Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1874-06-25
EDUCATIONAL COLUMN.
Edited and Conducted by
IT. f. LANGENBA UGH.
DRUIDS.

The Druids is an order resembling the
Brahmins of India, whose principal seat
was in Great Britain. The name seems
to have been derived from the Greek drus
the oak-or from derro the Celtic word
for the same tree, which they held in the
highest reverence, as symbol of wisdom
and strength. They were divided into 3
cdstes l, those who were peculiarly
priests, and directed the public worship.
2, the prophets, who foretold future
events. 8, the Cates, holy singers, bards,
or poets. According to julius Caesar,
they were learned men and philosophers
of the Gauls and Celts, and possessed
great authority also in the government of
the State. The instruction of the PEOPLE
save in the art of war-was intrusted
tosthem. Ineir teachings were often
communicated in verse, and had double
sense. They believed in the Immortality
of man, and the transmigration Of souls,
and a restoration Of all to purity and
happiness. Their reve. ence for the para
sitical plant-mystletoe-em almost
to worship At certain season of the
year, the Arch Druid ascended the oak.
on which it was usually found, and cut it
with a golden knife. This was the holest
thing in nature, and panacea for every
disease. Their temples and altars were
constructed of unhewn stones, and the
former had no roofs or coverings. Their
ceremonies were symbolical, which has
led some writers, as Lawre, Preston,
Hutchinson, and Oliver, to see a connec-
tion between them and Freemasonry.
ACCHO, OR ACRE.
An ancient city, situated on the coast
of the Mediterranean sea, thirty miles
south of Tyre. During the crusades this
place was usually known to Europe by
the name of Aeon; afterward, from the
occupation of the Knights of st. John of
Jerusalem, as st. Jean d'Acre, or simply
Acre. 1t was the last fortified place in
the Holy Land, wrested from the Chris.
tians, by the Turks.
The name given to green ears of corn
by the Jews, and, was adopted as the
L anne of the first month of their ecclesias-
I cal year-our March--because, At that
time, corn was in the ear This month
was afterward called Nissan.
CAABA.
The name Of a talismanic and sacred
stone, which has been an object of rever-
ence among the Arabians from time i'm
memorial. Previous to the time of
Mohammed, it was the recipient of divine
honors but after the remarkable CONVEX
sion of those idolators to theism, by the
labors of the prophet, he consecrated it
as symbol of the Eternal Mysteries. and
an emblem of the perpetual duration of
the trmth that "God is one and his name
one" Many fabulous stories are told of
the building in which it is enclosed: but
although all relating to its origin are too
absurd for belief, yet it is certain that it
is a temple of very great antiquity. The
Caaba is not an object of worship among
the Mohammedans; for they are more
strict and earnest in opposition to idolatry
than ever were the ancient Hebrews. 1t
is simply the type of invisible verities and
virtues, which should be objects of the
profoundest reverence. The pilgrims,
who visit Mecca, march around the mys-
tic stone in procession, and salute it with
kisses, and believe that its very touch
imparts divine Observation-Disclosures
at the same time curing the diseases OF
the body, and working a moral puriica-
ton of the heart.
AMALTHEA.
The name of the horn of the Cretan
goat. 1t is the neurological horn o'
plenty-"Cornu Copia"-which signifies
an abundance of things necessary for life
A bright paragraphist notes the contIn-
Ual accession of new words to the English
vocabulary, remarking that the Anglot
Saxon tongue, like the Anglo-Saxor
race, seems capable of indefinite expan
sion. "Arcticians" was used by an Eng
lish Journal lately, in an article on ths
new Arctic expedition. "Sermonette" i.
the diminutive of sermon, while in al
article for -fulflment of a promise o
marriage, it appears that the recalcitran
swain told his would.be bride that "sh'
might breach him for $1,000. 1t alst
seems that English words occasionally
find their way into other languages with
out alteration. Inlreading the last work o
Strauss, published in Germany, we fount
the word "humbug" in all its glory.
Three Irishmen, who had dug ditch
for which they received four dollars, wer
quite at a loss to know how to divide tn
pay "aqually." But one of them ha'
been to school,, and had studied arith
netic, and got a. far As division, so
was left to him to "aqualize," and pro
portion the exact amount each one wa
entitled to. He did.it at once, saying