Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1862-10-23

rulers anu OWuerS ol L eIsibs idf away iiom
their ancestral possessions, but who are
dogs and infidels nevertheless. over whom
they seem to triumph, when hewing their
way through their caitiff multitudes 1y the
force of gold, they come back to the ever
lasting dwelling place Of fire. and bow and
worship with inexpressible reverence be-
fore what to them is the visible symbol of
God. Ii you GO forth. therefore. at night
from Baku. aud approach the plain of
white sand. you Will behold these dsci-
pies of Zoroaster either seated in deep med
itation upoa the earth. or bowling their tur-
baned heals before the mounting flame
In the background towards the west, rise
the peaks of Caucasus, enveloped in snow,
and clustered round with stars: to the east
extends the Caspian, heaving gently in
summer. as all seas do. deriving. it may
be, their tremnlous u1easiness from the ro-
tary motion of the earth on its axis.
Listen. and you will hear the accents of
an unknown lsnguage-that which pre-
ceeded the dialect of the Zendavesta-mut-
tered by some banker or ship-builder of
! Bombay. who in his own home on the In
dian Ocean speaks English. and reads Mil
ton and Shakespeare. But here in Okes-
ra, in face Of the sacred fire. he is another
being. agirated by feelings and sentiments
which have been waited down to him over
the waves Of time from far beyond the Del
! uge, perhaps from the pre- Adamite period.
when, as the Chevalier Bunsen teaches, the
countrymen of Cog and Magog founded
/ and governed empires on the table-lands
Of Central Asia. To study Gibbon,
Burke. and Bacon. to read our novels. our
journals, and our philosophical specula-
tions, is found by the Parsee by no means
incompatible with firm and faithful ac-
/ ceptance Of The ancient creed of the Medes
You may tell him what you please about
civilization, abont new faiths. and i'm
provements in ethics; after attending DO,
lirely to your discourses. his mind goes
back at bound to its belief in that forma
tive principle. heat caloric. fire. which in
his view created the world, and still con
sti;utes the soul of all living things. Ac
cording to his theory. warmth is life. anl
cold is death. He has never in in teligblc
language revealed to the profane the idea.
which float over his mind. when having
come wayworn and weary from afar. h,
contemplates the surging and brilliant ele
ment, which escaping from the crust of ou
planet points visihly to the stars, will
whose substance it is obviously identical
Yet these luminous phenomena are only
the external manifestations of God to the
I Parsee. the elemental sheath. so 10 speak
in which he involves his invisible power
es Of lime burning and cooking, the fir,
worshipper regards as SO many miapplica
tions. though perhaps necessary, OF the di
vine element which pervales AMI WHITES
everything. and flashes upon him brilliant
iy as he reclines or knecls on the soft whit,
sand of Okesra. If you remain at han,
all night, you will behold phenomena,
nowhere seen bu, in Persia, which the fire
worshipper considers in tine light of con
firmation of the truth Of his creed. Abou
two hours before dayhreak, mimic dawr
appears in the east. where the saffron rays
rise in vast arch. and shooting up to tn,
zenith. expand and kinlle the whole sky
rendering the stars pale, and lighting M
the SUBMITS Of the mountains with a glow
and splendor like that Of early morning
This, however, is the false dawn, which
after awakening the birds, and robing th,
earth with light. again fades away, ant
leaves the whole hemisphere above. an,
, the face Of our globe below, buried ip dark
ness as before.
Generally, the Mu,lims are held to be
prosecuting pe"ple-with good reason
perhaps. in one phase of their character
yet at times they are tolerant to q marvel
They despise the Hindus. they equally des
pise the Psrsees; but they have traditions
more than half fabnlons. which attribu.
to both these sections Of mankind powers
acquired by magic or otherwise. which ar
denied, for good reasons. doubtless, To tn
: believers in the Koran. When q Parsee
therefore. arrives at Baku. on his way t
. the eternal fires. all the true believers i
: he caravansarv make place for him: frs,
becanse he inspires them with awe; an
next. perhaps. because, wise as he may b
in the wisdom of science, he is ignorant O
that saving faith which belongs exclusive
ly to their religion. Yet they have no oh
lection to sell him food. or. in exchange, t
take his fine Indian gold mohurs or Eng
lishmnted rupees. As has been seen
moreover. they will repair with him to th
place Of flame, and convert his divinity in
to kitchen-fre, or into the active sgen
of lime kiln. Still. they are not with
on, q certain mysterious feeling on tn
subject of the ipfammable gasses. an,
; have invented stories. too long and wild t.
be here related. about the place whence
according to their Interpretation. the bril-
liant white jets ascend. 1t would be use
:. less to explain to them that beneath tn
thin shell of rock which forms the surfac
of the Okesran peninsula. there lie exten
I. sive lakes of naptha. fell perpe,ually b.
subterranean streams from the Caucasus
inhamable exhalations from which. havin,
made their way to upper air. were set OF
fire BY accident. and have never since beel
) extingnished. In certain places. however
where the springs below are small an,
, shallow, you may play with the deity o
the fire. worshipper with impunity. o
: this the lime burners are folly aware, an,
r By way Of amusing or surprising strangers
. will pluck q few threads from their cottol
. garments. and putting them on the end of
long rake. aud setting them on fire. vii
Z hold them over cleft in the rock. through
3 which they know by experience that inv;s
ible exhalations ascend. In an instant tn
- G. u