■By William Long, Esq. 27 



Stonehong-e, and we accordingly find Inigo Jones breaking 

 away from them in the direction of the Romans, Charlton in 

 that of the Danes, and Auljrey in that of the Druids ; > and 

 Samuel Daniel, the poet, (1579 — 1619) writing thus impa- 



gods and goddesses of Greece out of rude hints concerning Hu and Ceridwen, 

 or in trying to prove the affinity between Hebrew and Welsh, had been used in 

 sifting the historical evidence, and the allusions contained in the poems, some 

 order would by this time have been worked out of the chaos of words. These 

 have often been put together, says Zeuss, from older poems, without under- 

 standing them, or they have been written down fiom oral recitation without 

 connection or meaning. It has already been seen what light can be thrown 

 upon them by Mr. Nash, though in rather a merciless spirit for the feeling of 

 legendary lore. Their interest is often great, as traces of extremely early 

 manners and customs are to be found in the stories, triads, and the histories of 

 saints. Their present form dates from MSS. of the twelfth and thirteenth cen- 

 turies, but many of the materials from which they have been compiled, even if 

 the exact words have not survived, have clearly come down from very rude ages." 



' As many persons still talk glibly about Druids, and others, (like the Director 

 General of the Ordnance Survey), write about their connection with Stonehenge, 

 as if it were " a matter, of course," the writer would venture to commend to 

 consideration the following words of one of the most distinguished modern 

 writers on race and language: "Druids are never mentioned before CjBsar. 

 Few writers, if any, before him were able to distinguish between Celts and 

 Germans, but spoke of the barbarians of Gaul and Germany as the Greeks spoke 

 of Scythians, or as we ourselves speak of the negroes of Africa, without dis- 

 tinguishing between races so different from each other as Hottentots and Kafirs. 

 Caesar was one of the first writers who knew of an ethnological distinction 

 between Celtic and Teutonic barbarians, and we may therefore trust him when 

 lie says that the Celts had Druids, and the Germans had none. But his further 

 statements about these Celtic priests and sages are hardly more trustworthy than 

 the account which an ordinary Indian officer at the present day might give us 

 of the Buddhist priests and the Buddhist religion of Ceylon. Ccesar's statement 

 that the Druids worshipped Mercury, Apollo, Mars, Jupiter, and Minerva, is of 

 the same base metal as the statements of more modern writers, — that the Budd- 

 hists worship the Trinity, and that they take Buddha for the Son of God. 

 Caesar most likely never conversed with a Druid, nor was he able to control, if 

 he was able to understand, the statements made to him about the ancient priest- 

 hood, the religion and literature of Gaul. Besides, Cajsar himself tells us very 

 little about the priests of Gaul and Britain ; and the thrilling accounts of the 

 white robes and the golden sickles belong to Pliny's ' Natural History' (xvi., 

 0. 44), by no means a safe authority in such matters. We must be satisfied, 

 indeed, to know very little about the mode of life, the forms of worship, or the 

 mysterious wisdom of the Druids and their flocks." — Max Muller's " Chips from 

 a German Workshop," vol. iii., p. 250, 



