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Article ACCOUNT OF DRUIDISM. ← Page 5 of 6 →
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Account Of Druidism.
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 con * spicuous , though less visible , among the Gauls . But in Germany there were no Druids ; and Gaul had none till she imported them from Britain . In short , we need not hesitate to declarer , 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 worshi p of the sun so unnatural in the dreary climates of ths 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 reli gion of the continent ? Were not all these absolutely unknown to the Europeans , and deemed , as soon as discovered , the objects of curiosity and veneration ? Were not all these new to Ctesar ? In fret , the British Druids knew more of , thetrue origin of the mythology adopted by the Greeks . and Romans *
than the Greeks and Romans probably did themselves : and I cannot but observe , that every part of C _ esar's account of their religious tenets merits a dissertation ; for they refer to the first ages of mankind . Does Caisar any where speak thus of the Belga ;—those fugitive Germans , driven b y their stronger neighbours over the Rhine into Gaul , and afterwards , perhaps , driven from Gaul to take shelter on the seacoast of Britain ? Does he any where 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 hig h antiquity . 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 Car-< c nedde , 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 orig inall y existing in Devonshire and Cornwall , was immediatelytransported , in all its purity and perfection , from thc 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 sometimes exhibited
as its commanding features , yet the grossest folly and inhumanity are no less prominent on other representations of it . The Phenicians , however , introducing their corrupt doctrines and degenerated rites , will account at once for these incongruities : and we have already obr served the intermixture of the Phenician with the abori g 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 superstitions notions . At this juncture their reli g ion wa . s stained with manifold un-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Account Of Druidism.
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 con * spicuous , though less visible , among the Gauls . But in Germany there were no Druids ; and Gaul had none till she imported them from Britain . In short , we need not hesitate to declarer , 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 worshi p of the sun so unnatural in the dreary climates of ths 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 reli gion of the continent ? Were not all these absolutely unknown to the Europeans , and deemed , as soon as discovered , the objects of curiosity and veneration ? Were not all these new to Ctesar ? In fret , the British Druids knew more of , thetrue origin of the mythology adopted by the Greeks . and Romans *
than the Greeks and Romans probably did themselves : and I cannot but observe , that every part of C _ esar's account of their religious tenets merits a dissertation ; for they refer to the first ages of mankind . Does Caisar any where speak thus of the Belga ;—those fugitive Germans , driven b y their stronger neighbours over the Rhine into Gaul , and afterwards , perhaps , driven from Gaul to take shelter on the seacoast of Britain ? Does he any where 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 hig h antiquity . 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 Car-< c nedde , 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 orig inall y existing in Devonshire and Cornwall , was immediatelytransported , in all its purity and perfection , from thc 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 sometimes exhibited
as its commanding features , yet the grossest folly and inhumanity are no less prominent on other representations of it . The Phenicians , however , introducing their corrupt doctrines and degenerated rites , will account at once for these incongruities : and we have already obr served the intermixture of the Phenician with the abori g 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 superstitions notions . At this juncture their reli g ion wa . s stained with manifold un-