Questioning The Records.

QUESTIONING THE RECORDS .

rplHE letter we publish elsewhere from Brother Nathan J- Heywood I . P . M . of the Lodge of Friendship , No . 44 , supported as it is by the evidence of our Manchester representative , who has personally inspected the Warrant under

which the Lodge is working , and confirms the date of 18 th June 1755 , makes the action of Bro . John Chadwick Provincial Grand Secretary , whose letter we published last week with editorial comments , yet more inexplicable than we then regarded it . As

a Past Master of the Lodge referred to , Bro . Chadwick cannot plead ignorance of the facts of the case , but even if he was not fully aware of the details he had a ready means at hand to learn them , and certainly adopted a very extraordinary course when

he penned his anything but polite letter to us , commenting on the " gross ignorance " displayed in our report , a term which , on investigation , seems to be more applicable to tbe critic than the criticised .

The fact seems to be that Bro . Chadwick has become a convert to the Mutual Admiration Society that has so long existed in connection with Masonic literature , which society regards criticism , doubt , or contradiction as little short of heresy

when applied to one of themselves , but unanswerable when they , in turn , venture to express an opinion at variance with thab of someone else . This combinationn has done a great amount of harm in the past , and must continue to do so unless a check is

put upon it , as it stifles honest criticism , and tends to perpetuate errors which , under more rational treatment , might soon be corrected and set at rest on a really substantial basis .

We do not imagine Bro . Chadwick would have had a word to say against the statement in the report referred to—wherein it was recorded that this ancient Lodge commenced the 141 st year of its existence on the 18 th of June last—had it not been that in

Bro . Lane ' s " Masonic Records" a much later year of origin is ascribed to it , he quoting 1803 as the date of its foundation . However it may be , we have no intention of accepting the statements contained in Bro . Lane ' s " Masonic Becords" in

preference to those of the official publications of Grand Lodge , for , as we are reminded by an esteemed correspondent this week , one of the chief reasons set out by Bro . Lane for issuing his second edition was to provide the means of making " many

hundreds of important corrections " in the first one—a very poor recommendation we thought at the time , and so consider it at the present . Having admitted that the first edition needed many hundreds of important corrections , what guarantee have

we that the second is any better ? Experience in regard to this Manchester Lodge seems to convince us that instead of Bro . Lane ' s book being a compilation of facts it is but an exposition of theories , for we imagine there is some theory as the basis of

Bro . Chadwick ' s opinion , although it must be wholly at variance with the statements contained in the Warrant of Confirmation under which the Lodge is being worked , and which were no doubt fully enquired into befoie they were issued under the authority of the rulers of Grand Lodge .

Questioning The Records.

The FREEMASON ' CHRONICLE is no hero worshipper , and thinks no more of criticising the acts of the Masonic luminaries than it does of finding fault with the conduct of a private member ; one of the results of our actions in this direction

being that we are tabooed by our friends of the before mentioned Admiration Society ; in fact we long since sacrificed ourselves so far as they are concerned , by daring to open our pages to such writers as Bro . Jacob Norton , who ,

despite his perpetual iconoclasm , won the admiration of many of his most determined opponents , on account of the perseverance he displayed , and the marvellous powers he possessed of unearthing supporting links in the different chains of evidence

he sought to establish ; he was , in fact , a model controversialist —he would argue to the fullest of his power against a Brother writer , would say the hardest and bitterest things in regard to his theories , and at the same time entertain no animosity

nor expect any ; rather looking forward to the enjoyment of a hearty expression of friendship , and a pleasant chat over the varied points of difference between himself and those who opposed his views .

Doubtless he was not always right , but he was far too independent to find favour among the class of Masonic writers who cannot tolerate opposition to their pet theories , and more

often than not he had the best of the argument , simply because those who opposed him lost their temper when their statemeuts were questioned .

We hope this will not be the end of the controversy now started in regard to the age of the Friendship Lodge , No . 44 ; surely the matter can be settled one way or the other , and

that would be far better than allowing the continuance of such an anomaly as a Provincial Grand Secretary openly declaring that the supreme anthority of the Craft is in gross ignorance of the real facts of the case . How does Bro . Chadwick

reconcile his action with the third and tenth of the Antient Charges to which he gave his consent previous to his Installation as Master , and which must frequently have been brouaht under his notice since ?

Additional School Vacancies.

ADDITIONAL SCHOOL VACANCIES ,

IT is with considerable gratification we are able to announce that in all probability the vacancies for the two Educational Institutions already provided for Thursday and Friday next will in each case be increased by the declaration of another

vacancy before the poll opens , the removal of a boy ancl a girl from the respective Schools rendering such a course possible . We may therefore look for the election of eighteen girls from the approved list of thirty-four candidates , on Thursday ; and

seventeen boys from the approved list of forty-six caudidates the following day , so that altogether thirty-five of eighty applicants will next week be admitted to the benefits of the Masonic Schools . It is not our usual course to specially urge the claims of