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the religion of the kindred races who peopled Ireland. The 
sacred fire of St. Bridget, and the Round Towers so evidently- 
imitated from the fire-temples, attest this sufficiently. In 
that which remains to us traditionally embodied in the religion 
of the Bards, we trace the worship of the sun very distinctly, 
although this may be covered with the varnish of Christianity. 
It was probably from an idolatry of this kind that Abram 
was separated when he was called forth from Ur of the 
Chaldees at the command of “ the God of glory” to serve 
Him alone. The name of the city is now understood to be 
“ Light,” and this we must presume was then considered the 
highest manifestation of deity, though not excluding the ' 
grossest idolatry of any of the striking forms of nature — of 
idols representing these, or even of man himself as embody- 
ing a larger share of divinity than others. 
The intense personality of the living God thus making 
himself known to the father of the faithful is in most striking 
contrast both to Pantheism and to its accompanying poly- 
theism. God Almighty ( El Shadai) made Himself known by 
(apparently) a personal call to Abram (“ Jehovah had said to 
Abram”). We do not suppose (and indeed are told the con- 
trary) that Abram beheld any shape or form, nor do we know 
the name by which Abram knew how to call the hitherto un- 
known God who spoke to him, unless it were as above.* 
* We find the name “ God,” El, compounded with the name of at least one 
of the antediluvians, just as in the Chaldsean records the name Tutu or 
Father occurs in the antediluvian name Ubara-tutu (servant of the father), 
applied to the father of Hasiadra or Noah, and we have much reason to believe 
that at that early age El, Bel ( not Baal) and Tutu were equivalent. Melchi- 
zedek in worshipping El-elioun (the Most High God) worshipped the true 
and living God. It was not till the time of Moses that the Almighty 
revealed His name, the tetragrammaton which we call Jehovah. I cannot 
help thinking that the previous name was a triliteral , such as is found in 
“ Beriah,” for instance, before the time of Moses. It was either JAB, as 
we find it in the Psalms, or IAQ, 1 as in the Greek verse said to be an oracular 
response of Apollo : 
(ppaZeoj t'ov iravrwv vttcitov Oedv tfifiev "law . 2 
Both of these are sufficiently near the I A U of the Bards to make me think 
that even the last may be the remembrance of a world-old tradition. 
“ Porphyry says that Sanchoniathon 3 4 received information from Hierom- 
balus, a priest of law.” 4 See also Cory’s Ancient Fragments. Ed. 1876, p. 19. 
1 Certain ancient writers have stated that the God of the Hebrews was 
called ’'IAQ.” — Ges. Lex., sub voce “ nin\” 
Smith’s Diet, of the Bible. 
Since the recovery of the arrow-headed writing I presume the authority 
of this author will no longer be questioned. 
4 Higgins’s Celtic Researches, pp. 198 and 208. 
K 2 
