Meetings of the Supreme Council of the 33d and last degree, "Ancient and Accepted Rite," for the northern masonic district and jurisdiction of the United States of America, were held on the 1st of October and 7th December, 1847, at which various matters of high importance to our ancient and illustrious Order were discussed and duly disposed of.

Again, at meetings held on the 5th of February, and 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th days of March, 1848, the Svpreme Grand Council opened its Supreme Grand Lodge of Perfection and Supreme Grand Council of Princes of Jerusalem, in ample form, and engaged in the mystic labours of the Ancient and Accepted Rite; and affairs of much moment to the welfare of the Order were deliberated upon and perfected.

The M. P. Sov. Grand Commander announced that he had appointed Ill. Bro. K. H, Van Rensselaer to the office of Ill. Grand Master of Ceremonies of this Supreme Grand Council, which had become vacant by the death of our lamented Bro. Ruel Baker; and Bro. Van Rensselaer was thereupon accordingly proclaimed as such. Deus meumque jus.

By command,

CHAS. W. MOORE,
Ill. Gr. Sec'y Gen. of H... E.-

CONSECRATION OF THE YARBOROUGH LODGE, No. 812, AT THE GEORGE HOTEL, COMMERCIAL ROAD, EAST.

THIS event, which had been looked forward to with very great interest by the Craft, took place on Thursday, the 6th July, 1848, but much to the surprise of the brethren present did not emblazon the masonic escutcheon.

Among the members of the Craft present were-Bros. T. H. Hall, Prov. Grand Master for Cambridgeshire; J. C. Morris, P. S. G. Warden and Vice President of the Board of General Purposes; John Savage, the late Vice President; Rev. J. E. Cox, Grand Chaplain; W. H. White, Grand Secretary; Stephen Barton Wilson, P. M., No. 19; William Watson, P. M., No. 25; J. A. D. Cox, P. M., No. 4, and P. G. Steward; T. Pryer, W. M., No. 225; W. Mountain, P. M., No. 12; T. Scott, P. M., No. 11; W. Honey, P. M., No. 19; and Bros. Hervey, Purday, Farnfield, Gale, Elliot, Benjamin, Gibbins, Rule, and Barton.

The Earl of Yarborough, who had consented to consecrate the new lodge, was unavoidably prevented attending in consequence of his parliamentary engagements in the House of Lords; in his absence the ceremony of consecration was undertaken by the R. W. Bro. John C. Morris, P. S. G. W., assisted by Bro. Rule, as S. W.; Bro. Elliot, as J. W.; Bro. Rev. J. E. Cox, as Chaplain; Bro. W. H. White, as Secretary; Bro. Purday, as Director of Ceremonies.

The installation of the Worshipful Master elect, Bro. Vesper, was commenced by Bro. Morris), and concluded by Bro. Gibbins; so great was the confusion, and so unconnected were the proceedings, that we could not catch the names of the officers, with the exception of Bro. Wynne, as S. W., and Bro. Cornwall, as Deacon, or Inner Guard.

The Worshipful Master, after his installation, initiated seven gentlemen into the Order (we presume by dispensation).

At the close of the proceedings the brethren partook of an elegant banquet, supplied by mine host of the George (which proved the best piece of workmanship of the day, if we except the eloquent and able oration of the Grand Chaplain, Bro. Cox).

The injudicious speech of the Prov. Grand Master for Cambridgeshire, which had well nigh disturbed the masonic harmony, and the inefficiency of the P. S. G. Warden and his assistants in the consecration, as well as the trashy nonsense of Bro. Gibbins in the installation of the Worshipful Master, were a sad drawback. How came it, that when there were so many of the best working Masons in the Craft present, that some of them were not asked to take part in the proceedings? They certainly would not have turned the beautiful ceremonies into ridicule. We must exempt Bro. Vesper, the Worshipful Master, and his officers, from any charge of neglect or inattention to their duties; courteous hospitality, and goodly promise of efficiency, were as well displayed by them, as was the inefficiency of the installation itself too palpable to be passed over without expressing regret at the circumstance.

ASYLUM FOR WORTHY AGED, AND DECAYED FRFEMASONS.

The Annual General Meeting of Governors and Subscribers was held on the 12th of July, Dr. Crucefix in the chair.

The minutes of every meeting since the last General Meeting were read and confirmed.

The Auditors' report, as follows, was read:

:

General Disbursement, including payments to Annuitants 167 4 6

The report was received and adopted.

The Treasurer, Secretary, and Collector, were unanimously re-elected. The salary of the Secretary was raised to forty guineas per annum, and an honorarium of twenty guineas for his very indefatigable and extraordinary services during the past years, was unanimously voted.

Auditors.-Bros. Barrett, Savage, Staples, Tombleson, and Turner. The kind and efficient services of Bro. Theodore Lemale, on many occasions, were brought before the meeting, and the privileges of a Life Governor were unanimously voted to that excellent brother.

The unanimous thanks of the meeting were voted to the Stewards of the Masonic Ball; to Col. the Hon. Geo. Anson, M. P., Chairman of the late Anniversary Festival; to the Board of Stewards, for their liberality; to the Chairman and Directors of the Engineers, Masonic, and Universal Life Assurance Society, for their generous support; and to the Building or Sub-Committee, for their strenuous exertions and able services.

It was then resolved that the General Committee be requested to commence the erection of the Asylum as early as possible.

Thanks being passed to the Chairman, the meeting adjourned.

From none of the other charities have we been favoured by any reports.

CHIT CHAT.

GUIDO.-"Rini (Guido) was born at Bologna in 1574, and died in 1642. All the excellencies of painting seem united in his superior genius; for whether we consider the grand style of his composition, the delicacy of his ideas, the disposition of his objects in general, or the beautiful turn of his female forms, his colouring, or his graceful air of the heads, all are admirable, and fill the mind with a kind of ecstacy. All subjects were not equally adapted to the genius of Guido: the tender, the pathetic, the devout, in which he could manifest the sweetness and the delicacy of his thoughts, were those in which he peculiarly excelled -those which distinguished him from any other painter, and gave him precedence of all. In expressing the different parts of the body, he had a remarkable peculiarity; for he usually designed the eyes of his figures large, the nostrils somewhat close, the mouth small. Guido's heads are accounted not inferior to Raffaell's. His works have been deservedly admired throughout all Europe, and to this day increase in value and esteem."-Gould's Dictionary of Painters.

"Lines written after viewing an exquisite specimen of that grea master, Guido. The subject is, the Magdalen holding the vase of ointment with which she anointed Christ:'

"The holy agony of that sad soul

All calmly pleads through those religious eyes;

The bleeding heart, o'erfilled with boundless love,
For hope to God, th' eternal Father, flies.
The modest, parted lips, upturned in prayer,
A world of patient resignation speak.
The spirit, consolation having won,

O'erflows in grateful tears, most heavenly meek.
Entranced I gaze in loving ecstasy;

A history is told in that one look.

O wond'rous effort of the human mind!
The painter's brush hath writ a mighty book.
O Guido, hero of thy deathless art,

Thy inspiration springeth from the heart!
Literary Gazette.

"W. W."

"Great delight must be felt by all lovers of the ideal and the beautiful on viewing it."-Art Union Journal.

The magnificent painting here alluded to, is to be disposed of among 300 members of the Craft, at five guineas each. On its completion, the brother to whom it belongs will present to Bro. Dr. Crucefix the sum of 1007. for the Asylum for Aged and decayed Freemasons. The painting has been in possession of the brother's family 173 years-since 1675, thirty-three years after the death of the artist-and cost, at that period, 1250l., both of which can be proved hy a document bearing the aforesaid date.

THE DEPUTY GRAND MASTER OF ENGLAND.-A "Scotchman in England," writing to the "Witness," says-" Being a few days ago on a visit to the Brocklesby-woods, with a Scotch friend, our eye fell on the following notice, which is a specimen of true politeness and gentlemanly feeling: Notice.-Much injury having been committed by the cutting of names on trees, and by writing upon and otherwise disfiguring the seats and ornamental buildings in the Brocklesby grounds, and by other mischievous practices, the Earl of Yarborough requests persons taking advantage of his permission to visit those grounds to abstain from, and prevent as far as possible, the commission of such acts, which are alike annoying to the proprietor and discreditable to those who commit them, and which, if persevered in, must lead to a limitation of the now unrestricted leave which the Earl of Yarborough is glad to find so many persons avail themselves of, and which he is anxious should be enjoyed by all classes. Surely the above is a contrast to the conduct of the proprietor of Glen Tilt, and the more so, that the Brocklesby grounds lie not in a Highland wild, but in the midst of a rich agricultural district. At one part of the woods there is a large cottage, built in the Swiss style, and erected solely for the accommodation of pic-nic parties, while the family mausoleum, the grounds in front of the hall, the lake at Newsham, with its boats and alcoves, are all open to the public."-Times, Aug. 25,

1848.

BUILDERS' BEnevolent INSTITUTION.-A short time since the first anniversary of the establishment of this society was celebrated by a

dinner at the Freemasons' Tavern, which was numerously attended by the master-builders* of the metropolis; Lord Robert Grosvenor, M. P., in the chair. The object of the association is to provide relief for builders, of sixty years of age and upwards, in reduced circumstances, as well as to maintain an asylum for decayed master-builders, their wives and widows. For this purpose a fund has been raised since the preliminary meeting, held exactly a year since; and the amount was greatly augmented by a long list of subscriptions after the dinner. The noble Chairman ably advocated the claims of the institution to public support; and after the customary loyal toasts had been drunk, prosperity to the institution was drunk with great enthusiasm. Lord Robert Grosvenor having vacated the chair, it was taken by Mr. W. Biers, the President of the Society; and, after a pleasant evening, the party broke up.

FAIRISH, AND NOT UNMASONIC.-Tom presented his bill to his neighbour Joe for service rendered. The latter looked it over, and expressed much surprise at the amount. "Why, Tom, it strikes me that you have made out a pretty round bill here, eh?" "I am sensible it is a pretty round one," quoth Tom, "and I am come for the purpose of getting it squared."

LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC PENSIONS.-The following pensions on the civil list have been granted out of the fund set apart for the reward of literary and scientific eminence:-To Bro. James Sheridan Knowles, the eminent dramatic author, 2007. per annum; W. Carleton, Esq., the eminent dramatic author of " Irish Tales," &c., 2001. per annum.

DRESDEN, July 4.-ELIGIBILITY OF JEWS AS MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT. In yesterday's sitting of our second chamber, the deliberation on the laws of election was resumed, and the question that Jews as well as Christians are eligible as members of the constituent Assembly was carried, there being only two opponents.-Allg. Zeit. d. Jud.

A QUICK REPLY.-Rabbi Baruch one day entered by accident a room, where a number of impious men were conversing scurrilously on the scripture passages alluding to the angels of the Lord, who are recorded to have performed miracles on earth. When the Rabbi perceived these men, he was going to leave the room immediately; but one of the company called out to him-" Stay, man of God, you are one of the messengers of the Lord, tell us what miracle you have performed on earth." "1,"replied the Rabbi, " I have opened the mouth of the ass."

THE BISHOP AND THE JEW.-Once, for a while, the proceedings in the House of Lords have set tongues and pens in almost universal motion. Their Lordships have thrown out the Jewish Disabilities Bill, by a majority of 35, the votes in favour of the second reading being 128, and against it 163. And so the Tories exultingly cry, "Thank God we have a House of Lords!" To which the people do not respond. Nor will they, we opine, before travellers thank God for turnpike-gates, honest traders for the obstructions of the excise, consumers for high duties, or the lovers of religious liberty for the restoration of creed persecutions, ecclesiastical felonry, and the faggot. Here let us record the very remarkable fact, that whilst the Bishop of Oxford was preaching religious

From the above it appears that the practical masons, the builders, and architects, are following the noble example of the Speculative Freemasons, by erceting an asylum for aged and decayed builders.