Grand Lodge.

GRAND LODGE .

LONDON , SATURDAY , APRIL 9 , 1864 .

At length it Avill be seen , from the subjoined circular of the Grand Secretary , that a start is about to be made in providing a proper home for the members of the Craft , and rendering * available to the brethren that portion of the property in

Great Queen Street , which for the last few years has been alike a disgrace to the' neighbourhood and the Order .

The foundation-stone of the new buildings is to be laid Avith all befitting ceremonial by the Most Worshipful Grand Master on the occasion of his reinstallation , or perhaps we should rather say his reproclamation , on the 27 th instant , when it may

be expected there will be such an assemblage of the brethren as has rarely been seen in London , or perhaps in England , notwithstanding that these matters are much better managed in the provinces than in the metropolis . This step having been

taken , Ave hope the works may be so pressed forward that the new buildings ( we speak of those for the Craft only ) may be duly consecrated to the purposes of Masomy prior to the Grand Festival of 1865 .

It Avill be seen that a reply to the circular is required at once , and we trust that no Master will subject the brethren of his lodge to exclusion from this interesting ceremony through not making the necessary return in time : —

Freemasons' Hall , London , W . C , March 24 , 1864 . WOESHIPPTJI , BEOTHEE , —I have the honour to inform you that the Most Worshipful the Grand Master has been pleased to sigrnify his intention

to lay , with Masonic rites and ceremonies , the foundation-stone of the neAV buildings in connection with Freemasons' Hall . The ceremony will take place on Wednesday , the 27 th April , the day of the Grand Festival ,

and I haA' -e to beg the favour of your informing me on or before Wednesday , the 18 th proximo , if it is your intention to be present on the occasion . As the space at the disposal of the Committee is limited , I am to remind you that no provision

can be made for your accommodation unless you give notice of your intention to be present by or before the time named . I have the honour to be , Worshipful Sir , Tour faithful Servant aud Brother , Wsr . GRAY CLAEKE , G . S .

Vandyck In England.

VANDYCK IN ENGLAND .

" Bare artisan , whose pencil moves , Not our delights alone , but loves ! From thy shop of Beauty wc Slaves return that enter'd free . " Waller to Vandijefo , aire . 1638 . " Painters of history make the dead live , but do not live themselves till they are dead : I paint the living and they make me live . "—Sir Godfrey Kneller , circ . 1712 .

We now quit men in armour and garter robes , equerries , and pages , for white , blue , and yellow satins , pearl necklaces , vases of flowers , and fountains of water . We are UOAY in the laud of ringlets , fair faces , delicate hands , and delicious eyes . We have seen King * Charles and his court

as Vandyck saAv them in the Blackfriars j Ave have noAv to take the court of Henrietta Maria to the easel of the king's favourite painter , —to that " shop of Beauty , " as Waller calls it , where immortality of face Avas to be obtained as long as colours and canvas will endure .

It has been Avell observed by one of our earliest Avriters upon art , * that Vandyck Avas the first painter Avho put ladies' dresses into

carelessromances : — " Hair loosely flowing , robes as free . " He certainly took the buckram and starch out of female costume * scorning * to paint embroidery like Vansomer and Mytens , he gave up matted floors and thick variegated carpets , introduced

silks and satins , and laid the foundation of a new school of female portrait painting * . Critics seem to agree that his female portraits are inferior to his male . This is not altogether true . In some cases he is fully up to every excellence he has caught in his male portraits . Two at

least of his Henrietta Marias are perfection of beauty most perfectly rendered . Oue duchess certainly sat to him , for dukes and duchesses Avere rare in Ene'land when

Vandyck Avas Avith us . Vanclyck's sitter Avas Mary Villiers , Duchess of Richmond and Lenox , Avife of James Stuarb , Duke of Bichmond and Lenox . The duke was her second husband her first Avas Charles Lord Herbert ( died 1635 ) , of the Pembroke and Montgomery blood . In the Vandyck

room at Windsor is an exquisite full-length of her in Avhite satin , with the attributes of St . Agnes , for she Avas gentler than Queen Christina , and did not Avant a cairras lion bj her side . There is another portrait of her from the same inimitable hand at Hamilton Palace , in Scotland—a fulllength in white , attended by a Cupid , with an arrow in his hand . There is a third at Blenheim

—a female page presenting her gloves ; and ( marvellous workman Avas Sir Anthony ) a fourth with Mrs . Gibson , the dwarf , by her side , at Lord Pembroke ' s , at Wilton . The picture at Burleigh ( the Marquis of Exeter ' s ) , is " a good copy / ' by Ashfield . f The Windsor and Hamilton Palace pictures