Britain have responded to the appeal of the Royal Geographical Society, they are far from being actuated by the same spirit. Little more than half the necessary amount has as yet been subscribed. Nevertheless, Mr. Petherick has nobly determined to adhere to his original plan, and endeavour to reach Gondokoro next November. He will then explore until March, 1862, when the setting in of the rainy season prevents further movements. Starting afresh in August, 1862, he proposes to continue his travels till February, 1863, and after that to return to Gondokoro, reaching his depôt at the end of 1863, or early in 1864. By last accounts, dated 15th October, Captain Speke was at Kidunda, in lat. 7° 20' S., and lon. 38° 8' E.

THE

PARSEE

RELIGION.

BY DADABHAI NAOROJI, Esq.

(Professor of Gujarati in the University of London.)

LIKE a soldier suddenly called to perform his movements before a body of veteran officers, after having given up his military habits for several years, I feel embarrassed and awkward on being required to read a paper before a learned society such as this, after having been, for the past six years, unused to the habits of thought, reading, and composition, necessary for such a task. I have endeavoured, however, to do what I could, under the circumstances, and as far as my limited leisure permitted.

I will first give some account of the present state of the knowledge of the Parsees about their religion. The priests are a separate caste, and the priesthood is thus hereditary. As a body, 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 imperfectly. To read and write they must learn, as they have to prepare by rote a large number of prayers and recitations, which, in the performance of their usual avocations, they are required to recite. Their work chiefly consists of reciting certain prescribed prayers on various religious occasions; to go to the fire-temple or sea-shore, and say a prayer for anybody that chooses to give a halfpenny; and to depend upon charities distributed on various joyous or mournful occasions. They do not understand a single word of these prayers or recitations, which are all in the old Zend language.

From the state of their education and knowledge, they are

quite unfit for the pulpit; nor do they aspire to it, or seem to have any notion of the necessity of such teaching. The Parsees have, therefore, no pulpit at present. Far from being the teachers of the true doctrines and duties of their religion, the priests are generally the most bigoted and superstitious, and exercise much injurious influence over the women, especially, who, until lately, received no education at all.

The priests have, however, now begun to feel their degraded position. Many of them, if they can do so, bring up their sons in any other profession but their own. There are, perhaps, a dozen, among the whole body of professional priests, who lay claim to a knowledge of the Zend Avestá, the religious books of the Parsees; but the only respect in which they are superior to their brethren is, that they have learnt the meanings of words of the books as they are taught, without knowing the language, either philologically or grammatically. They have been taught certain meanings for certain words, and they stick to them as a matter of course. I doubt much whether any one of them has a clear notion of what grammar is, and as to a liberal education, they never had it, and do not, in consequence, understand the necessity of it.

Such being the state of knowledge of the religious guides and teachers among the Parsees, it may be easily conceived what could be expected from a layman. The whole religious education of a Parsee's child consists in preparing by rote a certain number of prayers in Zend, without understanding a word of them; the knowledge of the doctrines of their religion being left to be picked up from casual conversation. Under these circumstances, a Parsee has not much opportunity of knowing what his creed really is; the translation, besides, of the Zend books, in the present vernacular of the Parsees, being of very recent date. But, unfortunately, this translation is a constant subject of dispute among the dozen would-be learned priests alluded to before. This shameful want of the

neans of religious education, and its slight extent among the Parsee children, have of late attracted the attention of the community, and efforts are being made to supply the deficiency.

In my ignorance of the Zend language, I cannot do more than depend upon this translation, though considered to be somewhat imperfect. But, for the purposes of a paper like this, the object of which is to give a general outline of the doctrines of the Parsee religion, I think these materials will suffice.

The traditional number of the books of the Zend Avestá is twenty-one, of which there are only three extant, and parts of two more, viz., the Yazashné, the Vandidád, and the Khordeh Avesta, and a part of the Visparad, and Vistásp Nusk.

There is a dialogue, in the vernacular, appended to the Khordeh Avesta (small Avestá), which, I think, gives a sufficiently accurate outline of the present belief of nearly the whole of the orthodox body. I do not know of a certainty who its author is. It has been composed more than a quarter of a century ago, when English ideas and education had not made much progress; and is, therefore, I think, the more valuable, as a faithful representation of the belief of the general

mass.

The Khordeh Avestà is a collection of prayers addressed to God and several angels, and it is some of these prayers, the preparation of which by rote, forms the staple of the religious education of the Parsee child. At the end of this book is appended the dialogue, in the vernacular; and intelligent priests, masters, and parents, that could read, welcomed this aid, imperfect though it is, and a little irrelevant.

The subject of the dialogue is thus described :"A few questions and answers to acquaint the children of the holy Zarthosti community with the subject of the Mazdiashná religion (i.e., of the worship of God). Dialogue between a Zarthosti master and pupil:Ques. Whom do we, of the Zarthosti community, believe in?

M

Ans. We believe in only one God, and do not believe in any besides Him.

Ques. Who is that one God?

Ans. The God who created the heavens, the earth, the angels, the stars, the sun, the moon, the fire, the water, or all the four elements, and all things of the two worlds; that God we believe in—Him we worship, Him we invoke, and Him we adore.

Ques. Do we not believe in any other God?

Ans. Whoever believes in any other God but this is an infidel, and shall suffer the punishment of hell.

Ques. What is the form of our God?

Ans. Our God has neither face nor form, colour nor shape, nor fixed place. There is no other like Him; he is Himself singly such a glory that we cannot praise or describe Him; nor our mind comprehend Him.

Ques. Is there any such thing that God even cannot create ? Ans. Yes; there is one thing which God himself even

cannot create.

Ques. What that thing is, must be explained to me.

Ans. God is the creator of all things, but if he wish to create another like Himself, he cannot do it. God cannot create another like Himself.

Ques. How many names are there for God?

Ans. It is said there are one thousand and one names; but of these one hundred and one are extant.

66

Ques. Why are there so many names of God?

Ans. God's names, expressive of his nature, are two, Yazdan" (omnipotence), and "Páuk" (holy). He is also named “Hormuzd" (the highest of spirits), "Dádár” (the distributor of justice), "Purvurdegár" (provider), "Purvurtar” (protector), by which names we praise him. There are many other names, also, descriptive of his good doings.

Ques. What is our religion?