Masonic Notes And Queries.

sions ? It is singular that Dr . Borlase , who was so near the truth , should have ¦ wandered from it , immediately on the point of approaching it . Dr . Borlase , however , is remarkable for his fairness in stating every question ; though the conclusions he draws from his premises are not always the most obvious . Others have attempted to get rid of the question in a more general way . To

account for this similarity in the opinions and institutions of our Druids , and all the oriental priests , it is said that they were derived from One common fountain—from rJoah himself , who set apart an order of men for the purpose of preserving those doctrines , through successive ages , and in various countries , wherever this order might be dispersed . But the descendants of those who travelled

West from Mount Ararat are not supposed to have reached Britain , by travelling overland , till after many generations . Their progress must have been necessarilyslow , and discontinuous , and variously interrupted . Iu this case they must have lost the character of their original country , before they could have settled in Britain . And the spirit of their reliion must have evaporated

g in the same proportion : we should expect , therefore , to find fainter traces of it the further we pursued it from its fountain-head . We have observed , however , tbe contrary in this Island . If the Druids had been Celtic priests , they would have spread with the several divisions of the Celts . They would have been eminent among the Germans ; they would have been conspicuous , though

less visible , among the Gauls . But in Germany uhere were no Druids ; and Gaul had none till she imported them from Britain . In short , we need not hesitate to declare , that the Druidism of Britain was Asiatic . The Danmonii , transplanted into the British Isles , retained those eastern modes , which seemed little accordant with their new situation . And was not their worship of the sun so unnatural in the dreary climates of the North , their doctrine as to the stars , so little regarded for scientific purposes by the European nations ,

their sublime tenets concerning the origin of nature and of the heavens—were not all these strongly contrasted with the religion of the continent ? Were not all these absolutely unknown to tho Europeans , and deemed , as soon as discovered , the objects of curiosity and veneration ? Were not all these new to Cmsar ? In fact , the British Druids knew more of the true ori gin of the

mythology adopted by the Greeks and Bomans , than the Greeks and Boinans probably did themselves : and I cannot but observe , that every part of Cmsar ' s account of their religious tenets merits a dissertation ; for they refer to the first ages of mankind . Does Cmsar any where speak thus ofthe Belga?—those fugitive Germans , driven by their stronger neihbours over the Bhine into

g Gaul , and afterwards , perhaps , driven from Gaul to take shelter on the sea-coasfc of Britain ? Does ho anywhere speak thus of one tribe or state on the continent?—I believe no where . The doctrines of the British Druids were peculiar to themselves in Europe—full of deep knowledge and high antiquitj ' . Mr . Whitaker himself exclaims , in a style truly oriental : " There was

something in the Druidical species of heathenism that was peculiarly calculated to arrest the attention and impress the mind . The rudely majestic circle of stones in their temples , the enormous Cromlech , the massy Logan , the huge Carnedde , and the magnificent amphitheatres of woods , would all very strongly lay hold upon that religious thoughtfulness of soul , which has been ever so natural

to man , amid all the wrecks of humanity- —the monument of _ his former perfection ! " That Druidism then , as originally existing in Devonshire and Cornwall , was immediately transported , in all its purity and perfection , from the East , seems to me extremely probable . But we have seen that this religion is not entirely consistent with itself—that though wisdom and benevolence

are somecimes exhibited as its commanding features , yet the grossest folly an inhumanity are no less prominent on other representations of it . The Pbenicians , however , introducing their corrupt doctrines and degenerated

Masonic Notes And Queries.

rites , will account at once for these incongruities : and we have already observed the intermixture of the Phenician with the aborig inal , doctrines and ceremonies . If a Phenician colony , subsequent to the first peopling of the island , settled here about the time of Joshua , there is no doubt but they disseminated in Danmonium a vast variety of superstitious notions . At this

juncture tneir religion was stained with manifold impurities . But , as I have hiuted above , it would be impossible to separate all the superstitions which were countenanced as popular tenets by the Druids before the arrival of the Phenician colony , from the superstitious which this colony introduced . I shall not , therefore , in this place , attempt to discriminate the Phenician from the primitive

Danmonian religion . Eor the Grecian colony , they were surely not inactive in spreading their religious tenets where they settled ; though there is more of fancy than of real truth in the accouuts which are pretended to have been transmitted through the line of history , respecting their deities or their * temples in this country . The authorities on which such traditions rest are very doubtful , if not palpably spurious ; , and yet our chronicles had a certain x 8 s-ncrat ,- though when thev got footing on a simple fact , they so

embellished it by poetical fictions , that many are lead to suspect the whole to be false because they are convinced that the greatest part is so . That the Grecian colony built a temple at the K 018 / xeTuirov , or incorporating with the Danmonii , erected a temple at Exeter , I will not presume to assert ; but , if the existence of the colony be granted , we need not doubt but they had buildings

appropriated to religious worship . The Belgrs , invading our coasts , drove the Britons of Danmonium into thecentral parts , and thus contributed to spread the Druid religion over the rest of the island . With respect , howover , to the religion of the Belgaa , and of the other continental tribes , I shall not attempt to characterise it ; certain it is , that before the time of CiBsai * the Gauls were

in possession of Druidism , though in a very imperfect state . Their religion could have ill-resembled the Druidism of Danmonium , whilst they blindly adopted those corrupt notions and impure ceremonies which prevailed in the greater part of Europe . But , amidst these tokens of degeneracy , they still displayed some proof both of wisdom and of diffidence , whilst , conscious of their religious inferiority , and not ashamed to avow it , they frequently recurred for instruction to the Aborigines of Britain .

Obituary.

Obituary .

BRO . THE A ^ ENERABLE RICHARD LANE FREER , D . D ., P . S . A . ; ARCHDEACON OP HEREFORD , ANDD . PROA ^ . G . JI . OF HEREFORDSHIRE . AVe have to record the decease of the Venerable the Archdeacon of Hereford , which event took place at his rectory of Bishopstone , near Hereford , on the 11 th instant . Our reverend brother took his degree of B . A ., at Christ ChurchOxfordin 1828 and that of D . D . and D D . in

1839-, , , , He was appointed to tire rectory of Bishopstone in 1830 , and was collated to the prehendal stall of Gorwall and Overbury , in Hereford Cathedral , in 1847 , and was appointed to the Archdeaconry of Hereford in 1852 . He published some sermons , devotional works , and several Archidiaconal charges . He was very much respected in Hereford and its vicinity , and his death , though not altogether unexpected , has thrown a gloom over the whole diocese with which he was connected .

Bro . Freer's Masonic career commenced in the Apollo University Lodge , Oxford , in which he was initiated on the 8 th of November , 182 G , and joined the Palladium Lodge ( No . 141 ) , Hereford , on the 2 nd of November , 1858 , shortly after which-he was appointed D . Prov . G . iVI ., under Bro . the Eev . Dr . Bowles , who , as he stated on that occasion , considered it a personal honour to himself that one , his superior in the church , should accept an inferior office in Freemasonry . The Venerable Archdeacon will be greatly missed by a large number of poor persons , to whom he was a benevolent supporter .