was preceded by a three days' fast; then every one who had time and
money visited the city. Great fires were kindled from the sun's rays or
by friction, from which sacred fires people kindled their hearth;" all
household fires having previously been extinguished. Poor countries and
districts, where the arts were in a backward condition, instead of
having temples like the Peruvians, dedicated mountains and stone circles
to the great luminary. It is the all but universal opinion that in this
country, centuries before the Christian era, the religion of the people
was Druidism; but this is merely the name of a system, and is equivalent
to our saying that the present religion of our country is
Presbyterianism, a statement which conveys no idea of the nature of our
religious worship. The Druids were a priestly order who governed the
country, and directed the worship of the people, the principal objects
of worship being, as we have already said, the sun and fire. "The
Druids," says the late Rev. James Rust, "formed an ecclesiastico-political
association, and professed to explain the deep mysteries respecting God
and man, and were the sacerdotal rulers, and called in consequence
Druids or mystery-keepers. They were not allowed to commit anything to
writing respecting their mysteries, and no one was allowed to enter
their order till after a prolonged probation, terminating in swearing
most solemnly to keep their mysteries secret for ever; and by this means
they obtained great power and influence over all classes of the people."

Concerning the name Druid, the writer in the _Encyclopedia
Metropolitana_ says, "The name Druid is derived from _deru_, an oak."
The Druids were an order of priests; they were divided into three
classes, resembling the Persian magi. The first class were the Druids
proper; they were the highest nobility, to whom was entrusted all
religious rites and education. The second class were the bards; they
were principally employed in public instruction, which was given in
verse. The third class was called _Euvates_; whose office it was to
deliver the responses of the oracles, and to attend the people who
consulted them. The knowledge of astronomy and computation of time
possessed by the Druids was of a high order, and, no doubt, was the form
of worship imported from Chaldea.

It is known that the Phoenicians had colonized Britain at least 1000
years B.C., and doubtless they would bring with them their form of
w