sing to the emigrants the
letter of the text and the absolute silence of the prophet, endeavored
to repel these innovations; but they ultimately prevailed, and our
doctrine, modified by your ideas, gave rise to a new sect.

"You expected a king to restore your political independence; we
announced a God to regenerate and save mankind. From this combination of
ideas, your Essenians laid the foundation of Christianity: and whatever
your pretensions may be, Jews, Christians, Mussulmans, you are, in your
system of spiritual beings, only the blundering followers of Zoroaster."

The Mobed, then passing on to the details of his religion, quoting from
the Zadder and the Zendavesta, recounted, in the same order as they are
found in the book of Genesis, the creation of the world in six gahans,*
the formation of a first man and a first woman, in a divine place, under
the reign of perfect good; the introduction of evil into the world by
the great snake, emblem of Ahrimanes; the revolt and battles of the
Genius of evil and darkness against Ormuzd, God of good and of light;
the division of the angels into white and black, or good and bad; their
hierarchal orders, cherubim, seraphim, thrones, dominions, etc.; the end
of the world at the close of six thousand years; the coming of the
lamb, the regenerator of nature; the new world; the future life, and the
regions of happiness and misery; the passage of souls over the bridge
of the bottomless pit; the celebration of the mysteries of Mithras;
the unleavened bread which the initiated eat; the baptism of new-born
children; the unction of the dead; the confession of sins; and, in
a word, he recited so many things analagous to those of the three
preceding religions, that his discourse seemed like a commentary or a
continuation of the Koran or the Apocalypse.**

* Or periods, or in six gahan-bars, that is six periods of
time. These periods are what Zoroaster calls the thousands
of God or of light, meaning the six summer months. In the
first, say the Persians, God created (arranged in order) the
heavens; in the second the waters; in the third the earth;
in the fourth trees; in the fifth animals; and in the sixth
man; corresponding with the account in Genesis. For
particulars see Hyde, ch. 9, and Henry Lord, ch. 2, on the
religion of the ancient Persians. It is remarkable that the
same tradition is found in the sacred books of the
Etru