The mountain Democrat., 1865-07-15

!, The many Wb9 NAded NE Nlth ,compli'
nente In bis nGGf9Snspp,& avaGssts--
part Of which thavs translated and sent
to Britain-he notices Ese sffequeAtly. In
! GRs eplgratny he Announces, nth Hour.
ish Of good Eishes and compliments, that
Pudens bad taken the foreign Claudia for
his wife. In another, after referring to
my origin as q bEue.skin BritOn, be is
pleased to say ihat I possess the Roman
sit and ReWAn grace, aud Roman form
to such q degree, that ,ROme,migbt place
! me Among her daughters, or Attic ma.
irons might deem me Of Attic race. Ire
lfer 70 thiS fot the pOrpOse Of showing
that MAS supposed to possess somS pow
ers Of mind worthy the daughter of my
brave and great ather. But acknowl.
edge that l feel mortified wheE see that
so great man ss Marcus sValeriIs Mar
tails should rander to the prejudices
which se9 nothing Of value unless It be
Of Rome or Greece. The RSmans indulge
in these prCjudices. and vt the same deny
the traditions which prove our commin.
: ged TrGao and Grecian origin, and that
one Of our early Kings was Brutus, q de.
scendant Of Kneas.r This tradition Is as
we'll established as the existence or the
siege of Troy. But our histories and tra.
ditions have been destroyed with our
bards, our priests, our temples, and our
religion. The fate Of Mona is but an ex.
ample Of the general destruction Of all our
records, our literature and our works Of
art.
One day, after We had resided in Rome
about eleven years, q remarkable prisoner
was brought from Judea. 1t was asserted,
by the men who had him in charge, that
he had prophesied and performed mira.
cles, during the journey to Rome, and, on
that account, he was treated with great
respect, although in bonds, and charged
| with Eedition. He Wss SLOWED to 60
about with an attendant. He frequently
cafled the people together. in the streets,
and spoke to them touching new relig
ion- One dny went out to hear him.
He was man Of small stature when in
repose, but he seemed to enlarge in size
as he became excited with his subject
lie had high, bold forehead, but the 9th.
or portion OF his head was thinly covered
with brown hair; his beard was long, and
termin9ted in two points. His nose was
! aquiline, aud his eN es were sparkling. -
His face was long and oval. He wore
sandals on his feet, and had blue tunic
and a white mantle. He had an erect
form and military air. He spoke some.
times in Latin. sometimes in Greek, and
when addressing the Jews, he spoke in
Hebrew. lie was evidently learned
man and an eloquent orator. believed
him to be under delusion, but no one
who heard him could doubt his sincerity.
Remembering my own situation and that
OF my poor father, some years before,
sympathiZed with him as prisoner, and
invited him 10 our house. When he found
that he would be detained until his accu-
81 could bring evidence against him from
Judea, he rented house adjoining the
one in which we lived. 1t was two years
before he could procure hearing On
the trial no evidence was brought against
him. except bis religious discOurses and
practices, and these he acknowledged and
justified as q right belonging to every
Roman citizen. He was acquitted and
set at liberty. In his intercourse with
me he seemed always more intent upon
gaining information than on teaching his
peculiar views. He inquired, respecting
my country, its inhabitants, their Gus.
toms, their language, and their religion.
He did not appear to have heard any 9th.
er than Caesars account of Druidism-
That account, even as applied TO Gaul, is
not altogether correct. 1t is still further
from the truth as applied to Britain. The
Druids were skilled in astronomy, histo.
~, languages, and many valuable arts
and sciences, and these we're taught to
the youth Of the country, and to many
who came from Gaul for instruction. 1t
is true that many who came for instruc-
tion in these matters carried home with
them such religious views as they thought
proper to embrace. But the religion of
Britain was not q unit, any more than
its government. In the different king.
dOms different views of religion existed.
Even among the Druids themselves there
were various sects. At the great battle
Of Caer CaradOc, the oath OF fidelity was
taken by each nation according to its own
religious forms. myself belonged to the
sect of Druids, called, sewhere, tire-wor.
shippers. In our alteration Of the sun,
the better informed always understood
that they were worshipping Baal, the
great Author of all, through the worship
of his most glorious work. We had nine
moral laws, which some alleged were de-
livered by Baal himself to his priests
They were very ancient, and were, GER
tainly, recorded thousands Of years ago
in the writings of Eolus, which were
deemed sacred. These nine laws prohib.
tied murder, stealing, falsehood, envy, and
tlatlery, and enjOined love and respect to
parents, mercy to ell, and charity to the
poor and to strangers but the ninth com.
manded man TO do even as he would be
done by. ....
| gave an account Of all this to the
prisoner. He spoke of his religion as
similar. in many respects, to my own.-
He said that we worshipped the same God
under different names that our laws
were quite similar, in many particulars, to
the ten laws taught BY his Master as com.
mandments from God that these laws,
like ours, prohibited murder, stealing,
falsehOOd, and envy, and, like ours, en-
joined love and honor TO parents; that alt
our nine laws were taught by his master,
and especially the great fundamental rule
that required us to do to others as we
would that they should do to US. His
description Of the life, teachings, and suf
Gerings of Jesus of Nazareth upon the
cross. was the most impressive and touch.
ing history had ever heard. He then,
with great tenderness for my feelings,
touched upon the terrible sacrifices of bu I
man victims, which we're part Of the re,
ligious ceremonies Of the Druids. These,
he said, were not peculiar to the Drnids,
They existed among the Eastern nations,
and he had no Dc uStthat we derived them
from our Eastern origin. But he declared
that tha Great oh;sct of his rnoetar waa to