THE RELIGION OF NOAH PRESERVED IN BRITAIN UNDER THE NAME OF DRUIDISM.

The descendants of Japheth that first took possession of Britain, though composed of several distinct tribes yet formed but one nation as we have already seen, having sprung from the same stock, and all speaking the same language. Agriculture and Pasturage were their primary pursuits: Their great chieftain Hu had taught them the former, "When they were in the Summer Country, [probably Bithynia in Asia Minor,] before they came to the Isle of Britain :"(Triad 55.) And as the latter had universally prevailed in the East, and required less art, no instruction was necessary, and the Triads mention none.

Their form of government at this time was pure Patriarchism: that is, they were all subject to the heads of their respective families, who, according to the simple dictate of nature, and by invariable custom, inherited the right and privilege of governing those that had sprung from themselves, or that were employed by them in the capacity of men and women servants. Such had been the form of government among all pious people down to the time of the dispersion. And it continued in the East after that event among the descendants of Shem for many generations; and in the West among the progeny of Japheth, until it either degenerated into absolute clanship, or was changed into a monarchy for the better protection of the country.

These heads of families were also in Britain as well as in the East the ministers of religion to their respective tribes. With them rested the responsibility of instructing all that composed the clan under their immediate jurisdiction, in the principles of morality and divine worship; and of performing the sacred rites of religion, more especially those of sacrificing. So that every patriarch or head of family was not only the Governor but also the Priest of his tribe.

These Priests or religious Instructers of the Kymry were at first simply called Gwyddon, the plural of Gwydd which implies wisdom or knowledge. The term therefore in its application to them as Teachers of religion, implied in its singular form the man of knowledge;-in its plural form, Wise men or Teachers of wisdom, illustrating in a most striking manner that maxim of the Mosaic law and

priesthood, which says, "The Priest's lips shall keep knowledge, and the people shall seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts." (Mal. ii. 7.) Wisdom and knowledge were emphatically the terms used in primitive ages for religion, as appears from the book of Job, the most ancient of all the inspired Records, and from the Psalms of David, and the Proverbs of Solomon not forgetting that the same terms also obtained in Chaldea, Persia, and Greece.

But as these patriarchal Priests in Britain, chose to instruct the people, and perform their solemn rites in groves, and especially under the oak, their official name Gwyddon acquired in course of time another syllable by way of prefix, taken from Derw, their own Kimbric appellation of the oak or oak-groves. The name compounded of Derw and Gwyddon stood thus, Der-wyddon, which implied the Oak-wise-men, or Priests of the oak. And this is the term we render Druids in English. But it is more probable that the English term Druids was originally taken from the Gaelic word Druidh, which is an abbreviation of Derwydh the singular of Derwyddon, or from the Greek word Agus or Aguades [Drus or Druades,] an oak, or inhabitants of oak-groves. However, we have given the etymology of the Kimbric word from the language of the Druids themselves, in which language alone the genuine roots of all their technical and official terms must be sought.

But here we must stay for a moment to justify the conduct of the British Druids, in worshipping God under the oak, and sacrificing to him in groves. This practice was no innovation of the Druids. The Lord had been invariably worshipped in the open air, either on a mountain, in a plain, under a hill, or in a grove, from the creation down to the time of the general dispersion: and the same custom prevailed after the dispersion in the East among the descendants of Shem, for five or six hundred years; that is until the departure of the Israelites out of Egypt, and the erection of the tabernacle in the wilderness, which probably was the first building ever formed as an habitation for the Deity." (Scott.) And the Israelites were then forbidden to worship in groves as incompatible with the worship of the Tabernacle; and because groves had been desecrated by the idolatrous Canaanites, the descendants of Ham, and made the scenes of the vilest abominations. Under other circumstances

the Almighty had no objection to be worshipped in groves, or in high places.

We read in Genesis, that "Abraham passed through the land (of Canaan) unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh :" according to the Hebrew, "unto the oak, or oak-grove of Moreh." The Hebrew word is Alun, which the LXX have generally rendered by the Greek word Agus, oak. The English translation seems to have been made from the Vulgate Latin. Parkhurst and other eminent Critics agree that the original implies a species of oak, and should have been rendered in this and several other places by that word instead of plain. We shall now read the passage according to this amended translation : 66 'And Abraham passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the Oak of Moreh: "And the Lord appeared unto Abraham and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar, unto the Lord who appeared unto him." (Gen. xii.)

Again it is said, "Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre;" according to the Hebrew-the same noun occurring again in its plural form, "dwelt in or among the oaks of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the Lord." (Gen. xiii.) Once more, "And Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God." (Gen. xxi.) On this last passage Mr. Scott remarks, "Perhaps Abraham planted this grove to shelter his tent; and to form a shade for the performance of sacred worship, which was at that time usually performed in the open air."

Other instances occur, but these are amply sufficient to shew that the custom of worshipping the Divine Being in groves, and particularly beside or under an oak, was not an invention of the Druids, but a faithful perpetuation on their part of a custom that had prevailed among the patriarchs in the East from the most remote times. Abraham and the Druids of Britain derived the usage from a common source; there was therefore nothing remarkable in the coincidence. The custom was first debased and perverted to idolatrous purposes by the wicked Canaanites, long after the time of Abraham and the arrival of the elder branch of Japheth in Britain.

But we cannot conceal the satisfaction we feel in being able to adduce the example of the most eminent Patriarch of antiquity, "the

father of the faithful," in defence of the custom of the Druids in our native country. While Abraham, a descendant of Shem, was planting groves, building altars, and sacrificing thereon under oak trees to the God of heaven in the East, the Druids, the descendants of Japheth, were doing the same thing in the West, especially in Britain. And as the worship of Abraham was accepted, so was that of the Druids. Hence how true the declaration of our Saviour, "" That many shall come from the East and West, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven." (Matt. chap. viii.)

But in order to render our defence of the primitive Druids of Britain complete, we must now furnish an epitome of their religious principles drawn from their own memorials, and shew their conformity to those of divine Revelation as exhibited in the sketch we have already given of the religion of Noah and the Antediluvians. This, and nothing short of this will convince us, that the religion of Noah was actually preserved in Britain under the name of Druidism, and that the British Druids, while they worshipped in groves and under the oak like Abraham, did really adore the Lord God of Abraham and trust in his mercy.

THE RELIGIOUS TENETS OF THE BRITISH DRUIDS.

I. They believed in the existence of ONE SUPREME BEING. This great and fundamental principle of all true religion they acknowledged and retained at all times. And they described the divine Being by so great a variety of titles and relative names, as leave no room to doubt that their view of his moral character and divine attributes was comprehensive, clear, and scriptural. Amongst the British names of the Deity that are older than the introduction of Christianity, the following are given by William Owen: Duw, Deon, Dovydd, Celi, Jor, Peryv. Rheen, Yr Hen Ddihenydd-English, God, Distributer, Governour, The Mysterious One, The Eternal, He that pervadeth all things, The Author of existence, The Ancient of days.

The opinion of the Druids as to the nature of God is comprehensively explained by the following bold and remarkable aphorism: NID DIM OND DUW, NID DUW OND DIM." It defies translation so as to convey its force and beauty; But William Owen has furnished one sufficiently plain to convey the idea,—“ GoD cannot

G

be MATTER,-what is not MATTER must be GoD:" not very unlike the definition given by our Saviour" GoD is a SPIRIT."

We cannot dismiss this important head without affording the Druids an opportunity to speak for themselves on the subject; and we only regret that it must be through the medium of a translation. 1. "There are three primary UNITIES, and more than one of each cannot exist: one God, one Truth, and one point of Liberty, and this is, where all opposites equiponderate.

2. Three things, of which God necessarily consists: the greatest Life, the greatest Knowledge, and the greatest Power; and of what is greatest there can be no more than one of any thing. 3. " Three things it is impossible God should not be whatever perfect Goodness should be; whatever perfect Goodness would desire to be; and whatever perfect Goodness is able to perform.

4. "Three things evince what God has done, and will do: infinite Power, infinite Wisdom, and infinite Love: for there is nothing that these attributes want of power, of knowledge, or of will to perform.

5. "Three things it is impossible God should not perform: what is most beneficial, what is most wanted, and what is most beautiful of all things.

6. "

'The three grand attributes of God: infinite plenitude of life, infinite knowledge, and infinite power.

7. "Three things that none but God can do: to endure the eternities of the Circle of Infinity, to participate of every state of existence without changing, and to reform and renovate every thing without causing the loss of it.

8. "Three causes that have produced rational beings: Divine Love possessed of perfect knowledge; Divine Wisdom knowing all possible means; and Divine Power possessed by the joint will of Divine Love and Divine Wisdom."-Theological Triads.

These are a few of the genuine Triads in which the Ancient Druids embodied their sentiments on the nature, character, and perfections of the One True and Living God, the sole object of their worship. They were composed for the purpose of public instruction, and of assisting the young in forming correct views of that high and holy God before whom they bowed under the oak and worshipped. Let the reader pause to analyze them and judge for himself, whether