The Religions of the World

Repeat the Patet f uuL: , III. ZOROASTRIANISM, THE RELIGION OF ANCIENT PERSIA. " And behold there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born king of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him." These " wise men " were Magi, or fire-worshipers. It is their religion which is now to engage our attention. We turn our eyes toward Persia, the most magnificent of empires, symbolized by the silver breast of the great Babylonian image. What memories are awakened by her name! Years have not dimmed the crowns of Cyrus, Xerxes and Longimanus, or of the beautiful queen who reigned in Shushan, the palace of the lily. Max Miiller says: " There were periods in the history of the world when the religion of Zoroaster threatened to rise triumphant on the ruins of the temples of all other gods. If in the battles of Marathon and Salamis Greece had succumbed to Persia, the state religion of the empire of Cyrus might have become the religion of the whole civilized world." But there is no room for any " if." History is not a fabric of happenings. All its events are singly spun and woven together in the loom of Providence. The Weaver breaks no threads, loses none, misweaves none. Of Persepolis, the wonder of the world for its magnificence, naught remains save heaps of ruins. " The spider hangs her veil undisturbed in the halls of Kai Kosrou, the owl stands sentinel on Haroun-al-Ras- chid'...