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Article SPECIMENS OF SOCIETY JOURNALS. ← Page 2 of 2 Article Masonic and General Tidings. Page 1 of 1 Article Masonic and General Tidings. Page 1 of 1
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Specimens Of Society Journals.
Although not a Roman Catholic priest myself , I was once invited to take my post as such in a confessional , and by the orderly officer of the day , the confessor himself . Like most people , I have felt some prurient curiosity in my time , and one manifestation of it , sotne twelve years ago , was to embue myself—to saturate my mind— vvith the details of a w .-rk , then popular among a certain class ,
called * ' The Confessional Un . Masked . " From assiduous peiusa . 1 of this refining work then I learned all the duties of the office of a spiritual director in the Catholic Church . I happened to be residing at the time in that fine old town in Rhenish Prussia , 'lrier , or Tieves , where ttie celebrated Empress Helena , the mother of Constantine the Great , is said to have been born and to be buried , and , as I had
very little to do , I wiled away my time by masquerading in a Capuchin friar ' s cowl and gown , and deceiving some of the ignorant inhabitants of the renowned ecclesiastical city . I vvas fortunate enough to obtain from a poor Luxemburg ! in fraultin , in a low quarter of the town , some ; delicate information under the supposed seal of confession , which whetted my appetite for more . She spoke ttie Lohengrin
or Lorraine patois , but inasmuch as I am acqutinted with all languages , and every dialect of each , ever spoken on the face of the earth , it tvas exceedingly easy to understand her . I suppose she was deluded by my flannel and clothes line . I observed she looked somewhat dubiously upwards to my occipjt as I stooped to say tlie Pax Fbbiscum over her . I began to think that I was an impostor . Hi'Wevtr , when we parted , I retired to my hotel , the Rothes
Haus , and re-attiring myself in the dignified l . aiiiliments of the British snob , i . e ., a suit cf " reach-mt -downs , " at 42 s ., I adjourned to the nearest pharmacerie , where a silber groschen , invested iu white sticking plaster , a pair of compasses , and a pair of scissors enabled me to effect a more than usually good representation of the tonsure . This I clapped on ihe back of my pate , resumed my " flannels " and " cords , " and sallied forth again .
The good old priest who was deputed to perform thc " offices" in the Dom Kirche that dty ll ttl at the hour of duty an appointment to keep at " Gegcnub . r tle-m Ship Markt , No . 92 . " I do not know the establishment .
Many priests go there privately to confess the young women , of whom there always a ;> peir to IK a great number on the premises . It is probably a regitry office for domestic servants .
The aged father , however—the news was brought to my knowledge—was confined to hisiootn , too overcome with Schnapps to be able to attend .
I arranged with the venerable Sacristan , who takes snufi and knows , or affects to know , a great deal about the Holy Coat and a very little about St . Helena , or the Emperor Constantine , to go iu the confessor ' s stead .
By the by , the ancient servitor parried one of my questions about the legend of In hoc signe vincil with a conundrum , "Sare , Monsieur , Illustrious Herr , vat is ze diff ' rence between a dead Englishman and a dead Frenchman ? " For thc first and only time in my life I owned that even to me ignorance vvas passible .
Thc senile one chuckled and puked me in the ribs . " Ze von is no nvire and ze ozzer is a In mart , " was his reply to his own idiotic question . And then he chuckled again and took snufl .
He likewise took a thaler which I disbursed liberally from my pouch—not like you , dear Freddy—dieln ' t you cavil wilh the box keeper the other night whether it was a threepenny or a fourpenny piece you parted with at the T . R ., never mind where ? Sweet boy , the eye of yours truly is ever upon you .
For that thaler I had the free run of the property room of the Theatre Royal—I mean access to the vestiarum of the Cathedral of St . Helena , Tidves , on the Moselle . Be sure I did it—proper—Oh the " larx 1 " as Jce Garg-ry spells the word—What secrets were communicated to me in that confessional box—Well , there 1
I sometimes amuse myself with retailing what I heard to a select party of coniives and lady fiiends . The " leggiest" actrdsses of theT . R ., Madame Angot , and a few peers , friends of mine , sometimes do me the honour to Partake of a strawberry five o ' clock tea at my little villa at Twi gginhim on Sunday afternoons .
I never bore people with my anecdotes . I narrate a gooi one and then relegate my guesis to their sports . Tne ladies tuck up their jiipuns , and then , their superbly laced calecuns being well displayed , challenge my aristocratic guests to play leapfrog . The innocent , child-like , joyous 11
chirp of tuck j n y 0 UI . tWopenny " resounding over my 'awn on a summer Sunday afternoon is a vvholeso ne ¦ ° " ^ st against conventional propriety , a fitting rebuke to sll "aig .. t-laced Pharisaism , a deserved lesson to Philistine morality , to stiff-necked society .
I am not in Society , as it is so called , but I have oftt n amused myself by pretending that I am one of its members . If Society disclosed its secrets it would lose little worth , keeping and the world would gain little worth S quiring .
I sometimes assume the disguise of a respecttble man . One day I penetrated the innermost recesses of Belgravia in the character of "the party who had called from the company to look after the gas meter . " In this capacity I obtained a consielerable insight into the esoteric secrets of society .
I am under no obligation not to communicate them to the wirld .
The secrets Consist of a sign , token , and word . The sign , cr test , is given , when an individual pretei ds to be one of the initiate . ! , by crooking the index fineer of the right hand lo represent a note of interrogation (?) as implying doubt . This , on the part of the communicator , is accompanied by a frowning expression of countenance , and the utterance in English of the denunciatory woid
" Lying ! trie token is then communica'ed , by the assuming member , whose profession is doubted , pointing to his open mouth , and giving the second part of the word in French "Lt Bouche . " Tne emeritus , convinced , then stiikes his briast , and completes the recognition by
pronouncing the third part of the mystic abracadabra— this lime in English , "Hire ! " Thus the compound word duly given , received , and reciprocated , combining the two language ;; , most generally spoken over the surface of thc globe—for Society is one—cosmopolitan , universal— expresses " Lying ! La Bouche ! Here ! '
It was formerly considered ungentlemanl y illegitimately to obtain information aod dishonourable to imptrt the knowledge thus gained . We are far beyond those antiquarian constructions of the definition of the " grand old name of gentleman , " derived from obsolete feudal traditions .
Likewise reverence for one day in seven , " Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy , " is an exploded superstition .
Besides , we have no Sabbaths now . We keep—some e . f us affect to keep—the " first day , " as the Quakers say . Ot . Iy the Jews assume to preserve the traditions of the seventh—the day of rest . And I know the | ews—Oh , don ' t 1 ? Again , how absurd the surviving oltl prejudices about thc honour and dignity of the corporal person .
Do those prejudices linger ? I have been , as 1 have sail , occasionally mistaken for a gentlema'i , and I have in that assunxd character been kicked in Hambourg and canid in London , and have practically ridiculed the effete notion of the character by meekly turning my other cheek tn the smiter , and have superbly submitted and stiicken not again .
Mawivotm liked to be despised . I think to be personally chastised in addition is condiment adding z .-stto iht ; enjoymint . ,
If any of my readers will thus contribute to my relish for life I pledge my honour—bur that is an obsolete term , and vvith me savours of a past period , into the fieling of wliich I have never been able to enter—will , I pledge my circulation that they shall leirn no more of the little agreeable variation of the monotony of their and my existence than can be acquired from attendance on a summons at a Police Court or appearance before one of Her Majesty ' s judges in an action ( for damages ) for assault and battery .
L . L . I cannot make out what these initials mean . The second—the surname—abbre-viaiion is apparent enough , but the first L ., is it Lawrence or Lying ?—Pr . Dev .
Masonic And General Tidings.
Masonic and General Tidings .
The Earl of Carnarvon , in reply to a petition from thc members of the Era Lodge , 1423 , has given his consent for the removal of the lodge from the Island Hotel , Hampton Court , to the Albany , Twickenham , and the lodge met there on Saturday last for the first time .
SOUTHDOWN LODGE OF MARK . MASTERS , No . 164 . —The annual garden party of this lodge will be held at the Station Hotel , Hay ward's Healh , on Friday , August 29 th . The portrait of Bro . Sheriff Burt , which has been exhibited in the Royal Academy , has now been
removed for inspection by the large body of subscribers who have joined in the presentation . It is arranged that a deputation from the subscribers shall proceed to Swanage , where the presentation will be publicly nia . de—it is hoped —by the Lord Mayor , who with the Lady Mayoress will shortly be the guests of Bro . Sheriff Burt and Mrs . Burt .
The portrait of Mrs . Bur ' , which is intended for presentation by the members of that lady ' s family , will be presented at the same time . Both portraits have been painted by Mr . J . Edgar Williams . Mr . H . Rivett-Carnac has sent us a copy of his essay "On Masons' Marks from Old Buildings in the Nor h-West Provinces of India , " reprinted { torn the Iudun
Antiquary . General Cunningham recommended that Ihe stones of these edifices should be examined for such marks , but he did not give any of them in his accounts of his ruins of Sarnath or of the Bhilsa Topes . Mr . Carnac has , to a certain extent , supplied these omissions in the plate of fifty-six marks from SarnJtth and from Jaunpur which accompanies this essay , selected from many thou-
Masonic And General Tidings.
sands of similar examples , most of which are hidden , and all of which were originally concealed by the outer facing , removed now from the former structure . This subject is extremel y curious and obscure , and hardly yet studied even with regard to European buildings . No one has done more for it than Mr . Street , who , in his " Gothic Architecture in Spain , " reproduced a considerable number cf Spanish examples . —Athenceum .
THE TURNERS' COMPANY . —Tha Rev . Bro . Dr . Cox , P . G . C , vvas presented with the honorary freedom and livery of the Turners' Company on the 7 th inst ., pursuant to a resolution passed at a court of the company held at Guildhall on July 3 rd . The following is a copy of the resolution : " That the honoiary freedom and livery of the company be presented to the Rev . John Edmund Cox , Doctor of Divinity , vicar of St . Helen ' s , Bishopsgate , with
St . Martin Outwich , in recognition of his high attainments in literature , music , and aichajology , of unwearied efforts in the cause of charity , and of his long services as a clergyman in the City of London . " The proposer ( Mr . Past Master Smithers ) and seconder ( Mr . Past Master Ch arles Hutton Gregory , C . M . G . ) both highly eulogised Dr . Cox , the proposer confining himself to his public career , and the seconder to his personal worth and private character . BRITISH ARCH . EOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION . —
The meinbeis of this society started ftom ihe Star Hotel , Great Yarmouth , at nine o ' clock Wednesday , the 14 th inst ., for an excursion to Burgh Castle , the property of Sir Francis G . M . Boileau , and went thence to St . Olave ' s Priory , Suffolk , under the guidance of the owner . The former building was thoroughly examined , and its history and principal features were described . Mr . E . P . Loftus
Brock , F . S . A ., gave an account of St . Olave ' s Priory . Mr . H . E . Buxton , of Ritlon , entertained the party at his residence , and a short drive soon brought them to Herringfleet , where Colonel Leathcn joined them and assisted in an explanation of the points of antiquarian interest contained in the parish church . Proceeding towards Lowestoft a halt vvas made at St . Margaret ' s Church , on the history
and architectural features of which Mr . J . L . Clemence gave a few notes , but no other buildings were visited in the town . The archaeologists next accepted the invitation of M . J . J . Colman , M . P ., to \ isit Corton , where they were enteiUined ; and , after a cursory inspectionof the beautiful grounds , a return was made to Yarmouth . A meeting was held the same eveniuing in the Town-hall , when Mr . Charles H . Compton and Mr . Henry Prigg read papers .
The town of Barnstaple was on Tuesday en fete in recognition of the presentation to the public by Mr . W , F . Rock , a native of the town , of a beautiful park between seven and eight acres in extent . The park is pleasantly situate beside the River Taw , and is a continuation of the plot of ground known as Chanter's Green , wbich
was dedicated to the public in 186 3 . The liquidators of the West of England Bank have succeeded in selling the premises occupied by the bank in the centre of Bristol . The price first asked was £ 50 , 000 , hut they have been sold for £ 30 , 000 to the new Bristol and VVest of England Bank , which has transacted business there since its establishment in February .
THE FIRTH OI * FORTH RAILWAY BRIDGE . — The Board of Trade has given its foimal sanciion to the plans submitted to it for the erection of the great railway bridge across the Firth of Forth . The Company is bound by the Board to keep open during the progress of the work one , at least , ol the two navigable channels , to exhibit such lights and signals as the Board shall nquire , and to
undertake no temporary works without having obtained special sanction . The central spans of this great structure will be 1 so feet above high water mark . THE SOCIAL SCIENCE CONGRESS . — The following have consented to accept the presidential offices in connection wilh the Congress to be held at Manchester
from the ist to the 8 th October : —The President , thc Bishop of Manchester . Presidents of Departments : Jurisprudence , Sir Travees Twists , D . C . L ., < _ . C , F . R . S . ; Education , the Hon . Lyulph Stanley ; Health , F . S . Powell , Esq . ; Economy , the Right Hon . Lord Reay ; and Art , Sir Coutts Lindsay , Bart .
The Empress Eugenie has expressed to Col . Pemberton , 60 th Rifles , her gtatitude for the services performed by him during his recent voyage home from Natal , when he had charge of the remains of the late Prince Louis Napoleon . Her Majesty has also sent letters to the Cape thanking the officers and men of the Zulu expedition for the respect shown by all ranks to the memory of their deceased c . lnrade in arms .
The annals of the Grand Lodge of Iowa , for-1879 ( . i 6 th annual Communication ) , prepared under the skillful eye and by the ready hand of Bro . Theodore a . Parvin , the veteran Grand Secretary , are full of interest , and very handsomely issued . There are steel engraved portraits of Bros . A . ' C . Abbott , G . M ., and the late Thos . H . Benton , Jr ., Past Grand Master , and nephew and namesake of the great Missouri Senator and Statesman .
Constitutions of the Ancient Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons , containing the Charges , Regulations , E . A . Song , & c . A copy should be in thc possession of every brother , lt may be obtained for 2 s . at the office of the Ficemason , ot will be sent post free to any part of the United Kingdom on receipt of twenty-five penny stamps . Address , Publisher , 198 , Fleet-strett , London . —[ ADVT . ]
MASONIC SONGS . —A selection of Masonic Songs , set to popular airs , written by Bro . E . P . Philpots , M . D ., F . R . G . S ., isnowready , forminga handsome volume , bound in cloth , with gilt edges , 3 s . sent post free from the office of this paper on receipt of ttamps or post-office order value 3 s . 2 d . ADVT .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Specimens Of Society Journals.
Although not a Roman Catholic priest myself , I was once invited to take my post as such in a confessional , and by the orderly officer of the day , the confessor himself . Like most people , I have felt some prurient curiosity in my time , and one manifestation of it , sotne twelve years ago , was to embue myself—to saturate my mind— vvith the details of a w .-rk , then popular among a certain class ,
called * ' The Confessional Un . Masked . " From assiduous peiusa . 1 of this refining work then I learned all the duties of the office of a spiritual director in the Catholic Church . I happened to be residing at the time in that fine old town in Rhenish Prussia , 'lrier , or Tieves , where ttie celebrated Empress Helena , the mother of Constantine the Great , is said to have been born and to be buried , and , as I had
very little to do , I wiled away my time by masquerading in a Capuchin friar ' s cowl and gown , and deceiving some of the ignorant inhabitants of the renowned ecclesiastical city . I vvas fortunate enough to obtain from a poor Luxemburg ! in fraultin , in a low quarter of the town , some ; delicate information under the supposed seal of confession , which whetted my appetite for more . She spoke ttie Lohengrin
or Lorraine patois , but inasmuch as I am acqutinted with all languages , and every dialect of each , ever spoken on the face of the earth , it tvas exceedingly easy to understand her . I suppose she was deluded by my flannel and clothes line . I observed she looked somewhat dubiously upwards to my occipjt as I stooped to say tlie Pax Fbbiscum over her . I began to think that I was an impostor . Hi'Wevtr , when we parted , I retired to my hotel , the Rothes
Haus , and re-attiring myself in the dignified l . aiiiliments of the British snob , i . e ., a suit cf " reach-mt -downs , " at 42 s ., I adjourned to the nearest pharmacerie , where a silber groschen , invested iu white sticking plaster , a pair of compasses , and a pair of scissors enabled me to effect a more than usually good representation of the tonsure . This I clapped on ihe back of my pate , resumed my " flannels " and " cords , " and sallied forth again .
The good old priest who was deputed to perform thc " offices" in the Dom Kirche that dty ll ttl at the hour of duty an appointment to keep at " Gegcnub . r tle-m Ship Markt , No . 92 . " I do not know the establishment .
Many priests go there privately to confess the young women , of whom there always a ;> peir to IK a great number on the premises . It is probably a regitry office for domestic servants .
The aged father , however—the news was brought to my knowledge—was confined to hisiootn , too overcome with Schnapps to be able to attend .
I arranged with the venerable Sacristan , who takes snufi and knows , or affects to know , a great deal about the Holy Coat and a very little about St . Helena , or the Emperor Constantine , to go iu the confessor ' s stead .
By the by , the ancient servitor parried one of my questions about the legend of In hoc signe vincil with a conundrum , "Sare , Monsieur , Illustrious Herr , vat is ze diff ' rence between a dead Englishman and a dead Frenchman ? " For thc first and only time in my life I owned that even to me ignorance vvas passible .
Thc senile one chuckled and puked me in the ribs . " Ze von is no nvire and ze ozzer is a In mart , " was his reply to his own idiotic question . And then he chuckled again and took snufl .
He likewise took a thaler which I disbursed liberally from my pouch—not like you , dear Freddy—dieln ' t you cavil wilh the box keeper the other night whether it was a threepenny or a fourpenny piece you parted with at the T . R ., never mind where ? Sweet boy , the eye of yours truly is ever upon you .
For that thaler I had the free run of the property room of the Theatre Royal—I mean access to the vestiarum of the Cathedral of St . Helena , Tidves , on the Moselle . Be sure I did it—proper—Oh the " larx 1 " as Jce Garg-ry spells the word—What secrets were communicated to me in that confessional box—Well , there 1
I sometimes amuse myself with retailing what I heard to a select party of coniives and lady fiiends . The " leggiest" actrdsses of theT . R ., Madame Angot , and a few peers , friends of mine , sometimes do me the honour to Partake of a strawberry five o ' clock tea at my little villa at Twi gginhim on Sunday afternoons .
I never bore people with my anecdotes . I narrate a gooi one and then relegate my guesis to their sports . Tne ladies tuck up their jiipuns , and then , their superbly laced calecuns being well displayed , challenge my aristocratic guests to play leapfrog . The innocent , child-like , joyous 11
chirp of tuck j n y 0 UI . tWopenny " resounding over my 'awn on a summer Sunday afternoon is a vvholeso ne ¦ ° " ^ st against conventional propriety , a fitting rebuke to sll "aig .. t-laced Pharisaism , a deserved lesson to Philistine morality , to stiff-necked society .
I am not in Society , as it is so called , but I have oftt n amused myself by pretending that I am one of its members . If Society disclosed its secrets it would lose little worth , keeping and the world would gain little worth S quiring .
I sometimes assume the disguise of a respecttble man . One day I penetrated the innermost recesses of Belgravia in the character of "the party who had called from the company to look after the gas meter . " In this capacity I obtained a consielerable insight into the esoteric secrets of society .
I am under no obligation not to communicate them to the wirld .
The secrets Consist of a sign , token , and word . The sign , cr test , is given , when an individual pretei ds to be one of the initiate . ! , by crooking the index fineer of the right hand lo represent a note of interrogation (?) as implying doubt . This , on the part of the communicator , is accompanied by a frowning expression of countenance , and the utterance in English of the denunciatory woid
" Lying ! trie token is then communica'ed , by the assuming member , whose profession is doubted , pointing to his open mouth , and giving the second part of the word in French "Lt Bouche . " Tne emeritus , convinced , then stiikes his briast , and completes the recognition by
pronouncing the third part of the mystic abracadabra— this lime in English , "Hire ! " Thus the compound word duly given , received , and reciprocated , combining the two language ;; , most generally spoken over the surface of thc globe—for Society is one—cosmopolitan , universal— expresses " Lying ! La Bouche ! Here ! '
It was formerly considered ungentlemanl y illegitimately to obtain information aod dishonourable to imptrt the knowledge thus gained . We are far beyond those antiquarian constructions of the definition of the " grand old name of gentleman , " derived from obsolete feudal traditions .
Likewise reverence for one day in seven , " Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy , " is an exploded superstition .
Besides , we have no Sabbaths now . We keep—some e . f us affect to keep—the " first day , " as the Quakers say . Ot . Iy the Jews assume to preserve the traditions of the seventh—the day of rest . And I know the | ews—Oh , don ' t 1 ? Again , how absurd the surviving oltl prejudices about thc honour and dignity of the corporal person .
Do those prejudices linger ? I have been , as 1 have sail , occasionally mistaken for a gentlema'i , and I have in that assunxd character been kicked in Hambourg and canid in London , and have practically ridiculed the effete notion of the character by meekly turning my other cheek tn the smiter , and have superbly submitted and stiicken not again .
Mawivotm liked to be despised . I think to be personally chastised in addition is condiment adding z .-stto iht ; enjoymint . ,
If any of my readers will thus contribute to my relish for life I pledge my honour—bur that is an obsolete term , and vvith me savours of a past period , into the fieling of wliich I have never been able to enter—will , I pledge my circulation that they shall leirn no more of the little agreeable variation of the monotony of their and my existence than can be acquired from attendance on a summons at a Police Court or appearance before one of Her Majesty ' s judges in an action ( for damages ) for assault and battery .
L . L . I cannot make out what these initials mean . The second—the surname—abbre-viaiion is apparent enough , but the first L ., is it Lawrence or Lying ?—Pr . Dev .
Masonic And General Tidings.
Masonic and General Tidings .
The Earl of Carnarvon , in reply to a petition from thc members of the Era Lodge , 1423 , has given his consent for the removal of the lodge from the Island Hotel , Hampton Court , to the Albany , Twickenham , and the lodge met there on Saturday last for the first time .
SOUTHDOWN LODGE OF MARK . MASTERS , No . 164 . —The annual garden party of this lodge will be held at the Station Hotel , Hay ward's Healh , on Friday , August 29 th . The portrait of Bro . Sheriff Burt , which has been exhibited in the Royal Academy , has now been
removed for inspection by the large body of subscribers who have joined in the presentation . It is arranged that a deputation from the subscribers shall proceed to Swanage , where the presentation will be publicly nia . de—it is hoped —by the Lord Mayor , who with the Lady Mayoress will shortly be the guests of Bro . Sheriff Burt and Mrs . Burt .
The portrait of Mrs . Bur ' , which is intended for presentation by the members of that lady ' s family , will be presented at the same time . Both portraits have been painted by Mr . J . Edgar Williams . Mr . H . Rivett-Carnac has sent us a copy of his essay "On Masons' Marks from Old Buildings in the Nor h-West Provinces of India , " reprinted { torn the Iudun
Antiquary . General Cunningham recommended that Ihe stones of these edifices should be examined for such marks , but he did not give any of them in his accounts of his ruins of Sarnath or of the Bhilsa Topes . Mr . Carnac has , to a certain extent , supplied these omissions in the plate of fifty-six marks from SarnJtth and from Jaunpur which accompanies this essay , selected from many thou-
Masonic And General Tidings.
sands of similar examples , most of which are hidden , and all of which were originally concealed by the outer facing , removed now from the former structure . This subject is extremel y curious and obscure , and hardly yet studied even with regard to European buildings . No one has done more for it than Mr . Street , who , in his " Gothic Architecture in Spain , " reproduced a considerable number cf Spanish examples . —Athenceum .
THE TURNERS' COMPANY . —Tha Rev . Bro . Dr . Cox , P . G . C , vvas presented with the honorary freedom and livery of the Turners' Company on the 7 th inst ., pursuant to a resolution passed at a court of the company held at Guildhall on July 3 rd . The following is a copy of the resolution : " That the honoiary freedom and livery of the company be presented to the Rev . John Edmund Cox , Doctor of Divinity , vicar of St . Helen ' s , Bishopsgate , with
St . Martin Outwich , in recognition of his high attainments in literature , music , and aichajology , of unwearied efforts in the cause of charity , and of his long services as a clergyman in the City of London . " The proposer ( Mr . Past Master Smithers ) and seconder ( Mr . Past Master Ch arles Hutton Gregory , C . M . G . ) both highly eulogised Dr . Cox , the proposer confining himself to his public career , and the seconder to his personal worth and private character . BRITISH ARCH . EOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION . —
The meinbeis of this society started ftom ihe Star Hotel , Great Yarmouth , at nine o ' clock Wednesday , the 14 th inst ., for an excursion to Burgh Castle , the property of Sir Francis G . M . Boileau , and went thence to St . Olave ' s Priory , Suffolk , under the guidance of the owner . The former building was thoroughly examined , and its history and principal features were described . Mr . E . P . Loftus
Brock , F . S . A ., gave an account of St . Olave ' s Priory . Mr . H . E . Buxton , of Ritlon , entertained the party at his residence , and a short drive soon brought them to Herringfleet , where Colonel Leathcn joined them and assisted in an explanation of the points of antiquarian interest contained in the parish church . Proceeding towards Lowestoft a halt vvas made at St . Margaret ' s Church , on the history
and architectural features of which Mr . J . L . Clemence gave a few notes , but no other buildings were visited in the town . The archaeologists next accepted the invitation of M . J . J . Colman , M . P ., to \ isit Corton , where they were enteiUined ; and , after a cursory inspectionof the beautiful grounds , a return was made to Yarmouth . A meeting was held the same eveniuing in the Town-hall , when Mr . Charles H . Compton and Mr . Henry Prigg read papers .
The town of Barnstaple was on Tuesday en fete in recognition of the presentation to the public by Mr . W , F . Rock , a native of the town , of a beautiful park between seven and eight acres in extent . The park is pleasantly situate beside the River Taw , and is a continuation of the plot of ground known as Chanter's Green , wbich
was dedicated to the public in 186 3 . The liquidators of the West of England Bank have succeeded in selling the premises occupied by the bank in the centre of Bristol . The price first asked was £ 50 , 000 , hut they have been sold for £ 30 , 000 to the new Bristol and VVest of England Bank , which has transacted business there since its establishment in February .
THE FIRTH OI * FORTH RAILWAY BRIDGE . — The Board of Trade has given its foimal sanciion to the plans submitted to it for the erection of the great railway bridge across the Firth of Forth . The Company is bound by the Board to keep open during the progress of the work one , at least , ol the two navigable channels , to exhibit such lights and signals as the Board shall nquire , and to
undertake no temporary works without having obtained special sanction . The central spans of this great structure will be 1 so feet above high water mark . THE SOCIAL SCIENCE CONGRESS . — The following have consented to accept the presidential offices in connection wilh the Congress to be held at Manchester
from the ist to the 8 th October : —The President , thc Bishop of Manchester . Presidents of Departments : Jurisprudence , Sir Travees Twists , D . C . L ., < _ . C , F . R . S . ; Education , the Hon . Lyulph Stanley ; Health , F . S . Powell , Esq . ; Economy , the Right Hon . Lord Reay ; and Art , Sir Coutts Lindsay , Bart .
The Empress Eugenie has expressed to Col . Pemberton , 60 th Rifles , her gtatitude for the services performed by him during his recent voyage home from Natal , when he had charge of the remains of the late Prince Louis Napoleon . Her Majesty has also sent letters to the Cape thanking the officers and men of the Zulu expedition for the respect shown by all ranks to the memory of their deceased c . lnrade in arms .
The annals of the Grand Lodge of Iowa , for-1879 ( . i 6 th annual Communication ) , prepared under the skillful eye and by the ready hand of Bro . Theodore a . Parvin , the veteran Grand Secretary , are full of interest , and very handsomely issued . There are steel engraved portraits of Bros . A . ' C . Abbott , G . M ., and the late Thos . H . Benton , Jr ., Past Grand Master , and nephew and namesake of the great Missouri Senator and Statesman .
Constitutions of the Ancient Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons , containing the Charges , Regulations , E . A . Song , & c . A copy should be in thc possession of every brother , lt may be obtained for 2 s . at the office of the Ficemason , ot will be sent post free to any part of the United Kingdom on receipt of twenty-five penny stamps . Address , Publisher , 198 , Fleet-strett , London . —[ ADVT . ]
MASONIC SONGS . —A selection of Masonic Songs , set to popular airs , written by Bro . E . P . Philpots , M . D ., F . R . G . S ., isnowready , forminga handsome volume , bound in cloth , with gilt edges , 3 s . sent post free from the office of this paper on receipt of ttamps or post-office order value 3 s . 2 d . ADVT .