resulting in "right actions"; this was the whole duty of man.

Sec. 6. Character of the Zend Avesta.

A few passages, taken from different parts of the Zend Avesta, will best
illustrate these tendencies, and show how unlike it is, in its whole
spirit, to its sister, the Vedic liturgy. Twin children of the old Aryan
stock, they must have struggled together like Esau and Jacob, before they
were born. In such cases we see how superficial is the philosophy which,
beginning with synthesis instead of analysis, declares the unity of all
religions before it has seen their differences. There _is_ indeed, what
Cudworth has called "the symphony of all religions," but it cannot be
demonstrated by the easy process of gathering a few similar texts from
Confucius, the Vedas, and the Gospels, and then announcing that they all
teach the same thing. We must first find the specific idea of each, and we
may then be able to show how each of these may take its place in the
harmonious working of universal religion.

If, in taking up the Zend Avesta, we expect to find a system of theology
or philosophy, we shall be disappointed. It is a liturgy,--a collection of
hymns, prayers, invocations, thanksgivings. It contains prayers to a
multitude of deities, among whom Ormazd is always counted supreme, and the
rest only his servants.

"I worship and adore," says Zarathustra (Zoroaster), "the Creator of all
things, Ahura-Mazda (Ormazd), full of light! I worship the Amesha-cpentas
(Amshaspands, the seven archangels, or protecting spirits)! I worship the
body of the primal Bull, the soul of the Bull! I invoke thee, O Fire, thou
son of Ormazd, most rapid of the Immortals! I invoke Mithra, the lofty,
the immortal, the pure, the sun, the ruler, the quick Horse, the eye of
Ormazd! I invoke the holy Sraosha, gifted with holiness, and Racncu
(spirit of justice), and Arstat (spirit of truth)! I invoke the Fravashi
of good men, the Fravashi of Ormazd, the Fravashi of my own soul! I praise
the good men and women of the whole world of purity! I praise the Haoma,
health-bringing, golden, with moist stalks. I praise Sraosha, whom four
horses carry, spotless, bright-shining, swifter than the storms, who,
without sleeping, protects the world in the darkness."

The following passages are from the oldest part of the Avesta, the
Gathas:--

"Good is the thought, good the speech, good the work of the pure
Zarathustra."

"I desire by my prayer with up