THE BOG. 149 



scarcely altered from their original colour and 

 substance ; while iron vessels, which are some- 

 times met with, are so corroded as scarcely to re- 

 tain any of the properties of the metal of which 

 they were made. This remark, of course, does 

 not apply to the precious metals. Golden orna- 

 ments, of a strange form and unknown use, have 

 sometimes been found as bright as when they left 

 the hands of the maker. 



It is possible, that where we are now cautiously 

 picking our steps among tufted sedge and rushes, 

 may lie buried the ruins of some ancient village, 

 once glowing with the active and cheerful life of 

 a rural population : we may now be resting our feet 

 where, at some remote age, waved the branches of 

 oaks under which the Druids assembled to perform 

 their mystical but inhuman rites. Their rock-altars 

 and pillared circles yet remain in places where no 

 trace of wood or forest is now visible. It is not likely 

 that these were originally erected so far from the 

 consecrated grove as they now appear to be, for there 

 is every reason to suppose that the Druids, like the 

 priests of the ancient German tribes, and the still 

 more ancient Phoenicians, erected their altars in the 

 neighbourhood of " groves," as well as in " high 

 places." If, then, we are inclined to mourn over 

 these barren and desolate portions of the country, 

 presenting so melancholy a contrast to what may 

 have been their former flourishing state, let us not 

 forget that, with the rich foliage of deep forests, 

 has passed away a depth of ignorance and supersti- 

 tion, which we cannot realize in imagination with- 

 out shuddering ; and that bleak though the country 

 be, compared to what it once was, it is visited 

 by those only whose hearts we hope have been 



