THE DRUSES.

Auckland Star, Volume XXII, Issue 145, 20 June 1891, Page 5

THE DRUSES.

A CCRIODS TIIEOIiV AS TO THE OlilOIN OjFIIJJIEMASONKV.

A TEW months* ago (says a writer in " Blackwood'a Magazine ") I had occasion to enter into a business contract with one of my Druse farmers. When wo wore about to draw up the agreement, the Druse suggested that, as iie could neither road nor write, we should ratify the bargain in the manner customary among his people. This consists of a solemn grasping of hands together in the presence of two or three other Druses as witnesses, whilo tho agreement) is recited by both parties. Being always on the gui vivo to gain a practical insight into the manners and customs of thel)rosee, I readily consented to this form of contract, hoping thereby to learn something more of their methods of procedure. Accordingly, tha farmer broughb three of hie neighbours to me ; and the terras of our contract having been made known to them, one of them took the right hand of each of us and joined them together while ho dictated to us what to say after him. To my great astonishment the Druse who was grasping my hand gave me the grip of Master Masons! I immediately returned it to Ins equal surprise. He naked me how and where I had learned their secret sign, and this set 'no on tiie track of further inqufries, the result of which has been to render what was before a very strong belief oil my part an absolute conviction. I now fool morally certain that my theory ie correct ; and speaking as a Freemason, and as one who has also searched somewhat fully into tho myotic tenets of the Druses, I can a.«sert that, in many particulars, the esoteric teaching of both systems is more or less identical. Owing to the extreme secrecy and exclusiveness of the Druse character, it is most difficult to gain an infright into their inner rites and tenets, and it requires many year* of intercourse with them and the firm establishment of relations of mutual continence find trust before one can be in a position to loam anything concerning them.