those who wer: A 1 P

education. erem.

Their hat let VIE. B

their hands the time i vinte a called the Iris ER, FA DIA DEL a kind of loss ETA TELA STE engagerer memes her The iste of CBEST THE CORP VÄDER had their pracu. MINET, .. States. but the reputation the chiltrer cheats wery The Imus ve been orders, or cases, namely: 2. Baris; and Tates, or Those werked under m ecclesiasten authorit ashing over the mystenes sonifies, adjusting extended to life and fal; yet they were elected from their enjoyed his suprem 20d the power of pleasure dependes The Druids priests, but

To them was of all ranks

exp

for all things, as its name,

cated; let him be deprived voided by all, and rendered

in their own houses; they their wives, children, and Rapin, Introduction, page 6.

EMAINS.

of antiquity in our island, if e preservation, as well as its ry Plain, the chief temple and iginally consisted of an outer t high, and upon the tops of ontinuous impost of large flat ner circle enclosing a diameter have consisted of much smaller but the same in number as the ircle were five distinct erections, ge stones with an impost, with e of each; these have been called

om rings," or circles of judgment; were the "cromlechs," or altars on ced. They are great stone scaffolds, uch horrid exhibitions, and just large ns, and so contrived as to render the t multitude of people. The officiating upon a man as a victim, smote him the throat; and on his falling, both fall, and from the convulsions of his n the flowing of his blood, they presaged ass. The rocking stones, or "tolmans," ndstone, often weighing more than six or hich are so exquisitely poised that they can ch of a finger, were other great adjuncts to and superst by which the Druids maine; they s ng ar у сор the d

s are

the g Abury

pal and govern the popu

randeur to some great e effort of ingenuity cience.*

Tht's Old England.

otland. On the opposite structure of far greater

LAWS AND RELIGION OF THE DRUIDS.

Although the policy of the Druids would never suffer their laws and religious tenets to be handed down in writing, it being their custom to teach their disciples everything by heart, a Bayardian author has been at some pains to collect some of the Druidical maxims, or rules, of which the most remarkable are these:

"None must be instructed but in the sacred groves.

"Misseltoe must be gathered with reverence, and, if possible, in the sixth moon. It must be cut with a golden bill.

66

Everything derives its origin from Heaven.

"The arcana of the Sciences must not be committed to writing, but to the memory.

"Great care is to be taken of the education of children. "The powder of misseltoe makes women fruitful.

"The disobedient are to be shut out from the sacrifices. "Souls are immortal.

"The soul after death goes into other bodies.

"If the world is destroyed, it will be by fire or water.

"Upon extraordinary emergencies a man must be sacrificed. "According as the body falls, or moves after it has fallen, according as the blood flows, or the wound opens, future events are foretold.

"Prisoners of war are to be slain upon the altars, or burnt alive enclosed in wicker, in honour of the gods.

"All commerce with strangers must be prohibited.

"He that comes last to the assembly of the States ought to be punished with death.

"Children are to be brought up apart from their parents till they are fourteen years of age.

66 Money lent in this world will be repaid in the next.

"There is another world, and they who kill themselves to accompany their friends thither will live with them there.

"Letters given to dying persons, or thrown on the funeral piles of the dead, will faithfully be delivered in the other world.

his conjecture upon this noted story, related by Vopiscus, who says "Dioclesian, when a private soldier, in Gallia, on his removing thence, reckoning with his hostess, a Druid woman, she told him he was too penurious, but that he need not be so sparing of his money, for after he should kill a boar, she assured him (looking steadfastly in his face) he would be Emperor of Rome. These words made a great impression upon him, and he was afterwards much delighted in hunting and killing boars, often saying, when he saw many made emperors, and his own fortune not mending, I kill the boars, but it is others eat their flesh.' However, many years after, Arrius Aper, father-in-law of the Emperor Numerianus, grasping for the empire, treacherously slew him, for which fact being brought by the soldiers before Dioclesian (then become a prime commander in the army), he asked his name, and being told he was called Aper (i. e., a boar), without further pause sheathed his sword in his bowels, saying- Et hunc aprum eum cæteris,' which done, the soldiers saluted him Emperor." Rapin, Introduction, page 6.

"The moon is a sovereign remedy for all things, as its name, in Celtic, implies.

"Let the disobedient be excommunicated; let him be deprived of the benefit of the law; let him be avoided by all, and rendered incapable of any employ.

"All masters of families are kings in their own houses; they have a power of life and death over their wives, children, and slaves." Rapin, Introduction, page 6.

DRUIDICAL REMAINS.

The most remarkable monument of antiquity in our island, if we take into account its comparative preservation, as well as its grandeur, is Stonehenge, on Salisbury Plain, the chief temple and seat of justice of the Druids. It originally consisted of an outer circle of thirty stones, fourteen feet high, and upon the tops of them was carried throughout a continuous impost of large flat stones of the same width. An inner circle enclosing a diameter of eighty-three feet, appears to have consisted of much smaller stones, without imposts, but about the same in number as the outer circle. Within the second circle were five distinct erections, each consisting of two very large stones with an impost, with three smaller stones in advance of each; these have been called the trilithons.

The circles were called "doom rings," or circles of judgment; the flat stones of the interior were the "cromlechs," or altars on which the victims were sacrificed. They are great stone scaffolds, raised just high enough for such horrid exhibitions, and just large enough in all their proportions, and so contrived as to render the whole visible to the greatest multitude of people. The officiating priest pouring a libation upon a man as a victim, smote him upon the breast, near the throat; and on his falling, both from the manner of his fall, and from the convulsions of his limbs, and still more from the flowing of his blood, they presaged what would come to pass. The rocking stones, or tolmans,' masses of granite or sandstone, often weighing more than six or seven hundred tons, which are so exquisitely poised that they can be moved by the touch of a finger, were other great adjuncts to the system of terror and superstition by which the Druids maintained their influence; they sought to appal and govern the popular mind by imparting a more than natural grandeur to some great work of nature, by connecting it with some effort of ingenuity which was under the direction of their rude science.*

66

Knight's Old England.

Druidical circles are not confined to England or Scotland. On the opposite shores of Brittany the great remains of Carnac exhibit a structure of far greater extent, even, than Abury or Stonehenge.

THE TRADITION OF STANTON DREW.

At the little village of Stanton Drew, in the county of Somerset, about seven miles east of the road between Bristol and Wells, stands a well-known Druidical monument, which, in the opinion of Doctor Stukeley, was more ancient than that at Abury. It consists (according to a recent writer) of four groups of stones, forming (or rather having formed when complete) two circles, and two other figures, one an ellipse. Although the largest stones are much inferior in their dimensions to those at Stonehenge and Abury, they are by no means contemptible, some of them being nine feet in height, and twenty-two feet in girth. There is a curious tradition, very prevalent amongst the country people, respecting the origin of these remains, which they designate the "Evil Wedding," for the following good and substantial reasons:— Many hundred years ago (on a Saturday evening), a newly-married couple, with their relatives and friends, met on the spot now covered by these ruins, to celebrate their nuptials. Here they feasted and danced right merrily until the clock tolled the hour of midnight, when the piper (a pious man) refused to play any longer. This was much against the wish of the guests, and so exasperated the bride (who was fond of dancing) that she swore with an oath, she would not be baulked of her enjoyment by a beggarly piper, but would find a substitute, if she went to the infernal regions to fetch one. She had scarcely uttered these words, when a venerable old man, with a long beard, made his appearance, and having listened to their request, proffered his services, which were right gladly accepted. The old gentleman (who was no other than the Arch-fiend himself) having taken the seat vacated by the godly piper, commenced playing a slow and solemn air, which, on the guests remonstrating, he changed into one more lively and rapid. The company now began to dance, but soon found themselves impelled round the performer so rapidly and mysteriously, that they would all fain have rested. But when they essayed to retire, they found, to their consternation, that they were moving faster and faster round their diabolical musician, who had now resumed his original shape.

Their cries for mercy were unheeded, until the first glimmering of day warned the fiend that he must depart. With such rapidity had they moved, that the gay and sportive assembly were now reduced to a ghastly troop of skeletons. "I leave you," said the fiend, "a monument of my power and your wickedness, to the end of time;" which saying, he vanished. The villagers, on rising in the morning, found the meadow strewn with large pieces of stone, and the pious piper lying under a hedge, half dead with fright; he having been a witness to the whole transaction.

Notes and Queries, vol. iv. p. 3.-David Stevens.

In the latter part of the summer of the year 55, B.C. (Halley, the astronomer, has gone far to prove that the exact day was the 26th of August), a Roman fleet, bearing the infantry of two legions (about ten thousand men), collected at the Portus Itius (Witsand), between Calais and Boulogne. Eighty galleys bore the invaders across the narrow seas. As they neared the White Cliffs, which frowned upon their enterprise, Cæsar beheld them covered with armed natives, ready to dispute his landing. The laurelled conqueror, who, according to Suetonius, only experienced three reverses during nine years' command in Gaul, would not risk the Roman discipline against the British courage on a coast thus girt with natural defences. It is held that the proper interpretation of his own narrative is, that he proceeded towards the north; and it is considered by most authorities that the flat beach between Walmer Castle and Sandwich was the place of his disembarkation.t

It was here, then, that the British and Roman weapons first came into conflict. But the captains and the standard-bearers marched not deliberately on shore, as they are represented on the column of Trajan, the cavalry and war-chariots of the active Britons met the invader on the beach; and whilst the soldiers hesitated to leave the ships, the standard-bearer of the tenth legion leaped into the water, exclaiming, as Cæsar has recorded, "Follow me, my fellow-soldiers, unless you will give up your eagle to the enemy. I, at least, will do my duty to the Republic, and to our general!" The Romans made good their landing. The symbols of the great Republic were henceforward to become familiar to the skin-clothed and painted Britons, but not as yet were they bound with the chain of the captive. The galleys in which the cavalry of Cæsar were approaching the British shores were scattered by a storm. This calamity, and his

This so exactly agrees with the cliffs of Dover, towards the south foreland, that all men of judgment believe this to be the place.

Rapin, p. 10. † Such is the shore at the mouth of the river that goes up to Richborough called, in Latin, Rhutupiæ, Rutupæ, or Portus Rutupensis. Dr. Gale calls Ritups, which suits best with the modern name.

Ibid.

The use of clothes was scarcely known in the island. None but the inhabitants of the southern coasts covered their nakedness with the skins of wild beasts, carelessly thrown over them; not so much to defend themselves against cold, as to avoid giving offence to the strangers that came to traffic with them. They were wont, by way of ornament, to make incisions on their bodies, in the shape of flowers, trees, and animals, which, with the juice of woad, they painted of a skycolour, that never wore out. These scars are, by Tertullian, termed Britannorum Stigmata. Rapin, p. 5.