Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

We do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions of our Correspondents . We cannot undertake to return rejected communications . All Letters must bear the name anl address of the Writer , not necessarily for publication , but as a guarantee of good faith .

OUR MASONIC EDUCATION .

To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —I approach the subject of this letter with confidence and diffidence ; with confidence , from the soundness of the principle , and tho certainty that ifc cannot be too widely inoulcated amongst us , or too strongly impressed upon the minds of those who are really interested in the success of our boys and girls

while at school or in after life ; with diffidence , thafc I shall nofc bo able to place it forcibly enough before your readers . In my estimation the latter are much more usefully educated than the former , for this reason ; the girls , besides the rudiments of grammar , are taught mathematics , elocution , music , drawing , French , & c . Of the success of this tuition , the results of tho Local Examinations , and the

evidence of those who have been present at tho distribution of prizes can testify . The girls likewise aro taught all necessary household duties to fit them for their future stations of life as wives , mothers or servants ; thoy are severally instructed in the work of the kitchen , laundry , housework ; thoy make all their own clothes , and those for the nse of the establishment ; they nre excellently well drilled , and

this brings their muscles into play and tends to develop them into proper women , without deformed spines , narrowed waists and other maladies which too frequently engender disease in themselves or their offspring ; with all these advantages , however , there are two subjects in which they could be instructed , and which would be eminently useful to them in after life , as coming within the scope of

those callings specially adapted for women , —I mean telegraphy and shorthand . Of course , amongst such a number thero are some to whom it would be morally and physically impossible to impart this education ; we have , one and all , our particular gifts and our particular deficiencies , but that matter might be confidently left to tho discretionary power of the chief governess , acting under the School

Committee . Now , for our boys . The same praise that is due to Miss Davis for bringing the capabilities of our girls forward , is due to onr Brother Dr . Morris for the education of the boys , as far it goes . Now , I venture to say that it goes too far , and it does not go far enough ; by this I mean that , excellent as the education is , it goes far too high and is not diffusive enough fco'be , as a rule , practicallv useful . To

every rule there are exceptions ; but before I go any further I will put a question or two , which might perhaps have been introduced with more comprehensive effect if it had been placed before my dissertation on the Girls' School . Who are these children we have undertaken to educate ? What are their probable prospects in lifo ? and are we bringing them up to qualify them for their positions ? To tho first I say , that they are—or are supposed to be—children of Brother Masons much reduced in their circumstances in lifo—in too

many instances to the lowest depths of poverty and distress ; to the second , that they will have to earn their bread by fche sweat of their brow , aided by the intellect—be it more or less—with which the G . A . has thought proper to endow them , and to the thirdhere I speak particularly of our boys—that the edncation upon the whole is detrimental and injurious ; it is a little theory , without much

practice . We bring them up fitted for the higher walks in life , but totally unfitted for the practically useful sphere in which their lot is , at all events for the present , cast . We raise them up to a high pinnacle of learning in classics and mathematics , and then , when their age debars them from receiving any more of this food , we turn them adrift to learn the practice , which should have been inculcated the

same time as the theory . There is no royal road to learning ; the man who has succeeded to the command of a ship by commencing life throngh the "hawse hole" knows more about the ship in its details than he who came on deck ready epanletted . There is no disgrace in manual labour , no discredit to know how a thing ought to be done , and whether it has been done properly . Who knows better whether men

have done a day ' s work , and done it properly , than those who have had to do it themselves ? What better example could we have than that of our Gracious Majesty and the late Prince Consort , who suffered none of the Royal children to be brought up without being taught their duties in their stations of life as princes and princesses , and at tho same time teaching the princesses a thorough

acquaintance with all the routine duties appertaining to the management of a house , while each prince was taught some useful handicraft . Again , how excellently our M . W . G . M . is carrying ou the samo work , by having hia sons educated in all the minutiro of a sailor ' s duty , and this is the general practice ia all ranks of life in Prussia . Now , if our girls are taught all these essential qualifications for

properl y trained aud useful members of society , why shonld not our hoys be instructed in corresponding avocations iu life , each accord ing to his capability ? Why should not our Masonic circulars—at all events those relating to the Wood Green establishment , be printed by our Boys ? Why should not all repairs to the Institution be done b y the Boys under the direction of a master carpenter ? If I am rightly informed a worthy brother made them a handsome present of a

turning lathe ; has it ever been made nse of ? Why should they not be taught to cut out and make their own clothes ? Their own boots ? To make a clock ? To engrave ? Ancl numberless other handicrafts requisite for all civilised places . Ancl if Masonic boys are the same as other boys , they would be proud to show their handiwork , acknowledge where they were taught it , ancl in return , if able , hel p the Institution whence they received such benefits more than ever they have yet done . Wherever their lot may be cast ,

Correspondence.

the knowledge of one or moro of theso trades is of tho utmost value , and has often proved the foundation of gigantic fortunes •, let us only look at tho names of some of onr greatest men of the present aire , and trace their origin—we shall find that they or their Hitliers started

with nothing in tho world but a knowledge of manual labour in some Craft , and how to turn it to tho best advantage . Trusting that tho very inadequate way in whieh T havo introduced this subject may yet induce a few of my brethren to come forward and support , mo in this movement , T remain , yours fraternally , V . P .

Status Of An Elected P.M.

STATUS OF AN ELECTED P . M .

To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S Ciiifoxtci . E . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —IS it contrary to precedent to elect a member of a Lodge who has been P . M . of another Lodge to tho privileges and rank of P . M . of tho Lodgo of which he is at present a member , but whose chair ho has not filled ? Wo aro anxious to do this , but are not quite suro if it can bo dono b y Masonic rule . Yours , & c . W . M .

[ The election of a brother to tho position of < a P . M . of a Lodge , without his having served the office of W . M . thereof , is not permissible . Somo such complimentary title is , however , occasionally conferred , as for instance afc

fche consecration of a Lodge , when it is not unusual to appoint a P . M . Tho brother so appointed has no locus standi , the title being ono of compliment only . In the Lodge itself he may , by tho courtesy of tho brethren , be looked up to as a P . M ., but he has no legal status . —En . F . C . ]

Conflicting Views As To The Character And Antiquity Of Freemasonry.

CONFLICTING VIEWS AS TO THE CHARACTER AND ANTIQUITY OF FREEMASONRY .

To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHROMCLK . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —Tour paper of the 7 th August contains two attacks upon my writings . First is a long editorial with tho above heading , ancl second is a letter signed " TAU . " I shall first briefly reply to " TATJ . " He says , "But one thing I have noticed , I cannot call to mind a single line in all his [ Norton's ] many letters

ancl reviews , & c , which contains even a short passage of faint praise of Masonry . " Now , in my communication headed , " On Liberty of the Masonic press , " I stated that , " Craft Masonry is based on solid principles , " and in my article in the Freemason , printed 22 nd May , viz ., " Grand Lodge Library , " I confessed that , " As an English Mason , I am proud to boast of tho high respectability ancl deeds of

charity by which the Grand Lodge of England is distinguished . " I could give other quotations , showing that I appreciate what is good and beautiful in Masonry , but these will at present suffice to convince you that" TAU " is not an attentive reader . The same " TAU " further says , "I know there are abuses ancl humbugs in Masonry as in other human institutions . " Such being the case , surely " abuses and humbugs " are as discreditable to Masonry as they are to any other insti

tution , and I cannot understand why a conscientious honest man shonld assail me for finding fault with " abuses and humbugs , " which Masons , for certain reasons , pay no attention to . And now , Brother Editor , you began by assaulting my defence of the Grand Orient of France . Permit me , therefore , to reply with an anecdote , related by Dr . Franklin , who , after animadverting on the Quaker ' s no war creed , remarked : —

"This reminds me of what I think more prudent conduct in another sect , viz ., the Dnnkers . I was acquainted with one of ita founders , Michael Welfare , soon after it appeared . He complained to me that they were grievously calumniated by the zealots of other persuasions , and charged with abominable principles and practices , to

which they were utter strangers . I told him this had always been the case with new sects , and thnt to put a stop to such abuse , I imagined it might be well to publish the articles of their belief , and the rules of their discipline . He said that it had been proposed amongst them , but not agreed to , for this reason : —

" When we were first drawn together as a society " ( said he ) " it pleased God to enlighten our minds so far as to see some doctrines , which were esteemed truths , were errors , ancl that others which we esteemed errors , were real truths . From time to time He has boon pleased to afford ns further light , and our principles have been improving , and our errors diminishing . Now wo aro notsnro that wo

have arrived at tho end of this-progression , ancl at the perfection of spiritual or theological knowledge ; and we fear that , if we shonld onco print onr confession of faith we should feel ourselves as if bound ancl confined by it , and perhaps be unwilling to receive further improvement , and our snecessors still more so , as conceiving what their elders ancl founders had clone to bo something sacred , never to bo departed from . " To which Dr . Franklin added : —

" This modesty in a sect is , perhaps , a singular instance in tho history of mankind ; every other sect supposing itself in possession of all truth , ancl that those who differ arc so far in the wrong ; like a man travelling in foggy weather , those at some distance before him on the road he sees wrapped up in the fog , as well as thoso behind him , ancl also the people in the field on each sido ; but near him all appears clear ; though , in truth , he is as much ia the fog as any of them . "