M. la Boëssiere, in a learned commentary, whence I

have taken these two last quotations, and in which he discusses the knowledge of the ancients in the art of conjuring and dispelling lightning,f speaks of many medals that are apparently connected with his subject. One of them, described by Duchoul, represents the temple of Juno, the Goddess of the air : the roof that covers it is armed with pointed blades of swords. The other, described and engraved by Pellerin, bears as its
* St. Bernardin was born at Massa, in 1380, and died at the same place, in 1444. — Ed.
f Notice sur les Travaux de l'Académie du Gard, from 1812 to 1821. Nismes, 1822. First part, pp. 304—313. The Paper of M. la Boëssiere, read in 1811, was only published in 1822.
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legend Jupiter Elicius. The God appears with lightning in his hand, while below is a man, who is directing a flying stag. But we must remark, that the authenticity of this medal is suspicious. Other medals, also, described by Duchoul in his work on the religion of the Romans, bear the inscription, XV. Viri Sacris faciundis, and the figure of a fish, with bristly spikes, lying on a globe or partera. M. la Boëssiere thinks that a fish, thus armed with points on a globe, was the conductor em- ployed by Numa to attract the clouds of electric fire. And, putting together the image of that globe, with that of a head covered with bristly hairs, they afford an ingenious and plausible explanation of the singular dialogue between Numa and Jupiter, related by Valerius Antius, and ridiculed by Arnobe, without probably either of them comprehending its meaning.* The history of the knowledge possessed by Numa in natural physics merits more particular examination. f
In an age when lightning made frequent devastation, Numa, instructed, we are told, by the nymph Egeria, attempted to propitiate it (Fulmen piare) ; that is to say, setting aside the figurative style, to put in practise the means of rendering it less mischievous. He suceeeded
* Arnob. lib. v.
f Numa was more of a philosopher than a King, and cultivated science long after he was invested with the imperial purple. Al- though a pagan, yet he had the wisdom to dissuade the Romans from worshipping the Deity through images, on which account no statues nor paintings of the Gods appeared in the Roman temples for upwards of 100 years. He nevertheless imposed upon their credulity, and flattered their superstitious prejudices in many respects. — Ed.
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in intoxicating Faunus and Picus, whose names probably are used to designate the priests of the Etruscan Divinities, from whom he learned the secret of making Jupiter, the Thunderer, descend upon earth : and he immediately put it into execution. From this time Jupiter Elicius was worshipped in Rome.*
Here the veil of mystery is too transparent not to be seen through. To render lightning less hurtful, and to make it descend without danger from the bosom of the clouds, was, both in effect and in end, ob- tained by Franklin's beautiful discovery, as well as by the religious experiment repeated many times with success by Numa. Tullus Hostilius was less fortunate. " They relate," says Titus Livy,f " that this Prince, when perusing the notes left by Numa, found among them some instructions on the secret sacrifices offered to Jupi- ter Elicius. He attempted to repeat them ; but in his preparations for, or celebration of them, he deviated from the sacred rite ; and being thus exposed to the anger of Jupiter, aroused by a defective ceremony (sollicitati prâva religione), he was struck by lightning, and con- sumed in his own palace."
An ancient annalist, quoted by Pliny, explains this event much more explicitly, and justifies the liberty I have taken in deviating from the sense commonly given to the words of Livy by his translators. " Guided by Numa's books, Tullus undertook to invoke the aid of Jupiter by the same ceremonies employed by his prede-
* Ovid. Fast. lib. in. vers. 285 — 345 ; Arnob. lib. v. f Tit. Liv. lib. i. cap. xxxi ; Plin. Hist. Nat. lib, n. cap. lui; lib. xxvin. cap, iv.
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cessor. But having performed imperfectly the prescribed ceremony (parum rite), he perished, struck by thunder."* Instead of the term ceremony, if we substitute the word experiment, we shall perceive that the fate of Tullus was similar to that of Professor Reichman. In 1753 this learned man was killed by lightning while repeating, with too little caution, one of Franklin's experiments.f
Pliny, in the exposition of Numa's scientific secrets makes use of expressions which seem to indicate two distinct processes : the one obtained thunder (impetrare), the other forced it to lightning (cogère) ; the one was, doubtless, gentle, noiseless, and exempt from any dan- gerous explosion ; the other violent, burning, and in the form of an electric discharge. It explains the story of Porsenna destroying the terrible monster who desolated the territory of Volsinium ; j an explanation, however, which can scarcely be received : because, although it is not absolutely impossible, yet it is very difficult and dan-
* Lucius Piso; Plin. Hist. Nat. lib, xxviii. cap. n.
f He had constructed an apparatus for observing atmospheric electricity, and whilst intent upon examining the electrometer, a large ball of electric fire glanced from the conducting rod, which was insulated, to the head of the unfortunate experimentalist, and instantly deprived him of life. His companion, Sokolow, an en- graver, who was present to delineate the appearances that might pre- sent themselves, was also struck down, and remained senseless for some time ; the door of the room was torn from its hinges, and the door case split. — Ed.
X Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. it. cap. lui.
VOL. II. N
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gerous to cause a strong electric detonation to take effect at a very distant point ; and there still remains the diffi- culty of drawing to this exact point the being whom it was intended to overthrow by the magical commo- tion. We shall propose, elsewhere, another explanation of this Etruscan apparent miracle. But, in the coactive process mentioned by Pliny, and the well-known and well-attested possibility of obtaining, either from an isolated thunder rod or an immense electrical battery, a discharge of such power that the luminous flash, the noise, and the destructive influence of it com- pletely resemble the effects of lightning, do we not perceive the secret of these imitators of thunder who so often themselves became the victims of their own success ; and who, on that account, were said to have fallen under the vengeance of the God whose arms they dared to usurp ?
Among these we may name Caligula, who, according to Dion Cassius and John of Antioch, opposed lightnings to lightnings, and to the voice of thunder one not less fearful ; and shot a stone towards heaven at the moment the lightning fell. A machine, not very complicated, would suffice to produce those effects, so well suited to the vanity of a tyrant, ever trembling before the Gods whom he sought to equal.
It is not in times so modern that we are to look for a mysterious idea, which had already extended into all the temples.
On the contrary, we must trace it into antiquity : and we may first remark, that Sylvius Alladas (or Remulus) ,
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eleventh King of Alba after Eneas, according to Euse- bius,* imitated the noise of thunder, by making the soldiers strike their bucklers with their swords ; a fable as ridiculous as that afterwards related by Eusebius of machines which the King of Alba made use of to imitate thunder. " This Prince," says Ovid, and Dionysius of Halicarnassus, " despising the Gods, had invented a method of imitating the effects of lightning and the noise of thunder, in order to pass as a Divinity in the minds of those whom he inspired with terror; but
" In imitating thunder, the thunderer perished, "f
the victim of his impiety, according to the priests of his time; according to our ideas, only of his own im- prudence.
Here then we perceive that the secret of Numa and Tullus Hostilius was known a century before their time. We will not attempt to fix the epoch when it was first possessed by the Divinities, or rather by the Etruscan priests, whose successors taught it to the King of Rome, and to those from whom the King of Alba must have re- ceived it; but the tradition relative to Tarchon being acquainted with a mode of preserving his dwelling from lightning, enables us to trace it to this Theurgist, who was much anterior to the siege of Troy.
It is from these historical ages that we trace the fable of Salmonius. Salmonius, said the priests, was an
* Euseb. Chronic. Canon, lib. i. cap. xlv — xlvi.
f " Fulmineo periit imitator fulminis ictu." Ovid. Metamorphos. lib. xiv. vers. 617, 618 ; Fast. lib. iv. vers. 60 ; Dionys. Halic lib. i. cap. xv.
N 2
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impious man, blasted with lightning by the Gods for having attempted to imitate thunder. But how unlikely is their recital ! What a miserable imitation of thunder would the vain noise of a chariot going over a bridge of brass appear ; whilst torches, to imitate lightning, were thrown upon victims who had been condemned to death!* How was it likely that the bridge, which could only be of a moderate size, would by the noise of a chariot passing over it astonish the people of Greece ?f EustathiusJ ad- vances a more plausible idea : he describes Salmonius as a learned man, clever in imitating lightning and the noise of thunder; and who perished the victim of his dan- gerous experiments. In this perfect imitation we discover the coactive process of Pliny ; the art of attracting from the clouds and condensing the electric fluid when on the point of a fearful explosion.
What confirms our conjecture is, that in Elidia, the scenes of Salmonius' success,! and the catastrophe that put an end to his life, there may be seen, near the great altar of the temple of Olympus, another altar§ sur- rounded by a balustrode, and consecrated to Jupiter Cataibates {the descending) . " This surname was given
* Hygin. lib. i. fab. lxi. — Servius in Mneid. lib. vi. verse 508.
f Virgil. JEneid. lib. vi. vers. 585, et seq.
X Eustath. in Odyss. lib. n. vers. 234.
\\ Salmonius was a King of Elis, whose ambition led him to desire that he should be thought a God ; for which purpose he is said to have taken the means mentioned in the text. But the whole story is too absurd to deserve any reference being made to it.— Ed.
§ Pausanias. Eliac. lib. i. cap. xiv.
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to Jupiter to indicate that he demonstrated his presence on earth by the noise of thunder, by lightning, by meteors, or by apparitions."* In fact, many medals of the town of Cyrrhus in Syria represent Jupiter armed with lightning, with the legend Cataibates below him. It would be difficult to mark more strongly the connexion between this word and the descent of lightning. In the temple of Olympus also they worshipped the altar of Jupiter the Thunderer (Keraunios), raised in memory of the lightning that had destroyed the palace of Œnomaûs.f This surname and that of Cataibates present, however, different ideas to piety. It becomes difficult to avoid confusion between Jupiter Cataibates and Jupiter Elicius, that is, between the thunder that descends, and the thunder constrained to descend. It must be seen that we are obliged to reason from analogy, in defect of posi- tive traditions ; but the analogy receives great strength when we recollect that Jupiter Catabaites was worshipped in the places where Salmonius reigned, a Prince whose history closely resembles that of the two Kings who at
* Encyclop. Method. Antiquités, tome i. art. Cataibates.
f Pausanias loc. cit. — Œnomaus was King of Pisa, in Elis. He was informed by an oracle that he should perish by the hands of his son-in-law ; to prevent which, being a skilful charioteer, he determined to give his daughter in marriage only to him who could outmatch him in driving, on condition that all who entered the lists should agree to lay down their lives if conquered. Many had suffered, when Pelops opposed him. He bribed Myrtilus, the chariot-keeper of Œnomaus, who gave his master an old chariot, which broke down in the course, and killed Œnomaus. Pelops married Hippodamia, the daughter of Œnomaus, and became King of Pisa. — Ed.
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Alba and Rome fell victims to the worship of Jupiter Elioius.
It is true, that there remain no proofs of Greece having possessed, in past ages, any idea of the che- mical experiment that proved fatal to Salmonius ; but the worship of Jupiter Elicius existed at Rome when the mysterious process used by Numa had long ceased to be employed, and had indeed been completely forgotten. A similar forgetfulness could not hinder the worship of Jupiter Cataibates from being kept up in Elidia.
Whenever we look back into the past, we find the most certain vestiges of the existence of the knowledge of the sciences.
Servius carries us back to the infancy of the human race. " The first inhabitants of the earth," said he, " never carried fire to their altars, but by their prayers they brought down the heavenly fire."# He relates this tradition when he is commenting on a verse where Jupiter is described by Virgil as ratifying the treaty between the nations by a peal of thunder.f It would, therefore, seem that the priests regarded this miracle as a solemn proof of the guarantee given by the Gods to the covenant.j From whom, we may inquire, had they received the secret? " Prometheus," says Servius, ||
* Servius in Mneid. lib. xn. vers. 200.
f " Audiat hsec genitor qui fulmine fœdera sancit."
Virgil. Mneid. lib. xn. vers. 200.
% This use of the coactive process may explain the apparent miracle, more than once repeated by the poets, of claps of thunder being heard in calm weather.
|| Servius in Virgil. Eclog. vi. ver. 42. This passage, which has been overlooked by so many modern writers, had, however,
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" discovered and revealed to man the art of bringing down lightning (eliciendorum fulminum) ; and, by the process which he taught to them, they brought down fire from the region above {supernus ignis eliciebatur)." Among the possessors of this secret, Servius reckoned Numa and Tullus Hostilius. The former only employed the celestial fire for sacred purposes; the latter was punished for having profaned it.
The legend of the Caucasus, upon the rocks of which an expiation for the partial divulgement of an art so precious had for many centuries been pending, leads us towards Asia, over which country this art must have been diffused before it penetrated into Europe. The legend of Jupiter Cataibates has been, as we before observed, dis- covered on the medals of the town of Cyrrhus. Now it is hardly probable that the Greeks would have carried this worship into a distant land, the foundation of which could not have been posterior to the time of Cyrus. It is, therefore, allowable to suppose that the legend quoted was only a Greek translation of the name of the thun- dering God ; and that the secret to which it alluded was not anciently unknown in Syria.
The Hebrews, however, appear to have been acquainted with it. Ben-David has asserted that Moses possessed some knowledge of the phenomena of electricity ; and M. Hirt, a philosopher of Berlin, has brought forward very plau-
struck, more than three centuries ago, an author who is never read but for amusement, but who may be well read for instruction : — " Qu'est devenu," said Rabelais, " l'art d'évoquer des cieux la foudre et le feu céleste, jadis inventé par le sage Prométhée ?" — Rabelais, livre v. chap, lxvii.
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sible arguments in support of this opinion. Michaelis* has even gone farther. He remarks— Firstly, That there is no indication that lightning ever struck the temple of Jerusalem, during a thousand years. Secondly, That, according to Josephus,f a forest of points either of gold or gilded, and very sharp, covered the roof of the temple, in a manner similar to that of the temple of Juno as figured on the Roman medals. Thirdly, That this roof communicated with the caverns in the hill upon which the temple was situated, by means of pipes in connexion with the gilding which covered all the exterior of the building ; in consequence of which the points would act as con- ductors. Now we can hardly suppose that they acciden- tally performed so important a function, or that the advantage to be derived from them had not been calcu- lated upon. It cannot be supposed that so many points had been placed upon the temple merely for the birds to perch on ; nevertheless, that is the only use assigned to them by the historian Josephus. We may, however, readily consider his ignorance as a proof of the facility with which the knowledge of important facts is forgotten.
This secret certainly does not appear to have survived the destruction of the empire of Cyrus ; and yet there is much reason for thinking that so powerful an instrument for displaying apparent miracles was not unknown to Zoroaster and his successors.
Khondemirj relates that the devil appeared to Zoro- aster in the midst of fire, and that he imprinted a
* Magasin Scient, de Gottingen, 3e année, 5e cahier, 1783. f Fl. Josephus. Bell. Jud. adv. Roman, lib. v. cap. xiv. î D'Herbelot. Biblioth. Orientale, art. Zerdascht.
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luminous mark on his body : and, according to Dion Chrysostome,* when the prophet quitted the mountain where he had so long dwelt in solitude, he appeared shining with an unextinguishable light, which he had brought down from heaven; a prodigy similar to the experiment of the electric beatification, and easy to be produced in the entrance of a dark cavern. The author of the Recognitions (attributed to St. Clement of Alexandria,! and St. Gregory of Tours, j) affirms that, under the name of Zoroaster, the Persians worshipped a son of Shem, who, by a magical delusion, brought down fire from heaven, or persuaded men that he possessed that miraculous power. May we not ask whether these facts do not indicate, in other terms, the experiments on atmospheric electricity of which a Thaumaturgist might so easily avail himself, as to appear sparkling with light in the eyes of a multitude struck with admira- tion ?||
We have in another work§ attempted to distinguish the founder of the religion of the magi from the princes and priests who, to ensure the respect of the people, had assumed, after him, the name of Zoroaster. We are
* Dion. Chrysost. Orat. Borysthen.
f Recog. lib. iv.
X Greg. Turon. Hist. Franc, lib. i. cap. v.
|| The Editor is of opinion that the arguments of the author, on this part of his subject, are far from convincing, as they are founded altogether upon an assumption for which there is no tenable foundation. It is more probable that the accounts are wholly fabulous, and, consequently, require no comment.— Ed.
§ Eusèbe Salverte. Essai Historique et Philosophique sur les Noms d'Hommes, de Peuples, et de Lieux. Additional Notes B.
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reminded of this distinction in relating what has been re- corded respecting Zoroaster, by authors who were ignorant of this fact: for these writers would not have attributed to that prophet what belonged to his disciples, the inheritors of his miraculous science. Zoroaster, say they, perished, being burnt up by the demon whom he importuned too often to repeat his brilliant miracle. In other terms, they describe a natural philosopher who, in the frequent repeti- tion of a dangerous experiment, ended by neglecting the necessary precautions, and fell a victim in a moment of carelessness. Suidas,* Cedrenus, and the chroniclers of Alexandria relate that Zoroaster, King of Bactria, being besieged in his capital by Ninus, prayed to the Gods to be struck by lightning ; and when he saw his wish about to be accomplished, desired his disciples to preserve his ashes, as an earnest for the preservation of their power. The ashes of Zoroaster, says the author of the Recogni- tions, were collected and carried to the Persians, to be preserved and worshipped as a fire divinely sent down from heaven. There is here an evident confusion of ideas ; they apply to the ashes of the prophet the worship that was never rendered by his disciples to the sacred fire, which they had received from him. Must not this confu- sion have arisen from the pretended origin of the sacred fire, kindled, it was said, by lightning ? " The magii," says Ammianus Marcellinus,f " preserved perpetually, in
* Suidas, verbo Z oroastres. — Glycas. Annal, p. 129.
f Ammianus Marcellinus was a celebrated historian, who nourished in the reigns of Constantine, Julian, and Valens. He is supposed to be correct in his statements ; and certainly he dis- plays less of the acrimony against Christianity than is usuall
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their furnaces, fire miraculously sent from heaven. "# The Greeks, who bestowed on the first Persian chief the name of his country, also relate that in the time when Perseus was instructing some Persians in the mysteries of the Gorgons,f a globe of fire fell from heaven. Perseus tookfrom it the sacred fire, which he confided to the Magii; and from this event arose the name that he imposed upon his disciples.j Here we recollect what was said
found in the writings of pagan historians, although he enjoyed the favour of Julian, and was a warm advocate of paganism. — Ed.
* Ammian. Marcel, lib. xxiii. cap. vi.
f Three fabulous sisters, Stheno, Euralye, and Medusa, the two first of whom were immortal. Their bodies were stated to be covered with impenetrable scales ; their hands were of brass ; their heads covered with snakes ; their teeth like the tusks of the wild boar ; and their eyes capable of turning to stone all on whom they were fixed. The absurd traditions respecting them are un- worthy of being mentioned ; but it may be necessary merely to remind the reader, that Perseus being provided with a mirror by Minerva, winged shoes by Mercury, and a helmet which rendered him invisible by Pluto, attacked these damsels ; — cut off the head of Medusa, the only mortal of the three ; and presented it to Mi- nerva, who wore it on her segis. Perseus was still more favoured ; for, after this conquest, he took his flight through the air towards Ethiopia, but dropping some of the blood from Medusa's head on Lybia, the drops changed into serpents, which accounts for those that infest the Lybian deserts. Diodorus explains this fable by supposing that the Gorgons were a tribe of Amazons, which Per- seus conquered in war. The Abbé Bannier supposed that the three sisters were three ships, belonging to Phareys, their sup- posed father, who traded with Perseus ; and that these ships were laden with elephants' teeth, horns of fishes, and the eyes of hyaenas ; a supposition as improbable, as far as concerns the cargo of these ships, as the original tradition. — Ed.
î Suidas, verbo. Perseus. — In the Chah-namah of Ferdousi,
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by Servius of the celestial fire which the ancient inha- bitants of the earth brought down on their altars, and which they only employed for sacred purposes. The resem- blance between the two traditions shows us the origin of this fire that fell from heaven -at the voice of the institutor of magic; and was destined to burn for ever on the Pyres, in honour of the God who had granted it to earth. Two of the magical oracles* which Plethon has pre- served and commented on, seem to bear some connection with this subject. These oracles were attributed to the first disciples of Zoroaster, or to Zoroaster himself, which is not at all improbable, since antiquity possessed two hundred verses, the authorship of which was attributed to this prophet.f They contain the following lines :
" Oh, man ! the production of Nature in her boldest mode ;
If thou dost more than once invoice me, thou shalt behold alone
that which thou hast invoked : For, neither the heaven, nor its arched concavity shall be visible
to thee : The stars shall not shine ; — the light of the moon shall be veiled ; The earth shall tremble ; and lightning alone shall be presented
to thy sight. Vers. 39 — 43.
Plethon, after having observed that man is properly called the workmanship of an intrepid nature, because he undertakes the most daring deeds, adds — " The oracle speaks in the character of the God to the initiated. ' If more than once thou dost invoke me, thou wilt see every where Me that thou hast invoked ; for thou shalt see
Hou-cheng, father of Dj ah- Muras, as Perseus is of Merrhus, collects also in a miraculous manner the sacred fire. Annales des Voyages.
* Oracula Magica, edente Joanne Opsopoeo, 1589.
t Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. xxx. cap. i.
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nothing but lightnings, that is fire falling throughout the universe.' "
The commentary, which informs us that the last oracle relates to the initiations, refers us, by one of its expres- sions, to the second oracle, whence it is borrowed.
" When thou seest the holy and sacred fire devoid of form, Burning and flying about every where into the depths of the
universe ! Listen to the voice of the Fire !"
Vers. 46—48.
" When thou shalt see," says Plethon, " the divine fire that cannot be represented under any form," (it is well known that the laws of Zoroaster proscribed all images) " give thanks, and full of joy listen to the voice of the Fire, which will give to thee a very true and cer- tain prenotion (knowledge of the future).
Through the obscurity of the text, and its explanation, we seize upon an important feature in the Zoroastian initiations. If the initiated is fearless, he will in- voke the God he worships, and will soon see the God alone. Every other object disappears ; he is surrounded by meteors and lightnings, which neither can nor may be de- picted by any image ; and from the midst of which a loud voice is heard, that pronounces infallible oracles. From the preceding, we may conclude, with some probability, that Zoroaster had ideas upon electricity ; and possessed the means of attracting lightning, which he made use of to operate the first apparent miracles destined to prove his prophetic mission ; and especially to light the sacred fire, which he offered to the adoration of his disciples. Such being the case, may we not inquire whether we are correct in adding, that in his hands, and in the
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hands of his disciples, the heavenly fire became an instru- ment for proving the courage of the initiated, for con- firming their faith, and for dazzling their vision by its immense splendour, impossible to be gazed upon by mortal eyes; which is at once the attribute and the image of the divinity.
A tradition (most probably known to the reader) seems to attribute the death of Zoroaster to that want of precau- tion to which many other victims had fallen a prey. Ano- ther story presents in a more noble aspect the prophet, or King of Bactria, who, in order not to fall into the hands of a conqueror, decided to die, and drew down lightning upon himself; and by this last wonderful effort of his art, he gave himself an extraordinary death, worthy of the envoy of heaven, and the institutor of the fire worship.*
Thus we trace this great secret from the earliest period of history; and it perhaps existed even before it.
The Chaldeans, who aided Ninus in the war against the Bactrians, with all the power of their magic arts, must have possessed the same knowledge, relative to lightning as their rivals, although the fact is not established by any
* Zoroaster admitted no visible object of adoration except fire, which he considered the only proper emblem of the Deity. It is said, that it is difficult to ascertain who the great institutor of fire- worship was ; as there were several, at least six, lawgivers of the name of Zoroaster ; but this opinion has been satisfactorily refuted by Hydea and by Pasteret ;b and there is sufficient reason for be- lieving that there was only one Zoroaster or Zerdusht, the founder of the religion of the Parsees. He was the son of humble but nobly descended parents. He was born at Urmia, a town of Azerbijan, about the year 589, b.c., in the reign of Lehrasp, the father of Darius Hystaspes, or Gushtasp. It is unnecessary to
K Velerum Persarum et Magorum Religionis Hist.
b Zoroastre, Confucius et Mahomet comparés.
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historical documents. It might not be impossible for these priests to have lost it, perhaps from want of the occa- sion of- using it ; whilst it was preserved in the moun- tainous countries of Asia and Etruria, that were much more exposed than Babylon to the ravages of lightning. The magical oracles, that are attributed by Plethon to Zoroaster, or his disciples, are commented on by Psellus,
mention the prodigies that announced and appeared at the birth of this extraordinary man. His early years, nevertheless, were productive of nothing remarkable ; but, at the age of twenty, he secluded himself from the society of mankind, and in his retirement conceived the idea of effecting a religious reformation, and restoring the faith of his forefathers in greater purity, and more adapted for the exigencies of his country, than he found it. The Par see authors teach that, in this retirement, he was taken to heaven, and there received the following instructions from Ormuzd, (the Prin- ciple of Good): — "Teach the nations that my light is hidden under all that shines. Whenever you turn your face towards the light, and you follow my commands, Ahriman (the Evil Principle), will be seen to fly." He then received from Ormuzd the Zend- Avesta and the sacred fire.
Setting aside this fable, Zoroaster repaired, about the age of thirty, to the Court of Darius Hystaspes, who soon was converted to his faith, and became a zealous and efficient propagator of it. He introduced it into every part of his dominions ; and had its precepts written upon parchment, which were deposited in a vault, hewn out of a rock in Persepolis, and placed under the guardianship of holy men. He commanded that the profane should not be per- mitted to approach the sacred volumes. Darius not only aided Zoroaster in the propagation of his faith in Iran, but his attempt to promulgate it in neighbouring states involved him in a war with Arjasp, King of Tureen. Instead of being killed by lightning, as the tradition states, the prophet is said to have been murdered during the persecution of the Fire-worshippers by Arjasp. His death took place in his 76th year, 513 b.c.
Of all the pagan faiths, that of Zoroaster, which acknowledges the Supreme Being, and a good and evil principle, is undoubtedly
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under the name of the Chaldaic oracles,* regarding them as emanating from the Chaldean priests ; and the
the most rational ; and, if emblems of the Deity are admissible, the sun, or fire is the most sublime of all visible emblems-
The ancient religion of Iran, which was the same as that of Zoroaster, was established by Djamschid ; and was, in truth, Fire- worship, which renders the supposition of our author respecting the knowledge of electricity by Zoroaster at least problematical ; for, unless the traditional fable of his obtaining fire from heaven be admitted, we have no data for the assumption that he drew light- ning from the clouds. It is more probable that the original fire of the altars was lighted by reflected mirrors, or by burning glasses, as is now done in the houses of the Parsees in India, when their fires are accidentally extinguished, or allowed to go out : in which case it may be said to be bestowed by the sun.
It is remarkable, that although the Parsees (Fire- worshippers) in India are an active, rich, and intelligent class, and follow their religious faith without hindrance, yet, in Persia, they are a degraded and oppressed race. They have no temples and no priesthood ; and, according to Sir Kerr Porter, their whole wor- ship "has sunk into nothing more than a few hasty prayers, mut- tered to the sun, as Supreme God : and, what they call comme- morative ceremonies are now only sad confused shadows of their former religious festivals."11
The Parsees of India, in the emigration from the Isle of Ormuz, where they had fled from the Mohammedan persecutions, carried with them the antus-byrum, or sacred fire, which is still preserved at Oodwarra, near Nunsarree ; and from it all the fires in their temples have been lighted. It is intended as a sacred and perpetual monitor to preserve their purity. The Parsees are a tall, comely, athletic, and well formed race; and much fairer than the Hindoos, and wear a peculiar cap, which distinguishes them from the Hindoos. — Ed.
* The compilation of Psellus differs from that of Plethon, in the order in which the oracles are disposed. There are also various readings, and considerable additions. Besides, the Greek verses are much more correct, which seems to indicate a less faith- ful translation, or one taken from an original not so ancient. a Sir R. K. Porter's Travels in Persia, vol. n. p. 40.
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explanation he gives respecting those we have quoted, is only astrological and allegorical. The sages of Babylon, and the prophet of Ariema had probably drawn from the same source. It is possible that the secret alluded to by the Oracles having been preserved for a long time by the successors of Zoroaster, traces might be found in the doctrine of the magii, from which Plethon borrowed the idea developed in his Commentary. The Chaldeans, on the contrary, would have thrown themselves into allegory, and drawn their followers with them, in desiring to solve an enigma the secret of which was lost to them, and which could alone furnish the solution.
If we turn towards Hindostan, the cradle of civilization, we find the substance, and some of the most striking expressions of the two oracles in this stanza of the Yadjour-Veda : — " There the sun shines not, neither do the moon nor the stars ; the meteors do not fly about," (that is, in this place) : " God overwhelms these brilliant substances with light, and the universe is dazzled by its splendour."* Zoroaster, who borrowed much
* Recherches Asiatiques, tome i. pp. 575 — 376. The Vedas are the Scriptures, or Revelations of the Hindoos ; and, like the sacred parchments of Zoroaster, they must not be read by the multitude, nor approached by the profane. They are supposed to have proceeded from the mouth of Brahma; and to be intended for the universal sacrifice. They are supposed, however, to have been scattered ; but again brought together and arranged by a Sage, named Derâparâyana, or arranger, who flourished more than 5000 years ago, or in the second age of the world. He was assisted in his labour, and divided the whole of the recovered frag- ments of the Vedas into four parts.