Masonic Nad General Tidings.

Masonic nad General Tidings .

Lord Hardwicke , Master of Her Majesty ' s Staghounds , and R . W . Grand Master for Cambridgeshire , has met with a serious accident whilst hunting with the Royal pack at Mr . 'Giabam's , Marton , Bucks . His lordship ' s horse fell in taking a small fence , and threw him heavily on his head . He vvas taken up senseless , and immediately conveyed to his town residence by rail .

The installation meeting of the Stuart Lodge , No . 1632 , takes place at the Surrey Masonic Hall , Camberwell Ntw-rrad , on Monday next , Bro . John Walmslcy , S . W ., is thc W . M . elect . A report will apuear in our next . Colonel Sir Edmund Henderson , K . C . B ., will preside at a public meeting of the Cabdrivers' Benevolent Association , to be held at the Cambridge Hall , Newmanstreet , Oxford-street , on Wednesday evening , : 7 th inst .

H . R . H . the Duke of Cambridge , K . G ., has consented to preside at the sixty-third anniversary festival of the Royal Caledonian Asylum , which wi'l be held at Willis ' s Rcoms , on Wednesday , June 26 . The consecration of the Eclectic Royal Aroh Chapter will take place at Freemasons' Hall , Great Queenstreet , on Monday , April 29 th . Comp . Thomas Fenn ,

assisted by Comps . John Hervey , G . S . E ., and the Rev . A . F . A . Woodford , M . A ., will perform thc ceremony of conseciation . The Principals designate are Comps . James Mander , P . M . i 20 i , Z . ; Edward James Harty , P . M . 1201 , H . ; John Henry Watts , P . M . 1201 , J . A report of the proceedings will appear in the Freemason of May 4 th . The ceremony of installation will be wotked

by Bro . W . H . Marston , W . M . 1599 , at thc Metropolitan Lodge of Instruction , held at the Portugal Hotel , 155 , Fleetstreet , E . G ., on Friday the 29 th March , 1878 , at 7 o ' clock in the evening . The Whitehall Reveiw states that H . R . H . the Prince of Wales has kindly given his name as patron of the Concert to be given at the Albert Hall on the ist of

May , in behalf of the late Superintendent Mott ' s family ; and among the general committee are thc Duke of St . Albans , Lend Rosslyn , Lord De Tabley , Viscount Nevvry , Lord Skelmcrsfale , and Lord Clarence Paget . Mr . Kni ght , the General Manager of the London , Brighton , and South Coast Railway , has received an official intimation from the Western of France Railway ,

informing him that the arrangements which have been made conjointly by these two companies for thc transmission of goods direct to the Paris Exhibition building are being carried out satisfactorily , and that everything is being and will continue to be done by the Western ot France Company to give every possible facility to the English exhibitors and the general public .

At a numerousl y attended court of the governors of Christ ' s Hospial , held last week , the Duke of Cambridge in the chair , three gentlemen and eight adies were admitted Governors if the Hospital as donors A £ 500 each . The entrance of the ladies into the room tor the purpose of receiving " the governor's charge " having been greeted with cheers , his Royal Highness expressed the

great pleasure he telt at receiving , as a new feature in the institution , so many ladies among its governors . Thc Queen has hitherto been the only lady governor . The resignation of Mr . George Ludlow , the venerable steward of the Hospital ' s Hertford school , having been accepted , and the ordinary business eif thc court having been got through , there was a ballot for thc election of an

incumbent to the parish of Langley , Kssex , a small living in the gift of the Kovernors . The Kcv . J"h » A . Good , B . A ., of Lincoln College , Oxford , curate of Freshwater , Isle of Wight , was elected by a large maj . rily . A LUCKY CROSSING SWEETER . —The story of the gentleman who kept a large establishment on his earnings from a crossing hc swept is , di ubtlcss , apocryphal ;

but all the same , the earnings from this branch of industry are larger than might be imagined . A loy who sweeps a crossing was watched last Sunday morning , and though it is impossible to tell what were the amounts hc received from the various individuals who passed his brush-swept track , it may reasonably be inferred that the majority of those who gave did not bestow less than one penny .

Here is one instance of the boy ' s profits . Some hundreds of peop ' e passed to church , and many gave . But amongst the passers-by was a large ladies' school of well-grown girls who attend church to the number of 130 . Of these exactly 100 were counted as giving a coin to the sweeper . A halfpenny ? Douttful . A penny ? Far more likely . If the latter , the boy received 8 s . 4 d . in less than

five minutes , and the roadway did not want sweeping at all . —Truth . The Ceremony of Installation will be worked at the Islington Lodge of Instruction , 23 Gresham-street , E . C . on Tuesday next the 26 th inst ., at 7 o ' clock , by Bro . Mather , P . M . 65 , 1227 , 1471 , W . M . 1580 , Preceptor . The installation meeting of the Holmesdale

Lodge No . 8 74 , was held on Wednesday at the Sussex Hotel , Tunbridge Wells , upwards of 60 brethren being present . Bro . W . Beadell Bacon was installed W . M . for the ensuing year . We hope to give our readers a full report next week . Prince and Princess Christian honoured Viscount and Viscountess Holmesdale by their company at dinner on Tuesday , at Belgrave-squarc .

The committee of the University College Hospital appeal for toys for the children ' s wards as the stock is exhausted . They may be sent tothe secretary of the hospital , Gower-street . A TRIPLE BIRTH . —Mrs . Clark , the wife of a labourer at Stanton , Suffolk , has recently given birth to three daughters . The children are all living , and they have received the names of Faith , Hope , and Chir ' ty .

Masonic Nad General Tidings.

R OYAL M ASONIC I NSTITUTION FOR G IRLS . On Saturday last 60 of thc Girls in our Institution were suffering from measles , and it is much to be feared that it will run through the whole School . Bro . Archibald Forbes delivered his celebrated

lecture on his personal experience in the late war , at Cardiff on Wednesday . Trcre was a very large audience present , who frequently loudly applauded the lecturer . The Chester Couranl is sorry to leatn that Sir W . W . Wynne Bart ., M . P ., R . W . G . M . N . Wales and Shropshre is again indisposed from his old complaint . This renewed attack will prevent the hon . baronet taking

his voyage to the West Indies . GROSVENOR GALIERY . —The opening of this GalUry to the public free of charge on Saturday last attracted a large number of people , about 7000 having availed themselves cf Sir Coutts Lindsay ' s liberality . The Fifteen Sections will be wotked in the

Burdett Coutts Lodge of Instruction , No . 1278 , on Wednesday evening , March 27 th , at the Salmon and Ball , Bethnal Green-road , at half-past six o ' clock precisely . Bro . G . Ward Verry , W . M . 1278 , W . M ; Bro . J . E . Ives , 7 81 , S . W . ; Bro . W . H . Myers , P . M . 820 and 144 s , J . W . ; Bro . J . J . Berry , P . M . 554 , I . P . M .

FIRST LECTURE . ut Section . . . Bro . M . Christian , 860 2 nd , , W . J . Rawley , 174 3 rd „ T . F . Harvey , 174

4 th „ . . . ,, J . J . Ashburner , P . M . 1278 51 I 1 „ . . . „ C . K . Killick , W . M . 16 95 ( ith „ C . H . Webb , S . W . 1607 7 th ,, . . . ,, W . Musto , I ' . M . 1340

SECOND LECTURE . rst Section . . . Bro . C . Lorkin , 1524 2 nd , W . H . Myers , P . M . 8 : 0 , S < -d J . J . Berry , P . M . 554 4 th „ . . . „ W . Hogg , P . M . 1349 5 th „ . . . ,, S . C . Hewlett , 141

a iimn LECTURE . ist Section . . . Bro . W . H . Wallington , P . M . 860 2 nd , T . J . Maidwell , W . M . 27 3 rd „ . . . „ J . E . Ives , 7 81 This lodge of instruction meets every Wednesday at halfpast eight o ' clock , Bro . G . Ward Verry , Preceptor . A notification has been issued by the

Postmaster General , that postal communications with Constantinople , via Odessa , having been re-established , mails for Constantinople wi I again Ic forwarded by that route , leaving London on the evening of every Tuesday and Friday . Correspondence not having any special address as to route will be forwarded by tbe first mail despatched , either via Brindisi or via Odessa .

"We are asked to state tbat the installation ceremony will be performed by Bro . Joseph Wright on Tuesday next . at 8 o ' clock p . m ., at thc Royal Arthur Lodger f Instruction , held at the Prince's Head , York Road , Battersea , and on the Tuesday following the Fifteen Sections . Bro . Collins ( 511 ) , W . M . ; Bro . Pulsford , ( 115 S ) , S . W . ; and Bro . Radcliffe , ( 211 ) . J-W .

The Prince of Wales presided on Wednesday night at a dinner in aid of the funds of the Princess Mary ' s Village Home for Little Girls , and in replying to the toast of his health ( proposed by Lord Carlingford ) spoke warmly of his interest in the approaching Paris Exhibition and his wishes for its success . The first meeting ofthe Stewards of the

forthcoming festival of the "Royal Masonic Institution for Girls , will be held on Monday next at Freemasons' Hall . The Fifteen Sections will bo worked in the St . Luke ' s Lodge of Instruction , held at White Hart Tavern , King ' s Road , Chelsea , on Good Friday evening the 19 th prox . Bro . P . N . Aiden , Zetland , No . 511 , will take thc chair at 6 . 30 p . m . Brethren are invited to attend ,

and the names ot any wishing to assist by undertaking a section will be thankfully registered by the Hon . Sec . VALUE OF LAND . —At the Mart , Tokenhouseyard , a few days back , the site of the late church of All Ifallows , Bread-streel , situated at the corner of that street and Watling-slreel , was sold by auction by Messrs . Fuller , Horsey , and Co . Thc site contains a ground area

of 3270 supetficial feet . The first offer made for the property was £ 15 , , the biddings rapidly following by advances ot £ 1 , 000 each , until the property stood at £ 23 , 000 . Subsequently it was run up to £ 26 , 000 by advances of £ 500 each , and on the biddings slackening the auctioneer said it was an open sale , when the competition again became active , and the property was

ultimately knocked down to Mr . Oppciihcim for £ 32 , 650 , being at the rate of £ 10 per foot , or £ 90 per superficial yard . The members of the Copyri ght Commission have drawn up and finally settled upon their report , which will be shortly presented to Parliament . We understand that the report will cause a " scare" among dramatists , or

rather " adapters , " for by its provisions it will be illegal to pilfer even the plot of either novels or French plays , or in any way to dramatise the work of another author without his consent . We are further informed that the report protects newspaper proprietors from the small journalistic fry who thrive upon the articles which they borrow from their more influential contemporaries . —// hitehall Review .

At a meeting yesterday of the Commissioners for promoting the hohling of an agricultural exhibition in London next year , Colonel Kingsgate , M . P ., stated that the exhibition could not be held in Hyde Park . The question of site was left to the decision of the Council of the Royal

Agricultural Society . A guarantee fund to cover the expenses was commenced . JCennings ' s Masonic Cyclopaedia is now ready , and may be obtained at thc office of this paper ( 198 , Fleetstreet . ) Price ios , 6 d , —ADVT .

Masonic Nad General Tidings.

Our esteemed Bro . John Derb y Allcroft P . M ., of the Aldersgate Lodge , No . 16 57 , is a candidate for the representation in Parliament of the City of Worcester . It is proposed to appoint a Committee of naval officers and scientific experts to prosecute further inquiries into the deterioration of boilers of marine engines , the Admiralty Committee , which has been sitting under the

presidency of Captain Aynsley , C . B ., being about to be dissolved at the end of this month . The annual court of the governors of the Royal Caledonian Asylum whose piincipal object is the maintenance and education of the children ot Scottish soldiers ,

sailors , and marines who have died or been disabled in the national service , was held at the asylum , in the Caledonian road , under thc presidency of Sir J . H . Maxwell . \ Ve are glad to learn that the Earl of Hardwicke was on Thursday progressing favourably towards recovery from the injuries his lordshi p received whilst hunting .

The Argentine Confederation will definitivel y join thc International Postal Union 011 the ist of A pril next .

A sad antl fatal accident occurred on Tuesday at Spanish Point , Miltovvn Malbay , to Edith , the only daughter of Colonel Sir Augustine Fitzgerald , Eatt ., Carrigoran . It appears that she and Mrs . Studdert , of Tivoli , with whom she had been en a visit , went to sit upon the lcdpe of rorks lhat runs out to sea at that point . While converting with each itherthcy were surrounded by the incoming spiing ti 'c , and in cndravc-uiir . g to reach

thc shore , hohing l . y each etler , Miss Hizgeiaid , who had lost her presence of mini * , slipped and fill in , bringing the other lady with her . Maji . r Sluddeit ai . d Ca-tain Whitecombe , e . f the Coastguard Station , jumped into the waves and succeeded in re-cuing both ladies , but Miss Fitzgerald succumbed to the shock , in spite of all that medical aid could do to restore her . Miss Fitzgerald had only attained her twentieth year .

One of the great features of our advancing civilization , we may say the prcminent one , is the interchange of ideas of customs , and of natural and artificial products which is constantly going nn . To be ever moving is the characteristic of our age , sometimes per saltum—at a bound as it were—as in the ca ^ e < f the introduction of steam power and electricity ; somttimes in

more sober fashion , as in the b ' ending of existing ideas , and the adaptation of well-known matt rials to produce an additional unit to add tothe sum of man's comfort and happints' . We Englishm-n justly pride ourselves upon our inventive genius , and are ever ready to acknowledge thc source whin we introduce adaptations of foreign fabrics . Our enterprise in this latter feature is a very

wise and a really patriotic one , for we never know what international complications may arise and throw us upon our own resources for the supply to the market of some adequate substitute for a commodity which has hitherto come to us from abroad . At the present time we entertain grave doubt as to whether we shall continue to in . port —except in sadly diminished numbers—those famous

Levant carpets which , with thtir soft luxurious tread and beauty of design and colourings , have hitherto been considered almost indispensable to the proper furnishing of a good class residence , and should be in perplexity where to look for a supply were it not that one of our most enterprising home firms ( the complete house furnishers , of 6 7 to 79 , Hampstead Road ) has stepped in and

introduced an admirable substitute for thc foicign article which now threatens to become a curiosity , only sought after by those Sybarites whose purses place them above any considerations of economy in their pursuit after combinations of the rare and the luxurious . As imitation is the sincerest flattery , we may imagine that the Turkey and Persian carpets have qualities which justly

claimed pre-eminence , and we consicer that Messrs . Oetzmann and Co . have conferred a boon upon the public at large by introducing their Anglo-Turkey and Anglo-Persian carpets , which , in some points , are even superior to the foreign fabrics . By the courlesy of thc firm wc were enabled lately to make a tour of their extensive show-rooms in all departments , and to closely examine

these new carpets , of which we were shown some splendid specimens . At their moderate cost ( slightly above that of thc best Brussels ) we do not hesitate to predict for them an increasingly large sale . The special features which , in addition to their close resemblance to the foreign article , recommend them to our approval , are a very closely woven and substantial back , which prevents the ready

absorption and retention of dust , an extra thickness of texture , and the fact that they are made to any size to meet the purchaser ' s requirements . Messrs . Oetzmann and Co . have made it their close study to embody the most excellent points of the foreign make , and the designs and colourings are faithful copies of the Oriental , and show high artistic taste and skill . We can congratulate Messrs .

Oetzmann & Co . on having brought into the market an admirable substitute for the Turkey and Persian carpets , no less comfortable and lasting in the wear and pleasing to the eye than the expensive productions of the looms of the far East , and we welcome the new Anglo-Turkey carpet

as amply compensating for the threatened , we may say almost inevitable , scarcity of the real Turkey . We really believe , that these goods will find universal favour , and doubt not that Messrs . Oelzmann and Co . will obtain what they deserve for the enterprising spirit they have displayed—viz ., a rapidly increasing sale , both at home and abroad .

Constitutions of the Ancient Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons , containing the Charges , Regulations E . A . Song , & c . A copy should be in the possession of every brother . It may be obtained for 2 s , at the office of the Freemason , or will be sent post free to any part of the United Kingdom on receipt of twenty-five penny stamps . Address , Publisher , 198 , Fleet-street , London . —[ AUVT . ]