The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-07-31

beautiful truths. Otherwise 1t could not bs
believed BY reasoning man nor have its
followers from generation to generation
The Parsees believe in one God and in the
resurrection and equality OF all beings be-
fore God. They believe that this God ere
ated two spirits; one of evil and the other
of good. one of light and the other OF dark
ness. These spirits are always fighting for
M ans soul. and according as he fayors one
or the other he ascends to heaven or de-
sends TO hell. His conduct on earth deter
mines his life after death.
The Sacred Fire.
The Parsees look upon fire and water and
the spirit of light. They especially revere
fire. and that used In the temples here at
Bombay. is said to have been burning for
hundreds OF years. It came from Persia,
where IL was lighted many centuries ago,
before the siohammedans conquered the
country and drove these people out 1t was
the Persian gulf. and brought with them to
Sanjan, in India. when the first of their sect
came to Hndustan. Later still they brought
It with them TO Bombay. and IT is always
kept blazing in the temples here.
The Parsees do not permit strangers to see
this fire. They regard their worship TOO holy
to have 1t viewed by others. and they make
no display of their religion by gorgeous
churches and elaborate religious ceremonies.
am told that they look upon fire as the
purest thing upon earth. In some of their
Goals from a tree or building struck by
lightning, and have fed them with chips and
dust of sandalwood understand that they
will not spit in the fire or blow out light.
For time many OF them would not smoke
tobacco, and some OF them have refused to
serve in the fire department here at Bombay.
not wishing to sin IN putting IRE out.
This worship of fire is by no means origi-
nal with the Parsees. Our own ancestors
of the long ago the early Aryans. were wor-
shippers OF fire as representing the lightning
called Agni. and bowed down to 1t as q
means OF publication. They use sacred IRE
in their domestic rites to-day, and at their
weddings fire is lighted by priest and the
bride and groom walk around it. Akbar. the
great Mohammedan emperor OF Northern
India, made his own sacred IRE by lighting
tho rays OF the sun. He used this burnins
slass several times every year. and ell the
fires OF his household were started that way
ZorOaster tho Prophet.
The Parsees are often called disciples OF
zoroaster. This man belonged to the Masl
he held the same faith as the wise men
who followed the star to the stable when
Christ was born at Bethlehem. 1t is one OF
the Oldest of religions. and was worshiped
by Cyrus the Great. Zoroaster was a boy OF
twelve at the time Jerusalem was taken oy
Nebuchadnezzar, He lived in Northern FER
sia, and the old Persian writings chronlc!e
many miracles as to his birth and IRE. ne
went through period OF religious pfepaIa
ttion, and at thirty received revelation
and came forth TO reform the old creed OF
! the Maci He had many visions. he saw
| the one God. and was tempted again ana
1 again ny the spirit Oh otlA h1'oSs' 49,
came off triumphant. During MS IRE ne
converted Vishtaspa, one OF tne - 70. ~, Aa'.ss
! OF that time. and his religion spread al over
Persia. II was the chief religion there for
mi any years. out Is now believed alone oy the
Parsees. II,
| A white-haired, sllver-bearded old follower
| Of this faith tells mo that one OF the chief
| elements Of the religion is belief that the
! soul is Immortal and that all human beings
are free moral agents. and therefore respon-
| slbIe, They believe In rewards ana punish
MANS and that in this life we settle our
rntmre existence AS to the Parsee God. hA
| 10 'called the Doer. the Creator and the Gov.
| arnor ~ the World. He Is the emblem Of
glory and light, and for this reason the Par
| sse when he worships stands before the nre
or turns his face to the sun as the symbol
! OF the Almighty
| n seems strange to think OF a beautiful,
well.bred, intelligent woman, the wife OF a
| miiiionaIre, lighting in the courts OF India
ear her right to Parsee burial. This means
| mat at death she will be laid naked upon
ons of the Towers OF Silence. and have the
flesh picked from her bones by flock OF
yultures which have always fed upon human
flesh This Is the universal Parsea disposi-
body In the earth nor burn It. Fire is too
holy and sacred to be detil6d with corpse,
and the work of the worms Is too slow and
too vile, Instead they lay their bodies out
In tho open on an iron grating under the sky
and the birds pick the honea
The place where the towers of the dead
stand Is a beautiful one. It is ON Malabar
HILL an elevation rising almost straight up
from the sea, and washed by the winds from
the ocean. The hill discovered with beau.
ltiful garden. You walk up to IT over we'll