His Majesty King Edward Vii.

In conclusion , I trust to Parliament and the Nation to support Me in the arduous duties which now devolve upon Me by inheritance , and to which I am determined to devote My whole strength during the remainder of My life .

Whereupon the Lords of the Council made it their humble request to His Majesty that His Majesty ' s Most Gracious Declaration to their Lordships might be made public , which His Majesty was pleased to Order accordingly . A . W . FITZROY .

His Majesty , at His first coming into the Council , was this day pleased to declare that notwithstanding that the Lawrequired He should at His Accession to the Crown take and

subscribe the Oath relating to the Church of Scotland , He was now ready to do it this first opportunity , which His Majesty was graciously pleased to do , according to the Forms used by the Law of Scotland , and subscribed two Instruments thereof in the

presence of the Lords of the Council , who witnessed the same . Ard His Majesty was pleased to order that one of the said Instruments be transmitted to the Court of Session , to be

recorded in the Books of Sederunt , and afterwards to be forthwith lodged in the Public Register of Scotland , and that the other of them remain among the records of the Council and be entered in the Council Book . A . W . FITZROY .

By the KING . A PROCLAMATION , Requiring all Persons being in Office of Authority or Government at the decease of the late Queen , to proceed in the execution of their respective Offices .

EDWARD , R . Whereas by an Act made in the sixth year of the reign of her late Majesty Queen Anne , intituled an Act for the security of her Majesty ' s Person and Government , and of the succession to ihe Crown of Great Britain in the Protestant line ; it was enacted that no Office , Place , or Employment , Civil or Military ,

within the Kingdoms of Great Britain or Ireland , Dominion of Wales , Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed , Isles of Jersey , Guernsey , Alderney , and Sark , or any of Her Majesty ' s Plantations , should become void by reason of the demise of Her said late Majesty , Her Heirs or Successors , Kings or Queens of this

Realm , but that every person and persons in any of the offices , places , and employments aforesaid , should continue in their respective offices , places , and employments , for the space of six months next after such death or demise , unless sooner removed and discharged by the next Successor , to whom the Imperial

Crown of this Realm was limited and appointed to go , remain and descend : And whereas by a-i Act made in the first year ol His late Majesty King William the Fourth now intituled " The Colonial Offices Act , 1830 , it was enacted that no Patent , Commission , Warrant , or other Au'horily , for the exercise of any

office or employment , Civil or Military , within any of His Majesty's Plantations or Possessions abroad , determinable at the pleasure of His Majesty , or of any of His Majesty ' s Heirs and Successors , shall b y reason of any future demise of the Crown be vacated or become void until the

expiration of eighteen calendar months next after any such Demise of the Crown as aforesaid ; We , therefore , with the advice of Our Privy Council , declare Our Royal Will and Pleasure to be , and do hereby direct and command , that all and every Person and Persons , who at the Time of the Demise ol

Our late Royal Mother , ol Glorious Memory , duly and lawfully held , or were duly and lawfully possessed of or invested in an \ Office , Place , or Employment , Civil or Military , within Oui United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , Dominion 01 Wales ] Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed , Isles of Jersey , Guernsey .

Alderney , Sark , or Man , or any of our Foreign Possessions , or Colonies , or Our Empire of India , do severally , accordin" - to their Places , Offices , or Charges , proceed in the 1 ' erform ' anci and Execution of all Duties belonging to their respective Offices whilst they shall hold the same respectively during uur

Pleasure ; and We do hereby require and command all Our loving Subjects to be aiding , helping , and assisting at the commandment of the said Officers and Ministers , in the Performance and Execution of their respective Offices and Places , as the , and every of them lender Our utmost Displeasure and will answer the contrary , at their Peril .

Given at Our Court at Saint James ' s , this twenty-third day ol January , in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and one . GOD SAVE THE KING .

Court Circular.

COURT CIRCULAR .

OSBORNE , Jan . 23 . During the last moments of her Majesty the Bishop of Winchester and the Rev . Clement Smith read special prayers in the Queen's room , and later in the evening the Bishop conducted a short service in the Queen's death chamber , at which all the members of the Royal Family at Osborne were present .

His Royal Hig hness Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein , his Serene Hig hness and her Grand Ducal Highness Prince and Princess Louis of Battenberg , the Earl of Clarendon ( Lord Chamberlain ) , and the Right Hon . A . J . Balfour , M . P . ( First Lord of the Treasury ) , arrived at Osborne .

The Prince of Wales , the Duke of Connaught , the Duke of York , Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein , and the Duke of Argyll left Osborne this morning , crpssing over to Portsmouth on board her Majesty ' s yacht Alberta , Vice-Admiral Sir John Fullerton , A . D . C .

His Royal Hig hness the Prince . of Wales was attended by Sir Francis Knollys and Captain Holford , the Duke of Connaught was attended by Colonel Egerton , and the Hon . Derek Keppel was in attendance upon the Duke of York .

Major-General Sir John McNeill was in attendance on board the Royal yacht . The Lord Chamberlain and the Right Hon . A . J . Balfour have left Osborne .

The Late Queen Victoria.

THE LATE QUEEN VICTORIA .

FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS . It is authoritatively announced that the body of our late Queen will be conveyed from Portsmouth to London , and across the Metropolis to Paddington , en route lor Windsor , where , on arrival , it will be borne into St . George ' s Chapel .

The funeral service is fixed for Saturday , the 2 nd prox ., at noon-, for which there will be a limited number of invitations . The body will , therefore , not lie in State , but subsequently will be interred in Frogmore Mausoleum , in the granite sarcophagus where lie the remains of the late Prince Consort .

United Grand Lodge Of Ancient Free And Accepted Masons Of England.

UNITED GRAND LODGE OF ANCIENT FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS OF ENGLAND .

Upon the present melancholy occasion of the decease of her late Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria—an event which has occasioned the most profound sorrow to every Member of the Craft—it is ordered that the Grand Lodge , and all Subordinate Lodges , be placed in Masonic Mourning for the space

of Three Alonths from the 28 th day of January instant , the Mourning to be worn by Brethren individually to be as follows Grand Officers , Present and Past—Three Rosettes of Black Crape on the Badge , and one at the point of the Chain or Collar , immediately above the Jewel

Masters , Past Masters , and Master Masons—Three Rosettes of Black Crape on Badge , and one on Collar where Collar is worn . Fellow Crafts and Entered Apprentices—Two Rosettes of Black Crape at the lower part of the Bad <* e White Gloves . By Command ,

E . LETCHWORTH , Freemasons' Hall , Grand Secretary 25 th January , it or .

The Eastern Division Of South Africa.

THE EASTERN DIVISION OF SOUTH AFRICA .

For some considerable time past , we have had no opportunity of calling attention to the position of English Freemasonry in the several Districts of South Africa , and , therefore , it is with all the greater pleasure that we find ourselves in a position to review the proceedings in one of them—that ol the Eastern

Division—thanks to the receipt of copy of the Report of the annual meeting of its District Grand Lodge at Port Elizabeth on the 12 th September , 1 9 , under the presidency of Bro . Dr . C . J . EG AN , its respected District Grand Master . Bro . EGAN has been in charge of the District during the greater part of the last

quarter ol a century—indeed , ever since it was constituted as such in 18 77—and under his able rule and guidance it has made such progress that the 20 lodges over which he was appointed to

preside in the year just mentioned have increased to 33 lodges , and , but for the troubled state of political affairs in the Colony , would , doubtless , have increased still further . There appears to have been a large attendance on the occasion , and . from what