The Late Duke Of Clarence And Avondale.

THE LATE DUKE OF CLARENCE AND AVONDALE .

No one who traversed London on Wednesday can have doubted for a single moment the universality , as well as the depth , ofthe national mourning for the death of the Duke of Clarence and Avondale . From north to south , from east to west , in the private as well as in the public thoroughfares , there were patent in all directions the outward and visible signs of woe . In private

houses the blinds were half drawn , while the shops were either wholly or partially closed . On all sides were exhibited announcements that this " establishment , " this theatre , that place of entertainment would be closed from a certain hour , or for a certain time , in consequence of the death of the lamented Duke . Those

whose avocations compelled them to be abroad were as dejected in mind as they were sombre in their dress . Englishmen , as a rule , are not demonstrative , but the grief which is felt by all classes of her Majesty ' s subjects at the loss of her beloved grandson was not to be denied its full expression . Moreover , the circumstances attending the death of the

young Duke were . so appalling . But the other day , the betrothed of a fair young English Princess , and looking forward to his marriage with her in the stately Chapel of St . George ' s , Windsor , where his illustrious parents before him had been married some 29 years ago . Then the scene changes , almost without a warning , to the death

chamber ; the young Prince passing peacefully to his last rest , amid the hardly controllable grief of his parents , his brother and sisters , and her who was to have been his bride . A catastrophe so terrible as this may well have stirred the English people from their ordinary stolidity . Never before has such a fate befallen so promising a scion

of our Royal House . And then as the day wore on and the hour approaching when the mortal remains of his Ro 3 'aI Highness were to be consigned to the tomb , the streets in the neighbourhood of St . Paul ' s and Westminster Abbey , and other principal churches and chapels in the huge city were thronged with people eager to take part in the funeral service to he held in

his memory . But it was not London alone which was thus cast down with grief . In every city and town throughout the United Kingdom , everywhere throughout the British Empire , and wherever else any number of English folk

could congregate together , there true sympathy was shown with the Queen , the Prince and Princess of Wales , the Princess Victoria of Teck , and the other branches of the Royal Family , and due honour paid to the memory of their deceased relative .

In the Craft of Masonry the sympathy of the brethren , if possible , is still more intense . The late illustrious Duke had been one of us for nearly seven years , and throughout his Masonic career had evinced a great interest in whatever concerned our Society , and more especially in what was calculated to promote its interests . In his own especial Province of Berkshire ,

which had been looking forward to a long and happy continuance of his rule , and which was preparing to present him and the Princess May with an appropriate wedding gift , the loss is acutely felt ; while in London , . Norfolk , Cambridgeshire , and wherever else his Royal Highness had been brought into contact with the lodges and brethren , the sorrow is almost

equally conspicuous . The notices issued from the Grand Secretary's office and from that of the Mark Grand Secretary for three months mourning and for especial meetings to be held at an early date at which resolutions of condolence with her Majesty , the Prince and Princess of Wales , and the K ° yal Family generally are published elsewhere . Nor is this feeling

confined to England only . The long list of lodges in the colonies and under forei gn jurisdictions which have telegraphed to our Grand Lodge their sympath y with our illustrious Grand Master is appended and bears eloquent testimony to this feeling . There is , indeed , no section or branch of Masonry which is not actuated by the feelings , which during the last week

have been exhibited both at home and abroad , nor have we the smallest shadow of a doubt that this universal sorrow will prove the surest palliative to the grief which for the moment bears down the members of the Royal House of England . As regards the funeral arrangements , they were carried out strictly in

accordance with the programme as laid down by the officers of the Lord Chamberlain ' s department , and approved by her Majesty and the Prince of Wales . At Sandringham a short service was held in the secluded little church of St . lary Magdalene , which lies within the Home Park , and whither the remains

p . e Duke had been previously carried . At this there were present the nncc and Princess of Wales , Prince George , and his sisters , the Princess Mf * ry ( Duchess of Teck ) and the Princess Victoria of Teck , and the " ¦ embers of the Royal Household . The officiating clergy were the Rev . F . A * J- Hervey and the Hon . and Rev . L . F . Tyrwhitt , and when this short

The Late Duke Of Clarence And Avondale.

service was over the gun-carriage of the F Batter } ' , Royal Horse Artillery , was brought to the lich gate , and the oaken coffin draped with the Union Jack was reverently borne from the church and made fast over the 12 -pounder by selected employes on the estate , the church bell tolling the while . The procession then moved slowly forward on its march lo the Wolferton

railway station , a file of Norfolk constabulary taking the lead , followed by the detachment of Royal Horse Artillery , and then the guncarriage with the coffin , on which lay the Duke's busby , sword , and sabretache , together with two fresh floral crosses and a large wreath of violets , which had been placed there by the Princess of Wales . Behind the body

walked the Prince of Wales , in morning dress , as chief mourner , supported on the right by Bro . the Duke of Fife , and on his left by the Comptroller of his household , Sir Dighton Probyn . A little further on were five Royal carriages , in the first of which were the Princess of Wales , the Duchess of Fife , and Prince George ; the Princess Victoria of Wales , the Princess

Mary Duchess of Teck , and the Princess May being in the second ; and the Princess Maud of Wales and Miss Knollys in the third . At Wolferton Station were drawn up the Mayor and Corporation of King ' s Lynn , the officers and members of the Philanthropic Lodge , No . 107 , and a detachment of the 3 rd Volunteer Battalion of the Norfolk Regiment , under the

command of Captain Lloyd Payne ; and on the arrival of the procession , the body was removed toamortuarycarappropriately fitted . and the membersof the Royal Family and the household having taken their seats the train moved off amid the respectful salutations of the crowd which had gathered together . At Gunnersbury a halt was called in order that the necessary change might

be made to the London and South-Western system , Messrs . Charles Scottes and Verrinder taking over the charge hitherto devolving on the officials of the Great Eastern . At Datchet the train arrived almost to the minute , and the Prince of Wales , in his uniform as Colonel of the toth Hussars , and Prince George of Wales in naval uniform , were silently greeted by the

Dukes of Edinburgh and Connaught , Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar , and Prince Henry of Battenberg . Here the body was removed from the car to ' the carriage , and the wreath sent by the Oueen placed on the coffin . The procession then moved from the station , the late Duke's charger , caprisoned in black , and with the boots reversed , being immediately behind the

guncarriage and then the Prince of Wales as chief mourner , supported right and left by Prince George and the Duke of Fife , followed by the Dukes of Edinburgh and Connaught , the Duke of Teck , Prince Henry of Battenberg , the Marquis of Lome , the Duke of Oporto ( representing the King of Portugal ) , the Grand Duke Alexis of Russia ( representing the Czar ) , the

Crown Prince of Denmark ( representing the King of Denmark ) , Prince FVederick Leopold of Prussia ( representing the German Emperor ) , Prince Albert of Schleswig-Holstein , Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar , Prince Leiningen , the Princes Adolphus , Alexander , and Francis of Teck , Duke Albert of Wurtcmberg ( representing the King of Wurtembcrg ) , Prince

Philip of Saxe-Coburg ( representing the King of the Belgians ) , the representatives of the Empress Frederick of Germany and other members of the Royal Family , the rear being brought up by Life Guards . The Princess of Wales and the other ladies who had come from Sandringham made their way to St . George ' s Chapel in two of the Royal carriages .

The scene in the chapel was gorgeous , yet most impressive , every part being occupied by those invited lo the mournful ceremony . The Bishop of Rochester , as Clerk of the Closet , officiated , assisted by the Dean of Windsor , there being also present within the communion rails a numerous body of the clergy . Here the coffin , which was borne by stalwart troopers

of the ioth Hussars , was preceded by the high Court officials , conspicuous among whom were Bro . the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe , Lord High Steward , and Bro . the Earl of Lathom bearing his wand of office as Lord Chamberlain . Accompanying the coffin was Bro . Sir Albert Woods ( Garter ) , and then the chief mourner , supported as before , and followed by the other

membersof the Royal l < amity and representatives of the different Sovereigns of Europe , Ike . The service having been concluded , Garter , in sonorous tones , proclaimed the style of the deceased— " The High and Mighty Prince his Royal Highness Albert Victor Christian Edward , Dukeof Clarence and Avondale , and Earl of Athlone , Knight of the Most Noble Order of the

Garter , K . P ., LL . D ., " kc . An anthem having been sung , and the benediction pronounced , the assemblage dispersed , the principal mourners remaining the night at Windsor Castle as the guests of the Queen . The Oueen attended a special service in the Chapel at Osborne , the Rev .

Canon Duckworth officiating , the Princess Louise and the members of the Household being also present . Similar services were also held , not only , as we have already mentioned , in St . Paul's Cathedral , Westminster Abbey , Sec , but in the cathedrals and churches in the provinces , and in the chapels attached to the British Embassies and Ministries at foreign Courts , these