Colonial.

the Grand Lodge of Kansas , It is needless to state that the worthy and very popular Secretary was received with thunders of applause . He spoke effectively and to the point on the fraternal feelings exhibited by the Grand Loclge of this distant country . The next toast was the " Bepvity Grand Master , Bro . A . A . Stevenson . " This toast was most enthusiastically received and responded to btho R . W . Bro . in a very capital speech . The

y " Past Grand Masters , Bros . AVilson and Harrington , " were the next . The M . W . Grand Master stated that as he had to leave at a very early hour he desired before retiring to propose the " Health of the Mayor of Toronto , and prosperity to the city . " Bro . Mcdcu . lt replied iu a humorous speech . Toast , speech , and song followed each other in quick

succession until about half past twelve , when the brethren separated ivith the time honoured Junior Warden ' s toast . Too much cannot be said in praise of the kind attention of the Toronto Masons ; not only did they provide a splendid banquet , but by their personal attention to tho brethren from a distance secured the comfort of those who were their guests . We should mention that the band of the 10 th Royals was present , and added considerably to the pleasure of the evening .

Literary Extracts.

LITERARY EXTRACTS .

Ax ICE CAVE .- —The breadth of the fan at the bottom Avas twenty-seven feet ; and near the archway a very striking column poured from a vertical fissure in the Avail , and joined the main stream . Tho fissure ivas paz ' - tially open to the cave , and showed tho solid round column within the rock ; this column measured eighteen and a half feet in circumference , a little below the point Avhere ib became free of the fissure , and it had a stream of

ice twenty-two feet long pouring from its base . The colour of the column Avas unusual , being a dull yellowish green , and tho peculiar stru . cti . ive of tho ice gave the Avhole mass the appearance of coursing CIOAVII very rapidly , as if the Avater had been frozen while thus moving , and had not therefore ceased so to move . At the bottom of the fan , the flooring of the cave

consisted of broken stones for a small space , and then came a black lake of ice , which occupied all the centre of the cave , and afforded us no opportunity of even guessing at its depth . Prom the manner , howeA'er , in Avhich it blended AA'ith the stones at its edge , I am not inclined to believe that this depth Avas anything , very great . Kenaud ( a guide ) , in his impetuosity , had ceased

to cut steps towards the bottom of the slope , and had slipped doAvn the last feAv feet , of course cutting the remaining steps before attempting to re-ascend . We found him strutting about the Iloor of the cave , tossing his wet cap in the air , and crying , No one ! JVb one ! I the

first ! declining to take any part in measurements until the full of his deli ght and pride had been poured out . He shouted so loud tbatl ivas obliged to stop him , lest by some chance tho unwonted disturbance of the air should bring down an unstable block from the roof of the arch , and seal us up for ever . There Avas no sirjn of incipient thaw iu the cave , and the air Avas very dry , so much

so as at once to call attention to the fact . At the farthest end , a lofty dome opened up in the roof ; and possibly at sometime 01 * other the rock may here fall through , and afford another means of entrance . Beneath this dome a very lovely cluster of columns had grouped itself , formed of the clear porelain-liko ice , and fretted aud festooned Avith the utmost delicacy , as if Andersen ' s Ice

Maiden had been there in one of her amiable moods and had built herself a palace . This dome in tho roof ' was similar to many Avhich I afterwards observed in other Glacic ' i'cs , being a vertical fissure Avith flutings from top to bottom . —Ice Oaves in France and Switzerland .

The Week.

THE WEEK .

THE CotTET . —Her Majesty the Queen left the Rosenau on the 25 th ult ., at half-past three for Coburg , for the purpose of inaugurating the statue of his Royal Highness the Prince Consort , which her Majesty has presented to the town of Coburg , the ceremony for the inauguration of which had been ordered and approved by his Royal Hig hness the Duke of

Saxe-Coburg . GENEBAL HOME NEAVS . —Tho return of the Registrar-General for the past week is satisfactory . It shows that there were 135 deaths less than tho average of the same week in ton years . Diarrhoea continues low , all but two cases being among children ; and there were only six deaths from cholera and cholerac

diaorhoja . ——At the ordinary meeting of the Great Eastern Railway Company the proceedings were of a rather stormy character . In consequence ol the controversy between the directors and Captain Jervis , a committee of investigation Avas demanded by way of amendment to the motion that the report be received . The chairman resisted , and said he had a majority

of proxies ; but the shareholders present , declared for the amendment , whereupon a poll was demanded on behalf of the directors , at which of course , the proxies will be available . August 2 ith was fixed for the polling . A singular scene took place on the occasion of the consecration of the new church o £ St . Michael aud All Angels , Finsbury , by the Bishop of

London . The interior had been decorated with flowers over tbe communion table , a cartoon of the crucifixion , a cross , and other such matters , while the assembled clergy wore richlyembroidered stoles . The bishop expressed in his manner great displeasure at these decorations , questioned the incumbent , Mr . Lyford , severely , and peremptorily refused to proceed with the consecration until the flowers were removed , the clergy

divested of their stoles , the cross put by m a cupboard , and an undertaking given that the picture should be effaced . An accident , which might have been serious , took place on the Great Northern Railway , near Potter's Bar Station . The night mail from the north , running at fifty miles an hour , dashed into some trucks which were being shunted into the station , ancl much havoc was done , but the passengers ,

fortunately , received little injury beyond the fright . An inquest was held at Wandsworth on the 23 rd ult ., on the body of an infant who was supposed to have been poisoned by its mother , a woman named Mary Ann Ault . This person actually confessed that she had Committed the crime , and made a desperate attempt to commit suicide . It turned out , however , that

while some laudanum had been thrown over the child , and perhaps a little administered , death had been occasioned by natural causes , and the jury returned a verdict to tbatefi ' ect . An inquest has been held on the bodies of the three children murdered in Southwark by their mother , Esther Lack . The evidence was , of course , conclusive . According to one of the

witnesses , the woman gave as a motive for the crime that the children wero poor and had no -one to look after them , and that " they would be better in heavev . than knocking about the streets . " Au inquest which disclosed circumstances of a very painful character , has been held at Hampstead . A man was found on Hampstead Heath literally dying of starvation , and

he did not long survive his removal to the workhouse . The poor fellow was found to be one Charles Smart , AVIIO some years ago ivas was a highly respectable tradesman in the Strand , and was formerly churchwarden of St . Clement ' s Danes . He appears to have wandered about for several weeks past in a state of great destitution , and , according to the medical evidence , ho had suffered from delirium for several days before his death .