The Boys School.

the Girls School , or some equally competent lady , will favour us with a report on tho domestic arrangements . In the meantime , lot us remind the brethren that the annual festival in aid of the school will take place in March next—that owing to the arrangement to take nearly seventy boys into the schoolmoney is much Avanted—and

, that Avhatever little errors there have been in the management of the institution , they are those only necessarily attendant upon the first efforts of any new adventure ; and that the more liberally they subscribe the earlier ivill those difficulties pass aAvay , ancl thc school be brought into vigorous and active utility .

Freemasons And Druids.

FREEMASONS AND DRUIDS .

Ii . giving this head to the few remarks which follow , wo beg to assure our readers that Ave are not going to inflict upon them along dissertation upon some fancied resemblance between the rites of the ancient hierarchy of Britain ancl those of the Order to which AA ' belong— -Ave know but little of the former , ancl what little AVC do know is totally opposed

to the principles and precepts of Ereemasonry . Nor is it our intention at present to devote a chapter to consider the lucubrations of some crotchetty antiquarian who may spin out an infinite deal of nothings upon tho text of thc word " Mason , " quasi " Mays ons , " etc ., Avhich haA'e been repeated ad nauseam in the columns of this and other Masonic journals . We are

equally innocent of any design upon our readers patience in the shape of a disquisition upon Stonehenge or thc Round Towers of Ireland , and the fancied traces of the hand of ancient craftsmen in those remarkable relics of tho past . All this ive leai'c to more competent pens ancl to a more convenient season ; be it ours to consider at the present time , instead of thc A-enerable truths of antiquity , tho absurdities of ¦ modern ignorance and misconceptions ; to glance at the folly of our contemporaries instead of thc Avisdom of our ancestors ;

ancl to endeavour to preserve for our antient Craft the respect and reverence which aro its due from the outer Avorld as Avellas from , its OAVU sons . But ( says some M . asonic reader ) for what object have you then chosen this remarkable title—and what connection can there be between Ereemasons and Druids 'I Truly one of

which wo mig ht have remained in ignorance until the crack of doom had not our benighted condition excited the pity of some benevolent individual AVIIO has forwarded for our edification thc Lancaster Guardian for the 21 st of last month . In that journal AVO find a long account of the anniversary dinner of thc "Independent Order of Druids" at tho Fleece

Inn ; there wore present on this occasion some hundred and twenty members and their ivives , AVIIO Avere countenanced by the presence of some of the TOAVU Council and other local notabilities . Amongst other personages conspicuous in the proceedings Avas one Mr . Howe , AA'I IO appeal's to have been the favourite orator of the day , and who imparted to his edified hearers some information Avhich if not remarkable for accuracy may at least claim , the credit of novelty . To use Iris own words : —

" The toast ivhich had been entrusted to him might be said to he the most important toast of the evening ; it was that of ' The Order of Druids . ' lie did not happen to belong to this ancient and noble Order , hut he did happen to be a Freemason , and authors ivho bud written upon these Orders generall y stated that Druidism was an offshoot of Ereemasonry . ( Cheers ) . In candour he was bound to that the rules in connection with

say the Order of Druids presented a great improvement on those of Ereemasonry . ( Cheers ) . He vieived the establishment of Orders of this kind . —benefit societies—in three especial lights—morally social !}' , and politically , & c , & c . "

A considerable amount of balderdash followed in this speech . Avhich ive ivill not inflict upon our readers—there ivas a good deal about political ri ghts and the usual claptrap about the claims of the Avorking classes , Avhich is ever found to be a safe card for a feeble speaker Avhen lie has nothing

else to say . He had his reAvard however in the plaudits of 3 iis audience , ivho doubtless were delighted to find that ( without knowing it ) they hacl < : improved upon Freemasonry . " Now all ivell regulated provident societies have our cordial approvaland AVO shall ever bo happy to advocate the

, increase of savings banks , benefit societies , aud other institutions having the encouragement of prudence aud economy in . A'ieAV , and intended for the future Avelfare and ] . resent elevation in the social scale of the honest mechanic . Of this

particular society of Druids—which Mr . Howe ( though not a member of it ) so enthusiastically praises—we must confess ive know no more than ive do of the " Old Friends , " the " Odd FelloAvs , " the " Hearts of Oak , " or any other of the oddly named but excellent societies of the same class . True tho dinners of the Druids in the city of Oxford some twice a year have become rather a feature in the newspapers , as Mr .

Cardwell , M . P ., and his colleague have taken that opportunity to expound their political opinions to their constituents—Avith that exception , however , Ave cannot say that we often hear of this " offshoot of Freemasonry . " We should not therefore have occupied the attention of our readers urjon this subject , Avere we not aware that our columns are perused by many AVIIO are not Masons . The educated ancl skilled craftsman needs not that AVO should

point out to him the folly ancl the erroneous inferences displayed in this Mr . Howe ' s speech at Lancaster ; but we are not unwilling to take this opportunity of addressing a word or two to the outer Avorld upon the subject . For Mr . Howe , thc orator of the day , AVO here dismiss him altogether from the subject—just remarking that if he be a Mason ( ivhich ive can scarcely credit)—he has either Avofully

misunderstood all that he has learned , or he has , for the sake of tickling- tho ears of a not over fastidious audience , indulged in statements , AA'hich nothing lie has ever heard , or ever will hear in a properly constituted Freemasons' Lodge , Avill justify . If indeed he has over been initiated into onr Order , let him recollect the declaration Avhich he made previously

to his admission , ancl lot him think of that seriously before ho again dares to compare the royal Craft to a benefit club . It is not surely necessary for us , in this the nineteenth ' century , to stand forth as champions of a system that has stood thc test of ages—which has survived the persecutions of tyrants—the sneers of atheists ancl Jesuits—the follies of

injudicious commentators and expounders , and-the ridicule of the rejected and disappointed . Still we cannot but perceive that there are many absurdities current among the uninitiated concerning- our objects and our mysteries ; some

consider our rites Avith the same mysterious awe Avith which they believe iu ghost stories , " legends of the Harz Mountains , '' spirit rapping , or Avitchcraft while others , more practical ancl prosaic , either cut tho Gordian knot by tho curt assertions " nothing in it "—" all humbug " - —• "feeding club , " and so on ; or they fall into the mistake of

confounding Freemasonry Avith the charities Avhich the brethren of the Order so energetically support ; and , from such premises , argue that the institution itself only exists and obtains every year fresh members , for the sake of the benefits ultimate or immediate to be derived from a connection witli it . Let us again inform those ivho care to know anything

about us , that Freemasonry has no " offshoots" Avhatever , being in itself the summit and perfection of human wisdom ; so it has been received , at least , by sages and philosophers from the earliest ages ; whilst it has been reserved for our time to hear coxcombs prating of " improvements" on that glorious fabric which the greatest intellects and the most wondrous

foresight have combined , under divine protection , to establish upon a basis ns firm as the foundations of society and civilization . The inculcation of virtue , the , improvement of our species , the advancement of learning and science , the study of the liberal arts—such are the aims of tho Craft and its A'otaries . Charity also , both of the active and of the passive