Ossian Collection > Poems of Ossian

8 Dissertation on
of tlio two nations were similar ; but tlieir langniag-e
dilFerent. Tlie Germans are the genuine descend-
ants of the ancient Scandinavians, who crossed, at
an early period, the Baltic. The Celtee, anciently,
sent many colonies into Germany, all of whom re-
tained their own laws, language and customs, till
they were dissipated in the Roman empire ; and it
is of them, if any colonies came from Germany
into Scotland, that the ancient Caledonians were
descended.
But whether the Caledonians were a colony of
the Celtic Germans, or the same with the Gauls
that first possessed themselves of Britain, is a matter
of no moment at this distance of time. Whatever
their origin was, we find them very numeroiis in
the time of Julius Agricola, which is a presumption
that they were long before settled in the country.
The form of their government was a mixture of
aristocracy and monarchy, as it was in all the
countries where the Druids bore the chief sway.
This order of men seems to have been formed on
the same principles with the Dactyli, Idae, and
Curetes of the ancients. Their pretended inter-
course with heaven, their magic and divination,
were the same. The knowledge of the Druids in
natural causes, and the properties of certain things,
the fruit of the experiments of ages, gained them a
mighty reputation among the people. The esteem
of the populace soon increased into a veneration for
the order ; which these cunning and ambitious priests
took care to improve, to such a degree, that they,
in a manner, engrossed the management of civil, as
well as religious matters. It is generally allowed,
that they did not abuse this extraordinary power ;
the preserving their character of sanctity was so
essential to their influence, that they never broke
out into violence or oppression. The chiefs were
allowed to execute the laws, but the legislative power
was entirely in the hands of the Druids. It was by