Britain ... - Blue-Lite

448 ORIGIN, ANTIQUITY, AND
" Let not the pious Christian be alarmed at the idea of
Druidism being still alive in this island ; but let him examine
it a little, and he will find that the British patriarchal religion
is, no more than that of Noah and Abraham, inimical to Chris-
tianity. There is in Druidism, what seems extremely repugnant
to the manners, and even the religion of this age, a
SEVERE, INFLEXIBLE MORALITY." Dr. Owen Pugh" S Pref. to
Lly. Hen. Selden himself has declared that the Druids were,
toto ccelo, of the same school as the patriarchs.
Dr. Meyrick says, " The system of Druidism embraced every
religious and philosophical pursuit which was then known, and
had a further tendency to spread liberty, peace, and happiness
among mankind."
" In a word, the primitive religion of the Druids," says
Brother Oliver himself, " was purely patriarchal, and they re-
tained some knowledge of the redemption of mankind through
the death of a Mediator." (Hist. Init.) Most certainly they
did, for such were the tenets and faith of the ancient sages and
the initiated, from India to Peru. Let those who doubt it,
consult the sacred books of the Brahmins, or what is less diffi-
cult, peruse that wonderful volume, " The Round Towers of
Ireland," and they will be compelled, however reluctantly, to
own the truth, a truth confirmed by the high authority of the
learned Faber.
Dr. Stukeley says, that the religion of the Druids was so
nearly allied to primitive Christianity, that they easily and
readily embraced its doctrines. The same author, speaking of
the fable of Astarte', or Venus and Adonis, says, " The mat-
ters are derived from most ancient traditions and prophetic
notices of a Messiah, who was to suffer death for mankind ;
moreover they were acquainted that it was by crucifixion, and
that at the time of the vernal Equinox. All this our BRITISH
DRUIDS well knew." We could quote a host of other authori-
ties, equally conclusive, had we room for their insertion.
Were not, then, the Druids as worthy to be the repositaries
of the sacred mysteries of Masonry as the half heathen, half
Mosaic Essenes ? Undoubtedly they were -, and if the religion
by them professed were patriarchal, and the patriarchs were