Festival Of The Clarence Lodge Of Instruction, No. 263.

Following the toasts of " The Oueen and the Craft" and " The M . W . G . M , " Bro . SUDLOW submitted the toast of "TheGrandOfficers , Present and Past , " in fitting terms , and remarked that for the moment he would forget himself as one of that honourable body , and as there was only one other present ( Bro . Hy . Sadler ) , he would confine his remarks principally to him , [ for Bro . Sadler was a most worthy Mason , so well informed on most matters Masonic that his opinion was one

always worth obtaining on subjects affecting the Craft . He was a founder , in fact the prime mover in organising the Clarence Lodge of Instruction . His attendance at that lodge was very frequent . He had on more than one occasion given most interesting and instructive lectures and addresses in the lodge , and lastly Bro . Sadler was , he knew , so high in the esteem of the brethren present , that he had every pleasure in coupling Bro . Sadler ' s name with the toast of

the Grand Officers of the United Grand Lodge of England . Bro . SADLER , in response , stated that he should have preferred some other Grand Officers had been present to respond tothe toast , on behalf of that important body of brethren , who were always ready to lend their presence and assistance at Masonic gatherings where the same could be beneficial . He heartily thanked the brethren for the way in which the toast had been received and supported by

them . The next toast , distinguised by the Chairman as the toast of the evening , was " Continued Success to the Clarence Lodge of Instruction . " Bro . SUDLOW had a high opinion of that lodge ; its work and management were as they should be ; it followed faithfully the teaching extended at the Emulation Lodgeof Improvement ; it possessed members of an enquiring and thoughtful turn of mind , who went

deeper into Masonry than was customary in the majority of similarly chartered institutions . All this could be more easily understood when he noticed who were the officers and Committee of the lodge , for in Bro . Baker they had an earnest , hard-working , painstaking Secretary ; Bro . H . S . Wellcome , who , though in America , was , without doubt , in spirit in the midst of that gathering , they ' possessed a Treasurer who was one of the most ardent and thorough

Masons that he knew , and in Bro . Kirby they had a Preceptor who would ever be , as he had always been , not only ready with corrections when they were necessary , but would promote the extending of the brotherly affection which existed so largely among the brethren of the Clarence Lodge , as well as to extend the learning of the ceremonies , it being so essential they should be kept up to the high standard-perfection . The lodge had existed barely four

years , and there were the names of 190 members on the roll . It met all the year round , and its weekly meetings were well attended . He had extreme pleasure in proposing that toast , and coupling with it the name of Bro . Kirby . Responding to the toast , Bro . KIRBY said that such portion of the success of the Clarence Lodge as had been attributed to his methods and efforts he was very delighted to acknowledge on that particular occasion , was as much

due to the worshipful brother presiding as himself . It was in Bro . Sudlow that he found one whom he believed to be an ideal Mason , he recognised in him the brother most perfect in the working of the ceremonies , being at the present time the most prominent Past Master at the Emulation Lodge of Improvement ; it was to him that Bro . Kirby was indebted for whatever knowledge he had of the Masonic ceremonies j he was glad of that opportunity of

acknowledging that indebtedness and directing thc credit where it was due . Such numerous , in fact , unlimited , kind remarks as had been made that evening represented the lubricant which made the wheels of the machinery of their work spin round smoothly and right speedily . In conclusion of his thanks for the kindness with which the toast had been received , he hoped the result of that highly successful festival would be the giving of renewed impetus to their lodge ,

which he hoped would perform such useful work during the year to come as to enable them 12 months hence to look back and recognise a continued progress and increased success attending its assistance . Bro . HENKY SADLER proposed "The Health of the President . " He believed that in Bro . Sudlow they ha 1 secured not only a most able and worth y brother as Chairman , but one who held special qualifications which rendered

him , perhaps , the most excellent Chairman for a meeting of that kind that could possibly be found . His first duty would be to thank Bro . Sudlow for keeping his engagement and presiding that evening , as owing to a severe indisposition , hc had practically left a sick room to keep his . promise that night . Bro . Sudlow ' s merits and virtues were so wellknown and universally acknowledged that it required no words of his to recommend that toast to the special

attention of thebrethren . The toast was accepted with enthusiasm , and completed with musical honours . Bro . SUDLOW replied briefly , thanking the brethren for their very kind reception of his name , and assuring them of the pKa *> ure it gave him to occupy the post of Chairman . He had , when approached with the

invitation , suggested that another brother be asked to preside , as he had occupied the head of the table at each previous Itstival , but he was glad to once more be in that position , as this w « s a record night in the annals of the lodge , inasmuch as it was the first occasion on which work had been dene , the fonner festivals having been dinners only , owing to the fact that tor want of convenient rooms work could not be included in the programme .

The toast of "lhe Visitors" was given , and a hearty welcome extended to all of them . Responses weie made by Bro . DUDLEY ROLLS , P . M . 10 S Bro . VV . G . KENTISH , P . M . ( Sec . of Emulation Lodge of Improvement ) , and Bro . VV . A . SCURRUI , P . M . " lhe Bank of England Lodge , the Parent of the Lodge if Instruction , " was next toasted , and in the absence of the W . M , who was unable to be present , Bro . F . T . RUSHTON ,

S . W , No . 263 , icplied , saying how glad the Bank of England Lodge was to have attached to it so popular and well behaved a lodge of instruction as the Clarence . During the evening recitations , and vocal ami instrumental music weie effectively rendered by various members . The Tjler ' s toast , at an advanced hour , brought a most successful and enjoyable festival to a close .

Bro . Lord Herschell ( Lord Chancellor ) and Lady Herschell , Mr . H . Asquith , M . P , and Mr . TI . H . Fowler , M . P , visited Windsor Castle on Monday evening , and had the honour of being included in her Majesty's dinner party .

Christmas And New Year Holiday Arrangements.

CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR HOLIDAY ARRANGEMENTS .

THE LONDON AND NORTH WESTERN RAILWAY COMPANY . The London and North Western Company announce that the ticket offices at Euston , Broad-street , Kensington , and Willesden Junction will be open throughout the day ,

from Monday , December iSth , to Saturday , December 23 rd inclusive , so that passengers wishing to obtain tickets for any destination on the London and North Western Railway can do so at any time of the day prior to the starting of the train . Tickets , dated to suit the convenience of passengers , can be obtained at any time ( Sundays and Bank Holi Jays excepted ) at the following Town Receiving Offices of the

Company : Cross Keys , 1 , Wood-street , Cheapside , E . C . ; 15 , Queen-street Cheapside , E . C . ; 22 , Aldersgate-street , E . C . ; 8 and 9 , Clerkenwell Green , E . C . ; Swan-with-Two-Necks , 65 , Gresham-street , E . C . ; 30 , West Smithfield , E . C . ; Bolt-in-Tun , 64 , Fleet-street , E . C . ; Palmer's , 79 , Knightrider-street , E . C ; Spread Eagle , 3 , Whittington-avenue , Leadenhall Market , E . C ; 13 , Eastcheap ,

E . C ; 11 ( 0 , Holborn , E . C ; George and Blue Boar , 2 S 5 , High Holborn , W . C . ; Atlas Office , 167 , Tottenham Courtroad , W . C . ; Golden Cross , Charing Cross , W . C . ; 70 , St . Martin ' s-lane , W . C . ; 43 , New JOxford-street , W . C . ; 3 , James-street , Covent Garden , W . C . ; Universal Office , Spread Eagle , Piccadilly Circus , W . ; 34 , Parliamentstreet , Westminster , S . W . ; Hotel Windsor ,

Victoriastreet , S . W . ; Griffin ' s Green Man and Still , 241 , Oxfordstreet , W . ; 496 , Oxford-street , W . ; 231 , Edgwareroad , W . ; Lion , 10 S , New Bond-street , VV . ; 33 , Hereford-road , Bayswater , W . ; 34 , Albert-gate , Knightsbridge , S . W . ; 33 , High-street , Kensington , W . j 65 , Aldgate , E . ; Royal Albert and Victoria Docks Canning Town Goods Station , 41 , Barking-road , E . ; 233 and 234 ,

Blacklnarsroad , S . E . ; 117 , High-street , Borough , S . E . ; Surrey Railway Office , 13 S , Newington Causeway , S . E . ; 194 , Westminster Bridge-road , S . E . ; "Angel , " Islington ; 5 , Pentonville-road , N . ; L . B . & S . C . Olfice , S , Grand Hotel Buildings , Charing Cross . Tickets can also be obtained at Gaze and Son ' s Tourist Offices , 142 , Strand , W . C ; 4 , Northumberland Avenue ; and iS , Westbourne

Grove , W . ; and at the Army and Navy Co-operative Society ' s Stores , 105 , Victoria-street , Westminster , S . W . The ordinary service of express and mail trains will be supplemented by additional express trains as named below : —On Saturday , December 23 rd , a special train will leave Euston Station at 2 . 30 p . m . for Coventry , Birmingham , Wolverhampton , & c . Passengers for those districts

will not be conveyed by the 2 . 10 p . m . express from Euston on that date . A special train will leave Willesden Junction at 2 . 55 ( p . m . for Bletchley , Wolverton , Rugby , principal stations on the Trent Valley Line , and Stafford , in advance of the 2 . 45 p . m . ordinary train from London ( Euston ) . The 4 . 30 p . m . Euston to Birmingham , will be divided—the first portion , which will run express to

Coventry and Birmingham , will leave Euston at 4 . 25 p . m . ; the second portion of the train will leave Euston at 4 . 30 p . m . as usual , and convey passengers for Northampton , Market Harboro' , Wellingboro ' , Rugby , Coventry , Birmingham , Walsall , Dudley , and Wolverhampton . The night Irish mail , due to leave Euston 8 . 20 p . m . will not leave until 9 . 5 p . m .

Passengers from Birmingham , Liverpool , and Manchester , for Holyhead and Ireland , will leave at the usual hours . The mail steamer for Kingstown will not leave Holyhead until the passengers from Ijondon are on board . The 12 . 0 night train from London ( Euston ) , due at Warrington at 5 . 15 a . m . on Sunday , December 24 th , will beextended from Warrington to Kendal and Carlisle , as on week days . On

Christmas Day a special train will leave Euston at G . 15 a . m . for Northampton , Rugby , Birmingham , Stafford , Crewe , Manchester , Liverpool , Carlisle , Edinburgh , Glasgow , & c . The ordinary Sunday service of trains will be run . On Bank Holiday , Tuesday , December 20 th , the express trains usually leaving London ( Euston ) at 12 . 0 noon and 4 . 0 p . m . will not be run , passengers will be conveyed by the 12 . 10

p . m . and 4 10 p . m . trains respectively . The 4 . 30 p . m . London ( Euston ) to Birmingham and Wolverhampton will also be discontinued , and passengers will be conveyed by the 5 . 0 p . m . train , except those for Market Harboro ' , Melton Mowbray , Nottingham , Wellingboro' , & c , who will travel by the 3 . 15 p . m . train from Euston . Numerous

residential trains will not run , particulars of which can be ascertained on reference to the company's local notices . The up and down dining saloons between London , Liverpool , and Manchester will not be run on Bank Holiday , but the corridor dining car trains between London and Edinburgh and Glasgow will be run as usual .

GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY COMPANY . The Great Western Railway Company issue tickets of all classes at the following City and West-end offices : 193 and 407 , Oxford-street , 23 , New Oxford-street ; Holborn Circus ; 29 , Charing Cross ; 17 , Urompton-road ; 5 , Arthu -street East , London Bridge ; 82 , Queen Victoriastreet ; 269 , Strand ; 43 and 44 Crutched Friars ; 26 ,

, Regent-street ; 67 , Gresham-street ; 4 , Cheapside ; 181 , Tottenham Court-road ; Gloucester Mansions , Cambridge Circus , Shaftesbury Avenue ; The _ Piazza , Covent Garden Market ; and the L . B . and S . C . Company's Booking office ( under Grand Hotel ) , Trafalgar Squire . This arrangement cannot fail to be a boon to those travellers who desire to avoid the trouble of obtaining a

ticket at a crowded railway station . The booking office at the Paddington Station will be open for the issue of tickets the whole of each day during the week preceding Christmas Day . Ordinary tickets obtained in London between December iSth and 23 rd will be available for use on any day between and including those days . Cheap thirdclass tickets at reduced fares will be issued from London to the Veovil and Weymouth districts , to staiions in the VVest of England , and to Guernsey

and Jersey ; similar tickets will also be issued from those districts to London ( except the Channel Islands ) . In older to meet the extraordinary demands upon the Company's resources occasioned by the enormous parcels traffic despatched both from and to London at Christmas time , special fast trains carrying parcels only , and calling at the principal intermediate stations will run between London and Plymouth , Birkenhead , Worcester and New Milford . On Saturday , December 23 rd , the 1 . 15 and 5 . 0

Christmas And New Year Holiday Arrangements.

p . m . trains from Paddington to Plymouth will be extended to Falmouth and Penzance ; and the 6 . 20 p . m . train from Paddington to Bristol will run to Exeter . A special train will leave Paddington at 10 . 0 p . m . for New Milford , and will call at the same stations as the 9 . 15 p . m . ordinary train , and a special express to the West of England will depart at 11 . 50 p . m . ( Midnight ) . The usual Sunday

service of trains will be run on Christmas Day , but for the convenience of persons who are unable to leave town before the morning of Sunday , December 24 th or Christmas Day , the 5 . 30 a . m . train from Paddington will run on both those days as on week days to Oxford , Bristol , Weston-Super-Mare , Worcester , Banbury , Leamington , Birmingham , Dudley and Wolverhampton .

The Great Northern Railway Company announce that on the nights of Fridays , December 22 nd and 29 th , cheap excursions will leave London ( Victoria , L . C . and D , Moorgate , King ' s Cross , & c . ) for Newcastle , Berwick , Edinburgh , Glasgow , Stirling , Perth , Dundee , Montrose , Aberbeen , and other stations in Scotland . Passengers by the

GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY COMPANY .

excursion on 22 nd return on Tuesday , 26 th , or Saturday , 30 th December , and those by the excursion on 29 th December , return on Wednesday , 3 rd , or on Friday , 5 th January . Tickets at a single fare for the double journey will also be issued by these excursions to places named , available for return on any day within eight days , including days of issue and return . December 23 rd . additional trains will be run

to meet requirements of traffic . The 10 . 40 p . m . express from King ' s Cross , which does not usually run beyond Berwick on Saturday nights , will on December 23 rd be run through to Edinburgh , and bedue in Edinburgh at 10 . 15 a . rn . on December 24 th . A special express will leave London ( King ' s Cross ) at 12 . 0 midnight on December 23 rd , for Welwyn , Stevenage , Hitchin , Biggleswade , Sandy , St .

Neots , Huntingdon , Peterboro' , Spalding , Boston , Grimsby , Grantham , Lincoln , Nottingham , Newark , Retford , Doncaster , Wakefield , Leeds , Bradford , Halifax , Selby , York , Scarboro ' , Whitby , Darlington , Newcastle , Shields , Sunderland , Berwick , & c Christmas Day , the trains will run as on Sundays , except that the 5 . 15 a . m . express from King's Cross will be run to Peterboro ' , Bourne , Stamford ,

Grantham , Lincoln , Nottingham , Doncaster , Wakefield , Leeds , Bradford and Halifax , stopping at the intermediate stations at which it ordinarily calls , and will be continued to York , Newcastle , Edinburgh , Glasgow , Perth , Aberdeen , & c . A special express conveying parcels only will leave London ( King's Cross ) at 9 . 55 p . m . on December 20 th , 2 ist and 22 nd for Lynn , Norwich , Yarmouth , Nottingham ,

Melton Mowbray , Leicester , Derby , Burton , Lincoln , Sheffield , Manchester , Liverpool , Wakefield , Leeds , Bradford , Keighley , Halifax , York , Hull , Newcastle , and all places in the North of England and Scotland . To prevent inconvenience from crowding at the Company ' s principal terminal station , King's Cross , tickets , dated in advance , will be issued at King's Cross ( G . N . R . ) , Victoria ,

( L . C . and D . ) , Ludgate Hill , Moorgate , Aldersgate , Farrington and Finsbury Park stations , and at the following ticket offices : 90 , " ( Tottenham Court-road ; 2 S 5 , Oxford-street ; "Star" Oflice , 13 S , Victoria-street , Pimlico , S . VV , ; 139 and 141 , Brompton-road , S . W . ; Albert Gate Office , 1 , William-street , Lowndes-square , W . j 1 Cg , Edgware-road j Royal Oak Oflice j 0 ,

Porchester-road , Westbourne Grove j Cambridge Circus , Shaftesbury Avenue j 32 S , Strand ; 29 , Bow-street , Covent Garden ; " Bee Hive , " Whitecross-street ; 43 and 44 , Crutched Friars j So , Bishopsgate-street Without ; Charles-street , Farringdon-street ; 230 , Essex-road , Islington ; 264 , High Holborn ; 16 , Fish-street Hill ; 75 , High-street , Borough ; 230 , High-street , Borough ; " George Inn , " Borough ; 44 , Bread-street ,

Cannonstreet ; ^ 1 , Whittington Avenue , Leadenhall-street ; 3 , King Edward-street , Newgate-street ; 22 , Wood-street ; 217 , Old-street ; 190 A , Westminster Bridge-road ; 7 , Beresford-square , South Woolwich j Royal Victoria and Albert Docks ( G . N . Co . 's Offices ) j at the office of Messrs .

Swan and Leach , 3 , Charing Cross , and 32 , Piccadilly Circus j at the Army and Navy Stores , 105 , Victoria-street , S . W . j at William Whiteley ' s , 151 , Oueen ' s-road , Bayswater , W . j of Messrs . Ernu , Peron , and Co ., 98 and 100 , Queen Victoria-street j and of A . Jakins and Co ., 99 , Leadenhall-street ( Leadenhall House ) , E . C , j and 30 , Silver-street , Notting Hill Gate , W .

MIDLAND RAILWAY COMPANY . Christmas Holiday Railway Arrangements . —Early Issue of Tickets . —The iViidland Railway Company , to prevent inconvenience ^ and crowding , have arranged for the booking offices at St . Pancras and Moorgate-street stations to be open for the issue of tickets all day on Thursday , Friday , and Saturday , December 21 st , 22 nd , and 23 rd , and tickets

to all principal stations on the Midland Railway can be obtained beforehand at any of their offices , a list of which is given in our advertisement columns . The tickets obtained at these offices will be available from St . Pancras Station , and will be issued at the same fares as charged at that station , and dated to suit the convenience of passengers . Cheap excursion trains will be run from London ( St .

Pancras ) to Carlisle , Edinburgh , Glasgow , Greenock , Dundee , Anerdeen , & c , and from principal provincial stations to Carlisle , Edinburgh , Glasgow , & c , on Fridays , December 22 nd , for four or eight days , and December 29 th for five or seven days , by which return tickets will be issued at a single fare for the double Journey . The single fare tickets issued on December 22 nd will be available lor returning on any

day up to and including December 30 th , and single fare tickets taken on December 29 th will be available for returning any day up to and including January 5 th , 18 94 . Cheap excursion tickets will be issued from London ( St . Pancras ) and principal provincial stations on Wednesday , December 20 th , to Dublin , via Morecambe , available for returning on December 23 rd , 28 th , 30 th , January 2 nd and

4 th ; on Thursday , December 21 st , to Dublin , via Liverpool , available for iG days ; on Friday , December 22 nd , to Belfast , Londonderry , and Portrush , via Barrow , available for n ") days , and o .-, Saturday , December 23 rd , to Londonderry , via Alorecambe , available fur returning December 28 th , or January ist or 4 th . On Christinas Eve the pressure of traffic will be relieved by the running of duplicate trains from St . Pancras as circumstances may require . * Lodge St . John , No . 173 , Greenock , proposes to build a new Masonic Temple .