228 



principal establishments were in our best mining 

 districts, it is probable that they supplied the 

 country with all the tin, copper, and lead that 

 were used. It has been further suggested that 

 they availed themselves of the famous Parys 

 copper mine* in this island, not only for its 

 valuable produce, but for the purpose of imposing 

 on the credulity aud superstition of their fol- 

 lowers ; for the apparent conversion of bits 

 of iron into copper, when steeped in the 

 strongly saturated water of the mine, as well as 

 the blood-coloured streams which were thus pro- 

 duced, could have been easily represented as 

 resulting from the supernatural power of those 

 crafty impostors." 



" You said, uncle, that the worship of the 

 Druids was chiefly directed to the Sun; from 

 which I suppose they were the fire-worshippers 

 you mentioned on May-day, who came here 

 from the East." 



In reply, my uncle told me, that " there cer- 

 tainly were some points of resemblance between 

 the Persian Magi and the Druids of Britain. 

 They were each forbidden to worship the deity 

 within covered buildings ; and all acts of devo- 

 tion were confined to open temples or conse- 

 crated forests. Like the Persians, they beheld 

 the Creator in the works of nature ; and gigantic 

 trees and massive rocks, were the symbols of 

 Almighty power which they most admired. 



