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A new edition of Toland's History of the druids: - Free History Ebooks

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NOTES.37eicurator <strong>of</strong> Gaul, and had an opportunity <strong>of</strong> knowing <strong>the</strong> studies<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Gauls; and Agricola, his fa<strong>the</strong>r-in-law, had an equal opportunity<strong>of</strong> knowing <strong>the</strong> studies <strong>of</strong> his noble pupils in Britain.Before Mr. Pinkarton can fix <strong>the</strong> charge <strong>of</strong> ignorance <strong>of</strong> letterson <strong>the</strong> Celts, he must— Imo, Disprove <strong>the</strong> direct testimony <strong>of</strong>C^sar;—2do, He must prove that <strong>the</strong> Gauls were such fools,from time immemorial, as to resort to Britain to perfect <strong>the</strong>irstudies, under a race <strong>of</strong> men much more ignorant and illiteratethan <strong>the</strong>mselves ;— 3tio, That <strong>the</strong> noble pupils <strong>of</strong> Agricola learnedto read <strong>the</strong> Roman language, and admired its beauties andelegance, without knowing one single letter <strong>of</strong><strong>the</strong> alphabet <strong>of</strong>that, or any o<strong>the</strong>r language;—4to, That reading and writing arenot included in <strong>the</strong> number <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Liberal Arts, and consequentlywere not imparted to Agricola's pupils.It deserves particular notice, that Agricola resided in Britainonly about seven years, and <strong>the</strong> words <strong>of</strong> Tacitus seem to imply,that <strong>the</strong> sons <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> nobility completed <strong>the</strong>ir education in <strong>the</strong> se.cond year.In <strong>the</strong> third year Agricola penetrated as far as <strong>the</strong>Tay, But should we allow <strong>the</strong> whole seven years, <strong>the</strong> timewould have been totally inadequate, had Agricola had mere illiteratesavages to contend with. On <strong>the</strong> contrary he appears tohave found a well prepared, grateful and productive soil, an^Jthis can only be imputed to <strong>the</strong> Druids, who made <strong>the</strong> education<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> higher ranks <strong>the</strong>ir peculiar study and province. We hav€already seen (on <strong>the</strong> testimony <strong>of</strong> Cassar), that in his time <strong>the</strong>Gauls had made some progress in <strong>the</strong> Greek, and still more in<strong>the</strong> Roman language.The old Gaul mentioned by Lucian wa$pr<strong>of</strong>oundly skilled in <strong>the</strong> Greek language. It is not improbable,from <strong>the</strong>ir intercourse with <strong>the</strong> Romans, that <strong>the</strong> higherranks in Britsiia had, by thisi time, paid soma attention to <strong>the</strong>Roman language. Indeed <strong>the</strong> words <strong>of</strong> Tacitus imply as much— qui mode linguam Romanam ahnuebant— i. e. '' who latelyrejected <strong>the</strong> Roman language,*' for it is well known that a mancan nei<strong>the</strong>r approbate nor reprobate atotally ignorant.language <strong>of</strong> which he isWhen Tacitus was expressly treating on th^subject <strong>of</strong> British education, had <strong>the</strong> BritaUis beea ignorant <strong>of</strong>3 B 2

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