ey profess to appeal as the highest authority in
matters of faith, law, and morality.

We propose, in another article, to consider the state of religion
among the Parsis of the present day.

_August, 1862._

II.

The so-called Fire-worshippers certainly do not worship the fire, and
they naturally object to a name which seems to place them on a level
with mere idolaters. All they admit is, that in their youth they are
taught to face some luminous object while worshipping God (p. 7), and
that they regard the fire, like other great natural phenomena, as an
emblem of the Divine power (p. 26). But they assure us that they
never ask assistance or blessings from an unintelligent material
object, nor is it even considered necessary to turn the face to any
emblem whatever in praying to Ormuzd. The most honest, however, among
the Parsis, and those who would most emphatically protest against the
idea of their ever paying divine honours to the sun or the fire, admit
the existence of some kind of national instinct--an indescribable awe
felt by every Parsi with regard to light and fire. The fact that the
Parsis are the only Eastern people who entirely abstain from smoking
is very significant; and we know that most of them would rather not
blow out a candle, if they could help it. It is difficult to analyse
such a feeling, but it seems, in some respects, similar to that which
many Christians have about the cross. They do not worship the cross,
but they have peculiar feelings of reverence for it, and it is
intimately connected with some of their most sacred rites.

But although most Parsis would be very ready to tell us what they do
not worship, there are but few who could give a straightforward answer
if asked what they do worship and believe. Their priests, no doubt,
would say that they worship Ormuzd and believe in Zoroaster, his
prophet; and they would appeal to the Zend-Avesta, as containing the
Word of God, revealed by Ormuzd to Zoroaster. If more closely pressed,
however, they would have to admit that they cannot understand one word
of the sacred writings in which they profess to believe, nor could
they give any reason why they believe Zoroaster to have been a true
prophet, and not an impostor. 'As a body,' says Mr. Dadabhai Naoroji,
'the priests are not only ignorant of the duties and objects of their
own profession, but are entirely uneducated, except that they are able
to read and write, and that, also, often very imp