Round And About.

unloaded more than one van of pictures , panels , and plates , sent in from the country . Messrs . R . T . & Sons are enterprising persons . They offer £ 500 in prizes for the best specimens of work executed under certain conditions . The principal condition is that all canvases , " opals , " plates , and " copies , " must be purchased of them and bear their trade-stamp . Consequently , more than

twentythousand—probably , forty-thousand—articles have been sold at tremendous profits for the purpose of this competition . A very small number of the deposited specimens have been hung , and may be seen by the payment of one shilling , no reduction to exhibitors ; the price of the catalogue to exhibitors , and others , is sixpence , and the

rules regulating the removal of exhibits are as stringent as those regulating the Royal Academy Exhibitions . It , therefore , comes about that this Christian firm , which is anxious to give amateur talent a chance , has netted a cash profit of—shall we say ^ 1 , 000 ?—anel has secured the patronage of thousands of customers , all eager

hopeful novices , who , in fancy , see their paintings guarded by policemen on the line at Burlington House . I know one 3 'oung lady who , over this " Exhibition , " has spent £ \ odd in the purchase of Messrs . R . T . & Sons' goods , which , besides being a very large sum out of the parental allowance , has been the means of springing up an amount of " hope " in her mortal breast , that would suffice to furnish the hearts of a dozen men who have no hope left .

* * * I was not quite correct in my surmises last month as to the , £ 2 , 500 placed by " a distinguished Brother " at the disposal of the Provisional Committee for the commutation of Bro . Binckes ' pension . This sum has been actually deposited in a London Bank

by Bro . T . W . Tew , P . G . M ., for West Yorkshire , and I am given to understand that one-half this amount has already been collected , principally in the North . As soon as the approaching Festival is a thing of the past the election of the new Secretary will immediately take place , and Bro . Binckes will retire with ^ 2 , 500 in his

hands . Here , then , is the completion of the third volume of this " strange eventful history , " and it has been left to the calm thought and prompt action of a genial Yorkshire gentleman to drag the Craft out of the lion ' s mouth . Bro . T . W . Tew has fallen a victim to our persuasive lance , and as an " Eminent Mason at Home " in an early issue will be able to throw some light upon the memory of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys .

* * * My friend William Chapman was installed W . M . of the Savage Club Lodge on Tuesday , the 4 th inst ., and the ceremony and the subsequent " feed" was very accurately carried through . The invitation cards were gorgeous , the sublime satisfaction of the W . M . was

beautifully pathetic , and altogether Tuesday was a gala day in the history of the Lodge . The installation ceremony was undertaken by the Grand Secretary , and the W . M . of the Asaph was invested with the collar of I . G . Dr . Maitland Coffin , Harry Nichols , and David Law are Stewards , Edward Terry is Treasurer , and Tom

Burnside Junior Warden . The general company of Brethren present was very distinguished , I am told . Bohemia was well represented , and acquitted itself most admirably ; and the after-festivities were continued long after the " actor chaps " had gone . I don ' t know how many ( if any ) initiates were brought up , but a preliminary list

Bro . Chapman showed me leads me to think it is his intention of initiating the whole of London into the mysteries of the ancient Craft .

* * * One very pathetic incident , which has suggested the penning of a " ballad" by a litterateur who was present , was told by Bro . Paige . It will be remembered that Bro . Archibald McNeill , a Fleet-street journalist , was mysteriously murdered in Boulogne last

year . He was a member of the Savage Club Lodge , and Bro . Wellcome possessed himself of some valuable relics of the deceased , by purchase from the French authorities , to whom they had been

anonymously sent . The following letter ssnt by Bro . Wellcome lo the secretary of the Lodge explains itself : — Snow Ilill Buildings , London , E . C , February 3 , 1 S 90 . MY DEAR BRO . PAIGE , —Enclosed please find Bank of England notes , Xo . SS—iv 4 S 504 , for , £ 20 , and No . 2—x 62447 , f ° f-5- These nmes were stolen from our late Bro . Archibald McNeill by , I believe , the same cruel hand that caused his death After the numbers had been published-nd

. , ; negotiation thus rendered impossible , they wire sent lo the French auilioriu ' i s at Boulogne , enclosi d in an anonymous letter , intended to divert suspicion from the real criminals . The stains and mutilations in lliese notes arc evidently caused by the culprit concealing them in his boot nntl carrying them thus hidden for a considerable time . I acquired the noics by purchase for the purposes of the investigation , and now , being no longer required in this connectionI have considered that they should be disposed ofI feci that they

, . are IM ~ too sacred for me to deal with or use as my per-onal property , and have therefore decided to give them to the Savage Club Lodge Benevolent Fund , to be regarded as coming from our late Brother rather than from myself . McNeill's largc-heartcdness is well known to all , and that he would part with his last penny to help a Brother in need . It seems , therefore , to me , that this money , which was the last in his possession , could not be applied in a manner that would have been more gralifung to him than that it should go into the

Benevolent Fund of the Lodge , to which he was so devotedly attached , and of which he was one of the founders and the first Secretary , a position he held at the time of his death . —I beg to remain , yours fraternally , HENRY S . WELLCOME .

The notes and photographs of them were shown , and the whole affair created deep interest in the Lodge . This incident makes mc regret my absence the more , but I was rambling through the glories of Sandringham under the guidance of Mr . Beck , and looking at the schools and cottages of West Newton , which the Princess of Wales takes so much interest in .

* * * The series of " Ramblings " promised for this month are , of necessity , delayed ; but I hope April will bring the first to light . It will treat of Windsor , and the writer has told me more than I already knew of the dear old Borough Town where I have spent some of the happiest moments of my life . THE DRUID .

Masonic independence in our British dependencies seems infectious The latest cry for " Home Rule" comes from Van Diemen's Land , where it has been arranged at a meeting of the Tasmanian Masonic Union to invite the Lodges on the island to send delegates to attend a Convention to be held at Latmceston , on March 20 , 1 S 90 . The Convention will consider the advisability of taking practical steps for the formation of a Gtand Lodge .

# # # A Special Provincial Grand Lodge of Mark Master ' Masons of the Province of Middlesex and Surrey was held at the Ship and Turtle , Leadenhall-street , E . G ., on the 30 th ult ., under the presidency of Bro . Sir Francis Burdett , Bart ., P . G . M ., the occasion being the installation of a new Deputy Prov . Grand Master , in room of the

late Bro . Frederic Davison . The Lodge was draped . The Brethren present were : —Bros . H . Lovegrove , P . S . G . W . ; Dr . J . T . Griffith , P . J . G . W . ; J . Ii . Thomson , P . S . G . O . ; N . Prowcr , P . J . G . O . ; Rev . J . Chater , P . G . Chap . ; C . Hammerton , P . G . Treas . ; P . Saillard , P . G . R . ; W . G . Brighten , P . G . Sec . ; J . IT . Clare , P . J . G . D . ;

W . Lloyd Wise , P . G . I , of W . ; T . C . Edmonds , P . G . D . C . ; F . R . Hales , P . A . G . D . C . ; R . J . Chitson , P . G . Std . Br . ; C . Lee , P . G . Org . ; I-I . Burgess and J . T . Callaway , P . G . Stewards ; J . Gilbert , P . G . Tyler ; C . F . Matier , P . G . W ., G . Sec . ; F . Richardson , G . Reg . ; G .

Gardner , P . G . D . C ; J . W . Hobbs , P . G . O . ; C . J . Axford , P . A . G . D . C . ; L . G . Gordon Robbins , P . P . S . G . W . ; C . Belton , P . G . M . O . ; R . J . Mure , P . G . O . ; J . C . Collier , P . P . S . G . D . ; W . IT . Kempster , P . G . Steward ; J . K . R . Cama , P . P . J . G . D . ; S . C . Dibcfin , P . G . D . C . ; J . II . Cureton , J . W . 333 ; G . Dickinson , J . O . 355 ; W . Clowes , W . M . 357 ; S . P .

Catterson , P . M . 234 ; E . W . Huddleston , J . O . 355 ; C . Handley , J . W . 284 ; J . Moon , P . G . T . ; S . Green , J . W . 3 61 ; T . W . Richardson , S . W . 385 ; and E . Storr , W . M . 234 . Visitors : Bros . H . Weston , P . P . G . I . of W . Kent ; H . A . Hunt , Reg . 3 63 ; Major Ritchie , P . G . S . B . Kent ; and H . Massey , P . G . Steward . After the

Provincial Grand Lodge had been formally opened , Bro . Brighten , Prov . G . Sec , announced the death of Bro . Frederic Davison , and also the death of Bro . the Rev . G . W . Weldon , G . Chap ., and said that the Prov . Grand Lodge would have to pass votes of condolence and sympathy with the families of the two deceased Brethren .