76 MYTHOLOGY AND RELIGIOUS RITES. 
copia, fruits, &c. Ceres and Minerva are also found here (fig. 23, near 
Vulcan), but their statues were different from those by which the Romans 
represented them. The former, who was the goddess of agriculture and 
the framer of laws, is dressed in a spotted garment, a kind of helmet on 
her head, and a cornucopia filled with fruit in her hand; the latter wears 
a similar garment but without sleeves, and has the breast protected by a 
cuirass; upon her head is the helmet and by her side the shield ; the owl, 
sacred to her, sits perched upon her shoulder; she thus resembles some- 
what Bellona, the Roman goddess of war. 
The priesthood and the nobility were the only orders among the Gauls 
that had power and influence, for the people were at an early date already 
reduced to a state approaching slavery ; they were never suffered to have a 
will independent of their rulers, nor a share in the political deliberations. 
The priests, who were called Druids (pl. 13, jig. 24), had established a 
strictly theocratic-monarchical constitution, and held the first rank in the 
state. They were governed by a high priest, who represented the highest 
spiritual and political power, and was always elected for life. If there 
happened to be two eligible candidates, they settled the difficulty by lot or 
single combat; for they were warriors as well as priests, and always led 
their armies into the field, and when they ceased to do so they found that 
their power also began to decline. They were also the highest judicial 
tribunal, and decided in all civil and criminal cases, whether they referred 
to inheritances, boundary lines, or murder. They enforced their decisions 
by excommunicating the refractory, which was the heaviest penalty that 
could be inflicted, for it excluded the person from the privilege of assisting 
at the sacrifices. He who was thus punished was shunned as a wicked and 
accursed being, every one avoided him for fear of being contaminated and 
having to share his lot. This excommunication was probably pronounced 
publicly during the time of the annual assembly which was held near the 
city of Dreux in a sacred grove, and where all judicial disputes were 
settled. 
The Druids lived together as a community somewhat in a monastic style, 
for they had everything in common. Many coveted the privilege to be 
admitted into their ranks, and even the nobles sought it eagerly, for it 
offered great inducements ; but they required a rigid noviciate, which lasted 
sometimes twenty years. Their instructions to their disciples were alto- 
gether oral, and conveyed sometimes in verse, which the candidate had to 
learn by heart. They also enjoined upon all strict’ secresy, and particularly 
that no part of their lessons should ever be made known to the people. 
This leads us justly to suppose that they also must have contained mys- 
teries. 
Besides the priests there were priestesses or Druidesses (fig. 25). But 
it is not known what their relative duties were, and to what they were 
limited. 
The Bards and Vates are said to have constituted a separate class among 
the priests. The former seem to have been the sacred minstrels, and the 
latter the prophets or soothsayers. But there must also have been a class 
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