Bro. William Mercer Wilson, M.W.G.M. Of Canada.

BRO . WILLIAM MERCER WILSON , M . W . G . M . OF CANADA .

[ Irom the New Yuri Courier . ] Tins highly cslceniecl brother was born in Scotland , on the 24 th August , . 1818 , and emigrated to Canada AVest in 1832 , locating himself in the town of Simcoc , in the county of Norfolk , his present residence . Bro- AVilson was initiated into Masonry June llth , 1840 , in St . John's Lodge ( now Norfolk Lodge ) , ancl ivas passed and raised JulOthin the same . The following

y , year December he was chosen Junior AVarden , ancl had the high honour , for so young a Mason , of delivering the address at the public installation of the officers on St . John ' s clay , 27 th same month . This address was so highly estimated , that it was subsequently published by the Lodge . At the annual election , in December , 1842 , he was elected Master , and , ivith but few interruptions , held that honourable position for nearly ten years . In

June , 1847 , a splendid gold jewel was presented to him by his Lodge for his efficient services ; and on the 22 nd of the next month , he laid the corner-stone of the Norfolk County Jail , with Masonic honours . In Capitular Masonry , Bro . AVilson received all the degrees in King Hiram Royal Arch Chapter at Hamilton , C . AV . ; and in the Chivalric Branch , is Prov . Grand 2 nd Captain of the Prov . Grand Conclave of Canada .

The Earl of Zetland , M . AV . Grand Master of England , having by his patent revived the Prov . Grand Lodge of Canada AVest , Sir Allan MacNab , the Prov . Grand Master , iu June , 1848 , appointed Bro . AVilson , Grand Pursuivant ; and at tlie laying of the foundation stone of the Town Hall at St . Catharine ' s , on the 30 th October following , he , by special appointment , acted as Grand Orator . His address was publishedborder of the ProvGrand

, y . Lodge , in pamphlet form , whilst the newspapers of the day also published it in full . In the Prov . Grand Lodge , Bro . AVilson was a constant attendant , and an active participator in its proceedings , frequently being called upon to till important stations in the absence of the proper officers .

The Agricultural Society of Canada having appointed him a delegate to the Great Exhibition in London m 1851 , he visited England , and whilst there and in France , he frequently visited the Lodges , and returned to Canada with a deeper veneration un file Order and a higher estimate of the value of Masonry . On liis arrival home he was honoured by a public reception . On the llth October , 1855 , a Convention of Lodges was held at Hamilton

, C . AV ., to express their dissatisfaction with the mother Grand Lodge and adopt measures for the best interests of the Canadian Craft . The result of their deliberations ivas the formation of the Independent "Grand Lodge of Canada , " of ivhich Bro . AVilson was elected first Grand Master , ancl has since , by successive redactions , retained that dignified station . About an equal number of the Canadian Lod howeverdid not join

ges , , at that time in the movement , and until September 9 th , 1857 , sustained their provincial organization , when they formed themselves into another independent body , ancl styled it the "Ancient Grand Loclge of Canada , " under the Grand Mastership of Sir Allan MacNab . Tiie differences between the two organizations were most happily adjusted in July , 1858 , Bro . AVilson presiding over the united Craftand wc have no hesitation in ing that

; say Canada never before had so efficient an officer . Bro . AVilson as a speaker , is fluent , and his language so far above mediocrity as to entitle him to the rank of an orator . His gestures arc graceful , and his voice at all times well modulated . Bro . AVilson brought into the county of Norfolk its first printingpress , ancl for some time edited the Norfolk Observer . In acknowledgment of the services rendered bhim in the outbreak of

y . 1837 , when lie commanded a troop of cavalry , the Government appointed him clerk of the peace , and also clerk of the county court , which offices he still retains . He has been raised to the rank of lieutenant-colonel of the militia of the province , ancl is among those not Masons , widely known as Colonel AVilson , and highly esteemed .

How To iin-BOVB 'inn MEMOEY . —Some men remember history , some poetry , some mechanics , sonic astrology , according as they have a turn to any of these pursuits . AVe may hence infer , ancl usefully , that memory is the ( laughter of attention , and . the granddaughter of inclination , without ivhich wo coulcl not recollect many things on account of the weak perception that matters which do not interest us make on the recollection . By attention we strengthen memory to asurpiising degree , if we are possessed of fair share of talent and moderate of

_ a a portion steadiness in our pursuits . Pope says , wittily and justly , on two sorts of people— " Wits have short memories and dunces none "—that is , of things worth knowing ; for many blockheads are famous for their retention of unconsidered trifles .

Masonic Notes And Queries.

MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES .

UXIFOUMITY OF RITUAL WITH AMEKICA . I AM about to leave England for the United States and have been told the Americans are very strict in admitting strangers to their Lodges , and that their working ancl ours , which I know pretty well , arc totally different . Pray advise me how to proceed . —TKAVELLEK . —[ AVe arc not anxious to discuss questions of the kind in any department of the Freemasons'' Magazine , but

as our brother seeks advice , ancl it may be of importance to him that it should be accorded promptly , we will give him the best we can offer . AVe believe the American ritual to be a modification of the York rite , or that system of working adopted by those brethren who called themselves the Ancient Masons , prior to tbe Union of 1813 . In what respect that differs irom ours of the present day is a matter not to be discussed in printbut if our

; brother will present himself to an American Lodge , and can prove himself correctly , he will experience no difficulty in gaining admission . He will find some curious interpolations , of which be will be totally ignorant , such as the Master ' s test , the trading degree , the heroines of Jericho , and many others . These wc counsel him to avoid , as they are side degrees , chiefly invented to

be lucrative to Grand Lodge lecturers , of which swarms wander up ancl down the country , making confusion worse confounded . AVe would also caution him about his Grand Lodge certificate ; never to let it pass from his possession , for we have heard of photographing tbe same , so as to get a facsimile of tbe signatures attached thereto , by many of the spurious Lodges in America whose existence arc legion . A little inquiry before he leaves this

country , will set him right on the legality and spuriousness of the Lodges in the districts in which he intends to sojourn . " Traveller" is not the iirst who has broached the subject of uniformity of ritual between two nations speaking the same language ; this was done in 1844 , at a general meeting of the National Convention of the Grand Lodges of America , when it was proposed that a delegate should be appointed to visit London for

the purpose of conferring with the Grand Lodge of England , so as to produce a uniform ritual , and which , it was asserted ivould , coming from the two great nations of the Anglo-Saxon family , considerably sway the opinions of all the other Masonic bodies in the world , and pave the way to a universal mode of working and ritual . This scheme , however , fell through for want of support , and iu consequence the ritual aud observances differ . ]

ill ! . KAWLIXSOX S MSS . Some time since , in 1857-8 , there appeared in the columns of the Freemasons' Jfagazine some papers on " Masonic Antiquities , from Bro . Dr . Kawlinson ' s Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library , Oxford , 1725 . " AVhat I want to know is , where there is any evidence of the cool assumption that Dr . Kawlinson was , at any time , a Freemason?—D . D . Oxox .

ARE TIIK DRUSES MASOXS ? A recent traveller has said that among the Druses they have initiations , and , he supposes , Masonic rites . Is this the case?—A . BAHX . UW . —[ Our correspondent should have quoted the recent traveller ' s words , and have told us where to find them , in order that wc might have seen they were correct and examined the context . In Colonel Churchill ' s " Ten Years' Residence on Mount

Lebanon , " he tells us that among this singular people there is an order having many similar customs to the Ereemasons . It requires a twelve month ' s probation previous to the admission of a member . ( Both sexes are admissible . ) "In the second year the novice assumes the distinguishing mark of the white turban ; and , afterwards , by degrees , is allowed to participate in the whole of the mysteries . Simplicity of attireself-denialtemperanceami irrc- .

, , , proacbablc moral conduct , are essential to admission to the order . " / See also Adlcr's De Drusis Montis Lebaui , 4 to ., Home , 1780 . ] THE HOOK OF COXS'IT'l'UTIOXS . Hoiv often has the Book of Constitutions been published ?—• A . G . C . —[ They were first published in 1723 by Bro . Anderson , who also edited a second edition in 1738 ; then came Dr . Entick ' s

edition in 1758 ; and a new edition ordered by Grand Lodge in 1707 . In 1770 first appeared the Appendix to the Book of Constitutions , and in 1784 Noorthouck ' s edition came out . Since ivhich time they have been frequently reprinted in the name of the Grand Secretary for the time being . ] MOLAliT ' S 11 EGISTE 11 . It has been proved that the celebrated John Locke ' s letter on finding a MS . in tbe Bodleian library , although repeated over and over again in Masonic books , is a clumsy , and impudent forgery ,