95 
hew him in pieces as the prophet Samuel slew Agag, king of 
Amalek. Hereupon Eidiol received a sword from his brother, 
led Hengist outside of the place, to the summit of a hill, 
and smote off his head. A mound, stiJl remaining, was 
erected over his remains. This was probably looked upon as 
a solemn sacrifice, but whether to the Christian's God or to 
Belinus (Bel) we are not informed, and may infer as we 
please. 
I think it cannot be denied that Britain in the fifth cen- 
tury was essentially heathen — that the old temples had not 
lost their sacredness ; and that the bards, genuine descendants 
of the Druids, though much their inferiors, were engaged 
for a long period in secret endeavours to cast off even the 
semblance of Christianity. 
It appears to have been at the same era that St. Patrick was 
engaged in preaching in the sister island. His banishing the 
snakes probably refers to the success of his mission in putting 
an end to the power of these cc serpents " of Beli. 
It were much to be desired that the history of the succeed- 
ing age could be written by some one possessed of sufficient 
cynvrinach, or sympathetic knowledge, to comprehend the mys- 
ticism of the bards ; and of sufficient theological capacity to be 
able to unfold the connection which I cannot doubt to have 
existed between this mysticism and the errors of Pelagius. 
This remarkable man was a Briton {Brito), probably his real 
name was Morgan, of which word Pelagius might be a trans- 
lation. His doctrines created a profound sensation. He 
(C asserted the absolute freedom of the will and the perfecti- 
bility of human nature by the unaided efiorts of man himself." 
The foundation on which he rested was not the revelation of 
some new truth, but the general sentiment of his countrymen, 
imbued for ages with these very principles. He was crushed* 
by a decree of Pope Innocentius, issued a.d. 417 ; but perhaps 
it may be said that his doctrines have never entirely ceased 
their partial hold on the population of these Isles. 
The account given by Jeffery of Monmouth of the erection 
of Stonehenge bears, in part, the impress of probability, and, 
if at all correct, would lead to the supposition that Merlin had 
inherited some of the real science of the old Druids. Merlin, 
who had been the prophet of Vortigern, advised Aurelius to 
send for the Giant's Dance in Killaraus,f a mountain in 
* Smiths Did, sub voce. 
t Giraldus Cambrensis says, “ In the plains of Kildare,” which is more 
likely. See Choir Gaur. 
