The Boys School.

THE BOYS SCHOOL .

LONDON , SATURDAY , MATtGlt 24 , 1 SGCI

THE result of the festival on behalf of this institution afforded another proof , if any were wanting , of how ready the brethren are to support their charities , and that the festival of one does not interfere w . ith that of another . It had been confidently predicted that if the Benevolent Institution was allowed an annual festival , the amount collected

for the Boys and the Girls Schools must fall off . But what has been the result ? Not only have the , subscriptions not fallen off , but they have actually increased' and even the amount announced at the festival this year— £ 1 , 601 ( not £ 1 , 061 as by a typographical error was stated last week ) , is in excess of that of the last if we deduct . £ 306 which came from West

Yorkshire for the special purpose of enlarging the school , the announcement then being £ 1 , 854 , leaving £ 1 , 548 as applicable , for general purposes against £ 1 , 601 upon tho present occasion —there being last year three stewards' lists to come in , which we believe produced- 'about £ 120 or £ 130 ; and there being this year six or seven stewards who have not made returns

, and which will probably materially add to the above amount . For the first time in our recollection , the festival was presided over by a brother wearing the simple blue apron—he having as yet received no distinction from the Grand Master , though we doubt not that he will ere long do so—a testimony that it is to the intrinsic value of thc charityand not

, to extraneous causes , it owes its prosperity and success . Let us not be supposed , however , to undervalue the services of Bro . Yiscount Baynham—a young Mason who , as of Masonry shows himself anxious to support every philanthropic and social movement likely to prove of advantage to mankindwho urged the claims of the charity to the support of the

brethren with great talent and earnestness . His lordshi p ' s remarks to the boys , too , were well timed and judicious , and the whole of the arrangements of the evening were so excellent—thanks to the Board of Stewards—that nothing was left to be desired .

The report of the Eev . Charles James Dyer , who examined the boys for the prizes , is certainly more satisfactory than that of last year , and we trust that when the various alterations in the school-house are completed , and the arrangements suggested by the Rev . Mr . Glennie are carried out , the school will take that position in respect to the acquirements of the boys that will place it at the head of similar institutions ; as the liberalit y of the brethren deserves it should be .

Freemasoney And Its Institutes. —V.

FREEMASONEY AND ITS INSTITUTES . —V .

( Continued from , page 1 GC ) . THE Druids had the charge of the education of the youth who were initiated into their mysteries , or cabala , with great secrecy ; it was unlawful to commit these secrets to writing , although they were not ignorant of letters , for thoy committed , their laws to writing . The initiated trusted to

memory alone , -which art they studied so deeply as to reduce it to a systematic science ; the method they employed is found in tiie following triad , "The three memorials ( or mediums of memory ) of the bards of the Isle of Britain -. memorial of song , memorial of conventional recitation , and the memorial of established usage" ( Instit . . Triad ) . Many ancient classical

authors have written concerning them , and Strabo speaks expressly of the analogy of the religion of Saniothrace with that of Ireland . Many relics of Druidism , not only in tumuli , circles of stones , etc ., but also of customs , remain in Great Britain to the present day , for instance , the hunting the wren , { dryiv ) the ancient symbol of the Druidwhichwhen ht

, , , caug , is carried about in a box . by young men from house to house ; the box . is in imitation of Noah ' s ark . This custom still veinains in Wales , Ireland , and the Isle of Man . In the latter place the Beltane fires of old Mayday ( the present 12 th

Freemasoney And Its Institutes. —V.

May ) and on St . John ' s Eve , are still continued ; the reason now assigned is , that it is to burn the witches . The Beltein , or Beltane , was a festival in which a sacred fire was lighted , with man ) ' various ceremonies ; it has been longer preserved hi Scotland and Ireland than in . any parts of England , but there are parts of Cumberland where fires are lighted on the Eve of

St . John , ivhich still remind the antiquary ofthe old Druidical worship . " They are still continued , " says Toland , '" in Ireland by the Eoman Catholics , who make them in all thengrounds and carry flaming brands around their corn fields . This they do likewise all over France and in some of the Scottish isles . They were to obtain a blessing on the fruits

ofthe earth . " ( Toland , Hist . Druids , p . 107 ) . The ancient Eomans , also , we find from Virgil , propitiated Ceres with sacrifices prior to harvest . " Imprimis venerare Dcos atque annua magna ; Sacra refer Ccreri , Irctis operatus in herbis . Cimcta tibi Cererem pubes agrestis atloret : . . Oui tu laete favos ct miti dilue Baccho

, Terque novas circmn felix eat hostia fruges , Omnis qitam chorus et socii comiteuttir ovantes Et Cererem clamore vocent in tecta : neque ante Falcem . maiuris quisquam supponat aristis . " Among the Jews also ( Dent . xxvi . 2 ) the " first fruits " ivere offered from the feast of Pentecost until that of

Dedication , lurther , they were prohibited from gathering in the harvest until they had offered to God the omer , that is the new sheaf which was presented the day after the great day of unleavened bread : neither were they allowed to bake any bread made of new corn until they had offered new loaves on the altar on the day of Pentecost , without which all corn was regarded as' unclean and unholy . The harvest home of our

own land evidently thus derived its ori g in , and under the early Christian dispensation was a feast , or religious festival , to return thanks to the Giver of all good things for His mercies and benefits . This lire worshi p , which prevailed all over the world , was in honour of Baal , Beal , Bel , Bealan , or Belenus ( Apollo , the snn ) , and from the times at which the

chief festivals were held , doubtless had reference to the two solstices , at which period the sun enters the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn . In the foregoing brief view of the ancient reli gions of the world we find similar customs , traditions , laws and observances , prevailing among nations long secluded

from each other , and widely dispersed over the face of the whole earth—on the borders of Scy thi a , in Egypt , China , India , Britain , Mexico , and the isles of the Pacific , all are essentiall y the same . Joannes Metellus ( quoted in Sheduis de Dili

Gernianis ) , speaking ofthe cabala , or mysteries , says "Cabala nihil aliud est , quam vera philosophia . disciplina . Admodnin enim artificiose per symbola qucedam terrenis rebus omnibus posthabitis , semooaque renim materia , formam' docet e forma decerpere , quo usque ad prim-am uniformem , quam dicunt et inform em materiam perventum descensumque sit . Itaqtm quoQcumque vel ex Persis Magiex Babyloniis et vi . ssyriis

, Ohaldaii , vol ex Indis Gymnosophistai , et ex Galh ' s Druydai , et qui Sem . nothroi dicuntur , invonei-unt ; ea ipsi ii Judais ( nam primi omnium philosophi fuerunt , et . / Egyptus Jucheos prophetas habnit ) accesseve . Pythagoras auteni ct Plato niutato Cabalas in philosophiam nomine ab illis , non ii Graicis vol Eomanis accepta , Grsece snis hominibus cxposuerimt . "

In all ages and in every clime mankind has ever loved and still loves to associate itself with the ideal beings of the invisible world . The Saxon , Teutonic , and Celtic nations do but imitate the ancients of the eastern world ( whence they came ) , especially those of Egypt and Persia , in liaving their minor gods as well as their superior deitiestheir Genii

, , Lares and Penates , to make up a respectable nomenclature to their mythology . The mind of man , in whatever state it be , naturally turns to that " Great . First Cause , least understood , " tho " Father of all , in every age , in every clime adored—By saint , by savage , and by sage—Jehovah , Jove , or Lord , "