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94 THE HISTORYiiuleecl have been interpolated after the prevailingof Christianity, which additions or alterations are^nevertheless easily distinguish^ : and in thesebooks the rights and formularies of the Druids,together ^^iih their divinity and philosophy ;especiallytheir two grand doctrines of the eternity andincorruptibility of the universe, and the incessantrevolution of all beingsand forms, are very specially,tho' sometimes very figuratively express'd.Hence their allanimatioii and transmigration.Why none of the natives have hitherto made anybetter use of these treasures;or why both they,and such others as have written concerning thehistory of Ireland, have onely entertain'd the w orldwitji the fables of it (as no country wants a fabulousaccount of its original, or the succession ofits princes) ; w hy the modern Irish historians, I say,give us such a medly of relations, unpick'd andunchosen, I had rather any man else shou'd tell.The matter is certainly ready, there wants butwill or skill for working of it; separating the drossfrom the pure ore, and disthiguishing counterfeitiVom sterling coin.This in the mean time is undeniable,that learned men in other places, perceiving'the same dishes to be eternally served up atevery meal, are of opinion that there isno betteriare in tlie country; while those things have beenconceal'd from them by the ignorant or the lazy,that would have added no small ornament evento their classical studies. Of this 1 hope to con-