is F. Schlegel, we think, who affirms that the wars of Darius and Xerxes with Greece might be called sacred wars, having had a religious, as much as a political, end in view. The name Zoroaster soon became famous, and he was referred to a fabulously remote antiquity. Even when the Persian kingdom had been overthrown by Alexander, the influence of its faith did not wholly pass away. The worship of Mithras, the regent of the sun, gained ground in the time of the Roman emperors. The strong dualism of the Persian creed reappeared in several of the forms of Gnosticism. Zoroastrian oracles were appealed to. Then in Manes we have a truly remarkable phenomenon. He blended the teachings of Zoroaster with those of Christ, and, to some extent, those of the Indian Buddha. But of the wide extension and long endurance of the Manichean system we have no time to speak.

The growth of the Persian religion was very unlike that of Hinduism. Originally the two systems were closely allied, the Ahura-mazda of the former being the same with the "divine Varuna" (asura Varuna) of the latter. But whereas in India Varuna, with his strictly moral attributes, was superseded by Indra, the tumultuous god of the nearer sky, the conception of Ahura-mazda became still purer and more exalted. Thereafter the two streams of thought flowed more and more apart. The Persians turned the gods (devas) of the Hindus into demons, helpers of the evil principle; and Indra, the chief deity of the Veda, became the head of the diabolic council. The Hindus, ere long, became idolaters; and a portentous mythology, in which the distinction between god and devil was lost, was steadily developed. Further, the Hindu gradually subsided into a kind of apathy, a passive acquiescence with the world as it is. Strong in speculation, he was ever weak in action. Regarding the Persian system, on the other hand, the following points are deserving of special notice:

It continued to be marked by that abhorrence of imageworship which Herodotus describes.

The great object of worship, Ahura-mazda, was held to be possessed only of pure moral attributes. Other objects, indeed, shared in the worship; but these were all portions of the good creation.

The true worshiper of Ahura-mazda must contend with all

earnestness against the productions of the evil principle. Weak in speculation, the Persian was in action strong.

The Persian system earnestly dwells on the necessity of a threefold morality—humata, hūkhta, and huvarshta, that is, good thoughts, good words, and good deeds. No corresponding formula appears in the Hindu books.

We could almost wish that the great Macedonian ("the accursed Alexander," as the Parsis call him) had never conquered Persia, that so we might have seen how the Zoroastrian faith would have unfolded itself. As revived in the third century, it was a sternly intolerant system-a State religion, maintained chiefly for State purposes. When the victorious Arabs crushed the restored Persian monarchy, after it had existed little more than four hundred years, Zoroastrianism rapidly melted away. In Persia itself the followers of the ancient faith were described thirty-five years ago by Westergaard as a miserable remnant, "steadily sinking deeper and deeper in wretchedness and poverty." Latterly things have not at all improved. It is probable that the religion of Zoroaster may be extinguished in Persia within a generation or two. The Parsis in India do not seem to increase; but they are enterprising, and on the whole enlightened. One inquires with anxiety what their religious future is to be. On some fundamental points their ideas have been powerfully affected both by Mohammedanism and Christianity. They now speak of God and of the devil (Shaitan, Satan, as they generally call him) in language borrowed, to a much larger extent than they are at all aware of, from the Bible and the Koran. Still they cling to the honored name of Zoroaster and to those old scriptures of theirs, which even their priests cannot interpret, with a pathetic fondness. Yet we believe the thoughtful among them are persuaded that in the nineteenth century the religion of races truly civilized must be Christianity. Of many of the ritual observances which their books inculcate they have become ashamed. Let us hope and pray that the day may be drawing nigh when this interesting remnant of a once mighty people will take upon them the easy yoke of Christ. Even as the Magi from the East, who probably were Zoroastrians, were the first of Gentiles to bow at the feet of the new-born Redeemer of the world, so now shall not the Parsis be the first of Oriental races to yield,

as a race, the homage due to that true Sun of righteousness whose symbol only they now adore? Thus might the Parsis, as a small, compact, conspicuous band, like the "immortals of their ancient kings, become the leaders of the regenerated East. It is high time for thein to awake. If they do not, the priceless honor now within their grasp will, to the Parsis as a community, ere long be lost forever.

NOTE. We have spoken of books composed in the dialect usually called Zend. Some reference ought also to be made to that known by the name of Phalavi. The language of Persia during the Sasanian dynasty may be included under the name. It is remarkable for the large admixture which it contains of Shemitic vocables. The Persian kings used it in their rockinscriptions and on coins. The language thus bridges over the interval between Zend and modern Persian, the latter commencing, to speak somewhat vaguely, in the eighth century after Christ. Persian, as generally written, contains a great amount of Arabic; but the Shemitic words in Pahlavi very seldom coincide with the Shemitic words in Persian. Pahlavi is altogether a peculiar tongue. A translation of the Avesta exists in Pahlavi. The first chapter of the Vendidad has just been published, with a translation and notes, by Geiger. The Pahlavi version is valuable as exhibiting the traditional interpretation of the Avesta as it existed among the Parsis under the Sasanian kings; but Zend by that time was a dead language, and the Pahlavi version is far from a safe guide.

Several other works exist in Pahlavi, among which the Arda Viraf Namah, Bundahish, Dinkard, Vajar-kard, and Minok-ikhard, are the most remarkable. They shed much light on religious thought and life as these existed among the Zoroastrians under the revived Persian empire. They are marked generally by a fairly pure morality and an excessive and often childish ritualism.

We may still briefly point out the references to the Parsi religion that are found in the Christian Scriptures. In Ezekiel viii, 16, 17, we read of men worshiping the sun toward the east, and "putting the branch to their nose," that is, bringing a twig toward their face. We know, both from the testimony of Strabo and from coins, that the Magi did so in prayer. The

Parsi priests still employ a bundle of twigs (called Barsom) in the same manner.

In the designation (Isa. xlvi, 11) given to Cyrus, o'y, (which may be rendered aɛrós, "eagle," instead of "ravenous bird,") there is an allusion to the eagle as the ensign of the ancient Persians. In the address to Cyrus in Isa. xlv, 7, occurs the very striking verse," Forming light and creating darkness; making peace and creating evil; I, Jehovah, am doing all these." It seems highly probable that here we have an allusion to the Parsi doctrine, which referred the creation of light and good to Ahura-mazda, and that of darkness and evil to Anro-mainyus, (Ahriman,) the constant opponent of the good power. He who says to Cyrus, "I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me," proclaims to the great conqueror that he is Jehovah, doing, and doing alone, the whole creative work.

In the Zendavesta itself we find only two words which are probably Shemitic-hara, a mountain, a tanura, an oven.

In the Hebrew Scriptures there are several words of Persian origin, and of course many proper names. The most notable term is the word for Paradise. The Hebrew pardes (77) is found in the later books, as Sol. Song iv, 13, where it is rendered in our version orchard; Neh. ii, 8, rendered forest; and Eccles. ii, 5, in the plural, rendered orchards. The word has often been traced to the Sanscrit paradesha; but that term properly means foreign country. Haug derives it from the Zend pairi-daeza, which simply means circumvallation, inclosure.

T

The terms 1 (Mag) (Jer. xxxix, 3) and μáyoɩ (Matt. ii, 1) are derived from the Zend magava, which in the cuneiform inscriptions is given as magush.

FOURTH SERIES, VOL. XXXI.—9

ART. VIII.—SYNOPSIS OF THE QUARTERLIES AND OTHERS OF THE HIGHER PERIODICALS.

American Quarterly Reviews.

AMERICAN CATHOLIC QUARTERLY REVIEW, October, 1878. (Philadelphia.)-1. The Catholic University Question in Ireland and England. 2. The Position of the Blessed Virgin in Catholic Theology. 3. Sir Thomas More. 4. The Total Solar Eclipse of July 29th, 1878. 5. Ritualism in its Relation to Catholicity on the One Hand, and to Protestantism on the Other. 6. The Jewish Element in the Church a Proof of its Apostolic Origin. 7. Meteorological Aspects of the Pacific Coast. 8. Cathedral Chapters as Adapted to the United States. 9. The Labor Question.

BIBLIOTHECA SACRA, October, 1878. (Andover.)-1. Isocrates. 2. The Concept of God as the Ground of Progress. 3. Christian Perfection. 4. Doctrine of the Epistle of James. 5. On Assyriology-A Criticism. 6. Symmetry and Rhythm. 7. The Controversy among the Protestant Missionaries on the Proper Translation of the Words God and Spirit into Chinese.

LUTHERAN QUARTERLY, October, 1878. (Gettysburg.)-1. How shall we Train the Ministry for the Times. 2. Ansgar. 3. Ascensio Isaiæ. 4. Studies in Gospel Harmony. 5. The Power of Darkness. 6. The Fullness of Christ. 7. Hartwick Seminary.

NEW ENGLANDER, November, 1878. (New Haven.)-1. A Scholar of the Twelfth Century. 2. Reconstruction of the History of the Early Roman Catholic Legislation in Maryland with Regard to Religious Freedom. 3. Spinoza. 4. The Proper Attitude of Religious Teachers toward Scientific Experts. 5. Reaction of New England on English Puritanism in the Seventeenth Century. 6. Shall we Adhere to the English Method of Pronouncing Latin? 7. Latin Pronunciation. NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW, November-December, 1878. (New York.)-1. The Government of the United States. 2. Systems of Offense aud Defense in Naval Warfare. 3. The Congress of Berlin and its Consequences. 4. Japan and the Western Powers. 5. The Financial Resources of New York. 6. The Public Health. 7. Pessimism in the Nineteenth Century. 8. Antipathy to the Negro. 9. The Emperor Hadrian and Christianity.

Mr. Parton's article on the "negro" is interesting as coming from a "democrat" of the old Jeffersonian school. Its three positions are: 1. That there is no natural antipathy to the negro, all our repugnance being artificial; 2. The negro is inferior intellectually to the Caucasian, no pure negroes having attained even a tenth place in literature, or any other intellectuality; and, 3. It was a fearful misfortune for the negro to have been enfranchised and brought into politics. On each of these three points we agree and disagree with Mr. Parton.

First, There is, if not an "antipathy," a self-preference in each race. The standard of sexual beauty is different in each from the other. Hence, while we condemn all laws prohibiting intermarriage as an unnecessary intermeddling, we believe that without any disturbing influence amalgamation would grow increasingly rare. Slavery was such a disturbing in