Current Topics.*

London . In addition to the treatises on architecture and building before noticed , Mr . Hosking published an "Essay on the Construction of Bridges , " and a " Guide to the proper regulation of Buildings in Towns . " Some of his lectures at the College have appeared in the columns of the Builder journal . Mr . Henry Austin , formerly Secretary to the General Board of Health , and of late years Superintending Inspector of the department charged with the administration of the Local Act , died on

Sth October , 1861 . Mr . Austin was articled to Mr . Dixon , of Pm-nival ' s Inn , and subsequently entered the service of Mr . R . Stephenson during the construction of the Blackwall Railway . On the commencement of the sanitary movement , Mr . Austin appears to have succeeded in securing the attention of its leaders , and he was thus connected with the singular theories of sumpts , of small pipe drains , and pot-piped gathering grounds , which for so many years were forced upon the unfortunate towns who submitted to

the guidance of the General Board of Health . Mr . Austin , however , was a scholar and a gentleman , and in private life he was esteemed and beloved by those who knew him . Mr . John Clayton , the only Fellow of our Institute to whose loss I have yet referred , was known in early life hy the publication of an Ess . iy ou the Churches of London , and on half-timbered houses . He settled afterwards at Hereford ; but his pursuits do not seem to have been of a nature to have brought him very prominently

before the general public . At least I have not been able to obtain any particulars of them , beyond the fact of his having been engaged to construct the station buildings on the Hereford and Abergavenny Railway , and some private mansions in South AVales . Our late Fellow , Mr . George Bailey , was another of the fortunate men " who have no history . " He was originally a pupil of the late Sir John Soane , and he remained for some years in the office of that eminent architect after the expiration of his articles . On the

death of Sir John , Mr . Bailey was appointed Curator to the Soane Museum , and he held that post until his own death in the commencement of the spring of this year . *' Our late respected Honorary Solicitor , Mr . AV . L . Donaldson , had at all times so identified himself with the interests of our Institute , and had displayed so much talent , energy , and disinterestedness in advancing its prosperity in all matters which entered into his provincethat I fear we shall never be able to supplhis loss .

, y He carried us through the early period of our existence , and guided us by his friendly advice when we most needed both friends and advice . The tribute of respect ive can offer to his memory , is , I fear , but a feeble consolation to those who mourn his loss , but in the sincerest and most earnest manner do I now beg to express , in the name of the ivhole body of the Institute , our feelings of grief and of sympathy for the loss they have sustained . " All heads must come

To the cold tomb ; But still the actions of the just , Smell sweet and blossom in the dust . " The President having resumed his seat , again rose , and said there were two or three other cases worthy of notice ; one was the death of Mr . Thomas Finden , who died at the age of 77 , was a partner of Mr . Lewis , and surveyor of Hoare's brewery ; the death of Mr . Woodwardthe architect of the Oxford Museumof the firm

, , of Dean and Woodward , and who died of consumption ; and the death of Zwirner , the architect for the restoration of Cologne Cathedra ! . The Chairman proceeded to observe that there was a mode of ringing bells by electricity , so that in a short time a gentleman having an office in the City could carry on communications between his office and his residence , even if some miles distant .

Masonic Notes And Queries.

MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES .

NEWTONIAN SALUTE . What is the JNewtonian salute ?—GYMNASIA . —[ AVe don't know . Enquire of the B . JB . at the Union . ] LODGE DECORATION . What is the simplest mode of decorating- a lodge P—I . G-. —[ By a floral display . Ifc is natural , elegant , and admits of a large amount of taste . ]

MASONIC HIGH TREASON . What punishment could be inflicted on a Mason ivho spoke disparagingly of the M . W . G . M . and Grand Officers ?—A . —[ None that we know of . Ton headed your query as ive

Masonic Notes And Queries.

have printed it , but we think ifc should have been " pettytreason , without rhyme or reason . " Don't ask such silly questions . When you have once seen the M . W . G . M ., or a Grand Officer , you ivill find them to be mortals afflicted with no right divine , and many of them without any divinity , right or wrong , about them . ] TAST MASTEll ' s DEGKEE .

When did tho Past Master ' s degree first arise ? The Look of Constitutions tells ns that ifc was " declared and pronounced that pure Antient Masonry consist of three degrees and no more , viz ., those of tho Entered Apprentice , the Fellow Graft , and the Master Mason , including the Supreme Order of the Holy Eoyal Arch . " This was so laid down in 1813 ; can any instance be given of the Past Master ' s

Degree being worked before that period ?—D . C . LATE 1 I 0 UES . Could not some agreement he come to amongst the brethren to conclude their festive meetings at seasonable hours , instead of keeping many a poor wife up expecting her husband long after midnig ht ?—HARRIET . EARLIEST RECORDS OP THE MARK DEGREE .

When did the earliest recorded meeting of Mark Masters take place F—M . 0 . —The earliest record at present known , which refers to conferring the Ark , Mark , Link , and Wrestle degrees , is dated 1780 . 1 MASONIC PLAYS . Wanted , a list of plays that contain Masonic allusions . — TEKELI .

GEAND STEIVAED ' S LODGE JEWEL . Passing down Wardour-street last week , I saw , in a refiner ' s window not far from Oxford-street , on the left hand side , one of the Hogarth jewels of the Grand Steward's lodge . Thinking it may interest some brother of that lodge , I send this note . —Ex . Ex .

Notes On Literature Science And Art.

NOTES ON LITERATURE SCIENCE AND ART .

Mr , O'JDoherty , " the sculptor of Erin , " is engaged on a statue - of " Alethe" ( from Moore's Fpicurean ) , for the Marquis of Downshire . General Sir Howard Douglas , author of several treatises on forti fications , gunnery , and other scientific subjects , died ou Friday , the Sth inst ., in the S 6 th year of his age . He served in the army

for several years ; was Governor of JNew Brunswick from 1823 to 1829 ; Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands , from 1835 to 1842 ; and M . P . for Liverpool , from 1842 to 1847 . Mr . JNoel Paton ' s picture of "The pursuit of Pleasure , " is about to be engraved by Mr . H . T . Ryall , for an Edinburgh publisher . The people of Liverpool are about to erect a monument to the

late Duke of Wellington . The column , which is in course of erection , is to be a hundred and ten feet high , surmounted with a bronze statue , twelve feet high , executed by Mr . Lawson , of Edinburgh .

A Mr . ; 1 \ Watson , who ive understand is a schoolmaster at Congleton , in Cheshire , writing in a local paper , says of Chambers's new edition of Shakespere's Works;— "I have before me the purified edition of that author which I before referred to , and on comparing it with a genuine edition , I find no less than fifty-two suppressions or alterations , in half that number of pages taken consecutively ; and I repeat it , that even in this purified state ' no

Congleton father ivould dare to read it to his children . ' The fact is , rightly to purge him you ivould have to alter the very structure and aim of the plays ; you mig ht as well try to purify the atmosphere by eliminating the oxygen . " This is a very different estimate of the dramas of the hard of Avon to that given b y Bro Tweddell , in his Shahspere , his Times and Contemporaries , who : — "The great merit of Shakspereafter allhowever much we

says , , may love his sweetness ( and there is music sweeter than the trill of mountain streams in almost every sentence ) , is his truthfulness to nature , at all times , and under all circumstances possible or imaginable . He has not laboured to delineate a very good or a very bad character , but such persons as do really exist ; virtue