Masonic And General Tidings

MASONIC AND GENERAL TIDINGS

LADV NOTTAGE is , we regret to hear , laid up with influenza at Holly Spring , Bracknell , Berks . BRO . SIR | . BLUNIIELL' MAPLE , M . P ., has been initiated a member of the Peckham Rye Lodge of Druids . MR . foilN ' BURNS , L . C . C , M . P ., sails for home from the United States on Saturday . BRO . UNDER SHERIFF BEARD . —There is no change in the condition of Bro . Under-Sheriff Beard , who , however

continues brig ht and cheerful and bears up as well as can be expected under the circumstances . —City Press . THE LONGEVITY of the " Friends" continues . In 1 S 94 there died no fewer than 45 members between So and yo years old , nine members between 90 and ion years old , and one member aged 101 years . The deaths below 10 years old form only about 3 per cent , of the total deaths reported . AT THE WEEKLY MEETING of the Dock Board at

Liverpool on Thursday it was decided to incur an expenditure of £ 3 G , Soo to enable Atlantic liners to go alongside the landing stage instead of discharging passengers by tender ; also to provide direct railway communication between the stage and London . Liverpool would then have superior arrangements to Southampton . The present scheme is said to be only the forerunner of a larger undertaking to meet the rapid development of traffic .

THE SAVAGE CI . UH . —Bro . Alderman Treloar , the chairman for the evening , will entertain the Lord Mayor and his two sons , Mr . Alderman and Sheriff Samuel , Mr . Sheriff Hand , Sir Stuart Knill , Sir Walter Wilkin . Mr . Alderman Vauehan Morgan , Sir E . Clarke , Q . C , M . P ., Mr . Bayard ( the American Ambassador ) , Mr . H . M . Stanley , Mr . A . Diosy , and Mr . J . M . Cook as his guests at the house dinner of the Savage Club on Saturday , 2 ( 5 th instant .

WE LATELY came upon an interesting little brochure upon the origin of the honorific titles in Freemasonry . These appear to differ in various Constitutions . Under the English Constitution members of Grand Lodge are known as Most Worshipful , Right Worshipful , Very Worshipful , and Worshipful . The Grand Master and Pro Grand Master are known as M . W ., the Deputy G . M ., District and Provincial G . M . ' s and Grand Wardens , and , of course ,

Past ditto are R . VV . The Grand Chaplains , Treasurers , Registrars , Secretaries , and Presidents B . G . P . are V . W ., and Masters of private lodges are Worshipful only . Quite so , but where do the Wardens come in ? Grand Lodge is composed of some 7500 Worshipful Brethren and 4700 Wardens , and the latter are quite influential , or , at all events , quite numerous enough to claim independent

distintion . At present the Constitutions ignominiously rank them as "Brethren" along with the most recent initiates . All the same , it does not seem what title is left for them , unless all the other members of Grand Lodge move up one , and leave them t /> be called Worshipful , as in the Scotch Constitution . How would Rather Worshipful do?—Indian Masonic Review .

THE LARGE CIRCLE of friends of the late Bro . Edmund Yates , editor of the World , will be greatlv interested in the forthcoming sale of Ins library , which is to take place at Messrs . Sotheby ' s rooms about the end of the month . The books range throughout nearly every class of modern literature , and include many valuable first editions , notably those of Tennyson , 'Thackeray , Alfred Austin , Browning , Swinburne , O . VV . Holmes , VV . Irvimr , Leigh Hunt , jefferies ,

A . Lang , W . Morris , Rossetti , Albert Smith , and G . A . Sala . But undoubtedly the chief interest of the sale will be centred in the Charles Dickens relics . These comprise copies of the " Tale of Two Cities , " " The I 'n-Commercial Traveller , " and " Great Expeditions , " each having autograph inscriptions , and having been presented to Mr . Yates

by the . great author ; also a selection of the letters from Dickens to Yates , written between iSj 4 and 1 S 70 , mounted and bound in a volume ; and last , but not least , Charles Dickens' writing slope , used by him until the day of his death , and given by his executrix to Edmund Yates as his most familiar fn ' end .

MASONIC STRENGTH . —A clipping handed us a few dajs ago contaimrg the following tremendous and startling presentation ot the strength of Freemasonry : "In connection wilh the cable dispatch from Madrid it may be interesting to know that , according to ihe statistics presented duiirg the recent and latest convent or assembly of the Grand Orient , held in Paris , the Masonic strength is as follows : huiopean lodges number 7 , 900 , 14 s adherents or

brethren ; in the United States theie are 5 , S <> 5 , 320 ; in Canada and South Ameiican republics , 4 . 5 S 2 . 23 S ; in As'a and 0 < eaiica , f > 95 9 . 55 ; in Africa S 7 . SS 2 , and 29 . 717 in Cuba and Porto Rico . The total number of the Freemasons is therefore about 22 . 000 , 000 . It has increased by 533 , 140 during the last 12 years . In 1 SS 0 there were 137 0 C 5 lodges , and at present there are 141 , 385 . " That is about as ridiculous as the " cable dispatch" referred to , which

stated that thc boy King Alfonso XIII . of Spain had been enrolled as a Mason . The King Allunso is eight years old , hardly of lawful age . Just what sort of statistics were presented at the " convent" of the Grand Orient is not revealed , but certain it is they are very much out . According to statistics for 1 S 93 , in the United States and Canada there were 57 Grand Lodges , 110 7 O suboidinate lodges , with 747 , 492 members . 'The total membership in the

world is M mething over , two million , leaving about twenty million difieience between the Grand Orient and our own . These twenty million are—possibly— "adherents" or may be " unaffiliates . " TI is thing of being " big" is a big thing . —htreYorlt Dispatch . Mi : KlNit io Tin : Lmu : () . \ i : s . There is no tyranny so h .-irii lo hear as the tyranny ol parents who , without incooiiiK to he eruel , do not understand their ehildre / i lime < onimnaJli- do w <

lind a child punched simply lie-r .-iuse it i- Intlul . It dues not * eem to oecur to some parents that in nine eases nut ol ten : i ihild's irettnliiess arises from ill-henllh or trnm some temporary ailment , lint this is assuredly true , and insiead of puiii-doiii ; lheir children , parents will do well in take steps to keep them healthy and strimj ; . They will licit lind Ihis dillkult it they take care lo keep Holloway ' s Pills and Ointment always hy them . These are remedies which never fail . .

Masonic And General Tidings

"l HE FATAL CARD" was successfully produced at Palmer ' s Theatre , New York , on the 31 st ult . THE GOVERNOR AND DIRECTORS of the Bank of England and Mr . Richard Benyon have each sent a donation of ^ ' ioo to the Metropolitan Hospital , Kingsland-road . THE SUM OK £ 20 from the Clothworkers' Company has been received as a donation to the Guildhall Police-court poor-box . At West London £ 10 is acknowledged from "F . J . "

ACCIDENT INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED . —Notice is given , that interim interest on the paid capital of the company , at the rate of five per cent , per annum , for the half year ending the 31 st December , iSn . t , is now payable . Tut ' . OUEEN has appointed the following gentlemen

to be Companions of the Order of St . Michael and St . George : Colonel H . E . Colville , C . B ., Grenadier Guards , Acting Comissioner in Uganda ; Commander C . H . Robertson , K . N ., and Lieutenant G . Shadwell Carr , R . N ., for various arduous operations agaii . st the natives in the INyassaland Protectorate .

HIGHGATE ARCHWAY is to be reconstructed by the London County Council , and steps are being taken to ascertain the condition of the foundations and the nature of the soil upon which they rest . Erected in 1 S 13 , the Archway was long considered a triumph of engineering skill ; but its signilicincehas been dwarfed by recent metropolitan works , notably the Tower Bridge .

AT THE ANNUAL SUPPER of the Langthorne Lodge of Instruction , No . 1421 , held at the Angel Hotel , Bro . F . Evans , the VV . M . elect of the mother lodge , presided . He remarked upon the gratifying progress made by the lodge during the past year , it being stated by the speakers that

this marked success was very largely due to the energy of the Preceptor , Bro . J . R . Johnson . In the course of the past 12 months a Benevolent Fund has been formed in connection with the lodge , and by this means upwards of 200 guineas have been subscribed to the Masonic Charities .

BRO . THE LORD MAYOR ' SILVER WEDDING . —The Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress celebrated their silver wedding at the Mansion House on Tuesday and received a large number of congratulatory telegrams from friends and acquaintances in the City , at Nottingham ( their birthplace ) ,

and elsewhere . In addition a considerable -lumber of appropriate and interesting silver wedding gifts were received . In the evening his Lordship and the Lady Mayoress gave a private dinner party in the Long Parlour , the guests numbering about 50 .

THE MASONIC PRESS . —Thc Masonic press cannot rely upon the means of gain and sustenance that the popular press dues . The importance of the Masonic press as an institution can scarcely be over estimated . It occupies a higher and more tranquil field of journalism than that of the secular press . Its influence , however , must not be forgotten in the estimate of the social forces . Unobtrusive in

its utterances , when compared with the clamorous voices of the political newspaper , its tones , nevertheless , fall upon calmer hearts , and sink deeper into the convictions and life of society . As a medium for communication of moral and Masonic intelligence—an educator , refining and elevating —a fire-side mentor , quickening the intellect , expanding the heart , and bearing treasures to minds , the Masonic

journal wields an influence which cannot well be dispensed with , and one that no other moral force can well supply . The duty of the Mason is therefore plain . He has a duty to perform in extending the circulation and in widening the influence of the Masonic press . He should not excue

himsell from this duty . If he is a Master , or officer of the lodge , he may recommend it to the members . It he is not an officer , he can urge its claims whenever an opportunity occurs . The Fraternity should awaken to the importance of a more general and decided effort in behalt of the Masonic newspaper and Masonic literature . —N . Y . Times

Ln-E-noAT SERVICES IN 1 S 94 . —The past year , taken as a whole , was not a remaikably stormy one , but both early in the year and during the latter part , gales , storms , and devastating floods were very fiequent and disastrous . Many occasions , therefore , presented themselves calling for the help of the life-boat crews , who on no occasion were found wanting when their services were requisitioned .

Much good work was done by them in the saving of lite and property . The worst gale of the year was that of the 22 nd and 23 rd December , during which many of the lifeboat crews ail round the coast , but more particularly on the north-west and west coasts , rendered splendid service , resulting in the saving of 117 lives . Between the 1 st January and the 31 st December , 1 S 94 , the lite-boats of the

Royal National Lite-boat Institution were launched on service 39 S times , resulting in tne rescue of G 25 lives . The cost ot maintaining the Institution ' s fleet ot life-boats in thorough efficiency is increasingly heavy , and the amount received in annual subscriptions and accruing from assured

income is insufficient tor tne purpose . I'urtner help is therelore gieatly needed . Annual subscriptions and donations will be gladly received b > the Secretary , Charles Dibdin , Esq ., 14 , Jjhn-street , Adelphi , London , by any ot the Branch Honorary Secretaries , and by all the bankers in the United Kingdom .

A P . ROTHER has forwarded us a unique experience . Last August he was out in the district during the rains , and on one occasion took refuge from an exceptionally heavy burst in the hollow trunk of a tree . When , however , he tried to get out , whether the wood had swelled or he had swelled himself , he does not yet know , but he was a light fixture , livening was coming on , and the prospect of a night in the

jungle under such circumstances was sufficiently appalling ; but all his efforts to extricate himselt seemed but to wedge him the tighter . Thinking his last hour was not far oil , his past rose up before him , as we understand generally does happen under such encumstances , and e .-pecially those incidents in his past whi-h gave linn least pleasure to rellect upon . Among other things , he rellccied with regret that tor the last IS months , instead ot buying his own Copy of the

Review and pajing fur it like a man , he had been in the habit uf rcaoing the lodge copy . As he thought upon this , the recollection of it maue him feel so small lhat he extricated himsell with ease . We didn ' t know how far this brother ' s story was to be credited until we observed that as he narrated it he diew a cheque lor two yeais' subscription in advance , which fact gave it a prima facie claim to credit , and we hope the moral will not be lost on other brethren . —Indian Masonic Review .

Masonic And General Tidings

COLONEL COLVILLE , Secretary of the Newport Market Refuge and Industrial School , has written to Mr . Charles Wyndham to say that he has been unanimously elected by the committee to be its vice-president , as an acknowledgment of the great services he rendered to the institution in organising the benefit at the Garrick Theatre on the 17 th ult ., and the interest he had taken in the charity .

THERE ought to be an exhaustive inquiry into the supposed connection between oysters and typhoid fever . If only the cheap bivalves which appear on the costermongers ' barrows were concerned , the charge would be less surprising . But when we hear of City men and invalids being

attacked , it is obvious that th- ; lordly native is under suspicion . Now , it is bad enough to pay 4 d . for a mouthful of oyster , but it is worse if the mouthful may include a dose of typhoid . The oyster ' s character must be examined and , we trust , cleared . —Globe .

A NEW YEAR ' treat was provided for the invalid soldiers at the Guard ' s Hospital , Rochester-row . One of the large wards was tastefully decorated , and the entertainment took the form of an afternoon concert , arranged by the Rev . Reginald Moseley , chaplain to the Guards . The vocalists

included Lady Arthur Wellesley , the Hon . Mrs . Cavendish , Lieut . Sir A . Webster , and the chaplain . Miss Wellesley played the pianotorte , and the Kev . F . St . John Corbett evoked much merriment by his comic recitations . Altogether the venture proved most successful in banishing gloom for an hour or two from the scene of suffering .

CIGARETTE SMOKERS are a much pampered class Almost every shade of taste is provided for , and it would be difficult lor the most fastidious to complain of not being able to satisfy his taste ; but Messrs . C . Phillips and Son , the well-known manufacturers , ot 112 , Commercial-road , are evidently of the opinion that they can " go one better , "

and we must admit that for all-round excellence which is exhibited in each small detail of manutacture , we have met with nothing better than their new imperishable mouthpiece cigarette . Their speciality is a paper which at the mouthpiece is impervious to wet and does not stick to the lips .

WF . REGRET to hear of the death of Mr . Alexander Keys Moore , the editor of the Morning Post , which took place on Thursday morning . Mr . Moore , who was an Ulsterman by birth , had a distinguished career at Trinity College , Dublin , and at Oxford , where he took a First in Mods , and a First in Law . He became connected with the

Morning Post in iS 3 i , and was appointed editor on the death ot Sir William Hardman in 1590 . Of his ability , insight , and energy , his work is a sufficient proof , while his geniality and kindness of heart endeared him to all his colleagues and friends . He was only 42 , and had been in failing health for the past year .

THE "TF . LESEME " is a domestic telegraph invented by Heir Herzog , and doing duty in the New York hotels , where it is preferred to the telephone . It consists of two dials , one a receiver , placed in tne attendant ' s office of the hotel , the other in the guest ' s room ; the other , a tiansmitter , having 12 S specific messages inscribed on it , and a

pointer . Wnen the guest wants anything he presses a button and turns the pointer to the corresponding message , which is duly received by the attendant , who answers it . Telephones were found objectionable , owing chiefly to their ease ot communication with tne head office , and the use made of them by ladies to lodge complaints .

TUB RIGHT HON . CHARLES PEI . HAM VILLIERS , M . P ., who enjoys the proud position of being "Father of the House ot Commons , " entered upon his ninety-fourth year on Thursday , when he was the recipient ot numerous congratulations from a large circle of friends . Considering tne many serious illnesses from which he has suffered in recent years , the veteran member for South Wolverhampton

is in possession of excellent health , and hopes to be seen in his place on the reassembling of Parliament next month . Mr . Villiers , a statue of whom was erected in the constituency some years ago , has now represented Wolverhampton continuously since 1 S 35 , when he succeeded Mr . Fryer . The Right Honourable gentlemen spent his birthday quietly at his residence in Cadogan-place , where he was visited in the course uf the day by a number of friends and colleagues .

ITS FOUNDATION . —The foundation of Freemasonry is a belief in a Supreme Being , its great light the Holy Bible , and its crowning glory tne practice ot social and moral virtue . That it is ancient is beyond question—and honourable it must be , as tne wise and good who have from the beginning approached and learned its mysteries , halljwed its practices , and endorsed its principles in all ages ot time .

conclusively established . Its tendencies are to assist , elevate , and ennoble mankind , anj to maKe its votaries honourable , just , and charitable . If not bound together by a cement sucn as this , it > pillars wjuid nave crumbled and tottered to their base , and the whoie superstructure lung since have been a inagnili . enc ruin . Its inherent excellence ,

however , has bid denance tu the assaults of its enemies and withstood the power ot tune . Wnile other institutions have fallen beneatn tne malice of the one and submitted to tne ooluerating progress of the other , Freemasonry has survived , and still spreads her glory over the world , and is destined tu last wnile ' ¦ the earth bears a plant , or the sea rolls a wave . "—Canadian Freemason .

The Australian Freemason announces its own demise in tne following words : " It may surprise some of our readers , who have still a cherished beliet in the reality of Masonic piacttce , to hear that we have not a few , but scores of ' subscribers' who have received , and presumably read our paper lor tour years , ana have never as much as paid us the postage , and that the balance of good names

only about sulfides at the present time to pay our actual working expenses , without leaving a penny tor contingencies or lor literary remuneration , io read the petty childishness , and , we had almost said , meanness , shown 111 some ot tne letters that are sent to us when we picss these brethren to tne point by means of a draugnt or tile personal call ot an a ^ ent , would be equally a revelation

to many . And it is curious to note that the breinrcn who are so ready to solemnly aliirm that tney never ordered the paper ; that tney counieimanded the order long ago ; that they only oruered it for a year ; that they were forced into taking it by some zealous brother ; or that they do not consider it worth reading , never find these facts out when they are receiving the publication in its regular visitations , "