Masonic Gathering.

MASONIC GATHERING .

( At St . Paul ' s Cathedral on its 200 th Amnversar ) Dec . 2 nd , 1807 . )

HYMN , rune : — " Oil , God , our help in ages past . ' Almiffhtv Architect—Divine !

Thy Masons bend the knee , In this , the Nation ' s Temple—built To worship—Master—Thee .

Our Master—Great—Omnipotent ! Whose love extends to all , Plant in each heart Thy sign of peace Who at Thy footstool call .

Whose Eye , omniscient , just , and true , Searches each inmost heart , Adjust our levels , uprights , squares , Ere we Thy House depart .

The pillars that around us stand , Teach us Thy strength and power , To raise us up from sin and death , In dark temptation ' s hour .

Geometrician Great ! We plead , In this Thy earthly shrine ; Teach us Thy will—our work to do—That shall be wholly Thine .

Hear us 0 God !—0 God—Most High !—Our humble praises given , And lead us to Thy shrine at last , Eternally in heaven . II . W . A . SANDELL Dec . 2 nd , 18 97 .

Masonic And General Tidings.

Masonic and General Tidings .

BRO . THE EARL OF DARTMOUTH has purchased the late Bro . Earl of Egmont s house in St . James ' -place , BRO . THE EARL AND COUNTESS OF RADNOR have left Longford Castle for the Manor House , Folkestone . THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF YORK have returned to Sandringham to spend the Christmas holidays .

BRO . THE EARL OF ONSLOW , acting on medical advice , has gone to the South of France , accompanied by the Countess of Onslow , for several weeks' complete rest . His lordship has consequently had to cancel a number of engagements . AT A MEETING of the Norfolk Agricultural Association , held on Saturday last at Norwich , under the presidency of Vis : ount Coke , it was announced , amid cheers , that the Duke of York had accepted the presidency of the Association for the ensuing year . PRINCE ALEXANDER GEORGE OF TECK left Surbiton Station on Saturday morning last for Southampton , and sailed for South Africa to rejoin his regiment , the 7 th Hussars , at Natal . The Duke of Teck drove from White Lodge with his son to Surbiton , and saw him off .

PRINCESS CHRISTIAN OF SCIII . ESWIG-HOLSTEIN has , on the invitation of the Duchess of Westminster ( the President ) , kindly consented to become Patron of the London Diocesan Guild of Hope , in connection with the Church of England Temperance Society , in place of the late Duchess of Teck . THE EARL OF DSNUIGH having informed Bro . Sir John Puleston that he will not be a candidate for the City at the ensuing County Council election , in consequence of his having undertaken to contest the Battersea Division , Bro . th : Duke ot Leeds has signified his willingness to become a candidate for the City in the Moderate interest , should his candidature meet with the necessary support .

BRO . LORD STANLEY , member for West Houghton Division , opened a new club at Dunscar on Saturday last . Speaking on the coming army measure , he trusted the two great parties would agree on important army extensions , bjing convinced the country would not grudge good money for good value . The volunteers and militia , too , should receive additional assistance to render them thoroughly efficient as horns defenders .

MASONIC CRUISE TO PALESTINE AND EGYPT . —The Worshipful Master of the Rtyal Solomcn Mother Lodge at Jerusalem has sent an invitation to Archdeacon Stevens , Vicar of Stratford , E ., Past Grand Chaplain , to biing the Masons whom he is accompanying on a 25-guinea cruise to Egypt and the Holy Land next month , to a special meeting of this lodge , to be held in Solomon ' s Quarries , outside the Damascus Gate of Jerusalem . The Archdeacon ' s paity has also been invited by the Worshipful Master of the Grecian Lodge , Cairo . to attend a special meeting of that lodge . The Master wishes to afford the party special facilities for the study of Masonry in Eygpt , where there are four Constitutions at work .

H . R . H . THE P RINCE OF WALES ' HOSPITAL FUND FOR LONDON . —The latest contributions received at the office of the fund , Bank of England , include the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers , being the first annual instalment of £ 5000 , agreed to be contributed by them in five years , £ 1000 . The following is a copy ot letter accompanying the above : "The Governor of the Fishmongers' Hall . —Bank of England , London ,

E . C , lOtlt Dec , 18117 . —Sir , —It is with pleasure I have to inform you that the Court of the Fishmongers' Company have agreed to contribute one thousand pounds per annum for live years to H . R . H . the Prince of Wales ' s Hospital Fund for London . I beg to enclose herewith a cheque for £ 1000 , being their first contribution . Will you please sign and return the accompanying receipt ?—I remain , yours faithfully , J . Wrench Tow ; :. "

EVERY MASON should read "Volo , or the Will , " what it is , how ' . to strengthen and how to use it . By Arthur Lovell , author of " Ars Vivendi . " Crown 8 vo ., cloth , 3 s . Cd . net ; by post , 3 s . < id . Many curious and interesting facts are given about ancient and modern initiations . Catalogue post free . Nichols and Co ., Publishers , 23 , Oxford-street , W . Light , Sept ., 1807— "The Author ' s theories seem to us reasonable and valuable . " The Glasgow Herald , Sept ., 1 S 97— " Mr . LOVELL has much that is valuable to say on the subject of the Will . _ The advices which he gives as to the training and disciplining of the Will and its practical cultivation are excellent , while the central principle of his philosophy is beyond question . " —[ ADVT . 1

Masonic And General Tidings.

A DONATION of £ 100 has been sent to the East London Church Fund by amembet of St . Peter ' s Church , Bayswater . THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF YORK drove to White Lodge , Richmond Park , en Saturday last , and lunched with the Djke of Teck , returning to London in the eveiii ? . HER MAJESTY has been pleased to confer the decoration of the Royal Red Cross upon the Queen of Greece and upon Princess Sophie , Crown Princess of Greece , Duchess of Sparta .

BRO . THE DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE , as Mayor of Eastbourne , will entertain the aged poor of the borough , to the number of 450 , at a New Year's dinner , to be held at the Town Hall , on January 6 th . CAPT . PRINCE LOUIS OF BATTENHERG , who had accompanied Prince Henry of Prussia from Portsmouth to London , visited T . R . H . the Prince and Princess of Wales at Marlborough House on Tuesday morning , and remained to luncheon .

THE BISHOP OF LONDON has accepted the presidency of the Executive Committee of the Church of England Waifs and Strays Society , Lieut .-G ; neral Lowry , C . B ., having been elected chairman . Field-Marshal Lord Roberts , V . C ., has become a vicepresident of the society . THE GOVERNOR of the Bank of England has received an intimation from Sir Owen Roberts that the Court of the Worshipful Company of Clothworkers has munificently voted the annual subscription of £ 1000 to the Prince of Wales ' s Hospital Fund for London " until further order . "

SIR E . J . POYNTER , President of the Royal Academy , has promised to open the new South London School of Arts and Crafts which has been erected in Peckhamroad , Camberwell , by Bro . Passmore Edwards as a memorial to the late Lord Leighton , P . R . A . The ceremony will take place on Thursday , January 6 . THE QUEEN received a visit from Prince Henry of Prussia , commanding his Imperial German Majesty ' s ship Deutschland , who , having anchored his vessel off Spithead on Sunday night , was met by Captain Prince Louis of Battenberg , of her Majesty ' s ship Majestic , and proceeded to Oiborne . His Royal Highness took leave of her Majesty on Monday morning .

LIST OF CONTRIBUTIONS to the St . Paul ' s Decoration Fund sent direct to the Chapter House — ( distinct from the collection at the Masonic service . — St . John at Hackney Lodge , £ 3 103 . ; Arthur Orwin , Esq ., £ 1 is . ; Universal Lodge , 45 SS . ; De Tabley Lodge , £ 1 is . ; Rev . E . H . Causton ( Southend ) , £ 2 2 s . ; T . R . Vane , Esq . ( Dewsbury ) , £ 1 is . ; and Lodge at Morecambe , £ 1 .

BRO . SIR HENRY IRVING ' interval of rest after his provincial tour comes to an end with the close of the year . On New Year's Night the Lyceum will welcome him back in the new production , " Peter the Great . " The play which is from the pen of the actor's son , Mr . Laurence Irving , is written in five acts . Sir H : nry will appear as Peter the Great , and Miss Ellen Terry as Catherine Empress of Russia .

PRINCE HENRY OF PRUSSIA , on returning to Portsmouth on Tuesday from London , lunched at Admiralty House with Sir Michael Culme-Seymour , the Port Admiral . When proceeding to his ship later in the afternoon his Imperial Highness was given a salute of 11 guns by the Port Guardship , Trafalgar . Rear-Admiral Rice , Admiral-Superintendent of the Dockyard , visited the Deutschland and the Crefbn .

H . R . H . THE PRINCESS OF WALES , Princess Victoria , and Prince and Princess Charles of Denmark , attended by General Sir Dighton Probyn , V . C ., and Miss Knollys , left Marlborough House on Tuesday afternoon , and travelled in a special saloon attached to the 5 . 8 train from St . Pancras to Sandringham , where they will be joined by H . R . H . the Prince of Wales for Christmas . The Duke and Duchess of York are already at York Cottage .

THE QUEEN ' annual gifts to the poor of New Windsor , Holy Trinity , and Clewer , will be presented on New Year ' s Day to the numerous recipients of the bounty . The Royal alms consist of'beef and coal . The baron of beef intended for the Qieen ' s Christmas dinner party was yesterday prepared upon the Castle-hill at Windsor by her Majesty ' s purveyors . It will be roasted to-day before the great kitchen fire at the Castle , and when cold will be despatched to Oiborne , to be garnished with the Royal and Imperial monogram worked in shredded horse-radish .

ON MONDAY Sir George Faudel-Phillips , G . C . I . E ., the late Lord Mayor , and Lady Faudel-Phillips waited by appointment on H . R . H . the Princess of Wales at Marlborough House to present to her Royal Highness an address from the chairmen of the 60 local committees in the Metropolis who were entrusted with the administration of the fund which was raised at her instance at the Mansion House to provide dinners for the poor of London on the occasion of the celebration of her Majesty ' s Diamond Jubilee .

HER MAJESTY ' Christmas doles — known as the "Minor Bounty" and the " Royal Gate " alms—were , in accordance with ancient usage , distributed on Saturday last and Monday at the Royal Almonry , 6 , Craig ' s-court , Charing Cross , to over 1000 aged , disabled , and meritorious persons who had been previously recommended by the clergy of selected parishes throughout the different dioceses of England and Wales . The recipients were chosen by the Lord High Almoner , assisted by the Sub-Almoner , and the payments were made and the arrangements conducted by Mr . Hayivard John Bidwell , Secretary of her Majesty ' s Almonry .

THE DUCHESS OF SUTHERLAND , on behalf of the Countess of Warwick , who was unable to fulfil the task as she had promised , presided on Saturday afternoon last at a pretty demonstration of Old English singing games given at the Bermondsey Town Hall by the members of the " Guild of Play . " Clad in white smocks , with artistic flat coifs of green on their heads , the little maidens went through a programme similar to one performed about a fortnight ago at the Farncombe-street Settlement , with which this Guild is connected , and illustrated with the interpolation of an ivy-garland dince , the crime , the condign punishment , and the pardon of that Knave of Hearts who stole the Tarts of nursery lore .

PRINCESS LOUISE MARCHIONESS OF LORNE was present at the Mansion House on Monday evening to receive pursss from members and friends of the United Kingdom Band of Hope Union , in celebration of its jubilee . Amongst those present were Bro . the Lord Mayor and the Lady Mayoress , Bros . Sheriffs Green and Djwar , Lid / Battersea , the Hon . Mrs . Eliot Yorke , the Bishop of Stepney , Bishop Barry , SirGiorge Williams , and Dr . Newman Hall . Her Royal Highness was , on herentranci , presented by Miss Conrad Dillon with a bouquet of choice white flowers , and by Sir G . Williams

with an address and a jubilee volume containing the history of thj organisation . Canon Barker said there were no less than 234 Band of Hope Unions , 26 , 003 societies , with 3 , 240 , 000 members , and 104 , 000 honorary workers . The purses , which nunb : red 4 % and contained sums ranging from £ 3 3 s . to £ iooo , reaching a total will over £ 2000 , were then presented to Princess Louise . £ 25 , 000 are required to carry on the work of this great temperance movement among the young , and towards this sum £ Sooo has already been subscribed .

MEMORIAL TO INDIAN HEROISM . —The first meeting of the Committee which has been formed in connection with the movement for suitably recognising the valour displayed in the piesent frontier compaigns by the Sikhs , Gourkhas , and Indian troops generally , was held at 45 , Pall Mall at noon on Monday . Letters and telegrams , regretting inability to attend , were read from Bro . Lord Roberts , Lord Wenlock , Gen . Sir Samuel Browne , Gen . Sir Charles Cough , Mr . Rudyard Kipling , Lord Frankfort de Montmorency , Sir Id . S . King , and others . Sir Philip Hutchins occupied the chair ;

and , on the proposal of Gen . Sir Hugh Gough , seconded by Admiral of the Fleet , Sir Edmund Commcrell , it was unanimously agreed that subscriptions be invited to establish a fund for the benefit of the native soldiers disabled and of the families of those killed in the present frontier campaigns , commencing with the outbreak in the Tochi Pass . It was also proposed by Lieut .-Col . Newnham Davis , seconded by Major-Gen . Pennington , and resolved unanimously , that a donation , the amount to be fixed hereafter , be given to the memorial proposed to be erected at Armitsar to the Sikh soldiers killed at

Saragheri ; and that subscribers should have the option of subscribing to the general fund or to either or both of its dual objects in such proportion as they may think fit . The offers of Messrs . Id . S . King and Co . and Messrs . Grindlay to receive subscriptions to the fund were accepted with thanks . A Working Committee was appointed to carry out the proposals and to report later to the General Committee . We are requested to state that subscriptions may now be sent either to Messrs . H . S . King and Co ., 45 , Pall Mall , or to Messrs . Grindlay and Co ., 55 , Parliament-street .