DRUIDS. 



153 



Druids, and Phoenicians is very remote and questionable, and 

 ^~~r~~ as there are strong presumptions against the hypothe- 

 sis, arising from other circumstances, it ought to be re- 

 jected. 



Druidism The next hypothesis which we shall state and exa- 

 tupposed to mine, maintains that the Gauls were taught Druidism 

 have been by Pythagoras. This, like the other, rests on the simi- 

 received larity between the doctrines of this philosopher and those 

 ^ of Druidism, and on the alleged direct evidence of the 

 fact With regard to the first species of proof, it may 

 be remarked, that the points of resemblance between 

 the religious opinions of Pythagoras and the Druids are 

 not so numerous as those which are brought forward 

 by the advocates of the hypothesis already rejected ; 

 but one of them, at least, is more decisive and striking. 

 It may be doubted whether the Phoenicians actually be- 

 lieved in the doctrine of transmigration ; but this, it is 

 well known, was one of the peculiar tenets of Pythago- 

 ras : but, as was before observed, the transmigration held 

 by the Druids (if they actually believed such a doc- 

 trine) was very different from the transmigration 

 taught by Pythagoras, as we are expressly informed by 

 Caesar : In primis hoc volun: persvadere, non inicrire 

 animas, sed al> aliis post mortem transire ad alias ; at- 

 que IIGC maxime ad eirtutem excttari putant metu mortis 

 neglecto. That by this Caesar meant that they belie- 

 ved only in the transmigration of the soul into a hu- 

 man body, is evident, by the practical use which they 

 made of their doctrine ; for to believe that their souls 

 might pass into the bodies of inferior animals, could 

 hardly have taken away the fear of death. But, inde- 

 pendently of this consideration, we know that the doc- 

 trine of the transmigration of the soul was by no means 

 peculiar, either to Pythagoras or the Druids. Indeed, 

 it is one of those religious opinions, into which man- 

 kind, in a state of ignorance, are by no means unlikely 

 to fall. The direct evidence that Pythagoras taught 

 his doctrines to the Druids, rests principally, if not ex- 

 clusively and entirely, upon the following passage in 

 Ammianus Marcellinus: Speaking of the Bards, Euba- 

 gi;s, and Druids among the Gauls, he says : Inter hos 

 Drvid(E ingcnii celsiorfs, nt autoritas Pyt Angora: decre- 

 rit, sodaliliis adatricti consortiix, qmrslinnibus occiillarum 

 rerum allanimque erecli stint, et despeclantes humana, 

 pro'tiintinrunt animas immortelles. In order that the 

 full and just authority may be given to this passage, it 

 ought to be observed, that Ammianus is here quoting 

 from Timagenes, a Greek historian, who lived in the 

 time of Augustus, and who, both on account of the pe- 

 riod at which he wrote, and the researches he made, 

 mu.jt have been a more competent authority than Am- 

 mianus himself, who flourished when Druidism was 

 nearly if not entirely extinct. Of the researches of Ti- 

 magenes respecting the Gauls, Ammianus sneaks in the 

 following terms: Amhi gentes super nrigineprimaGallorum 

 scriptores r feres, niitiliam reltquerc jiegotii semiplenam : 

 ,icd j oxlta Timagenes cl diligentia Graecns et lingua, quce 

 iliu nut igiiorata, coll'git rx midtiplicibus libris ; ciijus 

 fidnm sequuli. obsciiritale dimola, eadem distincte do- 

 cebimus et aperle. Having thus given the passage from 

 Ammianus Marcellinus, respect ing the supposed Pytha- 

 gorean origin of Druidism, all the authority and weight 

 which it deserves. :>n<l which it does not seem to have 

 met with when simply considered as resting on the in- 

 formation of that historian, we shall now proceed to 

 examine its tendency, import, and bearing, on the point 

 in question. In the- first place, the passage may mere- 

 ly mean, that the Druids, in the establishment of confra- 

 ternities, resembled the Pythagoreans : though it must 



VOL. VIII. PART I. 



be confessed, that, by the obvious meaning of the words, Dm 

 Timagenes gives it as his opinion, that the Druids ac- 

 knowledged the authority of Pythagoras ; but that the 

 former interpretation, notwithstanding this, is more 

 natural, will probably be admitted, when we reflect, 

 that this author is completely silent respecting the Py 

 thagorean origin of the Druidic doctrine of transmigra- 

 tion ; a point of resemblance between the two reli- 

 gions, which would have much more clearly and de- 

 cidedly proved the authority of the philosopher, than 

 the establishment of confraternities : the investigation 

 of profound and lofty subjects, and the belief in the 

 immortality of the soul. This interpretation of the 

 passage is further illustrated and confirmed by what 

 Diodorus Siculus says respecting the religion of the 

 Celts. " The opinion of Pythagoras prevails among 

 them, that the souls of men are immortal, and live 

 again after a certain period, entering into diffe- 

 rent bodies." In fact, the expressions of Diodorus 

 Siculus, ii-^uii sr{ JIoif t naC"/ Aoy$, and of Ti- 

 magenes, very nearly coincide, and may be supposed 

 merely to mean a resemblance between the doctrines 

 of Pythagoras and the Druids, without asserting any 

 thing respecting the origin of the one from the other. 

 It is also worthy of remark, that though Diodorus Si- 

 culus mentions the transmigration of souls, in connec- 

 tion with Pythagoras, he does not even hint, that this 

 doctrine was borrowed by the Celts from that philoso- 

 pher. 



It appears to us, that it has happened to those anti- 

 quarians who have searched for the origin of Druidism 

 among the Phoenicians, Pythagoreans, &c. as it fre- 

 quently happens to men in the common occurrences of 

 life : they have missed what they have been in search 

 of, by directing their enquiries too profoundly, or too 

 remotely ; and the desire of finding out an origin, not 

 obvious to common enquiries, has led them astray 

 from the truth. On the subject of Druidism, we must 

 either entirely reject, or we must abide, by the authori- 

 ty of the Greek and Roman authors ; .especially the lat- 

 ter, for the Greek historians and geographers evidently 

 borrowed from the former every thing regarding 

 Druidism. Where these authors express their opinion, 

 clearly and decidedly, it is assuredly as well worthy 

 our regard and belief, as the unfounded hypothesis of 

 the moderns ; in whom it is very unfair to disregard or 

 reject the testimony of the ancients, on this subject, 

 when it does not accord with their hypothesis, and to 

 quote and rely upon it only when it serves to illustrate 

 or strengthen them. Now, with respect to the origin 

 of Druidism, Caesar, certainly the best authority we 

 could have, expresses himself in terms most distinct 

 and positive : " Disciplina in Brittania repcrta, atque 

 inde in Gal/tarn translate cssc existimatur ;" and as a 

 proof of the truth of this opinion, he adds : " et nunc, 

 qiti diligentius earn rem cognoscere volant, plerumque 

 iltttc, ducendi causa, perficiscuntur. From the expres- 

 sions of Cwsar, it is reasonable to conclude, that he had 

 taken some pains to learn the general belief in Gaul, 

 respecting the origin of Druidism; and, indeed, we know 

 that his iiHjiiiries were very minute and diligent re- 

 specting every thing connected with this country, and 

 that what he has written concerning it may be depend- 

 ed upon. Here then we have the positive testimony of 

 Ca?sar, that, in his time in Gaul, Druidism was supposed 

 to have originated in Britain ; and that the belief in this 

 opinion was so prevalent and strong, that such of the 

 Gauls as wished to learn the more secret mysteries of 

 Druidism, went over into Britain for that purpose. We 



