script, and printed 2,000 copies of it. In 1842, the translation of the whole of the Old Testament having been completed by the Rev. Dr. Glen, it was printed under the editorship of the translator at Edinburgh, the British and Foreign Bible Society contributing £500 towards the expense. It is a great satisfaction to see from this account, that by the labours of several learned men, and devoted servants of God, and through the liberality of different societies-chiefly of the British and Foreign Bible Society-the whole of the sacred Scriptures exists in the Persian tongue, and very many copies of them have been circulated. Thus the people have an opportunity of reading in their own tongue the true account-and not the false one, in which they trust-of God's wonderful work in the salvation of man by the blood shed upon the cross. May He, of his great mercy, grant that this knowledge may be in them a savour of life unto life, and not of death unto death!

We have hinted that the readiness of the Persians to hear and apprehend, is often the result of indifference, of complaisance, and of interested motives. As we know of no writer who has touched on this point more sagaciously than Mr. Southgate, we shall quote his

words: "It has often been supposed that the liberality of sentiment which is so strongly characteristic of the Persians, is a highly favourable indication with regard to efforts for their improvement. In one respect this is true, for it creates that accessibleness of which I have before spoken, as a high and peculiar encouragement. But, on the other hand, it is to be remembered that their liberality is not an independent love of the truth, but a general laxness of sentiment, which renders them indifferent alike to truth and error. It is a spirit of freethinking, which casts them loose from Mohammedanism, without bringing them nearer to Christianity. It arises from their vanity, their imaginativeness, and above all, from their want of principle, both in morals and in philosophy. This, I believe, is the greatest defect, as it is the most strongly marked trait of the Persian character. By principle here, I refer not only to the everlasting foundations of moral rectitude, but to those great laws of reason, which are either innate, or, at least, readily and universally understood. A Persian, although quick to apprehend, is slow to yield to conviction; and this not from sobriety and caution, but from volatility and flightiness. His mind slips from

beneath the hold of an argument, and starts off in another direction, without having received any impression. It is this which renders controversy with him useless, and demands an immediate appeal to the conscience and the heart." This traveller adds: "Meerza Seid Ali, the coadjutor of Martyn, in the work of translating the New Testament, is still living at Shiraz, an old and respected man, although in worldly circumstances considerably reduced. Nearly thirty years (more now) have now passed away since that which he spent in the society of Martyn. He is still, as he was then, a professed inquirer for the truth, dissatisfied with his own religion, and unprepared to embrace Christianity; and yet he is doubtless more sincere in his desire for a settled faith than the thousands of his countrymen, who are drifting idly about upon the fathomless and shoreless sea of a vainglorious scepticism."

Of the lower influences, of even the duplicity from interested motives, which some Persians have been found to manifest, our own observation and experience would supply some painful examples. We prefer, however, to produce one which this traveller supplies. "Soon after my arrival at Tabreez, a young Persian

called upon me, and expressed a strong desire to study English. Knowing I was a clergyman, he expressed his great motive to be, that he might be able to learn something of the Christian religion. To use his own words, which I recorded soon after the interview, 'Man,' he said, ' must die. I also am human, and cannot live for ever. I wish to learn something of religion; to compare what the Messiah has written with what Mohammed has written. My prophet, I am convinced, has written many things that are false. He declared himself at liberty to have more wives than any other man, whereas, being a prophet, he ought not to have been attached to the things of this world. This is only one inNow, I wish to learn the truth, and to this end am desirous of studying English, that I I read and understand the truth.' Unfortunately for this specious profession, I ascertained soon after that the Meerza cared nothing for religion, and was far from being a serious man; and at length I obtained from himself the confession, that his sole motive was worldly ambition. He had hoped that his knowledge of English would recommend him to the notice of the Shah, and gain for him riches and honour."

stance.

may

CHAPTER VI.

FESTIVALS AND OBSERVANCES.

By the Mohammedan law, the times of daily prayer are five; but from some obscurity in the precept, the number has been practically reduced to three, corresponding to the "three times a day," or "the morning, noon, and night," of Jewish devotion. The prayers, and the usages connected with them, are much the same as among other Moslems. Having performed the requisite ablutions, the worshipper goes through certain postures and prostrations, to each of which there is an appropriate prayer or declaration. The principal difference is in one of the postures-where the Sunnee spreads forth his hands, but where the Sheah folds his. The Sunnee also places before him, as he kneels, a small pad or bag, containing a portion of the sacred soil of the Kaabah at Mecca, so that his forehead may rest thereon, when, in his pros-