Masonic Notes And Queries.

offer a refuge m his house to the Freemasons , or allow them to assemble there , he shall be punished for the first offence with a fine of one hundred florins ; for the second offence two hundred florins ; and for the third offence with perpetual banishment from the city and its territories . — D . E . A .

BRO . THOMAS SMITH WEBB . I" have latterly been in the company of some American brethren , and they speak very much about the Webb working . Is its originator dead or alive ?—ONE NEW TO THE ORDER . —[ Webb ' s Avorking is that of the Grand Stewards Lodge amongst us . He could not originate a new style in Freemasonry , bnt took the legitimate working of Preston to America . He has been dead about

44 years , as you will see by the following extract , from a letter published in the Bhode Island American , July . 6 th , 1819 . The letter Avas Avrittenat Cleveland , Ohio : " Mr . Webb came to this- place yesterday morning about 4 o ' clock , in the steamboat , apparently in perfect health , aud informed me that he wished to get a conveyance to Columbus , in this State ,

but did not succeed until this morning , when he purchased a horse , waggon and harness , and got ready to start . At about eight o ' clock this morning , he Avent into his lodging room , as ifc appears , to change his clothes , and was there , as near as could be ascertained , about one hour , when Mr . Merwin went to his room to inform him that his carriage was ready , and found him in bed in a fit .

Pysicians were with him immediately , and every exertion was made to save him , but in vain . He breathed his last at ten minutes before seA * en o ' clock afternoon , with scarcely a struggle . He never had his senses nor spoke after he was first discovered in the fit . The physicians gave ifc as their opinion thafc he died in apoplesy . His remains will be interred to-morrow afternoon at five o ' clock , in Masonic Order . ]

AMERICAN AND ENGLISH MASONRY . Can you give me some idea ot the reason for which there are differences of Avork , unifbrmit 3 * , and usage betweed the English and American lodges ?¦—J . M . [ Americans state that the remarkable discrepancies between the English and American Masonic usages chiefly grow out of the fact that Masonry was planted iu America much more than a century ago , and has never

been altered by law since , while Masonry in England has . True , they say Webb re-shaped it slightly ancl Cross still more , while later lecturers have done what they could to make their marks upon ifc , bufc no Grand Lodge has attempted an innovation of any sort ; and the Constitutions , & c , of the Grand Lodges of the United States to-day contain all the features , with but few

original ones , of the Ancient Charges and Anderson ' s Constitutions , so-called , of 1723 . "" Not so with our English brethren . Within seventeen years of the time of publishing their first Constitutions , the basis of all the American Grand Lodge Constitutions , they had

authorised a second edition , more adverse to the first than to any one Grand Lodge Constitution iu the United States differs from another . And so they went on , each edition at variance with the last , until 1813 . Then the two opposing Grand Lodges , that had warred for sixty years or thereabouts , united under a new Constitution , more diverse , more anomalous , more filled with innovations ,

than all that bad preceded ifc . The rcsulfc is , that the English are the most modern set of Constitutions now in vogue in the world . The conclusion is that as the Jews , the old conservators of the divine treasures , forfeited them to a nation that had not knoAvn God , so has the English Grand Lodge voluntarily resigned the old Constitutions inherited from the men of the olden times

—the Andersons , the Wrens , the Ashmoles , the Edwins , the St . Albans—and given them into tbe hands of their new people , to pass doAvn unimpaired , it is devoutly hoped , to all coming time . Masonry exists in America in a form more ancient and less innovated upon than it does in England . ]

Obituary.

Obituary .

BRO . DE . HAMILTON , OF BEECHGROVE , MANCHLINE , AYRSHIRE . The grave has just closed upon another contemporary ol Burns—Bro . Dr . Dugald Stuart Hamilton , of Beeehgrove . The Doctor , who was tbe youngest and last surviving son of tbe friend ancl patron of Burns , was born in the year that saw tbe

poet's father relieved from his earthly cares , and was a boy of about twelve years old when Burns himself died . It is unnecessary here to enter into a lengthened eulogy of Bro . Hamilton ' s character . Suffice it to say , that when the hand of him who is now numbered with the dead Avas stretched forth with kindness , it Avas not Avith pompous stinginess or

Pharasaical parade . His charity was spontaneous , springing from a sense of duty or necessity . As a magistrate , the balance was not held unevenly in his hand , and the equity with which he exercised his judicial functions is well attested . He stood hig hill his profession of a physician , and , although he had given up regular practice for more than a quarter of a century , yet ,

if requested to attend tbe poorest , he did so , free of charge . These are matters which speak for themselves , Avith far more force than a fine panegyric will do . Our deceased brother Avas initiated in Machline St . Mungo's , and but recently retired from the chair of Tarbolton Kilwinning St . James , of which : loclge be was an affiliated member .

Bro. William Gidley Emmett.

BRO . WILLIAM GIDLEY EMMETT .

Devonport on the evening of Saturday , May 23 rd , was visited by a conflagation of a very serious nature , resulting in the destruction of six or seven houses , the damaging of at least three or four more , ancl worst of all , the loss of Bro . Emmett . The deceased was a grocer , carrying on business at 71 , Princess-street , ancl was likewise a dealer in cazeline , colza , turpenzene , and

other oils . On tbe evening in question be was visited by a tradesman , asking if he could then supply him with a gallon of turpentine , being answered in the affirmative , the deceased proceeded with a candle to a cellar under the shop , where the oils > & c , were kept ; an explosion instantly took place , ancl in less than an hour , seven or eight houses were in flames . Every

exertion was made to discover the deceased , but not till two o'clock the next day did tbey find bis body . Such was the manner of his death . Bro . Emmett was a member of Lodge Friendship ( So . 238 ) ,

m which loclge he had served the office of J . W . ; he was also a member of Lodge St . Aubin ( No . 1256 ); a member of the Town Council for Morice Ward , one of the Commissioners for the parish , a joint Secretary of the Sunday School Union , and a member of the Wesleyau body . At tbe time of his death he was 39 years of age . An inquest was held on his body , and a verdict in accordance

with the above facts returned . His interment took place in the Cemetery on Thursday , May 29 th , attended by a very large number of friends and brethren , prominent among which were from his mother lodge No . 238 . Bros . Crocker , W . M . Murch , S . W . , * Jennings , Fox , and Rogers , P . M . s ; the S . D ., and other officers and brethren . From his other lodge , St . Aubin ( No .

125 G ) , were tbe W . M ., his two Wardens , the two Deacons ( acting as bearers ) , and other brethren ; the seven other lodges of the neighbourhood being duly represented . Many well-known and worthy brethren Avere present , to pay a last farewell , to drop their sprig of acacia , and say " Alas ! my brother . "