The Late Duke Of Newcastle.

THE LATE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE .

B 1 tf , l » - "' J 1 J *^*^'''"' 1 '"^ WLIJtUiUAIW , ^ l , aWHW"W » .. ' , WWBTaaMnggCTBSgff ] LONDON , SATURDAY , OCTOBER 22 , 1861 .

Masonry has to deplore the loss by death , of one of the bright ornaments of its profession in the death of the Duke of Newcastle , Pro-Arincial Grand Master for Nottinghamshire—his Grace having departed this Avorld , on Tuesday

evening-, after a long and painful illness , in the , as a rule , prime of life , having only reached his fifty-third year . We are not politicians , and therefore Ave are not going to pass a panegyric on the political

life of our departed brother beyond this , that Ave believe all his actions were distinguished by a stern sense of duty , winch sometimes placedhim in opposition not only to his dearest friends , but the closest of relatives .

Born to a position in Avhich anything like labour was unnecessary , the late Duke was fired by a noble ambition to take part in the Government of his country ; and how well he did so in most trying circumstances—through good

report and ill report—history will pronounce , and assuredly his will not be one of the least honoured names on the rolls of the statesmen of Great Britain .

Entering the world of politics so early in life as twenty-three , Ave can perhaps put forward but feAV claims on the part of the late Duke to the consideration of the brethren as a Mason , except that he never forgot that he AA as

initiated in his youth , and was preparing to take his fair part in the advancement of the Order , Avhen he was prostrated by disease—a disease , we regret to have to add , from which he never recovered . Initiated at Oxford in 1832 , he Avas

appointed as Provincial Grand Master , of Notts —in succession to Bro . Col . Wildman , one of the best Provincial Grand Masters that ever existed , ¦ —in 1860 , the Duke ' s installation being attended by the M . W . G . M ., the Earl of Zetland , and a

large body of the brethren . Moreover , it is honourable to the late Duke , and creditable to the province , that he . was-- , elevated- to office at the unanimous desire of the Nottinghamshire lodges . His Grace was urbane and popular

with those who kneAV him ; and had it pleased the Great . Architect of the . Universe to spare his life , we doubt not that lie would have become a distinguished brother amongst the rulers

The Late Duke Of Newcastle.

of the Craft . One of his last acts , showing his Avish to promote the interests of the brotherhood , was to consent to preside at the last Anniversary Festival of the Boys' School ; but before that event came off our noble brother was enfeebled

I by disease , and never sufficiently rallied to appear again in public . England has lost a faitkn ful servant , and Freemasonry a respected and 1 honoured brother . fr-af ^ jpTFreiVngCTS ^ j-j ^ T &^ a ^^

Imperial Paris.

IMPERIAL PARIS .

The following letter appeared in the Morning lost , aud Avill be read with interest by all Avho know or did know Paris : — " Two years ago , my clear friond , when I partook of your kind hospitality , I went with you and viewed the Avondrous changes of ( he new city of Paris , for so I must ,

call it . I bought a map , corrected , altered , posted up ,, made all complete to the very month for aught I know . On coming here again , in good sootb , if it he necessary to understand its progress , another more recent planmust be studied . Here is one before me , mounted oilcloth and coloured , the Avorks in progress traced out in

red , and those determined on in blue . As every merchant or lawyer in large practice in London has a neAV directory every year , so the visitor to Paris must have a new map every time he Avishes to make himself acquainted Avith the progress of the grand design , the old Lutetia to the new imperial city . Our chart is a tolerably large one , and shows every street clearly , whether new or old .

"Now , let us contemplate the mute evidence of this- , document . It shows streets improved and Avidened , or new streets constructed , or some magnificent boulevards ,, with double roAvs of trees and stately palatial houses ,, with frequent gardens open to all classes , where the-Avell-dressed aristocracj 7 , the portly citizen and his buxom

Avife , the ivorkman in his blouse , the bonne in her snowy cap , the gamin in his casquette , the Zouave in his little turban , the priest in his long black coat aud tri-cornered hat , all sit and enjoy the fraicheur of the air , the musical plashing of the fountains , and the aspect of the bright sky , Avhich just now is almost Italian . Well , unless my

map tolls me most atrociously Avhat the King of Brobdignag designated as 'the thing which is not , ' or Avhat ladies are wont euphuistically to call ' taradiclles , ' the mute evidence before me is this , that nearly twenty miles of such neAV constructions and improvements are actually complete . The red lines show some four and a half miles

now actually in progress , and in the blue something like same number about to be commenced . " Hear this , beloved compatriots ! Hear this , ye Avho have been about ten years completing New Cannon-street ; by no means seek reputation in the canon ' s mouth , for yet the street has no mouth to Blackfriars , where it was

intended to debouch ! Hear this , ye Solons of the Board of Works , who as yet have not been able to complete a little cut from the Strand to New-street , Corait-garden .