ful supreme Ruler, and Gwyn, the Lord of those who de"scend from above."

HIEROPHANT.

"Severe have my servants been, in preserving their in"stitutes. Manawydan, the son of Llyr, was grave in his "counsel. Manawyd truly brought a perforated shield, " from Trevryd; and Mabon, the son of Lightning, stained "the straw with clotted gore: and Anwas, the winged, and "Llwch Llawinawg, (the ruler of the lake) were firm guar"dians of the incircled mount-Their Lord preserved them, " and I rendered them complete.

"Cai! I solemnly announce-though all three should be "slain; when the privilege of the grove is violated, danger "shall be found!"

The remainder of this obscure piece, describes the different characters which were supported by Arthur and Cai, after their initiation, and the different fates which attended them. The passage before us may be understood, as involving a very solemn oath. The Aspirant engages, in the presence of the Hierophant, who personates his god, to preserve the laws of the sanctuary, however he may be assaulted by enemies, or deserted by his friends; whilst the chief priest denounces in awful obscurity, the inevitable ruin which will attend the violation of this sacred engagement.

Here we also find, that during the performance of the mystical rites, the Hierophant was attended by three priests,

each of whom personated a god. This is in perfect conformity with the usage of the Greeks. For, we are told, that in the celebration of the Eleusinian mysteries, four priests officiated. The Hierophant, who represented the Great Creator: the torch-bearer, who personated the sun; the Herald, who was regarded as a type of Mercury, and the minister of the altar, who was venerated as the symbol of the moon.

Having now taken a considerable range in the grounds of British superstition, I shall dismiss the present subject, with the persuasion, that the facts which I have brought forward in this, and the preceding section, will furnish a master-key to the stores of British mythology.

It has been proved, that the great secret of the ancient Bards, who professed themselves disciples of the Druids, and consequently of the Druids themselves, resolves itself into the mystical rites of Hu and Ceridwen; that these characters were no other than the Bacchus and Ceres of antiquity, whose mysteries are acknowledged to have been duly celebrated in the British islands; and that the ceremonies and traditions of the Britons, had evident analogy with the superstitions of the Greeks, and of some of the Eastern nations.

It has also been seen, that the British mysteries commemorate the deluge, and those characters which are connected with its history; and thus furnish an undeniable confirmation of Mr. Bryant's opinion, that Ceres was an imaginary genius of the Ark, from whence the post-diluvian world derived their being, their laws, and their sciences;

whilst on the other hand, that opinion supplies a lucid solution of the great Bardic ænigma, that every thing sacred, pure, and primitive, was derived from the cauldron of Ceridwen.

In British antiquities, the subject is new, and upon that account alone, may be deemed curious by many readers; but I regard it in a more important light, as in connexion with the discoveries of Mr. Bryant and Mr. Faber, affording a demonstration to the candid philosopher, that heathenism had no foundation of its own to rest upon, and that its tottering fabric merely leaned against the great historical truths, which are recorded in the sacred volume.

SECTION IV

The Design of the circular Temples and Cromlechs of the Druids. Original Documents relative to the celebrated

Structure of STONEHENGE.

THE superstition of the Britons, as we find it delineated

in the ancient Bards, and probably, as it existed for many centuries, before the time of any of those Bards which are now extant, appears to have been a heterogeneous system, in which the memorials of the patriarch, and of the deluge, and some of the true principles of the patriarchal religion, were blended with a mass of absurdity, and an idolatrous worship of the host of heaven.

Thus, whilst Ceridwen is the genius of the Ark, we observe, that at the same time, the moon is her representative in the heavens. Her husband, Tegid or Saidi, commemorates Noah; but he is also viewed in the planet Saturn; and by the name of Hu, he even takes possession of the solar orb. Avagddu, the black accumulation, which appalled the world at the deluge, has brightened into Rhuvawn Bevyr, or the splendor of the regenerated sun.

Hence we must expect to find, that the temples which were sacred to this motley superstition, had some reference to the celestial, as well as to the terrestrial objects of ado ration.

It has been already remarked, that Cadeiriath Saidi, or the language of the chair of Saidi, was personified; and that he constituted an important character in British mythology.

But such an ideal personage as this, could have been nothing more than a representative of the sacred ceremonies, doctrine, laws, and institutes of Druidism: as exhibited and taught, in the temple or sanctuary of Ceridwen, and of the other mythological group.

This temple was named Caer Sidi, the circle, or sanctuary of Sidi; and Taliesin's presidency, as high priest in that temple, was styled Cadair Caer Sidi, the chair of Caer Sidi, The doctrine and the law which he pronounced from that chair, were therefore, the Cadeiriaith, or language of the chair. Let us now inquire, why the name of Caer Sidi was appropriated to the Druidical temples,

I might cut this matter short, by asserting upon the authority of Mr Bryant, that Sidi, or in, was one of the names of Ceres,

"As the Ark, says that great mythologist, was looked

upon as the mother of mankind, and stiled Da-Mater, "so it was figured under the resemblance of the Pola, Po"megranate, since abounding with seeds, it was thought "no improper emblem of the Ark, which contained the "rudiments of the future world. Hence the deity of the "Ark was named Rhoia, and was the Rhea of the Greeks." "Another name of the pomegranate was Side (Edn, Sidee) of which name there was a city in Pamphylia, and another in Boeotia, which was said to have been built " by SIDE, the daughter of Danaus, which may be in a