The Minerva Lodge, At Leipsic.

consolidation of its constitution and tho amelioration of its internal administration , performing besides , faithfully and conscientiousl y , its duties as a dispenser of Masonic light aud benevolence . Thc Scotch Grade was introduced as early as 1747 . At the head of affairs stand three senior Masterselected

, from among- its members by a committee of seven " Scotch Masters , " residing in Leipsic . Bro . Schreckenberger holds tlie office of Senior Master since the year 1838 ; likewise Bro . AVendler , who , moreover , as successor of Bro . Mahlinann , has filled the chair for the last twenty-six years . The Minerva Lodge has hadsince its constitutiontwenty-two

, , Masters in the chair . To enter more circumstantiall y into the historical phases of the Lodge would lead us too far ; ive therefore refer our readers , if they desire further information , to the more detailed narrative of Bros . Mathes and Yon Keller , ivhich will undoubtedl y be found in the library of every German

Lodge . AVe will conclude this sketch by noticing the Minerva ' s own library ( whicli is probably tlie most considerable in Germany ) , its numismatic collection , and :- 'cvoral charitable institutions in connexion with it , especially its annual Christmas giftssuggested by Bro . Mahlmannivhich have

, , so often afforded festive rejoicings to thc young and their indigent parents ; further , its yearly distrilratioii of wood and coals among thc needy , and a club , in aid of funeral expenses . The latter institution is independent from the administration of the Lodge , although destined exclusively for families of members of the Craft . AYe trust the Minerva

Lodge will long enjoy tho well merited reputation which it has always borne among its sisters , and long remain a cherished home of true Masonry .

Notes On Literature, Science And Art.

NOTES ON LITERATURE , SCIENCE AND ART .

THE committee of tho London Library have made some useful changes in the rules of that institution . The entrance fee is not now exacted . Subscribers have their choice of paying the six pound fee , or of subscribing three pounds a year , instead of tivo pounds . There is a gain of ten members on the year ; the number of volumes issued last year was 29 , 9-15 . Her Majesty has nominated tho Eight Hon . . Hubert Luwe , Richard

Quain , M . D .. and Mr . James Paget , F . P .. S ., to vacancies in the Senate of the University of London , caused by the deaths of Bishop Maltby , Lord Mac-inlay , and Mr . M . T . Ixiines . The new statute ., for the l . egius Professorships of Divinity , Hebrew , and Greek , at the University of Cambridge ! , have been sanctioned by an order of her Majesty in council , dated the 10 th nit . Henceforth the . professors are to be chosen by the council of the senate . Hitherto the

electors wcro the vice chancellor , the master , and two senior fellows of Trinity , the provost of King ' s , and the masters of St . John ' s and Christ ';' , Colleges . The professors are to reside in the university twenty weeks at least during term time in every year . If it appear to the vice chancellor and the sere riri that any professor has become unable to discharge his duties by reason of age , ill health , or other serious impediment , they may require a deputy to be appointed . The vice

chancellor may at airy timo require any of the three professors to subscribe to the three articles ofthe thirty-sixth canon , and if , after throe requisitions , such professor should refuse to subscribe , his professorship will become void . All these professorships are held by chiu'elimon . It is true that a layman is eligible for the Greek professorship , but , as a eauonry of Ely has been annexed to it , it is not likely to be again filled ley any ono not in orders . If I ' orson himself were to reappear among them he would stand a very pour chance indeed of being appointed to the professorship , unless ho consented to become the "Reverend " Jtich . ii-d roi-sun .

Tbe annual general meeting of the Arundel Society was held on Thursday week , at ivhich Lord Elcho presided . An address ivas delivered by Mr . Layard , who made an earnest appeal to members for aid towards llie "Special Copying' Fund , " which tho society has established for the purpose of making accurate water colour copies from frescoes in Italy , which are either rapidly decoying , or are subject to natant destruction , owing' to the threatened troubles iu that country .

Mr . Oldfic-d , the treasurer , announced that the general funds of the society wore iu a satisfactory state , and that solid progress had been made during tho past year . The Morning Chronicle , once the ' ' leading journal , " announces a reduction of its price to two pence . In making this announcement tho conductors declare that they are undeterred by the refusal of the House of Lords to rej . eal the duty . The Dublin Daily Express , also ,

the "leading journal" in Ireland ( whieh appears to have au efficient staff and a well informed London correspondent ) , reduces its price from Sd . to Id . Tlle proprietors state that their journal has acquired a greater circulation than any of the London daily journals except the Times . Dublin is to be favoured , on the first of July , with No . I . of a new cheap monthly periodical , to be called "Duffy ' s Hibernian Magazine , a Monthly Journal of Literature , Scienceand Art . " Tho editor is Mr .

, Martin Haverty , author of tho " History of Ireland , Ancient and Modern , " recently published by Mr . Duffy . The new magazine is intended to be thoroughly Irish in spirit . Its contents , the prospectus informs us , will " embrace Irish history aud antiquities , poetry , romance , biography , and miscellaneous literature ; literary , scientific , artistic , and musical criticism . The names of the contributors will be a guarantee of the high stand of merit which shall bo aimed at in each class of subjects , ancl no

attention shall he wanting to secure a variety of matter that may meet the tastes of every class of readers . " SI . Michelet has recently added to his scries of works the "History of Louis XIV ., " and it is likely to cause considerable sensation . The author snatches off the ambrosial ivig of the groat monarch with relentless hand , and dissects his subject as would a surjreon the body of any common morlal . He says that Ihe historians of Louis XIV . have been

victims ot a Kind ot . intellectual refraction , ' and have not been able to see through the optical delusions by which they were surrounded . In the first place , lie says , Versailles has always been regarded through the media of elegant or witty memoirs aud fanciful anecdotes , of which feminine grace and literary gymnastics were tho chief qualities . Secondly , the "diplomatic and administrative trash ofthe agents of Louis XIV . has imposed far too much on our historians . " Official

documents , ho well says , aro , in a free country , of great value , because they have been discussed and verified ; but for those of a country which is not free , ho has a most sovereign contempt , and it is not likely that in this his judgment will be generally called in question . Thirdly , he ridicules the idea of looking for nothing but " abstract and generous motives and pure intentions behind the acts of Louis XIV ., or any other despotic prince . " "When despotism reigns , falsehood governs , " is

certainly a much safer though not so pleasant or so charitable a principle for a historian or au essayist to adopt as that of poetical and courtly admiration , ivhen treating ol Louis le Grand or any other despotic and bespattered monarch . The subject is attractive , and 31 . Michelct ' s work is sure of a great and deserved success . The fourth volume of the correspondence of Napoleon I ., published by the order of the present emperor , has just apj . eared at Paris . If report speaks truly , we may expect an addition to the works o £ his Imperial Majesty Napoleon III . " The Emperor of the French , " says

"Father Front , " in one of his Paris letters to the Globe , "is engaged on a life of Julius Cfosar . London booksellers , " satirically adds the lively journalist , " ought to keep a sharp eye on getting copyright in the translation . " M . J . P . Ferrier , a French officer , whoso works on Afghanistan are well known in this country , has produced a new and rather elaborate book of Persian and other travel .

"Die Aufgabo Ostcrreieh ' s" ( the task of Austria ) is the title of an anonymous pamphlet just published at Leipsic . The little book has been printed from a MS . loft by the late Frcilierr von Bruck . The contents are deeply tinged with liberalism , but there is nothing definite about the proper method of realizing the desirable results indicated at the outset . Til fact , tlie pamphlet is nothing but a system of liberalism , ¦ in abstracto , and without any visible application to tlie peculiar

requireinents of this much involved empire , Messrs . Cubitt have begun to build the great Conservatory and Winter Gai'den in the . Pionsm-o-groutiils and Arboretum , adjoining- the llotanie Gardens at Kew . It will be a trifle short of seven hundred feet in length , and will stand on tho right hand side of the grand lawn avenue , leading from the Palm House to tho Pagoda . The gardens are now in thoir most perfect beauty . At the recommendation of the council , the Hoyal Society have elected the following distinguished men of science , foreign members of the society ; --Mr . Alexander Biiehe . of AVashington ; M , Helmholtz , of