In the fecond chapter, the Author will have it that the Gomerian branch gave its name to the Cimmerii, the Cimbri, Coim bri, with only fuch a fmall alteration as often allowably occurs in etymology. They had alfo, in procefs of time, other names, fuch as Celts, Galatæ, &c.

The Magogian branch, according to our Author, came to our islands fomewhat earlier by the northern route, than the Gomerians from the fouth; the latter he places in Britain, leaving Ireland more efpecially to the Magogians.

The Author's opinion of our ifland's being the habitation of the Hyperborcans of Hecatous, quoted by Diodorus Siculus, appears very folid, and concurs with that of other judicious authors of antiquity: the truth is, that all circumstances of the defeription confidered, they could not well be any other. It was to Britain that the Author imagines the Gomerians did not find their way, till fome time after Ireland had been discovered and peopled by the Magogians or Scythians, the northern emigrants.

The fourth chapter tends to explain certain names given to the defcendants of Japhet, and fome of thofe of Ham by the Grecks, and to reconcile them with the names by which they were called by Mofes and the prophets; in which the Author has a quotation from Sanchoniathon, commented by Bishop Cumberland, as related by his domeftic chaplain Mr. Payne. It does not however appear a very juft or confequential fuggeftion that Sanchoniathon's fragment at once meant a profeffed apology for idolatry, and that it contained a very open confessio "that the Gods of the Gentiles had been all mortal men.'

We have alfo here an additional account of various migrations of the primitive inhabitants, especially of Greece; but, as his neceffarily fummary difcuffions on this matter admit of no extracts without recital of the whole, it would be injurious to the Author's thesis to offer here a maimed or defective view of them: fuffice it to obferve, that the drift of them is principally to establish the primitive origin of the Greek tongue, from the various people, who made good their fettlements in that country,

In the fifth chapter, the Author attempts to reconcile the history as contained in the poetical remains of the Irish Filcas or Bards, with other hiftories, facred and prophane, and especially with Sir Ifaac Newton, The Pfalter of Cafhel, which begins his genealogy from Magog the fon of Japhet, is quoted as an authentic record: but there are men of learning who deny it any great authority for its antiquity, which it feems, was no higher than the tenth or eleventh century: and as to the amazing agreement' of the Irish bards with Holy Writ, which is much insisted on by our Author, there are others who account

for

for it by afcribing this fimilarity to their copying, not to their concurring with, the fcriptures.

This charge however, even were it true, can only affect the more modern Filcas or Bards, fome of whom have made a most wild unaccountable mixture of hiftorical truth and fabulous fiction. But what the Author adds of the antiquity of the Druids of both Britain and Ireland being much fuperior to that of the Greek mythologers, is demonftrably true. They were, as he justly expreffes it, the original fages of Europe.'

But when he adds, that the Druids of all Europe grew into fuch power and afcendency over the minds of the people, that even the kings themfelves paid an implicit flavifh obedience to their dictates, infomuch, that their armies were brave in battle, or abject enough to decline even the most advantageous profpects. of fuccefs, according to the arbitrary prognoftics of this fet of religious tyrants; and their decifions became at laft peremptory in civil, as well as in the affairs of religion.'-Does the learned Author here enough confider, that the Druids were not only the theologers of the greateft part of Europe, but originally the guardians and adminiftrators of the laws made by the people; while the northern kings were, from the firft, nothing more than elective generals, and confequently fubordinate to the civil adminiftration, which was intirely, according to the primitive inftitution, in their hands. They governed their kings much as the Ephori of Sparta did theirs. Their power was not an ufurpation but a right.

It is then as far from a juft compliment as it is from hiftorical fact, that what this Author calls a flavifh conceffion never prevailed in Britain or in Ireland. Nothing can be more clearly demonftrable than that the minifters of the law, or judges of the Gauls, and of the British islands, were taken from the body of the Druids. So far however Dr. Parfons is right, that the civil and theological functions were different. Neither had the Druids, at the very height of their power, the authority of making laws. That was wholly vefted in the people. The kings were military, the Druids civil officers; the one ferving occafionally for war, the others permanently in peace, and in both fuperiors to the generals.

The Author mentions one of the kings of Ireland, Carmac-oQuin, put to death by the Druids for his oppofition to them; but might not that be for fome attempt to place the sword above the law, which in thofe times was undoubtedly high treafon? Otherwife, if the reproach he is faid to have caft on the Druids of his time, was founded on fact, his withstanding them was a virtue: their original theology confifting in the worship of one omnipotent eternal Being who created all things. For this was undoubtedly the capital tenet of the druidical doctrine.

It

It is with pain we read in fo ingenious and learned a work the following paragraph, which does not appear to breathe that liberal fpirit of literary candor we might expect: a bigotted monk could hardly have expreffed himfelf lefs philofophically.

The Druids of the continent, fays he, never committed their myfteries to writing, but taught their pupils memoriter: whereas thofe of Ireland the Scotifh Druids, wrote theirs, but in characters different from the common mode of writing: but thefe were well understood by the fame learned men, who were in great numbers, and had not only genius, but an ardent inclination to make rejearches into fcience, and therefore they were the more ready to receive the light of the gospel from Patrick, especially as great numbers continued diffentients, all along, from the fuperftitions of the druidical fyftem: and it was with a general confent and the applaufe of the learned that this apostle committed to the flames, almost two hundred tracts of the Pagan myfterics. This was a noble example to the converts every where, who did not fail to follow it till druidifm was quite extinguished.'

The learned who gave this applaufe, would, doubtless, as pioufly and as reasonably, have exulted in burning the Theogonia of Hefied.

It was this kind of zeal that inftigated the pious Omar, one of Mahomet's fucceffors, to order the committing to the flames that noble library of Alexandria, which ferved to warm the baths of that city for fo many days..

But whatever the pious joy of the Learned of those days might have been at this deftruction of the literary monuments of the druidical religion, it is not very probable that the learned of thefe days will congratulate themselves on their escape from the danger they had to dread from the prefervation of those terrible writings. Nor will the prefumable or conjectural comparifon of them with the records of the Filcas be much in the favour of the Fiicas from the following extract of this work, prefatorily to which it is but fair to observe, that the conteft contains fome mitigation of the apparent extreme abfurdity of the facts there gravely given for an hiftorical co-incidence with the pentateuch. Magog was the founder of the fift Scythian monarchy, after the flood; and was fucceeded by his fon Baath, of whom not much is faid in the Irish annals; but Finiufa Farfa, the next heir, was he who made a great figure, and of whom, with fome of his kindred, I fhall give a fhort sketch in this place, from the ancient records of Ireland.

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There is fomething very particular in this monarch's history, as delivered by thefe filids. He is faid to have been a prince of an uncommon genius for learning, applying himself, in a most affiduous manner, to the ftudy of languages; and, at length, to have made himself mafter of many; for fome time before be

was

was established in his government, there arose, according to this Magogian hiftory, a variety of tongues, from the building of Babel by the fons of Nimrod; and before this, that all the then inhabitants of the earth fpoke but one language. Here again is an amazing agreement with Holy Writ, and yet they had among them this account all along, even before the birth of Mofes. And that while they were bufied about this tower, in order to preserve themfelves from another flood, by carrying it up higher than they fancied water could reach, the filids day, that Heber, of the family of Shem, admonished them againft fuch an enterprize, and refufed joining in it; alledging, that it was a wicked attempt, and a vain one, carried on in defiance of heaven, whofe ordinations there was no refifting. They were not moved with his remonstrance, but obftinately perfevered in their refolution, when in the midst of it, a strange confufion in their language broke out and fruftrated their defigns. Heber, for his pious behaviour upon this occafion, had his language preferved pure in his family, fay thefe records.

This Finiuja, the Scythian monarch, from his defire to attain the language of Hebe, and as many others as he could, fent out feveral learned men, by fome of the filids it is faid feventytwo, for fo many dialects are faid to have arifen from that confufion, in the feveral countries, which were by this time diftinguished into governments, in order to learn their tongues; and they were limited to feven years abfence, for accomplishing that noble defign; in the mean time, he refolved to go himself into Machfeanair, (Shinar) which was not remote from the place where the language of Shen's family was in common ufe, in order to acquire that. However, he waited till the return of as many of thefe miffioners as were alive, and commanded them to inftruct the Sythian youth in all they had acquired; and then, having fettled the government upon his eldest son, Nenual, he let out upon his expedition, from Scythia, and arrived fafe at Machfeanair, and there erected fchools for teaching the languages, and other fciences, according to chronicles of very high an tiquity, and the affent of feveral ancient poets, or filids.

When these schools were established, he called to the profefforfhips two able and moft learned men, to his affiftance, and invited the youth of the neighbouring countries to frequent the fchools, for inftruction.

The names of thefe were Gadel, fon of Eatheoir, of the pofterity of Gomer, and Casih Jar, fon of Neamha, the Hebrew; and now it appears, from one of the bards, that the Fenius, mentioned before in the comparative view juft delivered, was that of king Finiuja Farfa, who, while others of the filids call him by his proper name, in relating the fame facts, claffes him, with

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with the other two masters, under the name of Fenius, which is indeed the fame word, if we omit a in Feniufa.

It does not appear that he met with the leaft obftruction, in this glorious undertaking in Shinar, though it was then chiefly occupied by the tribes, under Nimrod's grandfons, and in the neighbourhood of fome of Shem's defcendants; and, indeed, it is very natural that he should rather be carefied than refifted by any nation, into which he went to introduce learning, and to polish and refine the manners of mankind.

It appears, again from fome of the filids, that these three first invented and formed an alphabet; which is not unlikely, if we confider that it is infifted on by many authors, that the Phonicians were the inftructers of the nations they went to, from time to time; and it is more than probable their name is derived from this Scythian monarch, Feniufa, who founded their schools, and began to propagate arts, languages and fciences in their country; and it appears, that the houfe of Japhet was more learned than that of either of the other two brothers, which will be made manifeft towards the end of this chapter.

Feniufa continued twenty years to prefide over these first seminaries of learning, and it appears that his fecond fon, Niul, was with him all the time; fome of the bards fay this fon was born in Machfeanair; others, that he was born in Scythia fome time before his father went from thence: however this be, he is placed next his father, in the table of genealogy, and no notice taken of Nenual, his eldeft, who fucceeded him in his government; where they leave him and his fucceffors, and pursue the iffue only of Niul, the father of Gadelas; for which there is a very natural reason: because it is from Niul, and his line, that Milefius fprung, whofe hiftory they exprefsly pursued, and followed his fons into Spain and Ireland. Yet it is very evident, that whilft Niul was in Egypt, where we shall conduct him by and bye, there were frequent intercourfes between him and the Scythians, his countrymen, upon commercial, as well as other

accounts.

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Fenius, after having remained twenty years in Shinar, with his fon Niul, who, by this time, grew famous himself in arts and languages, was in fuch high efteem with the neighbouring nations, that they were almost ready to pay him divine honours; and returned to his kingdom, and refumed the reins of government; and left the feveral fchools, that he established, to the care of able mafters, under the prefidency of his fon Niul; and in fome time after he died, and his fon Nenual came again to the throne. But when Fenius returned to his kingdom from Shinar, he was accompanied by the two great profeffors, whom he joined to himfelf in the foundation of those feminaries of learning, mentioned before, Gadel and Casih Far; and the first

orders