The Democratic advocate., 1875-06-05
The Druids and Their Temples.

Near the town Of Carnac, in Brittany,
France, there is an extensive plain several
miles wide, with fiat and barren surface.
II is the last place in the world a tourist
would care about visiting. If he were siInp-
ly travelling in search Of beautiful objects.
In Winter the coolest winds blow over Il
with wild force, and in Summer Il is un-
protected by trees or shrubbery from the
scorching shafts Of the sun. But il is not
wholly uninteresting. and propose that
we shall make a short visit to it.
We will suppose, then, that you and |
are stopping at one Of the quiet tayerns in
Carnac, and have wandered toward the
plain for walk Just outside the town
bit of a hill rises high enough to show
US the surrounding country.
There are few houses or trees on the
plain; but it is divided into several ave-
nues by long rows Of unhewn upright
stones, which, as far as the eye can see,
are ranged in almost perfect order, like an
army prepared for battle. There are over
thousand Of them, and they stretch across
the country from east TO west for nearly
seven miles. The largest are twenty-five
feet high, and the smallest ten feet. A
few have fallen, and others have been
carted away; but originally they were
placed apart at regular distances.
When you come nearer to them you will
see many signs Of age upon them. They
are scanned, mossy, and battered. How
old do you guess they are? Nobody is
quite sure, not even the wisest Of the his.
torians, but we may safely say that they
have held their present positions for over
eighteen hundred years. For eighteen
hundred years they have clung to the
meager ground and withstood the combin-
ed assaults of time and storm, while gen
Grafton after generation Of the living has
passed away.
How did they come there? The sim
pie, credulous people Of old, to whom all
fairy stories were the truest histories, be-
lieved that giants brought them and plant
ed them; but we know better than that.
They we're erected by ordinary men,
and you may imagine how much labor the
work cost at time when there were no
carts or wheelbarows, much less railroads
or massive cranes. Years, perhaps CEN
turies, were occupied, and to the builders
the undertaking must have seemed stu.
pendous.
Similar stones are found at other nlaces
in Brittany; but the most famous collec-
tion is on plain near the town of Sails
bury, in England. This is called Stone.
henge, aud consists of one hundred and
forty stones, the smallest of which weigh
ten tons and the largest seventy tons.
The remains Of men and animals have
been also found in the vicinity, and these
have given the antiquaries a clue as to the
objects for which the stones were raised.
Nothing positive is known about them,
but it is supposed that they mark the tenn
pies Of the Druids, religious order which
possessed great power in France and Eng
land during the century before aud the
century after the coming of Christ. They
obtained complete mastery over the ig-
noraut and superstitious people then occu-
pying those countries, by the practice Of
mysterious arts, which often we're extreme.
ly cruel. They profsssed to know the
hidden nature Of things, and the forms
and movements Of the sun and stars; but
in reality they were not as wise as the
children in our primary schools, and the
simplest tricks Of good modern conjurer
would surpass their most wonderful ones.
They were astrologers aud herb doctors as
well as priests and historians, and they
attributed a sacred character to many
plants.
Human sacrifices formed one of the
most terrible features of their religion.
The victims usually were criminals or
prisoners Of war; but when there were none
Of these, innocent and unoffending persons
were sacrificed.
The favorite resort of the Druids was
an island opposite the mouth Of the river
Loire, in France, where, once every year.
between sunrise and sunset, they pulled
down and rebuilt the roof of their temples;
and any priest who allowed the smallest
part Of the sacred materials to fall care
lessly, was torn to pieces by his fellows.
The only traces Of the order left to us
are the rude stone buildings at Stonehenge
and Carnac. Retreating before the Ro-
mans, the Druids went to the Isle of
Anglesey, in Wales; and when they saw
their conquerors following, they made
preparations for battle. Among their
preparations--not exactly for the battle,
but for what they expected to follow it,
were immense altars, on which they inten-
ded to sacrifice the unfortunate Romans
who should be left after the battle. They
were quite sure that they would need these
altars, for their oracles gave them every
reason to believe in glorious triumph of
their arms. But the Romans were again
victorious, and the Druids themselves were
saeri6ced.-.S. Nicholas for June.