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Show The Ancient Briton JULIUS CAESAR, after subduing Gaul (France) went over and established many stations in the British Isles. In his report of the country coun-try are many interesting items. For instance, he wrote: "They are concerned with religious matters, mat-ters, performing sacrifices offered by the state and by private Individuals, and interpret omens. They have a powerful priesthood, which bears the name of Druids. Many of the youth resort to them for education, and they are held in high honor. They have the decision in nearly all the disputes that arise between states and individuals; individ-uals; if any crime has been committed, if any person has been killed, if there is any dispute about an Inheritance or a boundary, it is the Druids that give judgment; it Is they who settle the rewards and punishments. Any private person per-son or any tribe refusing to abide by their decision de-cision is excluded from the sacrifice. This is the heaviest punishment that can be inflicted; for those so excluded are reckoned to belong to the godless and wicked. All persons leave their company, com-pany, avoid their presence and speech, lest they should be involved in some of the ill-consequences of their situation. They can get no redress for injury and they are ineligible to any post of honor. The Druids have a president, who exercises supreme authority among them." In the same history, Caesar tells of the customs cus-toms of the people. He says: "Many of the inland in-land Britons stain their persons with a dye that produces a blue color. This gives them a moro terrible aspect in battle. They wear their hair long, shaving all the body except the head and upper lip. Ten or twelve men have their wives in common, brothers very commonly with brothers and parents with children. The offspring of each wife is reckoned to belong to the husband who first married her." There is still hope for Utah. It took six hundred hun-dred years for England to outgrow that barbarism, barbar-ism, but she finally did. Those people finally subdued sub-dued themselves, made a code of their own, and compelled obedience to it, and finally became about the only safeguards of freedom and enlightenment enlight-enment left in the world. So there is still hope for Utah, and we may take courage. But there is a strange similarity in the way they treated apostles to what wo have seen, and we are all perfectly familiar with "a president who exercises supreme authority." Then, too. down in the country at least many people peo-ple have noticed that to hear their say all the children are children of the first wife. Utah will come out all right after a while. |