and that it was in consequence of this doctrine, they roused the Celts to that sovereign contempt of death, which they always manifested. But this supposition is not altogether well founded. The Druids certainly taught, for they certainly believed in, a future state, in which the brave and good would be rewarded, and in which the wicked would be punished. And this doctrine they held, ages previous to the appearance of Pythagoras, or the spreading of the doctrine of the metempsychosis. *

The conjectural derivations of the word Druid have involved it in considerable obscurity. The Germans believe they found it in the German word Dru, or faithful; the Saxons, in the word Dry, or magian; as the Persians in the word Daru, or wisdom. The Armoricans, in their word Déruidhon; the Milesians of Ireland, in their word Dair, or oak, with which Ireland formerly abounded; and whence it was called infula nemorosa. Nor is this in any respect different from the Greek derivation &pus, an oak; nor inconsistent with what might naturally be expected from the sacred groves in which the Druids celebrated their mysteries. The most ancient, and the most celebrated oracle

* Pellontier,

of

of Greece, was consulted under the oaks of the forest of Dodona. Even the Israelites held the oak in great veneration. *

Yet it has been doubted whether Druidism was ever established in Ireland. No historical evidence, it is said, proves the fact; and the probability is on the other side, as the last firm opposition of the Druids was in Anglesea: for had they possessed Druidical friends and brethren in Ireland, would they not have retired to that kingdom, where they might have defied the whole Roman power, rather than have continued in a circumscribed and an unsheltered spot? But this mode of reasoning is more ingenious than solid. The religion of the ancient Irish, till near the middle of the fifth century, was Druidical; and traditional testimonies, and presumptive arguments, are not wanting, to convince us, that Cæsar's account of the Druidism of Gaul is equally applicable both to Ireland and to Britain; the religion even of many of the Germans was nearly the same as Druidical, although, as remarked by an able writer, Pinkerton asserts, that those who speak of Druids in Germany, Caledonia, or Ireland, speak palpable nonsense, and have not a single authority to

Ezekiel, cap. vi.

Gg 2

support

+ Dr. Campbell.

support them." If Stonehenge be a Druidical remain, Ireland possesses similar remains in abundance, though of inferior dimensions. Giraldus says, "Fuit antiquis temporibus in Hibernia lapidum congeries admiranda, quæ & chorea gigantum dicta fuit."

These open temples, it is very true, seem to have had their origin in Scythia. No such monuments are to be found in the Lesser Asia; nor in the country where Carthage stood; nor in Egypt, or Palestine about Tyre, the original seat of the Phoenicians; but numbers are discovered in Britain, France, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Russia, and the Asiatic Tartary: a convincing proof, that these remnants of former times are not the works either of the Phoni

cians or Carthaginians. * On the contrary, while the religion of the Druids was preserved in all its purity in Britain, it became contaminated in Spain by the Phoenicians and Carthaginians, as it did in Gaul by the Greeks and Romans.

But the last place in which we find the Druids in the history of the British dominions, is certainly Ireland, where they continued in full pos

* Dr. Campbell.

session

session of all their ancient power till the year 432 after Christ, when St. Patrick undertook the conversion of that island. * Long after the order of the Druids was extinct, indeed, and the national religion altered, the bards continued to flourish, not a set of strolling songsters, like the Greek Aodo, or rhapsodists, in Homer's time, but as an order of men highly respected in the state, and supported by public establishment. We find such, according to the testimonies of Strabo and Diodorus, before the age of Augustus Cæsar; and we find them again under the same name, and exercising the same functions in Ireland, and in the north of Scotland, almost down to our own times.

The

Of this, however, more hereafter. Druids were divided into different classes (all subordinate to a chief or sovereign pontiff, stiled the Arch-druid) and called by the Romans Bardi, Eubages, Vates, Semnothei, Sarronides, and Samothei. They were held in the highest veneration by the people. Their life was austere and recluse from the world. Their dress was peculiar and imposing. It was flowing; and when employed in religious ceremonies, they always wore a white surplice. They gene

* Borlase.

Gg 3

+ Blair.

rally

rally carried a wand in their hands, and wore a kind of ornament enchased in gold about their necks, called the Druid's egg. Their necks were likewise decorated with gold chains, and their hands and arms with bracelets: they wore their hair short, and their beards remarkably long. The chief power was lodged in their hands; they punished as they pleased; and could declare war and peace at their option. Not only was their power extended over private families, but they could depose magistrates, and even kings.

In such profound veneration were the Druids held, and particularly their papa or chief, who was elected by the higher orders of Druids in conclave, that conceiving themselves filled with the spirit of God, they arrogated a power over the past, the present, and the future. They fulminated in the name of the divinity; and their voice was to be obeyed, as the voice of heaven. Their sovereign pontiff had his forehead bound with a diadem. After the king, he was the first person in the state. The clergy had precedence of the nobility. They paid no taxes, nor would they allow themselves to be liable to assessment. Their wives partook of their honours, and in many instances, even were allowed to participate in

the