105 
In the Neo-druidism, of which I treat elsewhere, it is pro- 
bable that we have some faint reflections of the knowledge 
ascribed to these wise men ; but it is in turning to the philo- 
sophy of the East that we derive the strongest assurance of 
the character as well as the origin of their knowledge. In 
our Gaelic and Welsh translations of the Bible the Druids are 
understood to be the representative of the Magi (or as we call 
ii), “the wise men of the East,” and we must look for that 
origin of their caste in the land of caste , or India in its widest 
extent. 
The Indian philosophy, which leaves nothing undefined, 
explains this matter also.* There was a time, after the end 
of preceding worlds, and before the beginning of this, that 
beings who had acquired merit in the previous state of exist- 
ence were brought to inhabit this sphere. They could live 
without food. They could soar through the air at will, and 
the glory proceeding from their persons was so great that 
there was no necessity for a sun or moon. No change of 
seasons was known, nor any difference. There was no 
diversity of sex, and they all lived in happiness and mutual 
peace. There was, however, after some ages, a substance pro- 
duced which attracted the attention of one of the Brahmas, 
who was induced to taste, and the taste was so delightful that 
it excited the wish for more, and a principle of evil was now 
first manifested amongst the beings of the earth, who had 
hitherto kept themselves pure. The other Brahmas began to 
follow this example, by which the glory proceeding from their 
persons was extinguished, and it became necessary that a sun 
and moon and other shining bodies should be brought into 
existence. 
The history proceeds to explain the origin of the diversity 
of sex and the difference of colour amongst mankind, and the 
origin of caste. 
The Brahmins, proceeding from the mouth of Brahma, had 
alone inclination for the divine sciences (Brahma veda). 
This then, traditionally , was the commencement of the 
priestly class, found among the Egyptians, Colchians, Iberians, 
Medes, Persians, and Etruscans, also in the new world among 
the Peruvians and Mexicans, and having in common much 
knowledge which they concealed from the vulgar. 
There can be little doubt that the Druids were a branch of 
this widely-spread freemasonry; originating with the early 
* Manual of Buddhism ,, p. 64. 
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