DRUIDS 



25 



how deep the shade, when we penetrate those 

 dark recesses ! Such solitude and solemn 

 gloom have certainly a tendency to inspire 

 seriousness." 



Who were the Druids/' inquired Harriet ; 

 did they ever live in this Forest T 



No, my dear. This Forest was made, as 

 I told your brothers, by William the Norman, 

 or Conqueror, many ages after the Druids had 

 ceased. They were the priests and magis- 

 trates of the original inhabitants of this island. 

 Julius Csesar, when he first came hither, found 

 the Britons entirely under their influence ; 

 and when the Romans had obtained power 

 here, they turned out the Druids. Their last 

 retreat was the island of Anglesea, then called 

 Mona. There Paulinus, the Roman general, 

 slew multitudes of the priests; burnt their 



