to the Corporation , for exhibition in the Guildhall Library , his unique collection of war medals , mostly British . Amongst the number is a very rare medal , viz ., one of those given by George III . in 1814 , to North American Indian Chiefs "for loyalty and military service . "

The preparations for the opening of the Royal Naval Exhibition are making great progress , and it is hoped that all will be in readiness by the 2 nd May , the day appointed for the ceremony to take place . The profits are to be devoted to naval charities , and it is hoped that the Prince of Wales , if not the Queen , will preside at the inauguration .

For the first time for 160 years the distribution of the Royal Maundy took place within the precincts of Westminster Abbey . The distribution was made on Thursday , the 26 th ult ., and vvas carried out in the usual manner under the personal direction of the Lord High Almoner . A detachment of the Yeomen of the Guard was on duty on the occasion .

Bro . William Salmon , of Penllyne Court , Cowbridge , Glamorganshire , vvas 101 years of age last week , having been born in the parish of Wickham Market , Suffolk , on March 16 th , 1790 . Bro . Salmon is a J . P . and D . L . of Glamorganshire , is said to be the oldest Freemason in the kingdom , and is a member of the Royal College of Surgeons .

The Prov . Grand Master of East Lancashire , Bro . Col . Le Gendre N . Starkie , has appointed Wednesday , the Oth day of May next , as the day on vvhich he will hold his Provincial Grand Lodge at Bolton . The Provincial Grand Lodge will be opened at 2 . 30 p . m . prompt , in the Baths Assembly Rooms , Lower Bridgman-street . The banquet will be held in the Town Hall .

The new Lyceum Theatre at Ipswich was opened on Saturday last , Mr . A . W . Pinero ' s comedy , "In Chancery , " being performed by Bro . Edward ' Terry and his company before a crowded house , while Mrs . Keeley , vvho was horn in Ipswich in 1 S 06 , and made her first appearance in 1824 , when Miss Goward , in that town , vvas present , and recited some lines composed for the occasion , to the great delight of the audience .

Early this month the Prov . Grand Master of Cheshire , Bro . Lord Egerton of Tatton , will consecrate the Avondale Lodge , No . 23 S 9 , at the Town Hall , Middlewich . This will make the number of lodges in Cheshire 44 . The first W . M . of the new lodge will be Bro . John Plant , Bro . R . S . Cross , S . W ., and Bro . Peter Hancock , J . W . His lordship will be assisted by Bros . Sir Horatio Lloyd , D . P . G . M ., James Salmon , P . S . G . W ., and J . Clayton P . J . G . W ., and other Provincial Grand officers .

The approaching visit of the Queen to Derby is exciting a great deal of interest in the town and neighbourhood , and preparations are already beingarranged to give her Majesty a right loyal reception . It will be the fourth time she has visited the town , the first occasion being in August , 1 S 32 ,

when as Princess Victoria she passed through it , in company vvith her mother , the late Duchess of Kent , on her way to Chatsworth . Her second . visit was in 18 45 , when she was accompanied by the Prince Consort , and was again bound for the same seat , and her third four years later , when en route for Scotland .

In Monarchical countries , especially , the expulsion of Freemasons for not approving of Republican institutions , is a step vvhich can meet with but a very limited approval , and it characterises the wide difference which separates French Freemasonry from that of other European nations . A product of the Revolution , and coincident vvith the

emancipation of the Jews , the influence of Freemasonry in France has been mainly in the hands of persons whose interests are of a financial character . Power , when wielded by this class , is apt to be wrongly applied . It has been exercised on this occasion in a manner which most Freemasons will repudiate . —Momintr Post .

Masonic And General Tidings

The annual Amateur Art Exhibition in aid of the Parochial Mission Women Fund and the Working Ladies' Guild , will be held towards the end of May at Bath House , Piccadilly , by the kind permission of Bro . and Mrs . Henry Brassey . The annual convocation of the Metropolitan College of the Rosicrucian Society will be held at the Mark Masons ' Hall , Great Queen-street , W . C , on Thursday , the 9 th inst ., at 5 p . mT ' W . Fra . Rev . Dr . T . W . Lemon will read a contribution nn " Rosicrucianism . "

The Clothworkcrs' Company have given 1 , and the Salters' Company , £ 5 5 s . to the Day Home Society for the children of the Widowed Poor , and the Leathersellers ' Company £$ 5 s . to the London Commercial Travellers ' Benevolent Society .

We remind our readers that Bro . James Stevens will deliver a lecture on the ritual and ceremonial of Symbolic Freemasonry this ( Friday ) evening , in the Priory Lodge of Instruction , No . 1000 , at the Middleton Hall , Southendon-Sea , at 7 . 30 p . m .

The 21 st annual ball in aid of the Metropolitan and City Police Orphanage will be held at the City Terminus Hotel , Cannon-street , on Thursday next , the gth inst ., under the patronage of Bro . Lord Mayor Savory and the Lady Mayoress , the Sheriffs , and the police authorities .

The Duke of Cambridge , after his prolonged visit to Malta , Egypt , & c , & c , has returned to England , having arrived at Dover on Sunday nig ht . On Monday his Royal Hi g hness witnessed the Volunteer Manoeuvres , and the following day he resumed his official duties at the War Office .

Fully 20 , 000 visitors were present at the Crystal Palace on Good Friday to hear the grand concert provided as usual on that day for the delectation of the public . The programme vvas an admirable one , and the principal members vvere enthusiastically applauded .

Handel ' s " Messiah" was given by the Royal Choral Society in the Royal Albert Hall on Good Friday , a vast audience being present and loudly applauding the efforts of the principal singers , but especially those of Madame Albani , who took the soprano music .

" Mrs . Kean , " writes Miss Terry , in the New Review , " was my principal mistress in the most difficult art of clear articulation . 'A , E , I , O , U , my dear , ' she used to say , ' are five distinct vowels , but don't mix them all up together as if you vvere making a pudding . If you want to say " I am going on the river , " say it plainly , and don ' t tell us you are going on the rivah . ' "

Prince and Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein and their daughters have been spending Easter at Cumberland Lodge . The children of Prince and Princess Henry of Battenberg will shortly leave England for the Continent . While the Empress Frederick and the Princess Margaret of Prussia , on concluding their visit to this country , will go to Homburg .

Bro . James Terry , P . G . S . B ., and Secretary Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution , will perform the ceremonies of consecration and installation in the Hornsey Lodge of Instruction , No . 890 , at 7 p . m . on Thursday , the 16 th inst ., at the Lewisham Masonic Rooms , VVhite Hart Hotel , Highstreet , Lewisham , S . E . A large gathering of the Cralt is anticipated . Brethren are to attend in morning dress with Craft clothing .

There has been much comment in Roman Catholic circles in New York , regarding the fact that Father Sherman , a Roman Catholic priest adminstered the Last Sacraments to Lawrence Barrett , notwithstanding the fact that he was a Fret mason , and , therefore , not entitled to receive them . Father Sherman replies that Archbishop Corrigan consented to his administering the Sacraments to the dying actor , on condition that there should be no Masonic rites at the funeral .

The foundation-stone of a new Masonic Hall was laid on Wednesday , the 25 th ult ., at Wallsend . The new structure , vvhich when completed will form a distinguishing feature of this growing mid-Tyne town , is a combination of the Elizabethan and Oueen Anne styles of architecture . Bro .

Mr M . YV . Ridley , dart ., M . P ., performed the foundationstone laying ceremony . Bro . W . Hope , of North Shields and Newcastle , is the architect , and Bro . VV . T . Wear , of Howdon , has been entrusted with the contract for the erection of the edifice .

M . W . Bro . J . Ross Robeitson , Grand Master of Masons in Canada , has just added another gem to his Masonic crown by the magnificent gift of * io , ooo to the Lakeside Home , Toronto . This gift will be a perennial source of beneficence to the little children for whom the home is provided . Bro . Robertson is a personal sun in our Masonic

system , and we pray that the brilliancy of his virtues and noble deeds may bring warmth and life to the hearts of many brethren blessed with abundance of wealth , and ttut we shall live to see the precious fruits of such revivification in numerous homes for neglected children . —American Tyler .

I he annual meeting ot the shareholders of the Portsmouth Freemasons' Hall and Club Company was held on Tuesday , the 24 th ult . Bro . H . Croucncr , I . C , presided , and mo . ed the adoption of the report and balance-sheet , whicli were regarded in a satisfactory light , a dividend of live per cent , being declared . Bro . VV . Allies seconded , and the resolution was passed unanimously . The retiring

directors ( Bros . George Farney Brown , I . C , James VV . Willmott , and George Frampton ) and the retiring Auditors ( Bros . T . Pratt Wills and T . H . Casey ) vvere unanimousl y re-elected . A vote of thanks to the Chairman and directors for their services to the Committee was submitted by Bro . Beale , T . C ., seconded by Bro . Johnson , and passed , and on the motion of Bro . Miles , seconded by Bro . Willmott

a similar compliment was paid the Secretary for the admirable manner in which he discharged the duties of his office . HOLLOWAY ' S PILLS—Abscesses , Erysipelas , Piles . —Unvarying success attends all who treat tluse' diseases according to the simple printed di-cctions wrapped round each pot and box . Tney are invalua le to the young and timid , whose bashfiilness sometimes endangers life . Though apparently local , diseases of this nature essentiall

are y blood eiseases , but a litt e attention moderate perseverance , and trilling expense will enable the most didident to conduct any eise ton happy issue without exposing secret iulirmities to any one . I he Ointment checks the local in-( lamination and alleviates the throbbing pains . These directions also clearly point out when and how Holloway's Pills are to be taken , that tlieir purifying and regulating powers may assist by adjusting and strengthening the constitution .

Masonic And General Tidings

Second-class fares were abolished on the Manchester Sheffield , and Lincoln Railway from Tuesday last , excenf locally between Manchester and the neighbouring towns The first-class fares have been reduced to a uniform rate of 1 Vd . per mile .

The Duke of Cambridge , the Princess Mary Duchess and the Duke of Teck , and the Princess Victoria of Teck , have signified their intention of being present at the Mili ' Tableaux which will be given at the Royal Military 1 Academy on the 16 th and 17 th instant . j

Bro . Earl of Amherst , Provincial Grand Master of l < who vvas formerly an officer of the Coldstream Guards , ani ) wears the Crimean medal and clasps for his services at Ralaclava , Inkerman ( severely wounded ) , and Sebastopol vvas 55 years of age on Thursday , the 26 th ult . '

The Grand Master of Maine has recommended that ths 1 Grand Lodge of that jurisdiction purchase a sufficient 1 number of phonographs to supply each lodge vvith one •' These are to be filled by the Grand Lecturer , and thus nni _ formity of work assured throughout the jurisdiction ? So j says the Freemason ' s Journal . Can it be true : ~ Key . 1 stone . .

Bro . C . Edgar Towell , S . W . Doric Lodge , No . 2359 , pre . sided at a meeting of the Conservative Club at Moss Side > on the 25 th ult ., when Mr . VV . J . P . Benson delivered an 1 interesting lecture , entitled " At Home and Abroad , " illus- trated by limelight views . The lecture gave great pleasure 5 to all vvho had the privilege of being present . )

We regret to have to announce the death of Bro . Hubert ' , Joseph Leeuw , P . M . and Treasurer for many years of the Beadon Lodge , No . 619 . The melancholy event occurred i on Monday last at the worthy brother ' s residence , 28 , \ Winslade-road , Brixton . He vvas 5 6 years of age . The j funeral will take place to-morrow ( Saturday ) , at the \ Roman Catholic Cemetery , Leytonstone , at 12 . 30 .

Bro . Lord Mayor Savory received the Christ ' s Hospital boys at the Mansion House on Tuesday , and distributed among them the usual Easter gift of a guinea to each ' grecian , half a guinea to each probationer , half a crown to each monitor , and a shilling to each of the rank and file . His lordship afterwards attended divine service at Christ Church , Newgate-street , when the annual ' •Spital " sermon was preached by the Bishop of Ripon .

On Thursday , the 26 th ult ., the members of the Craigellachie Lodge ( No . 241 , S . C ) , had the honour of receiving a visit of Bros . Major Johnston of Newmill , Grand Master , and of Colonel Culbard , Depute-Master of the Province of Moray . A special meeting to receive these representatives of the Provincial Grand Lodge vvas held , when Bro . Alexander Macphcrson , R . W . M ., presided , and there was a large attendance of brethren .

Bro . Joseph Greenway , of the Harrow Lodge , No . 1310 , vvas unanimously elected Preceptor of the Manchester Lodgeof Instruction , No . 179 , last week . The Zealand energy of Bro . Greenway for the welfare of the Craftis shown by the fact that he is also Preceptor of the Covent Garden and Emblematic Lodges of Instruction , meeting at the Criterion and bt . James ' s Hall Restaurant , Piccadilly , and member of the Board of Preceptors of the Queen's Westminster Lodge .

I he Grand Master of Alabama has very properly decided that ihe Alasonic ceremonies should not be pertormed in the laying of the corner-stone of a factory , storehouse , warehouse , office building , depot building , hotel , mill house , dwelling house , storage house , market house , machine

shop , or other building of any and every description owned by private individuals , corporations , companies , societies , or other organisations , and intended for private uses and purposes , or for gain and profit to such private individuals , corporations , companies , societies , or other organisations . — Kcvstone .

I hough the weather vvas bitterly cold there was plenty of sunshine , ancl the holiday folk were not slow to avail themselves of the opportunity afforded them on Easter Monday of visiting the principal holiday resorts in and around the A'letropulis . It is estimated that Hampstead Heath was visited during the day by fully 100 , 000 people , while Epping Forest and the other open spaces were

thronged in . similar tashion . The Zoological Gardens were visited by close on 2 S , ooo , and the Natural History Museum , South Kensington , by over 10 , 700 ; while Madams Tu-siud ' s attracted 31 , 000 to inspect its treasures , and thi Crystal Palace over 75 , 000 . The railways also did a large excursion traffic , so that Bank Holidxy appears to have been a great success all round .

We regret to announce the death of Bro . Earl Granville , who expired on Monday , at 14 , South Audley-street , the town icsidence ot his brother , iiro . the Hon . F . Leveson-Gower . His lordship was born on the 1 ith May , 1 S 15 , and was , therefore , on the point of completing his 7 6 th yeaf-He had been a prominent figure in the political world for more than half a century , and had thrice occupied the

important post ot Secretary ot State for Foreign Affairs . He was initiated into Freemasonry in the Apollo University Lodge , No . 357 , Oxford , in the year 1 S 33 , when he was a student at Liirist i _ hurch , but he never seems to have taken an active part in its doings . Indeed , his life was too busy a one to admit of his having time to devote to lig hter pursuits .

The death on Monday is announced of Bro . Ed . vin l ' - xi founder of the firm ot Edwin Fox and Bousfield . fj r 0 : Fox vvas born in the year 1820 , educated at the Philolog lca School , and , after having been articled to an estate agent at the West-End , commenced business as an auctioneer and surveyor in Coleman-street , being soon afterwards joined by Mr . Bousfield , and the firm was further augeldest

mented 15 years ago by the accession of Bro . Fox ' s son as a partner . Outside the extensive business his hrm carried on , Bro . Fox paid considerable attention in y past to military pursuits , interesting himself deeply m tn Volunteer movement in its early days , and receiving '" Queen ' s commission as Captain of the Honourable Arnl ' j Company . He retired from active service some i 5 >' f *

ago . He was chairman of the Grand Junction J ™ a works Company , and a director of the Accident and ow assurance and water companies . Bro . Fox died at residence , Heatham House , Twickenham , of inflamma"' ^ of the lungs , after less than a week ' s illness , and k ^^ iy widow and four sons to mourn his loss , vvhich will be _ e felt by a large circle of friends .