Part 11 (1/2)

With regard to the statues of Celtic G.o.ds, all the researches and excavations which the most painstaking of antiquarians have undertaken, especially of late years, have never resulted in the discovery, not of the statue of a G.o.d, but of any pagan sign whatever in Ireland. It is clear, from the numerous details of the life of St. Patrick, that he never encountered either temples or the statues of G.o.ds in any place, although occasional mention is made of idols. The only fact which startles the reader is the holy zeal which moved him to strike with his ”baculus Jesu” the monstrous Crom Cruagh, with its twelve ”sub-G.o.ds.”

In all his travels through Ireland-and there is scarcely a spot which he did not visit and evangelize-St. Patrick meets with only one idol, or rather group of idols, situated in the County Cavan, which was an object of veneration to the people. Nowhere else are idols to be found, or the saint would have thought it his duty to destroy them also. This first fact certainly places the Irish in a position, with regard to idolatry, far different from that of all other polytheist nations. In all other countries it is characteristic of polytheism to multiply the statues of the G.o.ds, to expose them in all public places, in their houses, but chiefly within or at the door of edifices erected for the purpose. Yet in Ireland we find nothing of the kind, with the exception of Crom Cruagh. The holy apostle of the nation goes on preaching, baptizing, converting people, without finding any wors.h.i.+p of G.o.ds of stone or metal; he only hears that there is something of the kind in a particular spot, and he has to travel a great distance in order to see it, and show the people their folly in venerating it.

But what was that idol? According to the majority of expounders of Irish history, it was a golden sphere or ball representing the sun, with twelve cones or pillars of bra.s.s, around it, typifying, probably, astronomical signs. St. Patrick, in his ”Confessio,” seems to allude to Crom Cruagh when he says: ”That sun which we behold by the favor of G.o.d rises for us every day; but its splendor will not s.h.i.+ne forever; nay, even all those who adore it shall be miserably punished.”

The Bollandists, in a note on this pa.s.sage of the ”Confessio,”

think that it might refer to Crom Cruagh, which possibly represented the sun, surrounded by the signs of the twelve months, through which it describes its...o...b..t during the year.

We know that the Druids were, perhaps, better versed in the science of astronomy than the scholars of any other nation at the time. It was not in Gaul and Britain only that they pursued their course of studies for a score of years; the same fact is attested for Ireland by authorities whose testimony is beyond question. May we not suppose that a representation of mere heavenly phenomena, set in a conspicuous position, had in course of time become the object of the superst.i.tious veneration of the people, and that St. Patrick thought it his duty to destroy it?

And the att.i.tude of the people at the time of its destruction shows that it could not have borne for them the same sacred character as the statue of Minerva in the Parthenon did for the Greeks or that of Capitoline Jove for the Romans. Can we suppose that St. Paul or St. Peter would have dared to break either of these? And let us remark that the event we discuss occurred at the very beginning of St. Patrick's ministry, and before he had yet acquired that great authority over the minds of all which afterward enabled him fearlessly to accomplish whatever his zeal prompted him to do.

Whatever explanation of the whole occurrence may be given, we doubt if we shall find a better than that we advance, and the considerations arising from it justify the opinion that the Irish Celts were not idolaters like all other peoples of antiquity. They possessed no mythology beyond harmless fairy- tales, no poetical histories of G.o.ds and G.o.ddesses to please the imagination and the senses, and invest paganism with such an attractive garb as to cause it to become a real obstacle to the spread of Christianity.

Moreover, what we have said concerning the belief in the omnipotence of one supreme G.o.d, whatever might be his nature, as the first dogma of Druidism, would seem to have lain deep in the minds of the Irish Celts, and caused their immediate comprehension and reception of monotheism, as preached by St.

Patrick, and the facility with which they accepted it. They were certainly, even when pagans, a very religious people; otherwise how could they have embraced the doctrines of Christianity with that ardent eagerness which shall come under our consideration in the next chapter? A nation utterly devoid of faith of any kind is not apt to be moved, as were the Irish, perhaps beyond all other nations, at the first sight of supernatural truths, such as those of Christianity. And so little were they attached to paganism, so visibly imbued with reverence for the supreme G.o.d of the universe, that, as soon as announced, they accepted the dogma.

The simple and touching story of the conversion of the two daughters of King Laeghaire will give point and life to this very important consideration. It is taken from the ”Book of Armagh,” which Prof. O'Curry, who is certainly a competent authority, believes older than the year 727, when the popular Irish traditions regarding St. Patrick must have still been almost as vivid as immediately after his death.

St. Patrick and his attendants being a.s.sembled at sunrise at the fountain of Clebach, near Cruachan in Connaught, Ethne and Felimia, daughters of King Laeghaire, came to bathe, and found at the well the holy men.

”And they knew not whence they were, or in what form, or from what people, or from what country; but they supposed them to be fairies--_duine sidhe_--that is to say, G.o.ds of the earth, or a phantasm.

”And the virgins said unto them: 'Who are ye, and whence are ye?'

”And Patrick said unto them: 'It were better for you to confess to our true G.o.d, than to inquire concerning our race.'

”The first virgin said: 'Who is G.o.d?

”'And where is G.o.d?

”'And where is his dwelling-place?

”'Has G.o.d sons and daughters, gold and silver?

”'Is he living?

”'Is he beautiful?

”'Did many foster his son?

”'Are his daughters dear and beauteous to men of this world?

”'Is he in heaven or on earth?

”'In the sea?--In rivers?--In mountainous places?--In valleys?

”'Declare unto us the knowledge of him?

”'How shall he be seen?-How shall he be loved?-How is he to be found?