Ireland.

hesitatingly declared ' that if the Almighty granted mo health and strength , I would faithfully and efficiently discharge my duties without fear , favour , or affection . ' My experience and active habits as a man of business assisted me much in carrying out this determination , and I look with honest pride and satisfaction to the improvements effected , which have proved most beneficial to the Grand Lodge , in having its laws respected and obeyed , its finances brought into an unprecedented state of

prosperity , and its correspondence conducted with precision and punctuality . I refer with gratitude to the resolution unanimously passed by the Grand Lodge of Ireland at the time of my retirement from office , whereby it is placed on record that I had fulfilled the voluntary pledge I gave at the time of my appointment . I have at the same time to express my fleep obligation to my valued friend , our much respected Brother Right Worshipful John F . Townsend , D . G . M ., for the

unwearied and active assistance and co-operation he afforded me . Nor can I omit to state that my old friend , our brother C . T . Walmesley , who was associated with me , shared in the labour , if not the responsibilities of the office , and I sincerely congratulate the Order on his having been appointed my successor . Although I have retired from official responsibility my love for Masonry is unabated , and my desire to serve it as keen as ever . I rejoice in being acknowledged a Freemason . All other societies and institutions have either crumbled away or become changed , but Freemasonry remains unchanged and unchangeable . It has stood the shock of ases ; and those shafts of envv

and calumny that have been and are still occasionally hurled against it cannot extinguish its original lamp , which burns brighter than ever , and shoots forth its genial rays to every land and every clime , being built on sure ' foundations , * Faith , Hope , and Charity '—its entrance gates , ' Wisdom , Strength , and Beauty , ' are protected by ' Truth , Justice , and Fidelity , ' and its heralds trnmpet forth , ' Glory to God in the highest , -and on earth peace , good will toward men . ' I beg to offer my

gratefnl thanks for the magnificent and costly service of plato now presented to me , which I accept , and will preserve as a valuable memento of your fraternal affection and regard ; and when it shall please the Great Architect of the-Universe to summon me home , I trust my posterity will guard it with pride as a testimonial of the united desire of the brethren of this Grand Lodge to record their sense of the services of one who was esteemed bthem as having faithfully dischargod his

y duty , and effected essential and lasting benefits to the Order . Much , however , as I value the sentiments conveyed by your fmttering address , and the valuable testimonial which accompanies it , believe me I appreciate far more the kindly and fraternal feelings which I have experienced from tho brethren since my official connexion with the Order , the remembrance of which will never be effaced from my memory . I have by that connexion secured

the inestimable advantage of the personal regard and friendship of the brethren of our own land , and of those distant countries in every quarter of the globe whore the sway of the Grand Lodge of Ireland is accepted and honoured .

AVOLSEY ' PEOCESSION TO COT ; ET OP CHANCERY—He issued out apparaled all in red , in the habit of a cardinal , which was either of fine scarlet , or else of crimson satin , taffetv damask , or caffa , the best that he could get for money , and " upan his head a round pillion , with a noble of black velvet set to tho same in the inner side ; he had also a tippet of fine sables about his neck , holding in his hand a fine orange , whereof the meat or substance within was taken outand filled again with the

, up part of a sponge , wherein was vinegar and other confections against the pestilent airs , the which he most commonly smelt unto passing among the press , or else when he was pestered with many suitors . There was also borne before him-first , the Great Seal of England , and then his Cardinal ' s hat , by a nobleman or some worthy gentleman , right solemnly , bareheaded ; and as soon as he was entered into his chamber of where there

presence , was attending his coining to wait upon him to Westminster Hall , as well noblemen and other worthy gentlemen , as noblemen and gentlemen of his own family ; thus passing forth with two great crosses of silver borne before him , with also two great pillars of silver , and his pursuivant-Jit-arms with a great mace of silver gilt ; then his gentlemen ushers cried and said , " On my lords and masters , on before ; make way for my lord ' s grace . " Thus passed he down from ms chamber to tho Hall ; and when he came down to the Hall

Ireland.

door , there was attendant for him his mule , trapped altogether in crimson velvet and gold stirrups . AVhen he was mounted , with cross-bearers and pillar-bearers , also upon great horses trapped with fine scarlet , then marched he forward , with his train and furniture , in manner as I have declared , having about him fourteen footmen with gilt poleaxes in . their hands ; and then he went until he came to Westminster Hall door , and there alighted , and went after this manner up through the Hall ,

into the Chancery ; howbeit , he would most commonly stay awhile at a bar made for him a little beneath the Chancery on tho right hand , and then commune some time with the judges , and some time with other persons ; and that done he would repair into the Chancery , sitting there till 11 of the clock , hearing suitors and determining of divers matters . And from thence he would would divers times go into the star chamber , as occasion did serve , when he spared neither high nor low , but judged every one according to their merits and deserts . —Lives of the Chancellors .

The Week.

THE WEEK .

THE COURT . —The Queen , as a rule , still remains in seclusion at Osborne , but on Monday her Majesty met her Privy Council at Osborne , when it was ordered that Parliament , which stood adjourned till the present time , should be further adjourned till the 6 th of February , "then to meet for the dispatch of business . " The Prince of AVales will remain at Osborne with the Queen until Prince Alfred ' s return from British North Americawhich is expected to take place in the course of the

, presont month . His Royal Highness will then proceed to the Holy Land , in accordance with the arrangements of his lamented father , the late Prince Consort . GENERAL HOUE NEWS . —In addition to the usual weekly return of deaths in the metropolis published by the Registrar General there has been issued a quarterly retu . tn of the deaths that have occurred during the las . ' - three months . In bothjfclie

mortality contrasts favourably witii the corresponding periods of last year . For the week the deaths were 1367 , while the average of the last ten years , allowing for the increase of population , would be 1425 . In the quarter the mortality -was 15 , 868 , which is rather higher than the corresponding quarter of last year , but which is still below the average . Owing to the mildness of the . season the deaths from pulmonary

complaints were very low . An affecting tribute to the memory of the late Prince Consort has just been paid b y her Majesty and his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales . It was arranged some time ago that a memorial of the Great Exhibition of 1851 , to be surmounted by a statne of the Queen , should be erected in the now Royal Horticultural Gardens at South Kensington . At a late meeting of the council of the societv

an autograph letter was received from the Prince of AVales , stating that her Majesty would feel it to be most hurtful to her feelings if her statue were to occupy the xilace which of right belonged to her lamented husband , who was the soul of the whole undertaking ; and it was , therefore , her anxious desire , that instead of her statue , that of her beloved husband should surmount the memorial . The Prince modestly adds , that as a humble testimonial of his filial affectionhe had ht and

, soug obtained permission of the Queen , his mother , to present the statue at his own cost . It was determined , at an influentiall y attended meeting , held in Manchester , under the presidency of the Bishop of the diocese , to erect in that city " a fitting " and enduring monument to perpetuate the memory" of the late Prince Consort . Mr . Cole , of the South Kensington Museum , proposes , as a national tribute to the memory of the lamented that

Prince , an "Industrial University , to bo known throughout the world as the Albert University , " should be founded , somewhat on the plan of the University of London . Sir Charles Burrell , "the Father of the House of Commons , " died on Saturday last . The venerable Baronet , who was in his SSth year , had represented Shoreham continuously from 1806 up to the time of his death . Mr . Harconrt , the member for Oxfordshirewho entered the house in tho

, same year , died a week or two ago ; and we are not aware that a member now remains who'has accupied a seat for a longer period than Lord Palmerston , who was returned for Newport , in the Isle of AVight . in 1807 . On AVednesday , in the Central Criminal Court a poor woman named Mary Anne Hamilton was tried on a charge of murdering her infant child . It appeared that at the time the unfor-