Читать книгу The Child's Pictorial History of England. From the Earliest Period to the Present Time онлайн

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18. They made all the laws, and held courts of justice in the open air, when they must have made a very venerable appearance, seated in a circle on stones, dressed in long white woollen robes, with wands in their hands, and long beards descending below their girdles.

19. The ignorant people believed they were magicians, for they knew something of astronomy, and of the medicinal qualities of plants and herbs, with which they made medicines to give the sick, who always thought they were cured by magic.

20. Some of the Druids were bards, that is poets, and musicians; others taught young men to become Druids; and some of them made a great many useful things out of the metals that were found in the mines.

21. You will perhaps wonder where the Druids gained all their knowledge. I cannot tell you; but many learned men think that the first Druids came from India or Persia, as the religion they taught was very similar to that of the Persians and Hindoos.

22. They did not believe in the true God, but told the people there were many gods, and that they were in trees and rivers, and fire, which they worshipped for that reason.