Masonic And General Tidings.

Masonic and General Tidings .

The Morn ' ng Advertiser , in a lengthy review , thus speaks of the Grand Registrar ' s work on Northumbrian Masonry and the development of the Craft in England : " A highly instructive and interesting volume . The author ' s long connection with Masonry , especially in the Masonic province , and the' high official position he enjoys , have given him great advantages for undertaking a historical work of this description , and he has made the best use of these for the produclion of one which should be of real value to the historic interests of the Craft . The whole volume is most interesting . "

BRO . THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF PORTLAND are staying at the Cap Martin Hotel for a few weeks . THE STATE APARTMENTS of Windsor Castle will be closed aftar Saturday next , the nth inslarit , until further orders .

BRO . THE EARL AND COUNTESS OF DERBY have come to their residence , St . James ' s-square , S . W ., from Knowsley Hall . BRO . THE EARL AND COUNTESS OK WHARNCLIFFE arrived in Curzon-street on Saturday last from Wortley Hall , Sheffield . BRO . LORD AND LADY PiRnRioHThave arrived in Grosvenor-place from Pirbright for the opening of Parliament . They will remain in town until Easter .

ACCORDING TO present arrangements , her Majesty is expected to return to Windsor Castle on Tuesday , the 14 th inst ., upon the conclusion of her winter visit to the Isle of Wight . BRO . H ORACE BROOKS MARSHALL , M . A ., C . C , will preside at the Memorial Hall on Tuesday , the 2 ist instant , at the annual meetingof the Newsvendors'Benevolent and Provident Institution .

H . R . H . THE P RINCE OK WALES , as Grand Master of Mark Masons , has appointed Sir Edward Hill , K . C . B ., M . P ., to be Provincial Grand Master of Mark Master Masons for South VVales . H . R . H . THE P RINCE OK WALES and the Duke of York were unable to be present at the debate in the House of Lords on Tuesday afternoon , owing to the death of H . R . H . the Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha .

IRISH I NDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION , —The Queen and T . R . H . the Prince and Prince and Princess of Wales have again given their patronage to the combined rational iale of Irish peasant work to be held on St . Patrick ' s Day and the day following . THE S PEAKER of the House of Commons , Bro . W . C . Gully , Q . C , will give his usual full-dress Parliamentary dinners to the members of the Government on the 22 nd instant , and to the Opposition on the ist prox . Mrs . Gully will hold a reception after each dinner .

BRO . THE DUKE OK DEVONSHIRE has presented the living of Keighley to the Rev . Henry John Palmer , M . A ., the vicar of Christ Church , Cockermouth . Mr , Palmer was married two years ago to Miss M . Chapman , the daughter of Bro . W . S Chapman , of Aldersgate-street . BRO . SIR HENRY IRVINC completed his Gist year on Monday , having been born on February 6 , 1 S 3 S , and his countless friends in all parts of the world will be glad to hear that he has now quite recovered from his recent illness , is in excellent health , and almost ready to appear again before the public , who regret to have been deprived so long of his services .

THE H ONORARY SECRETARIES of H . R . H . the Prince of Wales's Hospital Fund for London have received a very genercus subscription of £ 1000 from Lord Mount-Stephen , wilh a letter stating that it is his lordship ' s intention to contribute the like sum annually . This is the ffcond yearly subscription of J ( , IOOO from private donors , the first , from the Hon . W . Waldorf Astor , having been continued since the commencement of the fund .

LIEUTENANT-COLONEL MAXWF IL has made an interesting addition to the collects n of Omduirean relics which are now on view at the Museum of the Royal United Service Institution , in Whitehall . This consists of a finely-constructed coat of chain airrcur , worn by cte of the Dervish leaders on the battlefield , and of which several specimens have already reached London . That the public have evinced a remarkable interest in these relics may be gathered from the fact that since they were lirst exhibited , at the end of November , no fewer than 15 , 000 visitors have passed the turnstiles .

TUESDAY NIGHT ' S Court Circular says : "A new very grevious loss has again tefalh n the Queen and Royal Family . Her Majesty received on Monday evening , with Ihe deepest grief , the sad news of the death of her dear grandson , the Hereditary Piirce of Saxe-Coburg , only son of the Duke and Duchessof Saxe-Coburg . The young Prince was in his 25 th year , and had been very unwell for some weeks past . He became suddenly much worse in the night on the 5 th to Gth , and passed away peacefully on Monday afternoon , at 4 . 20 o ' clock , at Meran , whither he had gone for his health only two days after the silver wedding of his parents . This sad event is a terrible blow to the bereaved parents , who are in the deepest affliction . "

IN CONSEQUENCE of the death of the young and lamented Prince Alfred of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha , Queen Victoria ' s grandson , her Majesty has postponed the opening of the Childien ' s Wing of the Isle of Wight Infirmary at Ryde , which was to have taken place on Wednesday , with simple but stately ceremonial , and all the arrangements have been cancelled for the time being . The new wing is the practical and useful form in which the loval inhabitants of the island decided to commemorate her Majesty ' s Jubilee , and a sum or over £ 4000 was raised for the purpose of erecting the building . Her Alajesty has graciously intimated that she hopes to perform the ceremony when the Court is again in residence at Osborne , probably on a date in July .

FOLLOWING ON THE full-dress dinner given by Bro . the Dukeof Devonshire as Lord President cf the Ccuncil on Monday , and on similar dinners given hy other Ministers and prominent politicians to their supporters in both Houses , the Duchess of Devonshire held a reception . The Blue Hungarian Band played at the base of the winding marble stairway , at the top of which stood the hostess . The magnificent reception rooms were throroed , among the company present being Bro . the Duke of Fife in uniform , wearing

the green ribbon of the Thistle ; Loid Rowton , the Duke and Duchess of Somerset , Bro . the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough , the Right Hon . A . J . Balfour , M . P . ; the Eail of Aberdeen , Lord and Lady Tweedmouth , Lady Victoria Innes-Ker , Earl Spencer , Bro . Eail Canington , the Chinese Ambassador , the Danish Minister , the Persian Minister , the Swedish Minister , the Portuguese Minister , the Brazilian Minister , the Marchioness of Londonderry , Mr . Wentworth Beaumont , M . P . ; Bro . Lord Stanley , M . P ., accempanied Miss Alice Stanley , & c , & c , & c .

Masonic And General Tidings.

LONG ' S HOTEL has just changed hands , having passed into the possession of Bro . G . P . Bertini , who so successfully equipped and opened the Hotel Cecil . H . R . H . THE PRINCE OF WALKS , attended by Bros . Captain Holford and Sir F . Knollys , arrived at Marlborough House on Monday from Sandringham . BRO . ARCHDEACON SINCLAIR has appointed the Rev . Bryant Salmon to St . Leonard ' s , Shoreditch , vacated by the promotion of the Rev . S . Buss .

A COURT BALL in Berlin which was to have taken place on Tuesday night was countermanded by the German Emperor on account of the death of the Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha . THE MARQUIS OK LANSDOWNE , Minister of War , and Bro . the Marquis of Tweeddale , were among the guests who dined with Bro . the Duke of Devonshire , at Devonshire House , on Monday night .

THE FIRST ANNUAL BANQUET AND CONCERT ( ladies' night ) of the Alfred Newton Lodge , No . 2 CSG , takes place to-night at the Royal Palace Hotel , Kensington , Bro . Alderman A . I . Newton , W . M ., presiding .

LAST NIGHT the Old Masonians' Association held their annual concert at Anderton ' s Hotel in aid of the Benevolent and Grant Fund , which was formed some years ago to assist , when necessary , Old Boys of the R . M . I . Bl ; THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF YORK , accompanied by their children , and attended by Lady Katherine Coke and Sir Charles Cust , arrived in London on Monday afternoon , from York Cottage , Sandringham .

THE ROYAL EXCHANGE . —The Marchioness of Granby will unveil the pinol "The Fire of London , " painted by Mr . Stanhope Forbes , A . R . A ., and contributed by the Sun Fire Office , at the Royal Exchange on the ioth inst . RANGEMORE HALL , Bro . Lord Burton ' s place in Staffordshire , is about to be rebuilt . It is expected that the work will extend over two years , and during lhat time Lord and Lady Burton will reside at Needwood House , Burton-on-Trent .

THE MARQUIS OF SALISBURY and the Right Hon . Joseph Chamberlain , M . P ., are both expected to make speeches at the annual dinner of the Institution of Civil Engineers , which is to be held in Lincoln ' s Inn Hall on the 1 sth prox . THE REPAIRS TO Swale Bridge , which connects the Isle cf . Sheppey with the mainland of Kent , were completed on Thursday , and Sheerness and the Isle of Sheppey , after being isolated for five days , were agair . brought into railway communication with London .

BY COMMAND of her Majesty the Oueen , who is patron of the Up-Country Nursing Association for Europeans in India 7 Sir Fleetwood Edwards has forwarded to the Hon . Mrs . Neville Lyttelton , Honorary Treasurer , a donation of £ 30 to the funds of the association . HER MAJESTY has been petitioned to nominate some member of the Royal Family to attend the Welsh National Eisteddfod at Cardiff in July , as a representative of the

Crown . The Marquis of Bute has placed Cardiff Castle at the disposal of the Mayor for the entertainment of Royalty . V THE LOUD CHAMBERLAIN has been authorised to state that , in consequence of the death of his Royal Highness the Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gjtha , her Majesty ' s Drawing Room , announced for Friday , the 24 'h instant , will not take place . < Notice will be given , as soon as possible , of future Court arrangements .

IT HAS now been decided that the Queen will leave Windsor Castle for the Riviera on Thursday , March gth . Her Majesty will vary the usual route , and on quitting the Royal Burgh will proceed over theSouth-Westcrn Railway to the Metropolis , and thence along the South-Eastern line to Folkestone . After crossing to Calais the Queen travels in her own saloon carriage to Nice .

COUNTESS GROSVENOR distributed on Wednesday evening the prizes gained by the London Scottish Rifle Volunteers at the hcadquirters of the battalion , James ' -street , Buckingham-gate , in the presence of a very large company , which included the Marquis of Lome , M . P ., Bro . Lord Balfour of Burleigh , Genera ! Sir George Wiiite , V . C , and Lady White , Field-Marshal Sir Donald Stewart , Mapr-General Trotter ( Commanding the Home District ) , & c , Si " .., Sic

PROFESSOR HORATIO PARKER , head of the Yale University Music Department , has , according to our New York correspondent , been informed that his latest oratiorio , " Mora Novissma , " has been chosen as the composition to be produced at the Muvcxl Festival cf Worcester , Gloucester and Hereford , to be held at Worcester . The conductor of the festival , writing to Professor Parker , says this is the first time an important American musical composition has been produce 1 in I ' uUnl .

IN REPLY fo a message of condolence in the name of the citizens of London to the Grand Duke and Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha on the death of their son , the Lord Mayor ( Bro . Sir J . V . Moore ) has received thc following , telegram from the Grand Duke : "Meran , Wednesday Morning . —Am deeply touched by your lordship ' s kind telegram , and express my sincerest thanks to you and the citizens of London tor sympathy with me in my intense sorrow . —( Signed ) ALFRED . "

THE CHAPTER MOUSE at St . Paul s was crowded after the four o ' clock service on Thursday with the friends who had gathered to do honour to thc Dean by the presentation to him on his Soth birthday of the fine and characteristic picture painted of him by Sir William Richmond . The proceedings were as simple an & informal as they were hearty , the presentation being made through Ciron Scott Holland , mounted on a chair . The Dean gallantly mounted another chair , and returned thanks in his own warmhearted fashion . The Bishop of London ar . d others who were unable to be present wrote letters to express regret .

THE LEVEE announced to be held by H . R . H . the Piince of Wales on behalf of her Majesty on the 27 th inst . will not take , but the Duke of York will hold two levees on behalf of the Queen on March Gth and 14 th . Drawing Rooms will be held at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday , March 1 st , and on Friday , March 3 rd next , under the ordinary regulations . Ladies whose names are on the list for presentation on the 24 th inst . will be received on Match 1 st , for which date the presentation cards already forwarded will be available . The Court will be in mourning on both occasions , and ladies must appear in half mourning according to the published notice .

RESPECTING the Court mourning forthe lamented Prince Alfred of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha , grandson of the Queen , a special supplement to the "London Gizette " contains an announcement from the Lord Chamberlain ' s Ofiice , St . James ' s Palace , prolonging the present mourning for the late Princess of Bulgaria , which would have terminated on Monday next , thc 13 th inst ; , until Thursdry , Mirch yth next , the Queen having been pleased to command that the Court shall be in mourning for four weeks from Thursday , thc 9 * . h inst ., for his late Rjyal Highness the Hereditary Prince ] of Saxe-Ctburgand Gotha , Prince Alfred of Great Britain and Ireland , K . G ., grandson of her Majesty the Oueen .

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